A scarce recording by the Original Bison City Quartette:
from 1892, Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep.
Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep
Company
Ohio Phonograph Company
Cylinder #
None
Category
Male quartette
Title
Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep
Performed by
Original Bison City Quartette
Circa
1892-1894
Announcement
"Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep, sung by the Original Bison City Quartette,
for the Ohio Phonograph Company, Cincinnati, Ohio."
One of the regional members of the North American Phonograph Company,
the Ohio Phonograph Company's catalog contained "New and Selected"
recordings: 'Selected' implying master records purchased from other
wholesalers (typically the New Jersey Phonograph Company),
and 'New' suggesting recordings of local or touring talent.
The latter probably is the case with this recording, as the
Original Bison City Quartette (probably of Buffalo, New York)
recorded this master record at the Ohio Phonograph Company's Cincinnati studios.
The photograph above, courtesy of the
Lester Levy Collection of Sheet Music,
shows a "Bison City Quartette" circa 1893.
As to whether this is the "Original Bison City Quartette" is problematic in that
the 'original' quartette appeared in record catalogs post-dating this photograph.
An 1894 copy of sheet music
lists the members of the Original Bison City Quartette at that time as George W. Hetzel,
Frank A. Girard, Benjamin R. Cook, Harry C. West, and Lester L. Pike
(one of the five presumably a pianist).