I'm Back, and Feeling Pretty Good
I got back to Ann Arbor late Saturday night. The fact finding mission to Winona Lake was successful beyond my wildest expectations. Of course, now I have all this mountain of data to comb through and shape into something useful.
I got to hear a lot of Homer Rodeheaver while I was there. A fascinating guy, he - the expansiveness of his approach is very uncommon for early recording artists. A lot of collectors think of him as a boring mediocrity, but in fact there is more variety to be found on his records than almost anyone who started out in the early 'teens wth the sole exception of Vernon Dalhart. There are several paralells that can be safely drawn between Dalhart and Rodeheaver - both were "one man recording industries", both had one foot in the standard pre-jazz popular singing style and the other in an indigenous, southern kind of music that was still in development. Both experimented widely within the latter category in terms of settings and content.
But of course, where they depart most significantly is that (a) Rodeheaver successfully started his own recording concerns, not once but twice, and (b) Rodeheaver was able to diversify his interests to the degree that he was able to keep making records up until the very eve of his passing in December 1955, whereas Dalhart's career was basically over by 1930. The records that Rodeheaver made were of course a secondary interest to his publishing business, and he was able to diversify through teaching, his singing school in Winona Lake, personal appearances, missionary work throughout the world, radio programs, producing educational films for television, etc.
Dalhart took his fortune and sank it into an expensive mansion, bought nice cars and basically pampered himself, only to lose it all in the crash of '29. He ended up working menial jobs to support himself in his old age. Rodeheaver's lifestyle did not accentuate personal wealth. Her had a real nice house in Winona Lake, and a private plane at one point, but his home was not a mansion, and it was located among the other homes in Winona Lake. His money was mostly in the publishing company, and he gave a lot of it away in charity, supporting missions in China, Korea, Africa, Japan, his work with leper colonies, etc. His "wealth" can be seen in the gifts bestowed upon him by people in other lands as a "thank you" - the pearl inlaid nameplate made for him by a man in Korea, or the Chinese handmade rug which is on the floor of his office, emblazoned with the logos of his company and number of traditional Chinese symbols.
It was an incredible experience for me to sit at Rodeheaver's desk and work. I was able to document his entire post-war recording legacy, in addition to much of the prewar work which has proven so elusive to researchers. My work this past weekend may not answer every question relating to Homer Rodeheaver and his recordings, but I am hoping it will provide a template for futher work to be done and to encourage a dialogue about what his recordings mean to us and to history.
Man was I tired when we rolled into town. I was practically worthless all day Sunday - I did make it church - barely- and didn't get all my studio unpacked and set up again until 9 pm that evening. There was a long nap of the dead in the afternoon. I still wasn't quite right even Monday. And man, am I ever cheap! My research grant was only for $350, and I haven't been into the receipts yet, but I'm not so sure I spent that much! We'll see.
Uncle Dave Lewis