On 6/28/2014 7:06 AM, Jaemin Lee wrote:
> f I may, I would like to ask one more related question. Among the
> periods of roughly 1890-1945, what types of genres were recorded? I
> understand that discerning music genres is often tricky question, but
> would it be sufficiently inclusive if I count classical, Souther
> hillbilly, Jazz, blues and gospel, and other popular musics like hot
> dance?
>
> Please let me know if you can come up with other genre.

Well, there was mainstream dance band music, which was described as
"sweet" rather than "hot" -- those were distinctly different genres,
though there were always overlaps. . There were "light classics", a
category that encompasses many sub-genres. Think "Die Lorelei" for a
good example. There were marches -- very popular in the
acoustical-recording era. There was comedy -- think "Cohen at the
Telephone". There were multitudes of "ethnic" recordings, particularly
after the supply of records from Europe was cut off due to World War I:
Irish, Jewish, Polish, Lithuanian, German, Cajun, and many more
nationalities. There were religious recordings. There were mainstream
popular vocals, some of which were derived from minstrel styles and
Victorian parlor songs. In the 1930s and 1940s, there was the
development of big-band swing, western swing, jump blues. I could go on
and on -- this is just a list off the top of my head.

The genres you named (hillbilly, blues, gospel, etc.) get most of the
attention from scholars and discographers, partly because they're
ancestors of today's music styles. But there's plenty more out there.

You might want to read Allan Sutton's books, "A Phonograph in Every
Home", "Recording the Twenties" and "Recording the Thirties". They're a
good introduction to some (but not all) of the genres recorded in the
early days of records.

Peace,
Paul