Songs of the Night is the first-ever compilation of Joseph C. Smith’s Orchestra and celebrates the centennial of the virtuoso’s first recordings. This compilation includes 47 tracks on two CDs with restoration and remastering by Grammy-winning producer and engineer Richard Martin and features a 32-page full-color booklet with rare photos and an extensive essay. The set also celebrates all the “firsts” Smith was famous for: he was the first to record Cole Porter and George Gershwin songs; he was the first to include vocal refrains on dance records, such as “Smiles”; he had the first hits of future standards like “Hindustan,” “Rose Room,” “Alice Blue Gown,” and “Three O’Clock in the Morning”; and he was the first bandleader to spotlight instrumental solos on dance records, such as the laughing trombone on “Yellow Dog Blues.”

“During his brief time in the limelight, Smith set new standards for dance bands. In the era before Whiteman, the Dorseys, and Miller, when records were made by faceless studio bands conducted by ghost leaders, his band had a name,” said Ryan Barna in his Grammy-nominated album notes.

America was in the midst of a dance craze in 1916, as young hoofers took to hotel ballrooms to try out the latest steps. Playing nightly to dinner and dance patrons at New York’s famed Plaza Hotel, Joseph C. Smith’s Orchestra was one of many ensembles across the country providing rhythm and beat. But Smith did something that the others didn’t: he made dancing to the phonograph possible. Gobbling up Smith’s records of up-to-date waltzes, challenging fox trots, and clever novelties, consumers found they could stage their own private dances without a live band.

What’s more, Smith’s Orchestra provided a launching pad for many musicians who developed into superstars in their own right. Many of them perform solos on this collection: trombonist Harry Raderman; xylophonists Teddy Brown and George Hamilton Green; pianists Hugo Frey, Harry Akst and William Bergé; and saxophonist Rudy Wiedoeft.

CD and Digital Track List:

CD 1:

1. Songs of the Night
2. Money Blues
3. I’ve a Shooting Box in Scotland
4. Havanola
5. Poor Butterfly
6. Allah’s Holiday
7. St. Elmo
8. Dance and Grow Thin
9. Missouri Waltz
10. Calicoco
11. When You Come Back
12. Smiles
13. Rose Room
14. Mary
15. Hindustan
16. Rockin’ the Boat
17. Head Over Heels
18. Mickey
19. Dear Old Pal of Mine
20. Somebody’s Sweetheart and Good Morning, Judge
21. Rainy Day Blues
22. Coo Coo
23. The Vamp

CD 2:

1. Who Did It?
2. Peggy
3. Yellow Dog Blues
4. Happy
5. Lovely Summertime
6. That Naughty Waltz
7. Karavan
8. Ching-a-Ling’s Jazz Bazaar
9. Love Nest
10. Alice Blue Gown
11. Sally
12. I Lost My Heart to You
13. Why, Dear?
14. It’s You
15. Stealing
16. Three O’Clock in the Morning
17. While Miami Dreams
18. Rose of Stamboul
19. Where Is the Man of My Dreams
20. Sweetheart of Sigma Chi
21. Stella
22. It Ain’t Gonna Rain No Mo!
23. Driftwood
24. I Like You Best of All

About Archeophone Records: Based in Champaign, Illinois, Archeophone Records produces critical editions of the world’s oldest recordings: audio tracked prior to 1925, during the acoustic (i.e., pre-microphone) era of recording. Archeophone has received twelve Grammy nominations for its reissues, with its 2005 release Lost Sounds: Blacks and the Birth of the Recording Industry, 1891-1922 winning the Best Historical Album Award at the 49th Grammys. Additionally, the label has provided consultation and audio restorations for TV shows such as Boardwalk Empire. Songs of the Night is the 66th reissue produced by Archeophone. It is distributed by Alternative Distribution Alliance (ADA) and available in both CD and digital formats.