George H. Diamond was a pioneer among recording pioneers!
Here, he sings "When Summer Comes Again" (a James Thornton waltz song).
This is a Edison brown wax cylinder from around 1893.
As the spoken announcement establishes, it is cylinder #844.
George H. Diamond was a baritone whose face was featured on sheet music covers. He had a piercing voice that was "right" for the crude recording technology of the time, but having the right voice might not be the main reason he was paid to make recordings. Instead, Diamond may have enjoyed enough success on stage by this point to be viewed by recording executives as a kind of celebrity who could bring prestige and respectability to the new industry.
That kind of approach--paying celebrities so they could bring prestige to the industry, a kind of advertising gimmick--would become more important several years later.
Diamond also made cylinders around this time for the New Jersey Phonograph Company.
The infant industry took a hit soon after Diamond made his handful of cylinders. America's economy entered a severe depression, which is why recordings from 1894 and 1895 seem rarer than those issued in 1893. Sales were up in 1893 until a financial crisis came along. Sales were down in the mid-1890s as the phonograph industry (and other industries) struggled during a severe recession.
Diamond was also a composer of popular songs though not of big hits. In 1911 a copyright was granted for his song titled "There's a Mother Old and Gray Who Needs Me Now."
Another composition is a march titled "Mutt and Jeff," published in 1912.
Now I'll say a bit about the songwriter. James Thornton lived from December 5, 1861 (born in Ireland?), to July 27, 1938. This songwriter is best remembered as composer of the 1898 song "When You Were Sweet Sixteen" though I prefer "She May Have Seen Better Days." Bonnie Thornton, his wife, enjoyed success as a singer, and her face was featured on sheet music covers.
The song we are hearing is from 1893, and another Thornton song from that year is "The Streets of Cairo," composed for the Chicago World’s Fair.
