Search - Vaughn DeLeath :: Original Radio Girl Edison Lateral 5

The First Lady Of Radio

Annie Van Auken | Planet Earth | 01/16/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Vaughn DeLeath ("The Original Radio Girl") was credited with inventing "crooning," a style later employed by Bing Crosby and others. DeLeath did so to solve a technical problem. Early linear radio amplifier tubes were delicate and suseptible to shorting out from powerful female vocalists, so DeLeath cooed her numbers in a low, lullabye style.



In the 1920s, Vaughn DeLeath was quite popular. Today, very few remember who she was. This is a shame, because this gal's mellow alto voice was so pleasant to hear. Several sides on EDISON LATERALS 5 * VAUGHN DELEATH are never-released test pressings. The laterally recorded discs the EDISON company made in the last year or so of its existence were treated with indifference, shoved onto dusty shelves in the Edison Laboratory attic. That any have survived at all is miraculous.



Some tracks in this set would nowadays be considered politically incorrect, as they're sung in dialect. "Mah Lindy Lou," "Dusky Stevedore" and "Honey, I'se A Waitin' Jes' Fo' Yo'" are examples of what were once called "coon songs," while "Mariana" has DeLeath using a pseudo-Italian accent. On many selections here, she performs with only piano backup, which is usually the way DeLeath appeared on NBC radio. And that is the appeal of this album-- the chance to turn back the clock to the 1920s and experience "The First Lady Of Radio" in her element.



TOTAL RUNNING TIME -- 68:17"