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By Recorded Sound Archives, September 27, 2019 12:17 pm

In celebration of Hispanic Heritage month, we wanted to share one of several recordings within our hispanic/latin american collection of recordings. Last year we highlighted Xavier Cugat, as an important artist who shaped the world of Latin music into what it is today.

This year we’d like to highlight the voice of Graciela Párraga and composer Vicente Gómez. Both of whom are featured on the album Blood and Sand within the Recorded Sound Archives Hispanic/Latin American collection.

Very little can be found about Graciela Párraga other than what can be found on the jacket of this album. Graciela Párraga was born in Havana, Cuba.  Although it is mentioned that she gained noterity and fame by singing to a large group of women prisoners within a dentention center inside Cuba where she received tons of offers to sing professionally, all of which she refused. It goes on to say her professional singing career began shortly back in 1937 with her arrival in New York.

She went on to sing at several hotels also working at the East Side night club La Rue for two years. Appearing in radio, Miss Párraga went on to sing on the Rudy Vallee Show of which several transcriptions were made and were broadcast throughout all 21 Latin American Republics at the time. In the 1938 issue of Stage Magazine, Miss Párraga was one of the Palm Award winners for her work while at La Rue.

She went on to perform at Hotel Berkeley in London and during her stay in England, where she performed twice weekly for Television by the British Broadcasting Company.  She was even invited to sign for her Royal Highness and the Ex-Queen of Spain at a garden party given by the Duke of Alba.

Upon returning to the United States, Miss Párraga was invited to sing at a Reception Ball given by the Cuban Embassy in honor of Colonel Fugencia Batista, during his good-will visit to the United States. And on one of her return trips to Cuba, Miss Párraga  was appointed Chancellor to the Consulate General of Cuba in New York and Honorary Artistic delegate for the promotion and appreciation of Cuban music in the United States and Europe.

In this position she went on to give a series of concerts throughout the United States in leading colleges such as Vassar, Columbia University, Princeton and more.

You can hear the voice of Graciela Párraga by clicking here along with Vicente Gómez playing guitar on the Blood and Sand soundtrack he composed himself prior to retiring to compose and teach.

This is just one of over over 180 Latin American recordings for you to listen to. Click here to view collection.

Please note, due to copyright some items may only be available as a 45 second snippet.

If you are a Researcher or Educator in need of full access to these recordings, click here.

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By Recorded Sound Archives, May 1, 2019 1:38 pm

In celebration of children’s book week, discover our children’s collection of recordings featuring stories, lullabies, nursery rhymes and more.

This collection of children’s music was produced mostly during the 1940s and 1950s, a time when vinyl replaced hard shellac as the basic material used in the making of phonograph records. The innovation of vinyl allowed manufactures to produce kid-friendly recordings that could be handled without adult supervision. These recordings became an extremely popular form of entertainment for children in the days before families had television sets.

Here are the Recorded Sound Archives we have over 480 children’s recordings for you to choose from.

Discover our Superstorm Sandy Restoration Project which features over 380 children’s recordings that were donated by Peter Muldavin as a result of Hurricane Sandy, along with our Vintage children’s collection with over 130 recordings for you to choose from!

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Please note, due to copyright some of these recordings may only play for 45 second snippet to give the user a taste of what this music sounded like back in the day, if you are interested in full access consider applying for Research Station Access. Access to Research Station is limited to educators, students and serious researchers.

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By Recorded Sound Archives, February 22, 2019 7:45 pm

In celebration of Black History Month, the Recorded Sound Archives has curated a collection of African-American artists. Discover the voices of Huddie Leadbelly, Billie Holiday, Ethel Waters, and Fats Waller.

Follow us on Facebook and learn some fun facts all this month about these artists and they’re contributions to music.

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By Recorded Sound Archives, October 2, 2018 12:44 pm

Photo of Xavier Cugat. This work is from the William P. Gottlieb collection at the Library of Congress.

As part of Hispanic / Latino Heritage month, we’d like to take the opportunity to introduce you to some important artists who shaped the world of Latin music into what it is today. Today we would like to highlight Xavier Cugat. Born January 1, 1900 in Catalonia, Spain, his family had bigger plans venturing first to Cuba when he was five. In Cuba, this is where Xavier picked up the violin training as a classical violinist he went on to play with the Orchestra of the Teatro Nacional in Havana.

Photo of Xavier Cugat. This work is from the William P. Gottlieb collection at the Library of Congress.

Xavier trained further in Paris and Berlin and in 1915, his family boarded the SS Havana en route to New York City where Cugat went on to train before serving five years as a violinist appearing in recitals with Erinco Caruso. Cugat went on to lead the resident orchestra at the Waldorf-Astoria before and after World War II before venturing out west to Los Angeles.

Here are 3 interesting facts about Xavier Cugat, you may or may not know about him.

Three interesting facts about Xavier Cugat!

1. He was a classically trained violinist who conducted with his bow, and can be seen in quite a few films waving his violin bow. Below is an animated gif showcasing Xavier Cugat in Stage Door Canteen waving his bow as he conducts his orchestra. You can watch the clip below from Stage Door Canteen, 1943 where Xavier Cugat can be seen conducting with his bow at 1:16.

via GIPHY

2. Xavier was known as the Rhumba King and is credited with pushing Latino music and dance into popularity and best-known for having popularized the rumba in the United States during the 1930s.

He and his band, the Gigolos, were featured in several popular Hollywood movies in the 1940s and 1950s. They introduced many popular Latin American rhythms to North American audiences and toured extensively every year, playing tangos, rumbas and congas.

“Under the influence of tropical skies and a couple of daiquiris, people developed a taste for my Latin American style of music,” he once said.

3. Xavier went on to work for the Los Angeles Times as a cartoonist. Not a huge stretch, considering art seemed to run in the family. His older brother Francis Cugat worked as a portrait, poster, book jacket artist and set designer.  He is known for his 1925 cover of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Cugat himself can be seen in a few films drawing his caricatures prior to or during a performance.

via GIPHY

Here at the Recorded Sound Archives, we have over 30 recordings by Cugat and several of this bands. To listen to more music by Cugat, click here.

In celebration of Hispanic / Latino Heritage month, we have digitized over 180 Latin American recordings for you to listen to. Click here to view collection.

Please note, due to copyright some items may only be available as a 45 second snippet.

If you are a Researcher or Educator in need of full access to these recordings, click here.

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By Recorded Sound Archives, August 10, 2018 1:30 pm

Did you know the Recorded Sound Archives at FAU Libraries has over 49,000 albums along with over 150,000 songs in its databases, which is growing everyday with the help of volunteers? With so many recordings to choose from, we have given Research Station users the ability to request items be digitized.

Below you’ll find a list of recordings that were recently added to the Research Station this Summer 2018 from requests made by Research Station Users.

Please note, due to copyright some of these recordings may only play for 45 second snippet to give the user a taste of what this music sounded like back in the day, if you are interested in full access considering applying for Research Station Access. Access to Research Station is limited to educators, students and serious researchers.

Recently Added Music

Hadesh Yameinu (New Music at Park Avenue Synagogue) by Azi Schwartz

Dort Vie Libe Dort Is Glik by Aaron Lebedeff

The Shicker Ticker by Seymour Rechtzeit & Miriam Kressyn

Famous Chassidic and Shabath Songs by Various Artists

El Estilo by Leibele Schwartz

Minke Beim Telefon by Bessie Thomashefsky

Let’s Dance by Yaffa Yarkoni

Song Celebration 1976 by Various Artists

Favorite Songs for Children by Yaffa Yarkoni

Lehitim Leyiladim by Eelaneet

Gila Almagor by Gila Almagor

Bab el Wad: The Gate to Jerusalem by Yaffa Yarkoni

Yaffa Yarkoni Greatest Hits by Yaffa Yarkoni

Ronni Ve’simchi by Shmuel Lerer

30 Years with Yaffa Yarkoni by Choir of Tel Aviv & Yaffa Yarkoni

Ilanit Sings Children Songs by Ilanit and Aviva Had

Shiru Shir – Volume 3 by Hadassa Sigalov

In Praise of Kalya by Yaffa Yarkoni and Aric Einstein

Songs of Edith Piaf by Various Artists

Hanukka Songs, Vol. 2 by Miriam Avigal

Yaffa Yarkoni by Yaffa Yarkoni & Anee Tslil Haagadot

Liebe by Seymour Rechtzeit

Tiher Rabbi Yismoel by David Amsel

Weal Yedei by Sawel Kwartin

The Happy People by Danny Rubenstein

The Time of Singing – The Fourth NFTY Album by Various Artists

NCSY-LIVE by Various Artists

Pirchei Holyland by Pirchei Holyland

Dear Mom / Sweet by Yaffa Yarkoni

Der Galicianer Cavallero by Peisachke Burstein

6 Sipurei Yiladim by Ester Sofer

Yaffa Yarkoni Sings International by Yaffa Yarkoni and Bob Adams Orchestra

Bo-oo Lesachek Come, Let’s Play by Ester Sofer Hadassah Sigolov

See a recording that hasn’t been digitized?

As a research station user you can request it using the Music on Demand forms on the website.

Please note, due to copyright some of these recordings may only play for 45 second snippet to give the user a taste of what this music sounded like back in the day, if you are interested in full access considering applying for Research Station Access. Access to Research Station is limited to educators, students and serious researchers.

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By Recorded Sound Archives, February 2, 2018 6:24 pm

Did you know that Ethel Waters was the first African American to be nominated for an Emmy Award? In 1962, the legendary jazz and blues singer received the nomination for her performance in a “Route 66” episode, “Good Night, Sweet Blues.”

Ethel Waters in “Route 66”, episode “Good Night, Sweet Blues.”

In the episode, “Good Night, Swee Blues”, Ethel Waters plays Jenny Henderson, a retired singer in failing health who commissions Tod and Buzz to find and bring her the members of the Memphis Naturals, the band she performed and recorded with thirty years earlier.

Waters’ nomination for this role paved the way for women like Diahann Carroll, Cicely Tyson, Alfre Woodard, Halle Berry, Kerry Washington, Regina King, and Viola Davis, now the first Black woman to win the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.

Beyond acting, Waters’ also performed jazz, big band, and pop music on the Broadway stage and in concerts, although she began her career in the 1920s singing blues.

Her best-known recordings include “Dinah,” “Stormy Weather,” “Taking a Chance on Love,” “Heat Wave,” “Supper Time,” “Am I Blue?” and “Cabin in the Sky,” as well as her version of the spiritual “His Eye Is on the Sparrow.”

Here at the Recorded Sound Archives we are celebrating Black History month through music by highlighting the voices of the past and their accomplishments.

To listen to recordings by Ethel Waters, click here.

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By RSA Guest Blogger, August 2, 2017 9:52 am

Two weeks after his 101th birthday, pianist and composer Irving Fields passed away August 20, 2016 in Manhattan. He was perhaps the longest working musician in the world. At the age of hundred, he used to play the piano several nights a week at Nino’s Tuscany restaurant in Manhattan. Irving Fields became known by fusing Jewish tunes, jazz, and popular songs with Latin music.

Born as Isidore Schwartz in 1915 New York City to Jewish immigrants, Irving Fields started working as a pianist in the thirties during the years of the Great Depression. In this time of high unemployment, he started playing piano in resort hotels in the Catskills Mountains, and then he found work as a pianist on cruise ships sailing from New York to Havana, capital city of Cuba. In Havana, Irving Fields listened to the great Cuban orchestras, and developed his love for Latin music. Attracted by pictures from palm trees and beaches in travel magazines, Irving decided to settle in Miami Beach and performed in hotels playing dinner music, and did sessions with local orchestras.

After joining the army, he began the Irving Fields Trio, with a bass and a drummer, and started composing his own songs. In 1947, his song Miami Beach Rhumba became a big success by versions of Kay Kyser, Freddy Martin, Carmen Miranda, and even by the popular band leader Xavier Cugat. During the Latin craze trend in the 40s, Irving Fields was at the right time and place, and soon Miami Beach Rhumba was followed by the number one hit song Managua, Nicaragua (1947) recorded by big band leader Guy Lombardo, and ten years later by Chantez-Chantez (1957) by singer Dinah Shore.

In 1959, the Irving Fields Trio recorded the album Bagels and Bongos blending popular Jewish tunes with Latin rhythms such as Bei Mir Bist Du Schön as a mambo, Havannah Negila a paso doble, and I Love You Much Too Much a rhumba. The album became a big hit all over the world, and was followed by the albums More Bagels and Bongos (1960), Pizzas and Bongos (Italian traditionals), Champagne and Bongos (with French standards), and Bikinis and Bongos (with Hawaiian music). Every song was mixed with a Latin beat, which turned out to be a story of success.

After the success with his trio in the sixties, Irving Fields went back working as a solo pianist on cruise ships again, where he sailed the whole world, and finally settled as a music entertainer in restaurants, from 2004 six nights a week in Nino’s Tuscany, Manhattan. This would become the place, where he started his second career.

In the last decade, several films appeared about Fields playing piano on YouTube. These films form a good impression of his talent, wisdom, and humor. Although Irving Fields was not a user of a computer or the Internet, he did compose the YouTube theme song.

Regarding my research about the influence of Jewish tunes in American popular song, I contacted Irving Fields, and then I received several handwritten letters from him. At my birthday March 2010, I met Irving Fields and his lovely wife Ruth in person in Nino’s Tuscany restaurant, where he entertained the guests with his music. From my letters, he knew that I should visit him this special evening. To my surprise, he welcomed me with a newly composed personal anniversary song. When listening to his music and talking to him, I knew that I was close to one of the last persons, already in his nineties, who could tell me first-hand about the history of popular music in the Tin Pan Alley period before the second World War.

Irving Fields and Niels Falch at Nino’s

Of course, I also asked him about his secret for longevity, and he replied with more than ten rules. The first three rules for longevity are; (1) Have a sense of humor (you’ll never get ulcers), (2) Think of these three magic letters before you make a decision: L.T.D. Look, Think and Do, and (3) Be the first to say “hello” with a smile on your face and a friendly glow. Following these rules during his life, Irving Fields became ultimately 101 years young.

Even U.S. President Donald J. Trump admired Irving Fields, and shared one of his secrets for longevity: “Irving has said that work is a blessing, especially when you like your work. He loves his work, and that love is evident in his music. Irving is a great pro.”

Irving Fields will be remembered as the pianist who blended bagels and bongos, although he never had a way to play a bagel…

You can listen to over 30 recordings by Irving Fields on the Recorded Sound Archives website by clicking here.

RSA Guest Blogger, Niels Falch, is a PhD candidate at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands and is currently writing a dissertation on the influence of Jewish music in American popular songs.

Please note, due to copyright some of these recordings may only play for 45 second snippet to give the user a taste of what this music sounded like back in the day, if you are interested in full access considering applying for Research Station Access. Access to Research Station is limited to educators, students and serious researchers.

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By Recorded Sound Archives, June 30, 2017 5:52 pm

Celebrate this Fourth of July by listening and discovering some vintage songs from the early 1900s. Listen to a funny monologue and learn how the Fourth of July was celebrated at the Pun’kin Center back in 1915 or learn more about the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson and other Americana.

Below you will find a list of 5 songs and albums for you to share and enjoy this year with family and friends.

Fourth of July at Pun’kin Center by Cal Stewart and Steve Porter

Spirit of Independence March by Conway’s Band

The Liberty Tree by The Sand Pipers & Mitch Miller and Orchestra

Our American Heritage Album by Wesley Addy

American Patriotic & Marching Songs by Various Artists

Please note, due to copyright some of these recordings may only play for 45 second snippet to give the user a taste of what this music sounded like back in the day, if you are interested in full access considering applying for Research Station Access. Access to Research Station is limited to educators, students and serious researchers.

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By Recorded Sound Archives, June 13, 2017 5:54 pm

Celebrate this Summer by listening and discovering some vintage songs from the early 1900s about summer and/or the summertime. Below you will find a list of over 20 songs for you to share and enjoy this year with family and friends.

 Please note, due to copyright some of these recordings may only play for 45 second snippet to give the user a taste of what this music sounded like back in the day, if you are interested in full access considering applying for Research Station Access. Access to Research Station is limited to educators, students and serious researchers.

When Summer is Gone by Nathan Shilkret and The Troubadours

Summertime by Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians

The Last Rose of Summer by Fraces Alda

My Native Land / Midsummer by Lotte Lehmann

When Summer is Gone by The Columbians

A Summer on the Farm by Various Artists

Guess I’ll Go Back Home (this Summer) by James Cross

The Things We Did Last Summer by Vaughn Monroe and his Orchestra

Summer Night by Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians

The First Rose of Summer by John McCormack

Guess I”ll Go Back Home (This Summer) by Glenn Miller and his Orchestra

Indian Summer by Glenn Miller and his Orchestra

One Summer Night by Roger Wolfe Kahn and his Orchestra

When Summer is Gone by Nathan Shilkret and his Orchestra

Last Rose of Summer by Nelson Eddy

Last Rose of Summer by Elizabeth Wheeler

Last Rose of Summer by Virginia Rea

With Summer Coming On by Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians

Song for a Summer Night by Mitch Miller and his Orchestra

A Summer Day by Not Listed

Please note, due to copyright some of these recordings may only play for 45 second snippet to give the user a taste of what this music sounded like back in the day, if you are interested in full access considering applying for Research Station Access. Access to Research Station is limited to educators, students and serious researchers.

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By Recorded Sound Archives, May 10, 2017 5:48 pm

Celebrate this Mothers Day by listening and discovering some vintage songs from the early 1900s about mothers. There’s even a song or two about Dad and a fun Monologue called How Mother Made Soup for your enjoyment.

Below you will find a list of over 20 songs for you to share and enjoy this year with family and friends.

Please note, due to copyright some of these recordings may only play for 45 second snippet to give the user a taste of what this music sounded like back in the day, if you are interested in full access considering applying for Research Station Access. Access to Research Station is limited to educators, students and serious researchers.

Go Home and Tell Your Mother by Guy Lombardo & Keneke

Mother of My Heart by Frances Alda

Rembember Dad (On Mother’s Day) by Jerry Colonna

Mother O’ Mine by John McCormack

I Wouldn’t Trade the Silver in My Mother’s Hair (For All the Gold in the World) by Eddy Arnold

My Mother’s Sweet Voice by Eddy Arnold

Go Home and Tell Your Mother by Gus Arnheim and his Cocoanut Grove

If the Rest of the World Don’t Want You (Go Back to Mother and Dad) by Franklyn Baur

Baby Your Mother (Like She Babied You) by Don Bestor and his Orchestra

Dear Mom by Glenn Miller and his Orchestra

How Mother Made the Soup by Charley Case

Ireland Must Be Heaven for My Mother Came From There by Charles Harrison

Mother’s Hands by Henry Burr

Daddy has a Sweetheart and Mother is her Name by Charles Munch

My Mother by Orville Harrold

Dear Old-Fashioned Irish Song My Mother Sang to me by Henry Burr

I’m in Heaven When I’m in My Mother’s Arms (I Don’t Have to Die to Go to Heaven) by William Robyn

Mother O’ Mine by Conrad Thibault

Mother Of Mine, I Still Have You by Al Jolson and William F. Wirges and his Orchestra

Angel Mother by George Morgan

Always Think of Mother by Manuel Romain

An Meine Mutter (To My Mother) by Biedermann, Lufsky and Prince

Please note, due to copyright some of these recordings may only play for 45 second snippet to give the user a taste of what this music sounded like back in the day, if you are interested in full access considering applying for Research Station Access. Access to Research Station is limited to educators, students and serious researchers.