Customer Reviews

The Early Years, 1901-1909

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This and the two other Bert Williams CDs are among the most treasured in my collection. Here's why.

These are the earliest recordings of the FOUNDATION of modern comedy,Mr. Egbert Austin Williams and his partner George Walker (in some of these).

Williams & Walker tried to uplift Black entertainment beyond the limits of minstrelsy in shows like "Sons of Ham" and "Abyssinia." Songs from these shows appear here. W&W riff off of each other and amiably clown on tunes like "I Don't Like the Face You Wear," "Good Morning Carrie," "My Little Zulu Babe" (which is actually a tribute to African women-WAY ahead of its time), and the lovely "Pretty Desdamone" which was Walker's last recording. Had Walker and Williams each lived longer, Amos and Andy's career would have never gotten off the ground.

A few songs such as "Junie" and "Miss Dinah Fair" have Walker on solo. It is clear from the clipped tone of his enunciation that he is trying to improve the popular perception of how Black folks spoke. But the rest of this is Bert Williams' show. "All Going Out and Nothing Coming In" and "All in Out" are amusing lyrical forerunners to Bessie Smith's "When You're Down and Out." "Where Was Moses When the Lights Went out" was the first recording of Bert's preacher routines. "Let it Alone" may raise some PC feathers over it's treatment of domestic violence, and "Here it Comes Again" is a funny tale of Bert unwittingly insulting a friend's wife and sister. "She's Getting More Like The White Folks Every Day" is a howl, and the 1906 rendition of Bert's classic "Nobody" is the best that I've heard.

Over a century later, most of this is still enjoyable and amusing (try to stop humming "Pretty Desdamone" and "All Going Out and Nothing Coming In" constatly after hearing them). For audiophiles, century-old acoustic recordings will prove to be an acquired taste and the 1901 recording may require some earstrain. But once you get past that, you'll see why Louis Armstrong, Eddie Cantor, Louis Jordan, Hadda Brooks, and so many people who were around at the time loved Bert Williams so. Trust me, buy this and the "Middle Years" and "His Final Recordings" and you will too.

Bert's records are like little cartoons without the pictures and filled with imaginative touches. Still fun to listen to after 100 years. Archeophone records deserves an award for bringing this GREAT entertainer's work back to light. This will give him the long overdue acclaim that he has deserved! Even after a century-BERT RULES!

I have written alot lately about the downside of the audio/visual industry.How we as consumers are constantly being bombarded with inferior manufacturing and product.
Well I'm happy to report this CD is NOT in that category.Here we have a company that not only cares about its' product but produces one that lives up to the most exacting standards of any consumer whether they be casual or audiophile.
Archeophone has scoured the world to compile this long overdue series of historic recordings.Many of these recordings were thought irretrievably gone forever but have been found and restored back to the best possible fidelity.And the results are astounding.
This CD is the first in order but the last to be released due to the difficulty in obtaining copies(the best available were used but in some cases only one of each was found!).These are,as the title says,the earliest of the recordings of Bert Williams either solo or in some cases with his partner George Walker.
The life and times of Bert Williams are more than amply described in the accompanying booklets in each CD that contain copious adecdotes,stories,photos and first hand accounts of this famous stage star.They alone are worth the price of purchase.
The first 13 cuts on this CD are unfortunately not of the greatest quality.The producers inform us that there may possibly have been a defect in the actual recording equipment as all of these cuts have the same problem and were recorded on the same day.But considering what sources they had to work with it is a miracle they are transferred as good as they are and we have the Archeophone technicians to thank for that.
We are also informed that there have been rumours of other Bert Williams recordings that MAY be extant,along with some reject/outakes.If any of these are found Archeophone say they will release them on a future CD.And they make an appeal for anyone that may have ANY copies of Bert Williams recordings not already in this collection in any form(flat discs or cylinders) to come forward so they may lovingly restore them and bring them back in all their glory.
Archeophone is setting an example here that ALL other companies in their field both big and small should be following and I cannot praise or commend them enough.
This is a must own CD not only from its' entertainment value but its'historic value also.And while these CDs may or may not actually prove to be the "complete" Bert Williams they are at this moment the most complete collection of his songs anywhere in the world public or private.

I have to say I was skeptical when I peeled the cellophane off of this one; the earliest Bert Williams recordings from century-old 10" and 7" discs and various sizes of cylinders? That was a very lofty project to try and tackle. But Archeophone did it with style! I first became acquainted with this reissue label through their "Complete Hit of the Week" CD series, which knocked my socks off, and inspired me to try more Archeophone stuff. I haven't been disappointed yet.

I'll let the historians remark on the social significance of these early African-American recordings, I'll just talk about the sound.

The Williams CD is an extraordinary project, combining the ultra-rare 1901 Victor recordings and a variety of other labels and formats. I appreciate the fact that Archeophone didn't over-filter the material; the Victors in particular, often thought to be poorly recorded, show remarkable fidelity, even with a lot of noise. It's easy to drop $1,000 for one of these early sides in good condition, and Archeophone offers them ALL for the price of a CD! A bargain by any standard.

Get your copy before they disappear!

If this music is your type of thing (and of course, it isn't EVERYONE'S type of thing anymore), this disc is for you. Me, I love Bert Williams.

Actually, ALL of the discs put out by Archeophone are fantastic. They manage to find very good-sounding discs and clean them up just enough to sound good but not ruin the music. (In other words, yes, there's crackle here and there, but at least the music sounds clean and crisp instead of muffled, as can often happen with noise reduction.) Naturally the older the discs, the less clean they'll sound, but they're all quite listenable. If you're interested in more of their CD's, look them up on Amazon or go to their web site (which is the name of the company, [...]). They've got samples of every track on every one of their discs.

I have almost all of their discs, so I have this basic review up on all of them.

This is all-but forgotten American history at its best. The average Joe may not have the attention span to give this set the focus it deserves, but it is a fantastic labor of love by the Archeophone label. Never have I seen another label offer such carefully researched and beautiful liner notes that are so worthy of the historical musical recordings themselves. Excellent job again, Archeophone! As with other Archeophone releases, I cannot conceive of a way this could have possibly been done more thoroughly or beautifully. Buy this and the other two Bert Williams volumes. The other two may suit better for casual listening, but you'll really need all three. Enjoy!

Bert Williams was a pioneer in breaking the color line on Broadway. There are few more gut-wrenching and heartfelt songs than "Nobody." The melodies are too monotonous but the words reward careful listening. The sound of the earliest recordings is rough, especially in volume 1 of the 3 recently issued by Archeophone. I recommend listening to a few numbers at a time rather than subjecting yourself to a full 70 minutes at one sitting. Though I don't plan to listen to any of these three volumes often, I compliment Archeophone Records for making these historically important recodings available, with careful and loving mastering, outstanding liner notes, and beautiful illustrations. Overall I would rate volume 1 three stars and volumes 2 and 3 four stars. Support Archeophone by buying their other CDs.