NEGRO SPIRTUAL in PRAGUE Kenneth Lee Spencer BASS Jan Kalab piano Nobody Knows

$

21

Please wait for me to send you an invoice. DO NOT USE EBAY CHECKOUT if you want the lowest possible postage.

Welcome to my auctions of great records

This is my FIRST WEEK of 2 weeks of great auctions – I WILL PACK AND BILL YOUR RECORDS after the close on JUNE 9.

PLEASE DO NOT PAY before I send you an invoice.

International shipping: approx postage 1x10"=$25: 1x12"=$25 to $35: 10"Album 4 Rec=50$: 12" Album 2 Rec=50$
HOWEVER in most cases I can get you SIGNIFICANT savings by using other services. Pls contact me for a quote.

About 30% less to Canada. Pls ignore international postage displayed in Ebay, rates are too high

Please wait for me to send you an invoice. DO NOT USE EBAY CHECKOUT if you want the lowest possible postage.

A series of great Violin, Piano and Orchestra records on rare labels, from 1902 Monarch to 1940 War Germany recordings.

Since Paul Robeson was popular in the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc, NEGRO SPIRTUALs had taken on the political dimension of the Music of the Oppressed by American capitalism

Superb american Bass Baritone Kenneth Spencer, indeed he was an understudy for Robeson in the 1930s,  acc Jan Kalab piano and Jaroslav Voitek Organ using Lawrence Brown's arrangements of Spirituals

Nobody Knows de Trouble I have seen/ I stood on the Ribberof Babylon

12" 78 rpm record.

Condition: EXCELLENT MINUS/ VG++ rim chip NAP, grooves are heart shaped and need 2 pennies on the otne arm

Plays EXCEPTIONALLY quiet rare hint of fuzz

A GREAT COPY

Kenneth Lee Spencer (25 April 1911[1][2] - 25 February 1964), usually known as Kenneth Spencer, was an African-American opera singer and actor. A talented bass-baritone, Spencer starred in a few Broadway musicals and musical films in the United States during the 1940s. Frustrated with the racial prejudice he experienced in the United States, Spencer moved to West Germany in 1950 where he had a successful opera and concert career. He also appeared in a number of German films. His career was cut short when he died in the crash of Eastern Air Lines Flight 304.

Spencer was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of a steel worker. He took private vocal lessons while working as a gardener, and eventually caught the attention of the tenor Roland Hayes who helped him to get a scholarship at the Eastman School of Music. After graduating in 1938, Spencer tried to get a performing career going but met many obstacles due to racial prejudice in the United States.

In 1938 he sang in the Federal Music Project NBC Blue radio opera Gettysburg, first from El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles, then at the Hollywood Bowl.[3] In 1940 he was understudy for Paul Robeson in the short lived Broadway musical John Henry.[4] This was followed by his professional recital debut in 1941 at New York City's Town Hall.

During the early 1940s Spencer made his first major successes in California as a concert artist at the Hollywood Bowl and as a radio performer. This led to his being cast in significant parts in two MGM films in 1943, the musical film Cabin in the Sky where he shared the screen with Ethel Waters, Lena Horne, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, and Louis Armstrong, and the war movie Bataan. Spencer also sang the ballad in A Walk in the Sun (1945). He returned to Broadway to portray Joe in the critically acclaimed 1946 revival of Kern and Hammerstein's Show Boat,[5] in which he sang Ol' Man River. The revival was highly successful, running almost exactly a year,[5] remarkable at the time for a revival of a play or musical. This was the first American production of Show Boat to receive a full-fledged Broadway cast album,[6][7] rather than just a studio cast recording (there had been a British cast album in 1928).[a]

In 1949 Spencer's life changed after performing in Europe for the first time at the International Music Festival in Nice. The European public responded with enthusiasm to his performance and he was soon getting offers to perform all over Europe. It was the first time that Spencer experienced a working environment and culture that was not hindered by racial prejudice. In 1950 he returned to Europe to sing in a number of radio broadcasts with the Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française and perform in several highly lauded concerts in Berlin, including performances with the Berlin Philharmonic. Spencer was so enamored with the German public and frustrated with the meager opportunities he found as a black artist in America that he moved his family to Wuppertal, West Germany in late 1950.

Spencer spent the next 14 years in Germany performing in concerts, operas, and plays. He also appeared in a few German films. His ability to perform not only Spirituals and classical music, but also folk songs in their original languages (French, German, Italian, Russian, Hebrew) won him much popularity in France and post-war Germany. He made a number of recordings with Columbia Masterworks Records during the 1950s and 1960s which consisted of classical music, spirituals, and folk songs.

Spencer died in the crash of Eastern Air Lines Flight 304.[8] The plane crashed into Lake Pontchartrain after leaving the New Orleans International Airport on 25 February 1964.

More Great Records on sale right now:

http://shop.ebay.com/carsten_sf/m.html

http://shop.ebay.com/carsten_sf/m.html

====

A Quick NOTE ON GRADING AND SHIPPING:

As you can see from my feedback, I try hard to earn your POSITIVE FEEDBACK and FIVE STAR RATINGS.

If for any reason your transaction was NOT SATISFACTORY, pls contact me and I will work something out with you. YOU WILL NEVER HAVE A REASON TO GIVE ME A NEGATIVE RATING or a LOW STAR RATING.

Quick note on grading:

The Grade (Excellent to Poor, I don't give Mint) refers to the WEAR of the record. Any other defects are stated separately

When I listen to a record, I may also give it an aural grade (again E to P), and make a SUBJECTIVE judgment of the pressing quality for hiss and surface noise.
"SUPERQUIET" is basically noiseless, like a vinyl pressing.
"VERY QUIET" is an exceptionally quiet record for a given pressing.
"Quiet" is a record that is a great example without undue noise for a give pressing.

These judgments are SUBJECTIVE and will depend one the styli, phonograph etc. you use on your own equipment.

Multiple item shipping: I am happy to combine items for shipment in one parcel.

If you win multiple items, pls send me an INVOICE REQUEST to calculate the correct postage. Ebay check out will not give you the correct multiple item discount!

Records will be packed safely between corrugated cardboard in a sturdy box with plenty of padding for safe shipment.

Shipment is usually Media Mail, unless you request another service. Shipping is at your risk, I will be happy to insure items at your cost.

I charge actual postage plus a small fee for packing materials

As always, I guarantee your satisfaction. If you don't like the item, just return it, and I will refund the full purchase price.

If you are in the San Francisco area, I encourage pick-up in person.

US Domestic Shipping:

Here is a guideline for US Media Mail Shipping:

Prices below are for regular 78 rpm records. Up to about 5 records, I will ship Edison Discs for the same rates. Albums from Album Sets count as 1 record. Above that and for international shipments, it will be actual weight plus a small packing charge (1-3$ depending on size of shipment)

1 record: 4.75 – 5.50$

2 records: 6.50$

5 records: 8.00$

10 records: 12.00$

MANY MORE RECORDS: Don't worry. I safely ship 40 - 50 pounds of records double boxed in moving boxes, and even then Media Mail will probably not exceed 35$.

Please send me a message if you would like to lower your shipping rates!

I am very happy to ship records worldwide.

Please use the EBAY shipping cost only as a guideline. My actual charges are usually lower

One record usually ships for 25$ for 10" 25-35$ for most 12" records (Less for Canada).

For certain destinations I can get SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER rates from FedEx and the US Postal service for any kind of parcel weight, and will make use of all the cost-saving shipment methods

Pls contact me for a shipping estimate, or send me an invoice request after close of auction. 

AND AGAIN -THANK YOU FOR YOUR INTEREST

As you can see from my feedback, I take great care in presenting, grading and shipping your items. I really want you to be happy with the purchase. If you feel that anything is wrong with the item or the shipping, contact me and we will work it out !!!

 As always, I would appreciate any suggestions and corrections from you, pls contact me with any question.

Thank you very much, and good luck bidding !!!