Could be true, of course, but still, sounds rather hyperbolic. *** Our diaphragm was not very sensitive and we still required robust, even voices to make good records. Fat, jolly Bert Sheppard, with his powerful tenor voice and clear diction, gave us our most successful results. We used him under many names and as an old minstrel man he was very versatile. His repertoire comprised negro airs, Irish and English ballads, comic and patter songs, parodies and yodels. The spontaneous and boisterous laugh he could conjure up was most infectious and was heard by thousands through his records. Bert Sheppard's "Whistling Coon" and "The Laughing Song" were world- famous. In India alone over half a million records of the latter were sold. In the bazaars of India I have seen dozens of natives seated on their haunches round a gramophone, rocking with laughter, whilst playing Sheppard's laughing record; in fact, this is the only time I have ever heard Indians laugh heartily. The record is still available there and I believe that to this day it sells in China, Africa, and Japan as well. *** Snipped from the book The Music Goes Round (1942) by F. W. Gaisberg (Publisher: The Macmillan Company). Online at http://www.archive.org/details/musicgoesround011057mbp --- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar

these records are on You Tube Patricia Page BC Canada Quoting Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar <[email protected]>: > > Could be true, of course, but still, sounds rather hyperbolic. > > *** Our diaphragm was not very sensitive and we still required robust, > even voices to make good records. Fat, jolly Bert Sheppard, with his > powerful tenor voice and clear diction, gave us our most successful > results. We used him under many names and as an old minstrel man > he was very versatile. His repertoire comprised negro airs, Irish and > English ballads, comic and patter songs, parodies and yodels. The > spontaneous and boisterous laugh he could conjure up was most > infectious and was heard by thousands through his records. Bert > Sheppard's "Whistling Coon" and "The Laughing Song" were world- > famous. In India alone over half a million records of the latter were > sold. In the bazaars of India I have seen dozens of natives seated > on their haunches round a gramophone, rocking with laughter, whilst > playing Sheppard's laughing record; in fact, this is the only time I have > ever heard Indians laugh heartily. The record is still available there > and I believe that to this day it sells in China, Africa, and Japan as well. > *** > > Snipped from the book The Music Goes Round (1942) > by F. W. Gaisberg (Publisher: The Macmillan Company). > > Online at > http://www.archive.org/details/musicgoesround011057mbp > > --- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >