Miss Patricola Home-Talkie sound film "I'd rather be blue over you"

[@JCJasion]

This soundie shows much more depth to Isabella Patricola. What a wonderfully warm and emoting artist.

[@andrewbarrett1537]

Yes, exactly. The acoustic recording process distorted the sound of nearly every artist and instrument who sat before the various different recording horns in various different studios and did not provide a very rich or accurate representation of how they actually sounded, and thus most people today have very distorted ideas of how they actually played/sounded. There were some exceptions of course (certain singers with perfect voices for the acoustic phonograph, like Enrico Caruso and Billy Murray; certain instruments like the banjo and the xylophone, which reproduced startlingly well with great realism). If amplification / tubes etc had been invented/figured out in the 1890s and electrical recording had been implemented back then (whether with cylinders or discs or both), things would have been completely different, than with electrical recording only being widely implemented starting about 1925.

[@garymattscheck9066]

A hidden treasure.

[@drsunshine1959]

How wonderful to hear and SEE her!

[@andrewbarrett1537]

I LOVE the snappy and excellent way Abel Baer plays on this!!! Very nice 20s piano!!! He sounds like he has been listening a lot to Pete Wendling and pianists like that, and the way he ends "I'd Rather Be Blue" is in fact a Wendling-style ending. His ballad playing on "That's How I Feel About You" is also very nice and elegant. I wonder if this is also the only known film footage of him as well? It's so GREAT to finally hear Miss Patricola on an electrical recording AND see her performing as well! As mentioned below, we get a much better sense of what she music have been like, performing live, than we do on the acoustic discs which distort the sound and offer a narrower range of frequency response. HOWEVER, I would hope that (like with Marion Harris and others who made talkies as well as early acoustic discs), we can first watch and listen to them and get that 'sound picture' of their actual voice in our heads, and then go back and listen to the acoustic records with new ears, and a new appreciation for their artistry. The fact she is playing viola (or violin?) WHILE SINGING, and doing both quite well, is amazing!!! I've never seen anyone do that before! Thanks for posting!

[@HMinot]

Ahhh! Keeping the Past Alive!

[@BFDT-4]

This is the only film/video we have of Miss Patricola? Wow!

[@Chexydecimal]

This is just wonderful.

[@andrewbarrett1537]

I also very much like the little bit of "Kiss Me Again" by Victor Herbert that she puts in at 4:55. Very nice!

[@rgsfield]

Was Ms Patricola sister of dancer Tom Patricola? If so what a talented family!

[@MrSuperbatone]

Patricola, we hardly knew ye! It's great to see her in action. Or see her, PERIOD! I had never seen even a photo of her. AND until this, there were NO electrical recordings - she was quite prolific on Victor and Vocalion, but seems to have stopped making records before 1925. Also, WHO KNEW she played Viola?? AND quite well, too! Flabbergasting! This film changes history! Thanks Harry! Thanks Steven! Thanks Jim! Thanks David! Thanks Dale!

[@homzymusic]

She plays violin - not viola. On the bridge, we see a mute - placed there so the volume balances with her voice.

[@MrSuperbatone]

@@homzymusic I sit corrected, Mr. Homzy.

[@pghcoyote]

She did have one electrically recorded disc for Edison, 14001/52563 (lateral/vertical cut), Nothing to do (but think of you) and Olaf ("You ought-a hear Olaf laff"). Abel Baer co-wrote the latter. Recorded March 29, 1929.

[@MrSuperbatone]

@@pghcoyote Great news! I'm glad to hear it. As she was a "shouter," Patricola's voice was best suited for acoustical recording, as was Jolson's or Sophie Tucker's. But being a "shouter" didn't stop THEM from recording electrically. So I wonder why Patricola stopped. It would be lovely to hear some of her (nonexistent) electrical Vocalions or Victors from later in the decade. So I'm happy to know about this Edison. Thanks for bringing it to our attention!

[@pghcoyote]

@@MrSuperbatone I uploaded it to my channel today. Enjoy!

[@1928jazz]

This is really wonderful! Seeing Isabella Patricola sing and songwriter Abel Baer at piano is a treat. The second song she sang, "That's How I Feel About You", was sung more famously by Libby Holman, but it's pretty good here!

[@WheezerTheGeezer]

No kidding! Did Libby Holman record this song? Couldn't find it on KZbin.

[@perfectjazz78]

@@WheezerTheGeezer Belle Baker, not Holman

[@1928jazz]

@@perfectjazz78 Right...thanks!

[@michaeloleary1867]

Great!

[@JeffreyRBroido]

Wonderful!

[@davidclarke10]

How do you like this film compared to the 50s films?

[@joenelson9489]

I would marry the charming Miss Patricola.

[@andrewbarrett1537]

Given the lyrics and subject matter of the two songs, I have to wonder if this was something she privately recorded as a memento/keepsake for her husband? If so, what a wonderful gift!

[@homzymusic]

This video runs about a 1/2 tone flat. They perform it in the key of C. Restoring it to the correct key will increase the speed of the performance, making it more energized as one would have heard it in 1929.

[@MrSuperbatone]

GLAD you caught that, too, Andrew! Great minds think alike: I bumped up the speed to C-major as well, using "Audacity," and it makes all the difference in the world. (Unfortunately, NOT-so-great minds think alike, too!)

[@rogerhill8615]

You must without doubt be a pessimistic character with a crab apple face

[@andrewbarrett1537]

@@rogerhill8615 Not sure how you got that from these two comments. I think they're both trying to be helpful in making this observation. Hopefully someone will tweak it and post a slightly faster version in the right pitch/key. Now, one needs to figure out whether the piano would be tuned to A-435 or A-440 before arriving at the 'correct' speed, since this was recorded in a transitional era when many pianos and other instruments were still A-435, and only by about 1928 or so was A-440 a more-or-less standardized pitch. It sounds fine to me here, but I can imagine how it will be even 'clearer', richer, fuller, and more realistic-sounding (have more 'presence') at the right playback speed/pitch/tempo. I have personally heard that happen with many recordings. At the wrong speed they're a bit muffled sounding and although enjoyable, don't have as much presence, but at the right speed, they 'come alive'.

[@rogerhill8615]

@@andrewbarrett1537

[@rogerhill8615]

Another miserable moaner?

[@registerednurse9217]

The second song sung as a ballad is the best. Such a shame most of her recorded output are silly comedic numbers...

[@rogerhill8615]

Get a life, stop finding fault

[@andrewbarrett1537]

I mean she does very well on the snappy opener. BUT- I agree, her ballad singing is phenomenal here.