1920: Even Water's Getting Weaker (Phonographic Yearbook Series)

I am addicted to this whole series! These are WONDERFUL to listen to while reading an antique 1890s-1922 magazine (I usually get mine off E-Bay.) REALLY rounds out your knowledge of what the society was like back then - some songs are patriotic or romantic and respect "traditional" values; many are quite "naughty" or disrespectful! Some VERY clever lyrics!BRAVO!

Great

1920: Even water's Getting Weaker gives us twenty-five excellent tracks from the very early days of Prohibition. We hear Bert Williams, Van and Schenck and many other artists lamenting the amendment to the Constitution banning alcohol. These artists come up with clever, snazzy ways to sing songs about the passing of their friend "Al" (alcohol). There are other early jazz numbers on this CD that reflect the overall mood of the times with the new art form of jazz. This CD showcases the biggest hits of 1920 even though a few of these numbers were recorded in 1919.The track set begins with Al Jolson singing the triumphant ballad "I've Got My Captain Working For Me Now." You just can't help but enjoy the underdog's delight at giving orders to his former boss in the armed forces during the First World War. The arrangement uses the horns well for "I've Got My Captain Working For Me Now." Excellent!Bert Williams does a great job on "The Moon Shines On The Moonshine." Bert's excellent diction bolsters this number and the strings enhance this, too. "The Moon Shines On The Moonshine" allows Bert to express his sadness over Prohibition. Give a listen and you'll hear a few bars of "How Dry I Am," too! "When My Baby Smiles At Me" sports a jazzy flavor to it; and "Dardanella" gives us a wildly successful instrumental performance by Selvin's Novelty Orchestra."All The Boys Love Mary" will amuse you; Van and Schenck sing gleefully of how all the guys want to be nice to Mary because her cellar is full of "hooch." Terrific! "Swanee" jumps back to the type of song that reflects the mood of the times with its nostalgic look back at the South. Al Jolson does "Swanee" to perfection without a superfluous note."Prohibition Blues" by Nora Bayes allows Nora to lament Prohibition; it sports a great blues melody. Nora playfully refers to alcohol as her old friend "Al." "Whispering" gives us another early jazz number that illustrates how jazz was coming of age in 1920. I predict that you will enjoy "Whispering" very, very much. In addition, Irving Berlin's "I'll See You In C-u-b-a" wistfully has us wishing that we were going to 1920s Cuba "where wine is flowing."Marion Harris delivers "The St. Louis Blues" very well with a great orchestral accompaniment--who could ask for anything more than these awesome numbers?The liner notes include an extensive, informative essay about America and its moods at this time and there are great photos of the recording artists on this disc. There are also mini-histories of each song with song credits to give you even more information about what you're hearing.Overall, this CD doesn't always reflect the politically correct values of our time but the historical significance of these songs cannot be denied. The sound quality has some surface noise because these tracks were recorded directly from the 78s of the time; but the remastering eliminated any pops and cracks. Great!I highly recommend this CD for history buffs who also enjoy music from these days; and people who get pleasure from very early jazz and jazz vocals will hold onto this CD for years to come.Enjoy!

It is all very well to read books about the old time songs and those who sang them and quite another actually to hear them being sung. Then twice blessed are the smaller labels that can take chances and issue CDs that are targeted to small but appreciative audiences. Such a label is Archeophone with their Phonographic Yearbook series, of which I already have "1890s, Vol. 1 and 2," "1922," and now "1920: Even Water's Getting Weaker" (ARCH 9001A). Here we have 24 tracks of recordings that appeared in 1919 and 1920. You will find such titles as "The Love Nest" (used by Burns & Allen as their theme), "When My Baby Smiles at Me," "Swanee," "Prohibition Blues," "Whispering," and "Rose of Washington Square." And you hear Paul Whiteman and his Ambassador Orchestra, Art Hickman's Orchestra, Al Jolson, Bert Williams, Edith Day, and Eddie Cantor, among others. Space limitations make it impossible for me to list them all-but they all are wonderful. The booklet gives you a good background of the times, notes on each selection, and some wonderful photos of exploding beer barrels and the singers that drank from those that got away. Yes, there will be offensive racial references; but we cannot ignore the shameful part of our history without doing a 1984-type rewrite on it. Grab this one and the others.

There are a lot of great songs on this cd, as with the whole phonographic yearbook series, they take the most successful tunes of the year, and giv eyou the original recording. takes you back doesnt it? I own this, and also I own 1907, 1908, 1912. Great stuff from billy murray etc. IF you like vintage music, gotta try this series.