Joe Franklin Discusses Billy Murray and Other Early Recording Artists

On Wednesday, August 5, 2009, I interviewed the late Joe Franklin in his crowded office at 300 West 43rd Street in New York City. This was one of two interviews I taped with him. Joe conducted countless interviews with many notable personalities of the past over the last several decades. In this case, I wanted to capture and preserve whatever information I could about early talent of the acoustic recording era (in the days before the microphone, or before Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby found their way to fame). We discussed many individuals during this half-hour interview. Joe met Billy Murray, Arthur Fields, Irving Kaufman, Charles Harrison, Reinald Werrenrath, and several others in his early years of broadcasting, and even corresponded with Henry Burr when he was appearing on the "National Barn Dance" in Chicago.

I originally taped this interview for my private use and never really meant for it to become public. For one, I was EXTRAORDINARILY nervous being taped with this long-standing talk show host (I couldn't imagine how many great personalities of the past he has interviewed, and here I was sitting next to him), therefore, you'll hear lots of pauses and "ums" on my part. I may not have the most pleasing voice to listen to, but the main purpose of this taping was to preserve whatever Joe could remember of these early recording giants. Second, regarding being able to preserve those memories, disappointingly, Joe couldn't recall much about them anecdotally. Both of his phones also continued to ring during the interview and I had to put the recorder on pause continuously (and try to remember where I left off). As an expert on such artists, honestly, I did not learn much of anything new from this interview.

I felt, however, that others may have some interest in hearing Joe talk about such artists, whether you may be able to glean any new information from him or not. (Think of it this way: this was someone who MET Billy Murray and Arthur Fields!). And since he has now passed away, I thought everyone would enjoy hearing his voice once again on a previously unreleased personal recording I made, just so we can hear Joe talk about a subject he rarely ever discussed in his later years: "Favorite Pioneer Recording Artists."