Uploaded April 2024 | Updated September 2026, 22 hours ago
The California Ramblers (as the Golden Gate Orchestra) play "Clap Hands! Here Comes Charley!". A gutsy performance from the band, with great solos by Bobby Davis (alto), Roy Johnston (trumpet) and Adrian Rollini on bass sax.
CALIFORNIA RAMBLERS
Arthur Hand, violin, directing: Frank Cush and Roy Johnston - trumpets / Herb Winfield - trombone / Bobby Davis - alto sax, clarinet / Freddy Cusick - tenor sax, clarinet / Adrian Rollini - bass sax / Irving Brodsky - piano / Tommy Felline - banjo / Stan King - drums / Arthur Hall and John Ryan - vocals
Recorded in New York, November 24, 1925
10692-B…….Clap Hands! Here Comes Charley!.......Edison 51661
The sound quality of Edison Diamond Discs varies around this period…they were generally better in the 1920-1924 period. There is a lack of bass here, even for an acoustic recording, and emphasising what is there is very difficult because of the huge amount of rumble that resides at the bass end of the frequency spectrum, which can be heard on other uploads of the recording on YouTube (this is take B. Other YouTube uploads mainly use take C). This is due to the smooth yet uneven nature of the recording surface, with the unevenness caused by fluctuations in the underlying core material of glued wood flour. Some Diamond Discs are worse than others. This one is bad, and removing the rumble without disrupting the wanted audio signal was a tough job! The vertical phase that is necessary to replay these "hill and dale" records picks up the unevenness as rumble. It's always worse towards the outer edge of the record. It has been stated that this problem is caused by the core material absorbing atmospheric moisture over time, and expanding as a result. However, it should be noted that these Diamond Discs were pressed at very high pressure, and I think that is also likely to lead to unevenness. The uneven surface can often be seen as a bumpy patch.
This song epitomises the "Jazz Age". Charley (sometimes given as "Charlie") is obviously a rather naive guy from the "wide and open spaces" who has ventured into the big city with plenty of money to look for a good time and gets taken for a ride (there are oblique references to prostitution in the lyrics)!
Coincidentally, in Britain, someone who acts in a foolish way was often called "a proper Charlie", though the likely etymology in this case dates back to a cockney rhyming slang phrase: "Charlie Hunt"…meaning…well, you can imagine! In the 1930s, the song became the theme tune of British dance band pianist/leader, Charlie Kunz, for obvious reasons! The song was used again in Britain in the 1980s in television adverts for Cadbury's Drinking Chocolate, as "Cup Hands! Here Comes Cadbury's".
The California Ramblers (as the Golden Gate Orchestra) play "Clap Hands! Here Comes Charley!". A gutsy performance from the band, with great solos by Bobby Davis (alto), Roy Johnston (trumpet) and Adrian Rollini on bass sax.
CALIFORNIA RAMBLERS
Arthur Hand, violin, directing: Frank Cush and Roy Johnston - trumpets / Herb Winfield - trombone / Bobby Davis - alto sax, clarinet / Freddy Cusick - tenor sax, clarinet / Adrian Rollini - bass sax / Irving Brodsky - piano / Tommy Felline - banjo / Stan King - drums / Arthur Hall and John Ryan - vocals
Recorded in New York, November 24, 1925
10692-B…….Clap Hands! Here Comes Charley!.......Edison 51661
The sound quality of Edison Diamond Discs varies around this period…they were generally better in the 1920-1924 period. There is a lack of bass here, even for an acoustic recording, and emphasising what is there is very difficult because of the huge amount of rumble that resides at the bass end of the frequency spectrum, which can be heard on other uploads of the recording on YouTube (this is take B. Other YouTube uploads mainly use take C). This is due to the smooth yet uneven nature of the recording surface, with the unevenness caused by fluctuations in the underlying core material of glued wood flour. Some Diamond Discs are worse than others. This one is bad, and removing the rumble without disrupting the wanted audio signal was a tough job! The vertical phase that is necessary to replay these "hill and dale" records picks up the unevenness as rumble. It's always worse towards the outer edge of the record. It has been stated that this problem is caused by the core material absorbing atmospheric moisture over time, and expanding as a result. However, it should be noted that these Diamond Discs were pressed at very high pressure, and I think that is also likely to lead to unevenness. The uneven surface can often be seen as a bumpy patch.
This song epitomises the "Jazz Age". Charley (sometimes given as "Charlie") is obviously a rather naive guy from the "wide and open spaces" who has ventured into the big city with plenty of money to look for a good time and gets taken for a ride (there are oblique references to prostitution in the lyrics)!
Coincidentally, in Britain, someone who acts in a foolish way was often called "a proper Charlie", though the likely etymology in this case dates back to a cockney rhyming slang phrase: "Charlie Hunt"…meaning…well, you can imagine! In the 1930s, the song became the theme tune of British dance band pianist/leader, Charlie Kunz, for obvious reasons! The song was used again in Britain in the 1980s in television adverts for Cadbury's Drinking Chocolate, as "Cup Hands! Here Comes Cadbury's".
