Tim Gracyk's video: Peter On The Sea Fisk University Jubilee Quartette Edison Amberol 978 1912 Negro spiritual

Fisk University Jubilee Quartette sings "Peter On The Sea" on Edison Amberol 978 (1912). With singers changing often, this offshoot of the Fisk Jubilee Singers has had a long recording history, making records even into modern times. Fisk University was established in Nashville, Tennessee, immediately after the Civil War. George L. White, a white Northerner from Cardiz, New York, was the school's treasurer as well as the first to instruct Fisk students in vocal music. According to J.B.T. Marsh's account in The Story of the Jubilee Singers (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1898), the first public concert was given in the spring of 1867. Standard concert fare was mixed with spirituals and plantation songs, and audiences were enthusiastic hearing spirituals "concertized" for the first time. Within a few years the Fisk Jubilee Singers attracted international attention. The original company disbanded, but another Jubilee Singers was formed by Prof. John Wesley Work, Sr. (1873-1925), an instructor of Latin and history at Fisk until the turn of the century. He led the singers on tour throughout the United States until 1916. With his brother Frederick, John Wesley Work published in 1901 New Jubilee Songs and then in 1907 Folk Songs of the American Negro, two influential volumes. An African-American quartet consisting of singers with the Jubilee Singers began recording in late 1909, making its debut with "1) Little David, Play on Yo' Harp; 2) Shout All Over God's Heaven" backed by "I Couldn't Hear Nobody Pray" (Victor 16448). Victor labels in the popular series do not normally identify members of its several recording quartets, but on early pressings of Victor 35097, a twelve-inch record, members of the Fisk University Jubilee Quartet are listed as "J.W. Work--N.W. Rider--J.A. Myers--Alfred G. King." The same names are given on ten-inch Victor 16448, on both early and late pressings. Later pressings of Victor 35097 do not identify members but add on the label "unaccompanied." On the twelve-inch disc the quartet performs Stephen Foster's "Old Black Joe," identified as "Negro Song." Labels on Victor 16487--"There is a Balm in Gilead" and "The Great Campmeeting"--state "Negro Male Quartet unaccompanied" to the right of the spindle hole. Labels on Victor 16864--"Band of Gideon" and "My Soul is a Witness"--state "Negro Quartet." The March 1912 issue of Edison Phonograph Monthly announced the release of nine wax Amberol cylinders featuring the quartet: 978: (a) Peter on the Sea; (b) The Ole Ark 979: (a) Shout All Over God's Heaven; (b) Little David 980: Roll, Jordan, Roll 981: Crossing the Bar 982: All Over This World 983: The Band of Gideon 984: My Soul is a Witness 985: The Great Campmeeting 986: Swing Low, Sweet Chariot After the introduction in 1912 of new Edison products--Blue Amberol cylinders as well as Diamond Discs--dealers did not carry the quartet's wax Amberols for long. Dealers could special order wax Amberols until January 5, 1914 but they naturally pushed the new celluloid Blue Amberols instead of the old wax Amberol product. In the 1920s all titles were reissued as Blue Amberols with the exception of "My Soul is a Witness." The first Blue Amberol cylinder was "All Over This World" (4045), issued for sixty cents in August 1920. A performance by the quartet was issued on a Blue Amberol cylinder as late as November 1927: "The Band Of Gideon" (5442). Jim Walsh wrote in the October 1962 issue of Hobbies, "A few Jubilee Quartet records were issued on Edison Diamond Discs under the name of the Southern Four." Diamond Discs 50885 (issued in 1921) and 51364 (issued in 1924) feature the Southern Four. The March 1912 issue of Edison Phonograph Monthly identifies the singers as John W. Work (first tenor); Roland W. Hayes (second tenor); Leon P. O'Hara (first bass) and Charles Wesley (second bass). With the exception of leader Work, all quartet members who sang for Victor a few years earlier had been replaced. Roland Hayes (1887 - 1977) would later enjoy success as a concert performer and recording artist. The Edison Amberols are his earliest recordings. The group began recording for Columbia in 1915. It is called the "Fisk University Male Quartette" on some labels, such as Columbia A2803, and the "Fiske [sic] University Male Singers" in the 1921 Columbia catalog (it includes a photograph of four singers), which is corrected to "Fisk University Male Singers" in the 1922 catalog. "Peter On The Sea" Fisk University Jubilee Quartette Edison Amberol 978 (1912) Negro spiritual