Crankin' It Up

"Carry Me Back To Old Virginny" was one of the first records I posted on YouTube, and I never was happy with the way it came through. We had a low quality microphone then, and I used Audacity to take out some of the needle hiss, so the record sounded thin and tinny. It still got lots of hits, though, and lots of comments. It seems that people either love this song or they hate it; really hate it.

James Bland, the author of this song was a well educated, free, black man born in 1854, who made entertainment his life. He wrote "Carry Me Back To Old Virginny" in 1874, and it was an immediate hit. He soon went to work in minstrel shows, and he performed in England and Europe for about twenty years. During his career he wrote hundreds of songs, and he was a pioneer in breaking down barriers into the publishing and entertainment world. He died in poverty from tuberculosis in 1911. By that time, minstrel shows had nearly disappeared.

Alma Gluck was one of the most remarkable singers of the Twentieth Century, and you should look up some of the biographies about her on the internet. I am always saddened to think of her brief career, which ended in the 1920's when she lost her performing voice. The last recordings by her were not released, and all of her records were made during the pre-electric, acoustic era. She died from liver problems at age 54 in 1938.

This recording was made with our good microphone, and no noise removal was done, so you hear this song as the old Brunswick plays it. Just like old times.