William Sterling Battis Returns - Part 3!

Just a couple of notes on "Scrooge" by William Sterling Battis and the year of 1916...

One thing that jumps out at me is that the 12-inch 78 rpm records were $1.25 each.

That seems expensive to me for 1916, so let's convert that into 2022 money... Wow, that would be $32.54! That's a lot for about nine minutes of audio entertainment!

The label also indicates that this is a "Character Impersonation with effects." You do hear some violin and percussion here and there and some research indicates that Ted Levy played the violin and William H. Reitz played the "traps" on the recording.

Both of those musicians were very busy with session work for Victor during the first quarter of the twentieth century.

So, for fun let's hear Ted Levy on violin as part of the Victor String Quartet in 1915:

And William H. Reitz playing the chimes on this 1913 record:

Very charming!

Bringing things back to a Christmas vibe, Mr. Reitz played the chimes on the 1915 recording of "Adeste Fidelis" by legendary Irish tenor John McCormack on the fancy Victrola label:

And while we're here, let's listen to the greatest tenor of all, Enrico Caruso with "Cantique de Noël" from 1916, also on Victrola:

Caruso and McCormack sold tons of records back then and you can hear why: those guys were the goods!

William Sterling Battis Returns - Part 2!

 

I think the "Scrooge" series of records from 1916 by William Sterling Battis are a lot of fun, but, as I mentioned last time, I do have one beef!

It's nothing new, just that Scrooge keeps saying how the visits from the spirits were dreams!

Within the context of this particular adaptation, I can understand Scrooge thinking that the visit from Marley's Ghost was a dream when he wakes up during the night. But after the Ghost of Christmas Past leaves, he thinks that was a dream too. 

So, he would have had to been dreaming that Marley's Ghost visited him, then within that dream he would have dreamed that he woke up, then had a dream within that dream that the Ghost of Christmas Past appeared. And so on...

Makes your head spin after a while!

Of course, Bransby Williams goes as far as to name the parts of his monologue as "Before the Dream," "The Dream" and "After the Dream," so there's no mistaking  his take on it!

Was that a thing then? That it was all a dream or series of dreams?

And if it were a dream, it wouldn't be "A Ghost Story of Christmas," would it?

William Sterling Battis Returns - Part 1!

Hey, if Bransby Williams can return, so can fellow Dickens monologist William Sterling Battis!

With his return he brings us the second 12-inch 78 rpm of his "Scrooge" performance from 1916 on Victor Records, which we didn't have back here.

Let's hear Parts 1 and 2 again:

And now the much-anticipated (by me anyway!) Parts 3 and 4:

Next: My beef with it!

Victor Records: "Scrooge" - Parts 1 & 2 (1916) - William Sterling Battis - Part 2

If you got the chance to listen to William Sterling Battis with his 1916 recordings of "Marley's Ghost" and "The Ghost of Christmas Past," I'm sure you'll agree they're pretty fun.

With these 12-inch 78 rpm records, he gets some room to stretch out, so it's interesting what scenes get highlighted.

I have to wonder if Side One set a new record for most "humbugs" in less than five minutes!

These records are billed as "Character impersonation with effects," although I don't think Side 1 has nay effects, whereas Side 2 has a few, including the fiddler at Fezziwig's party. It's mostly Battis, though.

I think his monologue style is interesting, as he's sometimes he's talking to another character, but you only get his side of the conversation. It reminds me of those telephone routines that Bob Newhart used to do.

I can't really uncover a lot of information about William Sterling Battis, but he was based in America and seems to have been a Dickens specialist.

This little clipping from Dickinson College in December 1927 is very interesting:

Fascinating that they namedrop Bransby Williams!

I imagine that this sort of character impersonation would have been running out of steam in a few years once talking movies became established.

One other related piece of ephemera is also intersting. This ad for Victor Records touting them as educational tools:

Look who's on there!

I'll have to stay on the look out for the other record in the series.

Meanwhile, I think we have to wait 25 years for another recording of "A Christmas Carol" for the home market. Paging Ronald Colman!

Victor Records: "Scrooge" - Parts 1 & 2 (1916) - William Sterling Battis - Part 1

"Scrooge - Part 1 - 'Marley's Ghost'" (1916)
b/w "Scrooge - Part 2 - 'The Ghost of Christmas Past'
Victor Records
Scrooge: William Sterling Battis

Here's one more early monologue, this time by American William Sterling Battis, another noted impersonator of Dickens characters.

He cut four 12-inch 78 rpm records in his "Scrooge" series. I've only been able to track down the first record which pairs "Marley's Ghost" with "The Ghost of Christmas Past."

They're not the same sketches as presented by Bransby Williams on his Scrooge series but they're equally fun.

Give 'em a listen:

Part 1 - "Marley's Ghost"

Part 2 - "The Ghost of Christmas Past"