Thank You, Mr. Edison

I don’t know how Dad got hold of it, but I remember him bringing home an old Victrola—what Joe Biden recently called a “record player.”  Along with the Victrola came a bunch of old RPM 78 phonographs (well scratched by the time we got them).  We cranked the handle on the side of the cabinet to make the “turntable” turn and spent hours listening to those old beat-up records.  Thank you, Mr. Edison.

Over the last week or so, we’ve been watching Ken Burn’s new series, Country Music, on our local PBS station.  There are a total of eight two-hour episodes, beginning with the early 20th century to the present. The first in the series featured Jimmie Rogers, also known as “The Singing Brakeman,” The Blue Yodeler,” and the “Father of Country Music.”  Watching this first episode I was reminded of that old Victrola and the scratched phonograph that featured Jimmie Rogers’ songs.  Thank you, Mr. Edison.

Ken Burn’s documentaries are filled with old photographs and film clips.  These photos and clips are bundled together with narration and become a “moving picture show.” From the poverty-stricken Appalachia regions, to the share croppers of the cotton fields of Alabama, and to the “Okie(s) of Muskogee,” these bundled photographs become a living testament to a uniquely American music genre.  Thank you, Ken Burns.  Thank you, Mr. Edison.

If it were not for Thomas Alva Edison, the “Wizard of Menlo Park,” the Ken Burn’s Country Music series could never have been considered or possible.  You see, it was Mr. Edison (1897-1931) who brought the world electric light, recorded music, and the movies. Thank you, Mr. Edison.