On 12/14/2014 3:32 PM, Thomas Stern wrote:

[snip]

> Billboard adv Jan 26 1959 lists DILP 8004  Jewish Melodies  Emil Bruh&  his
> Ensemble

That's the record that inspired all my questions! I think that may be 
our smoking gun; record companies put advertisements in Billboard when a 
record was new.

[snip]

> Google books shows:
> Schwann    Anne&  Emil Bruh Dana 8008 Rumania&  Her Gypsies (2,9-58, 7-59,
> 12-60)

Now that's interesting; in the 1940 Census Emil Bruh was shown as living 
in the Bronx, and having been born in Rumania in about 1898. It may be 
jumping to conclusions, but the above reference suggests that the 1940 
Census Emil Bruh and the Dana Records Emil Bruh were likely one and the 
same.

I'm curious about Ann Bruh, though. The Census Emil Bruh was married to 
Rose Bruh, and his daughters were Margaret and Eleanor.

> Perhaps someone with a run of Schwann can pinpoint the first listing....

Is there such a run of Schwann in some library?

> It is possible that the copyright refers to the label name/design, not the
> recording......

I think that's likely.

Peace,
Paul

>> Randy
>>
>> On Sun, Dec 14, 2014 at 1:05 AM, Paul Stamler<[log in to unmask]>   wrote:
>>
>>> Hi folks:
>>>
>>> I just finished digitizing an LP by Emil Bruh&   his Ensemble called
>>> "Jewish Melodies". The label says they were located in New York, but
>>> I've associated them with Chicago; certainly most of the 78s I've
>>> seen on the label are of Chicago-style polka music.
>>>
>>> The LP label says "Copyright 1946", but I suspect that's not correct.
>>> First off, LPs hadn't been invented in 1946, so this might have been
>>> a reissue of a 78 album. But the aural evidence suggests otherwise;
>>> the freq2uency response sounds pretty wide for 1946, and there's no
>>> surface noise evident. Could it have been a tape? Bit early for that,
>>> though it's not impossible. But it sounds like an early 1950s
>>> recording -- the peaky, shrieky high frequencies say that.
>>>
>>> A couple more data points: of course recordings weren't copyrightable
>>> in 1946. Could the copyright be for the label design? Unlikely, since
>>> this was before LPs existed.
>>>
>>> There are absolutely no liner notes; some assiduous Googling came up
>>> with the fact that this record's been reissued a couple of times,
>>> including a cassette from Global Village. Descriptions of the
>>> reissues indicate that none of them included any information other than
> titles.
>>>
>>> I did find an entry in the 1940 Census for an Emil Bruh living on
>>> 180th St. in New York City. He was born about 1898 in Rumania; he
>>> sounds like a likely candidate.
>>>
>>> Anyhow, does anyone know about Dana's recordings in the LP era? Did
>>> they have a very early tape recorder? Or was this, as my ears
>>> suggest, a 1950s recording?
>>>
>>> Any and all information is welcome.
>>>
>>> Peace,
>>> Paul
>>>
>>> PS The Online Discographical Project doesn't include Dana. Neither
>>> does Barr.
>>>
>>
>