Oscar Brand's recordings

Subject: Oscar Brandt's recordings
From:
Date: 24 May 97 - 07:57 PM

I'm looking for any information on the availability of Oscar Brandt"s 50s recordings on Audio Fidelity label. Two albumns in particular: Backroom Ballads and Baudy House Songs, A second with the words "Seahouse Shanties" in the title. Oscar Brandt was a well known folklorist and radio personality in New York City during the 50s and 60s. Any info greatly appreciated.

Subject: RE: Oscar Brand recordings
From: Joe Offer
Date: 25 May 97 - 01:57 AM

They Rykodisc "Tradition" label reissued a very nice Oscar Brand (note spelling) CD last year. It's called "Pie In the Sky," TCD 1021. You can send an e-mail to check availability - [e-mail]. I think Ryko may have a Web site, too.

The budget-priced CD has a very generous 16 cuts, including the title song, Track Lining Chant, The Dodger Song, and The Downtrodden Landlord. Good stuff.

Now, he recorded one recently called "I Love Cats." That's a CD I wish I hadn't bought. He may have done one on dogs, too.

-Joe-

Subject: RE: Oscar Brandt's recordings
From: DrWord
Date: 26 May 97 - 12:22 PM

Brand recorded (at least) two or three Bawdy (note spelling) Ballads albums, which included such notable tunes as "The Winnipeg Whore" ... I'll ask my dad if there still kickin' around his steroe.

Dennis Wood

Subject: RE: Oscar Brand's recordings
From: GUEST,hanker
Date: 16 Jan 22 - 05:32 PM

I have an album "Every Inch a Sailor" by Oscar Brand. It is a great album for us destroyermen.

Subject: RE: Oscar Brand's recordings
From: Joe Offer
Date: 16 Jan 22 - 05:42 PM

The Oscar Brand Website is apparently still active, although I don't know how to tell is anybody is actually fulfilling orders.

Subject: RE: Oscar Brand's recordings
From: Joe_F
Date: 16 Jan 22 - 06:11 PM

By "availability" do you mean you want to buy the original LPs? Or have them copied on more recent media for you? Or find them already reissued?

I myself have (not for sale!) the original 4 volumes of "Bawdy Songs" (AFLP 1906, AFLP-1806, AFLP-1824, AFSD-5847; the drawings on the covers are charming) and "Bawdy Songs Goes to College" (AFSD-5952).

Subject: RE: Oscar Brand's recordings
From: Mrrzy
Date: 16 Jan 22 - 06:28 PM

All available on mp3 from Amazon. And likely elsewhence.

Subject: RE: Oscar Brand's recordings
From: Joe Offer
Date: 16 Jan 22 - 07:43 PM

I think a good way to support musicians, is to buy recordings. I see I have a number of recordings by Oscar Brand, and I love them all:

• American Dreamer
• Bawdy Sea Shanties
• Bawdy Songs Goes to College
• Election Songs of the United States
• Folk Music Legend
• Get a Dog
• I Sing, You Sing, We All Sing
• Laughing America
• Pie in the Sky
• Presidential Campaign Songs, 1789-1996

It's just so much fun to listen to Oscar Brand, and I'm convinced that he is the Real Thing.

Subject: RE: Oscar Brand's recordings
From: Thomas Stern
Date: 16 Jan 22 - 08:04 PM

The AUDIO FIDELITY Oscar Brand series of Bawdy songs:

12" LP
mono Stereo tape
AFLP AFSD AFST
1906 5906       Vol.1 Bawdy Songs and Back Room Ballads   1955
                   1-1 Roll Your Leg Over 02:37
                   1-2 No Hips At All 02:15
                   1-3 One-Eyed Reilly 02:05
                   1-4 Blow The Candle Out 01:18
                   1-5 Sam Hall 02:23
                   1-6 Limericks 03:42
                   2-1 The Chandler's Wife 01:56
                   2-2 Her Name Was Nell 02:04
                   2-2 Bell Bottom Trousers 02:32
                   2-3 The Sergeant 02:40
                   2-4 Old Joe Clark 01:49
                   2-5 Around Her Neck She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 01:33
                   2-6 Our Goodman 02:24
                   2-7 The Fireship 02:39
                   2-8 Rollin' Down The Mountain 01:52

1806 5806       Vol.2 Bawdy Songs and Back Room Ballad   1956
                   1-1 Zulaika 02:48
                   1-2 Winnipeg Whore 01:37
                   1-3 Chris Colombo 02:25
                   1-4 Ball o' Rarn 02:24
                   1-5 Squire of Great Renown 01:20
                   1-6 A Gob is a Slob 02:30
                   1-7 Limericks 03:07
                   2-1 Erie Canal 02:04
                   2-2 Crusher Bailey 01:56
                   2-3 The Same The 'Ole World Over 01:56
                   2-4 The Hermit 02:07
                   2-5 Foggy Dew 02:48
                   2-6 Darby Ram 01:51
                   2-7 Black Eyed susie 01:47

1824 5824       Vol.3 Bawdy Songs and Backroom Ballads   date???
                   1-1 Seven Old Ladies Locked in a Lavatory 03:13
                   1-2 We Go To College 01:10
                   1-3 The Jolly tinker 02:31
                   1-4 Bella 02:04
                   1-5 Cats on the Rooftops 04:45
                   1-6 Humoresque 01:19
                   1-7 Ring Dang Doo 01:48
                   2-1 Roll Your Leg Over 02:44
                   2-2 Three Prominent bastards 04:42
                   2-3 Red Wing 01:31
                   2-4 Ball Of Ballynoor 02:22
                   2-5 She'll Do It Again 01:58
                   2-6 Kafoozalem 02:26
                   2-7 The Bastard King Of England 02:55

1847 5847 1847 Vol.4 Bawdy Songs & Backroom Ballads   1958
                   1-1 Cindy ...
                   1-2 Tom Bolynn ...
                   1-3 Plymouth town ...
                   1-4 Two Maidens ...
                   1-5 Basket Of Oysters ...
                   1-6 Green Grow The Rashes ...
                   1-7 The cuckoo's Nest ...
                   2-1 Sweet Violets ...
                   2-2 The Money Rolls In ...
                   2-3 I Used To Work In Chicago ...
                   2-4 The Old Sea Chest ...
                   2-5 The Wayward Boy ...
                   2-6 Don't Call Me ...
                   2-7 Roll Me Over ...

1884 5884       Vol.5 Old Time Bawdy Sea Chanties   1958
                   1-1 You're a Liar 01:50
                   1-2 Good Ship venus 02:55
                   1-3 We Set Sail 02:42
                   1-4 Can't Ya Dance 03:05
                   1-5 Bell Bottom Trousers 03:47
                   1-6 A Clean song 01:40
                   1-7 Johnny Come Down to Hilo 02:08
                   2-1 Turali 04:32
                   2-2 Backside Rules the Navy 02:00
                   2-3 Blow the Man Down 03:00
                   2-4 Jenny Wren Bride 03:08
                   2-5 Keyhole in the Door 02:15
                   2-6 There's Nothing Else To Do 01:42
                   2-7 Lulu 02:10

         
1920 5920       Vol.6 Bawdy Western Songs   1960
                   1-1 The Old Grey Bustle 02:23
                   1-2 Chisholm Trail 02:20
                   1-3 As I Was Out Riding 02:21
                   1-4 The Little Brown Bull 01:51
                   1-5 Charlotte the Harlot 02:31
                   1-6 Pinto Pony 01:58
                   1-7 Blinded by Turds 02:13
                   2-1 In Abilene 02:09
                   2-2 Ride On 01:38
                   2-3 I Ride An Old Paint 02:30
                   2-4 My Love Is a Rider 02:38
                   2-5 Poor Little Angeline 02:27
                   2-6 The Texas Boys 01:51
                   2-7 The Great Big Wheel 02:32

1952 5952       Bawdy Songs Goes To College   1961
                   1-1 The Girls From Campus Hall 02:15
                   1-2 Four-Letter Words 03:15
                   1-3 Study In Anatomy 03:00
                   1-4 Drinks all 'Round 02:49
                   1-5 Seniors In town Again 02:02
                   1-6 Glorious 02:45
                   1-7 Correspondence 02:20
                   2-1 The More Vulgar-Minded 01:57
                   2-2 Ride On 01:45
                   2-3 The Duchess And The Student 03:39
                   2-4 Old Soldiers Never die 02:06
                   2-5 Four For Three 03:42
                   2-6 The Codfish Song 02:32
                   2-7 Father's Grave 02:16

1966 5966       Rollicking Sea Shanties    1962
                   1-1 Hullabaloo Belay 01:25
                   1-2 Johnny Come down to Hilo 02:55
                   1-3 Come All Ye Young Sailors 02:18
                   1-4 Johnny Booker 02:20
                   1-5 Blow Ye Winds in the Morning 02:40
                   1-6 A Yankee Ship 01:10
                   1-7 Paul Jones 01:40
                   2-1 High Barbaree 01:55
                   2-2 Rio Grande 01:55
                   2-3 The Ocean Waves May Roll 02:40
                   2-4 Haul Away, Joe 02:10
                   2-5 Johnson's Ale 01:38
                   2-6 William Kidd 02:15
                   2-7 Whiskey Johnny 02:04


1971 5971       Sing Along Bawdy Songs 1962
                   1-1 Do They Hang Too Low 01:37
                   1-2 The Gathering of the Clans 02:55
                   1-3 The Four Letter Words 03:49
                   1-4 Ball of Yarn 02:21
                   1-5 For the Birds 03:08
                   1-6 Clementine 02:30
                   1-7 The Eighteen Pounder 03:15
                   2-1 The Woodpecker's Hole 01:42
                   2-2 Parties, Banquets and Balls 03:12
                   2-3 Limericks 03:05
                   2-4 Come and Tie my Boot around a Tree 02:49
                   2-5 Ta Ra Ra Boom Dee Ay 03:05
                   2-6 Zamboanga 03:12
                   2-7 Sing Hallelujah 02:13

2121 6121       Bawdy Hootenanny 1963 Dave Sear, Banjo
                   1-1 Cindy 02:34
                   1-2 Winnipeg Whore 01:40
                   1-3 Erie Canal 02:05
                   1-4 Money Rolls In 02:22
                   1-5 Charlotte The Harlot 02:31
                   1-6 Chicago 01:52
                   1-7 Gathering Of The Clans 03:17
                   2-1 Susie 01:49
                   2-2 Blinded By Turds 02:13
                   2-3 Don't Call Me 02:52
                   2-4 Roll Me Over 02:00
                   2-5 Plymouth Town 02:32
                   2-6 Chisholm Trail 02:32
                   2-7 Sweet Violets 02:50

There was ONE 10" LP:

AFLP   906 Bawdy Songs and Back Room Ballads   1955
             1-1 Roll Your Leg Over 02:36
             1-2 No Hips At All 02:15
             1-3 One-Eyed Reilly 02:04
             1-4 Blow The Candle Out 01:17
             1-5 Sam Hall 02:23
             1-6 The Chandler's Wife 01:54
             2-1 Her Name Was Lil 02:02
             2-2 Bell Bottom Trousers 02:30
             2-3 The Sergeant 01:42
             2-4 Old Joe Clark 01:47
             2-5 Around Her Neck She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 01:33
             2-6 Our Goodman 02:26
             2-7 Rollin' Down The Mountain 01:52

BEFORE the Audio Fidelity Series a 10" LP:
CHESTERFIELD MUSIC SHOP CMS-101            10" LP 1949
OSCAR BRAND - The Wandering Minstrel
BACK-ROOM BALLADS
[no liner notes-back of album blank]
[possibly also issued by CREST ????]
RAMBLIN' WRETCH
THE FIRESHIP
EARLY ONE MORN
TOM BOLYNN

MAID OF AMSTERDAM
SUNDAY SCHOOL
RED LIGHT SALOON
THE BIGLER

Anyone have further information ????? Thanks.

Thomas.

Subject: RE: Oscar Brand's recordings
From: cnd
Date: 16 Jan 22 - 08:08 PM

I have two of Brand's albums: Bawdy Songs And Backroom Ballads (Audio Fidelity AFLP 906) and American Drinking Songs (Riverside Records RLP 12-630). There are of course some suspicions on the veracity of much of Brand's original 'collected' material, but his musicality is, for me, second to none.

Subject: RE: Oscar Brand's recordings
From: Joe Offer
Date: 16 Jan 22 - 08:21 PM

The artwork on these albums is....rather delectable. Oscar Brand may be dead now, but his libido lasted to the very end.

Subject: RE: Oscar Brand's recordings
From: cnd
Date: 16 Jan 22 - 08:56 PM

Thomas Stern, I have the 10" version of the Back Room Ballads and there most certainly are liner notes - see https://www.discogs.com/release/1880790

I can post and/or send you a transcription if you'd like.

Subject: RE: Oscar Brand's recordings
From: Thomas Stern
Date: 16 Jan 22 - 09:49 PM

Hello CND,
your link goes to the 10" AUDIO FIDELITY albun, NOT the CMS album.
Anyone have the CMS album WITH NOTES ???? PLEASE send a copy!!!!
Thanks.

Subject: RE: Oscar Brand's recordings
From: cnd
Date: 16 Jan 22 - 10:10 PM

Sorry, Thomas, I must have misunderstood the formatting of your list - my apologies.

Subject: RE: Oscar Brand's recordings
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Jan 22 - 12:12 AM

Take a look at the listings on eBay, see if any liner notes are mentioned.

Subject: RE: Oscar Brand's recordings
From: Lighter
Date: 17 Jan 22 - 09:10 AM

The Audio-Fidelity liner notes are humorous and unreliable.

For example, he descrobes Tom Bolynn as a "hero of the sexual world," even though his bawdy version seems to be largely original.

Is anyone aware of a pre-Brand bawdy version? Not impossible....

There are mildly bawdy verses to the related "Brian O'Linn," but Brand's song is uniquely elaborate.

Subject: RE: Oscar Brand's recordings
From: Lighter
Date: 17 Jan 22 - 10:26 AM

Are the '49 and '55 Tom Bolynns identical with the '58 version? I'd be interested to know.

I own the complete set of Audio Fidelity BS & BRB, if anyone has any questions about them.

I'm fairly confident that the release dates offered by Wikipedia are sometimes a few years too early.

Subject: RE: Oscar Brand's recordings
From: wimpee3
Date: 17 Jan 22 - 03:17 PM

Unfortunately I donated all 7,000 albums to Middle Tennessee State University a couple years ago that included many Oscar Brand albums. However I do have the book he published called Bawdy Songs and Back room Ballads that I could copy music and lyrics for you. [e-mail]

Subject: RE: Oscar Brand's recordings
From: Thomas Stern
Date: 17 Jan 22 - 10:24 PM

In the UK some of the Audio Fidelity material was issued here:

RCA International (UK) INTS 1066 electronic stereo    (AFSD 5806 minus 2 cuts)         LP 1968
Bawdy Songs And Backroom Ballads Vol 1
Oscar Brand
A1        Zulaika
A2        Winnipeg Whore
A3        Chris Colombo
A4        Squire Of Great Renown
A5        Limericks
B1        Erie Canal
B2        Crusher Bailey
B3        The Same The 'Ole World Over
B4        The Hermit
B5        Foggy Dew
B6        Darby Ram
B7        Black Eyed Susie



RCA International(Camden)(UK) INTS 1086 electronic stereo [AFSD 5824]                LP 1970
[An Audio-Fidelity Production (p)1968]
Bawdy Songs & Backroom Ballads Vol.2
Oscar Brand, Folk Singer
A1 Seven Old Ladies Locked in a Lavatory
A2 We Go To College
A3 The Jolly Tinker
A4 Bella
A5 Cats on the Rooftops
A6 Humoresque
A7 Ring Dang Doo
B1 Roll Your Leg Over
B2 Three Prominent Bastards
B3 Red Wing (Chattaway, Mills)   
B4 Ball of Ballynoor
B5 She'll Do It Again
B6 Kafoozalem
B7 The Bastard King of England
except as noted, Arr.Brand, Frey.




AUDIO 20 Records (Audiofidelity) (UK)                   LP 1983
20 Hits Oscar Brand
Bacl Room Ballads sung by Oscar Brand
SIDE ONE
Roll Your Leg Over
One Eyed Reilly
Zulaika
Ball of Yarn
erie Canal
Crusher Bailey
Darby Ram
Kafoozalum
Two Maidens
Roll Me Over
SIDE TWO
Black Eyed Susie
Ring Dang Doo
The Winnipeg Whore
The Girls from Campus Hall
Four Letter Words
The More Vulgar Minded
We Set Sail
Johnny Come Down To Hilo
Backside Rules the Navy

Thomas.

Subject: RE: Oscar Brand's recordings
From: Thomas Stern
Date: 17 Jan 22 - 10:42 PM

Missed a track on AUDIO 20, here corrected:

AUDIO 20 Records (Audiofidelity) (UK)                   LP 1983
20 Hits Oscar Brand
Bacl Room Ballads sung by Oscar Brand
SIDE ONE
Roll Your Leg Over
One Eyed Reilly
Zulaika
Ball of Yarn
erie Canal
Crusher Bailey
Darby Ram
Kafoozalum
Two Maidens
Roll Me Over
SIDE TWO
Black Eyed Susie
Ring Dang Doo
The Winnipeg Whore
The Girls from Campus Hall
Four Letter Words
The More Vulgar Minded
We Set Sail
Johnny Come Down To Hilo
Backside Rules the Navy
Jenny Wren Bride


Any UK or EURO listmembers know of other releases ?????


FYI, Brand recorded extensively - some of the labels which
issued his records in no particular order:

Biograph
Caedmon
Tradition
Riverside
Crest
Audio Fidelity
Elektra
Peter Pan
Alcazar
Folkways
Children's Record Guild CRG
ABC Paramount
Miller Brody
Kapp
Esoteric
Roulette
Pickwick
Decca
Gypsy Hill
Old Town
Arabesque
National Geographic
.......


Cheers Thomas.

Subject: RE: Oscar Brand's recordings
From: Lighter
Date: 18 Jan 22 - 09:33 AM

Nice going, Thomas!

Subject: RE: Oscar Brand's recordings
From: cnd
Date: 18 Jan 22 - 10:04 AM

Thomas and Lighter,

I'm in contact with a seller on Discogs about purchasing a copy and finding out if there are liner notes. Brand hasn't quite found the same revitalized folk appeal as others in the folk world, so his record prices are still fairly reasonable. The man I'm talking with is asking only $10 for the album, though the condition is regretfully only "VG".

Any version of Tom Bolynn I've found online with a year indicated has been the 1958 release. Which album does the 55 one come from? I'm not seeing it.

Subject: RE: Oscar Brand's recordings
From: Lighter
Date: 18 Jan 22 - 05:43 PM

Sorry, Carter "1955" was my mistake. (The old memory banks, they ain't what they used to be).

As Thomas noted above, "Tom Bolynn" appeared on the 10", 1949 "Backroom Ballads."

Vol. 4 notes only: "A very ancient song, this has been found by Oscar Brand in half a dozen different versions in many countries. It is apparently based on the exploits of one Tam Lynn, legendary king of the fairies and a hero of the sexual world."

Subject: RE: Oscar Brand's recordings
From: Lighter
Date: 18 Jan 22 - 05:49 PM

BTW, the copyright date on Vol. 4 is "1957," not '58.

Subject: RE: Oscar Brand's recordings
From: cnd
Date: 19 Jan 22 - 09:03 AM

Thanks for the corrections.

After I asked, the seller did inform me that there are no back liner notes whatsoever on the '1949' CMS Back-Room Ballads album.

I just purchased the copy I was talking about yesterday, so hopefully we can have an answer soon. The seller promises quick shipment so it's possible I'll have an answer before the start of next week! We'll see, though.

Subject: RE: Oscar Brand's recordings
From: Bill D
Date: 19 Jan 22 - 01:36 PM

I have "Bawdy Backroom" vols. 1,2,3,4 as MP3s..collected from odd sources since 2014... a numbers of other albums as MP3 as well.

Subject: RE: Oscar Brand's recordings
From: cnd
Date: 25 Jan 22 - 08:14 PM

Finally got a copy of the CMS 101 Back-Room Ballads
. Seller was correct, there indeed are no liner notes on the back.

A few other things worth noting:

- Song A4, identified on the album as The Fireship, is actually The Three Coachmen
- Song B4, Old King Cole, was also recorded by Brand on his album American Drinking Songs, but it is obviously a different recording since it doesn't have Erik Darling. The Drinking Songs version is much more lively and faster, and has a nice vocal harmony. The Back-Room Ballads version has different voices or indicators to make each rank obvious, but in the 1956 recording the lyrics are all sung the same. I can break down the lyrics later but after an initial listening, they sound the same.
- Song B2, Red Light Saloon, was also recorded on the Drinking Songs album, but this time the recordings are stylistically very similar. Same case with the lyrics, but again, I don't have the time at the moment to compare.
- Song A4, The Three Coachmen, is again also on the 1956 album. These two are similar again, but this time a bit more different.

Now, to the two differences Lighter was asking about. It is again a different recording because the 1955 recording has a vocal harmony to it while the 1949 recording does not. I can send you all my recordings if you'd like to compare, Jonathan. Or Thomas, if you'd like.

Subject: RE: Oscar Brand's recordings
From: Lighter
Date: 26 Jan 22 - 11:15 AM

Hi, Carter. Thanks for the offer! 1949 is the only BS&BB album I've never heard.

I've always been partial to Brand's Tom Bolynn tune, which he seems to have modified from that collected by Helen Hartness Flanders.

Brand seems not to have copyrighted the album, so it would be great if you could email it to me.

Subject: RE: Oscar Brand's recordings
From: oldhippie
Date: 26 Jan 22 - 09:08 PM

One album not mentioned is "Sports Car Songs For Big Wheels"; not bawdy but funny.

1960; Golden Guinea GGL 0223