Len Spencer | Phonozoic

Len Spencer
Sound Recordings (alphabetical by title)

This listing also includes collaborations in which Spencer is accompanied by other performers (e.g. Parke Hunter, Fred Van Eps, Al Holt, Charles D'Almaine) but appears to take all speaking or singing roles; is formally credited as a solo performer; or performs with his unspecified "Company."

All Coons Look Alike To Me. Columbia NY&P brown wax 7236 (Internet Archive)
Arkansas Traveler, The. Edison Gold Moulded 8202 (UCSB 2674, Internet Archive); Albany Indestructible 3020 (UCSB 6642); Edison Amberol 181 (UCSB 1692); Edison Blue Amberol 3745 (UCSB 5898); Victor 16199, was 1101 (Internet Archive, Internet Archive, identified as accompanied by Charles D'Almaine, though he is not credited on labels); Victor 16199A, recorded Dec. 1, 1908 (Meloware $$$); "echoey" restoration of a Victor take at www.foldedspace.org; see also versions by Harry Spencer.
Auction Sale at a Music Store. Victor 2543, recorded Oct. 9, 1903 (Meloware $$$)
Auction Sale--Household Goods. Berliner 097, dated Apr. 29, 1899 (EBBRI)
Auction Sale of a Bird and Animal Store. With Gilbert Girard: Edison Gold Moulded 8077 (UCSB 2641)
Banjo Evangelist, The. With Fred Van Eps, banjo: Edison Gold Moulded 8594 (UCSB 6609)
Barnyard Serenade, A. With Holt: Victor 16779, was 4562 (Internet Archive); Edison Gold Moulded 9191 (UCSB 2906);Columbia cylinder 33000 (UCSB 4817)
Billikins. See Villikins
Church Across the Way, The. Brown wax cylinder (UCSB 5289)
Clancy's Prize Waltz Contest. Edison Gold Moulded 8604 (UCSB 4186, Internet Archive, Internet Archive, RA: Tinfoil.com 10/99)
Con Clancy and the Whistling Newsboy. With Parke Hunter: Columbia A284, mx 1825 (Internet Archive); Columbia cylinder 32556 (UCSB 6207); Victor 2769, recorded Apr. 7, 1904 (Meloware $$$)
Cowboy Romance, A. With Company. Edison Blue Amberol 3898 (UCSB 6314)
Crappy Dan. With Vess Ossman, banjo: Columbia NY&P brown wax 7200K (Internet Archive)
Dog Fight. See Scene at a Dog Fight.
Edison Advertising Record. (UCSB 2500, Internet Archive, Internet Archive; Authentic History Center, RA: Nipperhead); Vulcan 101 [cylinder reissue] (RA: Cylinders on the Web)
Hans Krausmeyer and His Dog Schneider. With Holt: Edison Gold Moulded 8941 (UCSB 3005); as Krausmeyer and His Dog on Victor 17255, was 4215 (Internet Archive).
Hello, Ma Baby. Berliner 05, dated Apr. 15, 1899 (EBBRI)
Hezekiah Hopkins Comes To Town. Edison Amberol 458 (UCSB 1848); Edison Blue Amberol 3793 (UCSB 5931, Internet Archive)
Hickory Bill. With Fred Van Eps, banjo: Edison Gold Moulded 8580 (UCSB 2713, RA: Tinfoil.com 12/99).
Hold the Fort. Berliner 0306, dated June 30, 1899 (EBBRI)
Hon. W. J. Bryan's Crown of Gold and Cross of Thorns Speech. Brown wax cylinder (VVL; misidentified as an 1892 speech by Grover Cleveland)
Hot Time In The Old Town Tonight, A. With Vess Ossman, banjo: Columbia NY&P brown wax 7200C (Internet Archive)
Hot Times on the Levee. With Vess Ossman, banjo: Victor 820 (Internet Archive, Internet Archive, Internet Archive; recorded May 17, 1901: Meloware $$$)
Husking Bee Dance. Oxford [=Columbia disc] 19 (Internet Archive)
"I Am the Edison Phonograph." See Edison Advertising Record.
I Wish They'd Do It Now. Brown wax cylinder (UCSB 5218)
Independence Bell. Zonophone 5740 (Internet Archive; Meloware $$$)
Ingersoll at the Tomb of Napoleon. Edison Gold Moulded 8102 (RA: Tinfoil.com 3/04)
Kerrigan's Bachelor Dinner. Edison Gold Moulded 10397 (UCSB 3763)
Krausmeyer and His Dog. See Hans Krausmeyer and His Dog Schneider.
Krausmeyer's Birthday Party. With Mozarto: Edison Gold Moulded 9853 (UCSB 3330, UCSB 3331)
Let the Nation Own the Trusts, Part 1 (Gaylord Wilshire speech). Columbia cylinder (RA: raeproductions)
Lincoln's Speech at Gettysburg. Victor 16106A, was 2113 (Internet Archive, Oral Tradition eCompanion)
Little bunch of Whiskers On His Chin, A. Columbia NY&P brown wax 7255 (UCSB 6709)

Making the Fiddle Talk. Columbia A605, mx 1065 (Internet Archive); Edison Gold Moulded 8361 (UCSB 0039); Victor 1685, recorded Nov. 3, 1902 (Meloware $$$)
Marty Maloney's Wake. Victor (Internet Archive); Edison Gold Moulded 8190 (UCSB 4168)
Meister's Musical Masterpiece. Edison Gold Moulded 9416 (UCSB 3143, Internet Archive)
Monologue, from An Evening With the Minstrels. Columbia 32045K (UCSB 4703)
Musical Yankee. Edison Gold Moulded 9119 (UCSB 2723, Internet Archive); Columbia A5143 (RA: raeproductions)
My Gal Is a High Born Lady. Columbia NY&P brown wax 7252 (Internet Archive)
Nigger and the Bee. With Vess Ossman, banjo. Victor 2995, recorded July 13, 1904 (Meloware $$$)
Our National Airs. Edison Gold Moulded 8849 (Internet Archive)
Parson Pinckney Discourses on Adam and Eve. Standard [=Columbia] A438, mx 3111 (Internet Archive); as Parson Spencer's Discourse on Adam and Eve, Edison Gold Moulded 8975 (UCSB 3014, RA: [mould 19] Cylinders on the Web)
Pedro, the Hand Organ Man. Edison Gold Moulded 9487 (UCSB 3189, Internet Archive, RA: Cylinders on the Web); Victor 16254A, recorded Apr. 4, 1907 (Meloware $$$)
Professor and the Musical Tramp, The. With Parke Hunter: Edison Gold Moulded 8984 (UCSB 3018)
Rescued From the Flames. With Company. Edison Amberol 506 (UCSB 1927, Internet Archive)
Return of the Arkansas Traveler. With Billy Murray (not credited): Edison 10356 (UCSB 3733, Internet Archive) - see also extended version recorded by Len Spencer and Ada Jones: Albany Indestructible 3108 (UCSB 4105)
Reuben Haskins' Ride on a Cyclone Auto. Columbia A375, mx 1528 (Internet Archive); Edison Gold Moulded 8619 (UCSB 4315, ENHS)
Reuben Haskins' Trip 'Round the World in His Airship, Luna. With Parke Hunter: Columbia disc 1730 (Internet Archive); Victor 2803, recorded Apr. 7, 1904 (Meloware $$$)
Sale of Pawnbroker's Goods. Columbia cylinder 10001 (UCSB 4936); see also take by Harry Spencer (UCSB 4935)
Scene at a Dog Fight. Columbia CPC brown wax 11021 (Tinfoil.com 9/06); With Holt as Dog Fight: Victor 16107, was 860 (Internet Archive)
Sheriff's Sale of a Stranded Circus. With Gilbert Girard: Edison Gold Moulded 9779 (UCSB 3294)
Sim and Sam, the Musical Coons. With Mozarto: Edison Gold Moulded 9929 (UCSB 0044)
Talmage On Infidelity. Victor 16106, was 2114 (Internet Archive)
Talmage On Miracles. Edison Gold Moulded 8265 (UCSB 6652)
Transformation Scene from "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." Columbia A389, mx 1908 (Internet Archive); Columbia cylinder 32604 (RA: Tinfoil.Com 9/00)
Trip to the Circus, A. With Gilbert Girard: Victor Monarch 3461 (Internet Archive); Victor Monarch 3461, recorded June 11, 1901 (Meloware $$$)
Trip to the County Fair. With Company. Edison Amberol 538 (Internet Archive)
Uncle Tom's Cabin: Entrance of Topsy. With Company. Edison Amberol 572 ([A-.15] ENHS, Uncle Tom's Cabin & American Culture)
Uncle Tom's Cabin: Flogging Scene. Edison Gold Moulded 8656 (UCSB 4188); another copy of Edison Gold Moulded 8656 and Victor 2674 (Uncle Tom's Cabin & American Culture)
Villikins and His Dinah. Columbia CPC brown wax 31571 (Internet Archive); not Billikins, as stated.
What I Heard at the Vaudeville. Edison Gold Moulded 8693 (UCSB 2745)
Whistling Rufus. Berliner 04 (Internet Archive)
Winning a World (Eugene V. Debs Speech). Columbia cylinder (VVL, though not identified there as by Len Spencer)
You Don't Stop the World From Going Round. Berliner 0142 (Internet Archive)
You'll Get All That's Coming To You. Berliner 014 (Internet Archive)
You've Been a Good Old Wagon But You Done Broke Down. Lambert 989 (Internet Archive)
23rd Psalm and Lord's Prayer. Edison Gold Moulded 8155 (UCSB 2666)

Misattributions

Len Spencer is sometimes credited with work done by his younger brother Harry Spencer, particularly when an announcement names only "Spencer." The most common misattribution occurs with copies of The Arkansas Traveler on Columbia credited in announcements to "Spencer and Schweinfest," as I believe to be the case here:

Arkansas Traveler, The (ann. by "Spencer and Schweinfest"). Columbia cylinder 11098 (UCSB 4902 and Cyberbee, identified there as by Len Spencer).

On the other hand, in cases when Len Spencer voiced (or "faked") the parts of famous orators for the phonograph, the recordings have sometimes been presented as "authentic" specimens of those orators' voices: see e.g. the Eugene V. Debs speech Winning a World (VVL), the Gaylord Wilshire speech Let the Nation Own the Trusts, Part 1 (RA: raeproductions), and Hon. W. J. Bryan's Crown of Gold and Cross of Thorns Speech, commonly misidentified as a Grover Cleveland speech (VVL).

Collaborations (these selections are also included in the main listing above):

LEN SPENCER AND COMPANY

Cowboy Romance, A. Edison Blue Amberol 3898 (UCSB 6314)
Rescued From the Flames. Edison Amberol 506 (UCSB 1927, Internet Archive)
Trip to the County Fair. Edison Amberol 538 (Internet Archive)
Uncle Tom's Cabin: Entrance of Topsy. Edison Amberol 572 ([A-.15] ENHS, Uncle Tom's Cabin & American Culture)

LEN SPENCER AND GILBERT GIRARD, animal noises

Auction Sale of a Bird and Animal Store. Edison Gold Moulded 8077 (UCSB 2641)
Sheriff's Sale of a Stranded Circus. Edison Gold Moulded 9779 (UCSB 3294)
Trip to the Circus, A. Victor Monarch 3461 (Internet Archive); Victor Monarch 3461, recorded June 11, 1901 (Meloware $$$)

LEN SPENCER AND PARKE HUNTER, instrumental effects

Con Clancy and the Whistling Newsboy. Columbia A284, mx 1825 (Internet Archive); Columbia cylinder 32556 (UCSB 6207); Victor 2769, recorded Apr. 7, 1904 (Meloware $$$)
Professor and the Musical Tramp, The. Edison Gold Moulded 8984 (UCSB 3018)
Reuben Haskins' Trip 'Round the World in His Airship, Luna. Columbia disc 1730 (Internet Archive); Victor 2803, recorded Apr. 7, 1904 (Meloware $$$)

LEN SPENCER AND AL HOLT, animal noises

Barnyard Serenade, A. Victor 16779, was 4562 (Internet Archive); Edison Gold Moulded 9191 (UCSB 2906);Columbia cylinder 33000 (UCSB 4817)
Hans Krausmeyer and His Dog Schneider. Edison Gold Moulded 8941 (UCSB 3005); as Krausmeyer and His Dog on Victor 17255, was 4215 (Internet Archive).
Scene at a Dog Fight. As Dog Fight: Victor 16107, was 860 (Internet Archive)

LEN SPENCER AND VESS L. OSSMAN, banjo

Crappy Dan. Columbia NY&P brown wax 7200K (Internet Archive)
Hot Time In The Old Town Tonight, A. Columbia NY&P brown wax 7200C (Internet Archive)
Hot Times on the Levee. Victor 820 (Internet Archive, Internet Archive, Internet Archive; recorded May 17, 1901: Meloware $$$)
Nigger and the Bee. Victor 2995, recorded July 13, 1904 (Meloware $$$)

LEN SPENCER AND FRED VAN EPS, banjo

Banjo Evangelist, The. Edison Gold Moulded 8594 (UCSB 6609)
Hickory Bill. Edison Gold Moulded 8580 (UCSB 2713, RA: Tinfoil.com 12/99).

LEN SPENCER AND MOZARTO, instrumental duettist

Krausmeyer's Birthday Party. Edison Gold Moulded 9853 (UCSB 3330, UCSB 3331)
Sim and Sam, the Musical Coons. Edison Gold Moulded 9929 (UCSB 0044)