Re: [ARSCLIST] Shout Factory Poetry Box still continues Walt Whitman Cylinder hoax

[Bryan E Cornell <bcor@xxxxxxx>]

Weirdly, the last time this myth showed up * although obliquely * was in the film "The Gangs of New York."  If you watch the commentary on the DVD, Scorcese says that Daniel Day Lewis based his accent for his character (an 1850's butcher and gangster) on the Whitman recording.  Scorcese clearly believed it was an authentic recording of a 19th century New York accent.

Bryan

>>> davlew@xxxxxxxxxxxx 11/22/06 4:19 PM >>>
Steve,

You have NO IDEA how hard it is to combat this situation. When the Shout
Factory piece was reviewed for AMG, there was no mention of the controversy
and I called the writer's attention to it. When I told him about it, he at
first got very angry and thought that I was challenging HIM on the matter.
Later when things cooled down and I was able to make clear that my info was
credible, he apologized and modified his review to reflect the controversy. 

Admittedly, when Shout Factory circulates statements like:
"the first time he  heard it, a flock of birds flew 
to the ceiling of the church he was in at the  moment Whitman's voice hit
the 
air."

this is confusing to journalists, who tend to be a subjective lot anyway
(present company included!) and it stacks the deck against fact just so that
the company can CYA. Not cool.

Happy Thanksgiving!    

David N. Lewis
Assistant Classical Editor, All Music Guide

"Music expresses what one cannot say, but about which one cannot remain
silent." - Victor Hugo

-----Original Message-----
From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
[mailto:ARSCLIST@xxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Steve Ramm
Sent: Wednesday, November 22, 2006 2:46 PM
To: ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
Subject: [ARSCLIST] Shout Factory Poetry Box still continues Walt Whitman
Cylinder hoax

I got an email today from Shout Factory about their box sets for the
holiday 
gift season. One was:
 
_Shout!  Factory - Poetry on Record - Poetry on Record: 98 Poets Read Their 
Work  (1888-2006)_ 
(http://www.shoutfactory.com/selection/292/poetry_on_record_poetry_on_record
:_98_poets_read_their_work_(1888-2006).html)  
 
As you will see the fraudulent Walt Whitman cylinder is included. No matter

what we do, we can't kill this myth. It certainly is great for promoting a 
set,  showing how early they went back to include it.
 
I wrote to SF and sent them the NPR story on the cylinder. The reply I got  
was:
 
 
Rebekah addresses this in her  essay: Of  the three Edison recordings, only 
the one of  the American giant of modern poetry, Walt Whitman, has had its 
authenticity  questioned. We know that Edison wished to  record Whitman, and
we 
know that Whitman (who was so tireless a self-promoter  that he once
reviewed 
his own book!) would have liked to be recorded. His  four-line poem,
"America," 
 published in the 1889 edition of Leaves Of  Grass, seems too obscure to be 
chosen by a forger. As Galway Kinnell  points out, Whitman wanted to be seen
as 
more patriotic and acceptable to the  general public late in his life, which

is why he wrote such work as  "America."  Still, the original wax cylinder 
has never been found and neither has any  documentation verifying that the 
recording session took place. Kinnell, who says  he is unsure of the
recording's 
authenticity, also says that the first time he  heard it, a flock of birds
flew 
to the ceiling of the church he was in at the  moment Whitman's voice hit
the 
air.  
I'm  posting this JUST incase any Sound Archives have purchased this set. 
They should  be aware. The same thing happened about a year ago with a book
and 
CD set  "Poetry Speaks" from Source Books. 
Steve