Charles Daab and William Dorn
When Albert Benzler decided to leave Edison in 1908, he recommended that his friend Charles Daab should audition for the job. Daab signed an agreement with Edison as a xylophone and bells recording artist on July 2, 1910. He quickly made three xylophone and two bells recordings on Edison two-minute wax cylinders. The Gerhardt Collection includes recordings in both the Gold Moulded celluloid and Blue Amberol formats.
Charles Daab. Photo reproduced from Composers and Artists whose Art is Re-Created by Edison’s New Art (c. 1920), Thomas A. Edison, Inc. Gerhardt Collection
William Dorn. Photos reproduced from Composers and Artists whose Art is Re-Created by Edison’s New Art (c. 1920), Thomas A. Edison, Inc. Gerhardt Collection
In 1916, the same year a new group of xylophone players joined the Edison stable to replace Charles Daab, he recorded the duet Marriage Bells, featuring John F. Burckhardt on bells. With William Dorn, he recorded a xylophone duet, the “So So” Polka. Dorn would record one more solo a year later, and Burckhardt produced two more bells solos and a few piano solos for Edison as a member of the studio staff. Dorn was with Edison between 1916 and 1917, and Burckhardt recorded for Edison between 1916 and 1919.
This information is taken from The New Amberola Graphic, No. 79 (Jan 1992): 4. See also William Cahn, The Xylophone in Acoustic Recordings (1877 to 1929). Bloomfield, NY: Cahn Publishing, 1996.
