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Parlor Guitar
(fossil 1605)
[click picture for bigger, clearer, image]
Released in 2005
how
to order this cd
(available for download,
too)
[Looking
for sheet music/tab or the book? CLICK HERE]
This was a labor of love. An all-instrumental album of fingerstyle
arrangements of some classic tunes. "Parlor Guitar" actually has a double meaning: The
guitar I play on this recording is known as a parlor guitar -- smaller in size than the modern
acoustic guitar. A century ago, the small guitar was the normal size -- meant
for drawing rooms. Secondly, the melodies on this album are from the
"parlor song era" -- the early 20th and late 19th centuries (basically before radio and electrical
recording.)
This is music I have been collecting and arranging for my own amusement for years. Some of the great composers are represented: Gershwin, Kern, Berlin, Eubie Blake, etc. Much of the music is from tin pan alley, but there is also a set of hymns from the era, a set of choir tunes, and a few other traditions.
Ten of these tracks have been transcribed for guitar and published as a book by the Hal Leonard Corporation. If you are a guitarist looking for some fingerstyle arrangements, check out Parlor Guitar, the book.
The Tracks:
[The mp3 samples are in "FM" quality and last about 25 seconds -- click link to listen, or right-click to download, depending on how your browser is equipped]
1 They Didn't Believe Me
Jerome Kern 1914 mp3
sample
2 You Made Me Love You James V. Monaco 1913
Ida (Sweet as Apple Cider)
Eddie Munson 1903
mp3
sample
3 Swanee George Gershwin 1919 mp3
sample
4 Tishomingo Blues Spencer Williams 1918
mp3
sample
5 I'm Just Wild About Harry Eubie Blake 1921
Avalon Vincent Rose w/ Al Jolson & Giacomo Puccini 1920
mp3
sample
6 Sobre las olas (Over the Waves) Juventino Rosas 1884
mp3
sample
7 Paper Doll Johnny S. Black 1915
Glowworm Paul Lincke 1902
mp3
sample
8 My Buddy Walter Donaldson 1922
After You've Gone John Turner Layton 1916
mp3
sample
9 Alexander's Ragtime Band Irving Berlin 1911
mp3
sample
10 Low in the Grave He Lay Robert Lowry 1874
A New Name in Glory Charles Austin Miles 1905
In the Garden Charles Austin Miles 1912
The Message of His Coming
Robert E. Winsett 1914 mp3
sample
11 Illinois Archibald Johnson 1893
Indiana James F. Hanley 1917
mp3
sample
12 April Showers Louis Silvers 1921
mp3
sample
13 Tiger Rag Nick La Rocca, et al 1917
mp3
sample
14 Annie Laurie Alicia Anne Spottiswoode 1835
Aura Lea George R. Poulton 1861
Santa Lucia Luigi Gordigiani 1848
Endearing Young Charms Thomas Moore
1832 mp3
sample
15 Grand Old Rag George M. Cohan 1906
mp3
sample
All recordings (P) 2005 Joel Mabus
All arrangements (c) 2005 Joel Mabus
based on songs in the public domain
information on sheet music/tab
info on the book, Parlor Guitar
Click here to return to the Recordings Page
© 2008 Joel Mabus