Uploaded June 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 days ago
Peter Van Steeden and his Orchestra play "If You Want The Rainbow (You Must Have The Rain)", featuring excellent work by the sax section and a string of solos after the perfunctory vocals by one Roy Strom (possibly a pseudonym).
VAN AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Peter Van Steeden directing two trumpets, trombone, three saxes (two alto and one tenor, doubling clarinet), violin, piano, banjo, brass bass, drums. Vocals by Roy Strom.
Recorded in New York, August 14th, 1928
GEX-2037…….If You Want The Rainbow (You Must Have The Rain)…….Gennett 6556
The "Electrobeam" name on the label refers to the fact that in early 1926, Gennett adopted General Electric's "Pallophotophone" process to produce electrical recordings. Brunswick had already installed the Pallophotophone equipment in 1925, giving the method the better known commercial appellation "Light Ray Process". The process got around the Western Electric patents by adopting a photoelectric cell that converted light waves from a tiny vibrating mirror into electrical signals, which were then amplified, but the results were harsh, tinny and distorted. In addition, Gennett also experienced problems with the composition of the shellac mix it used - specifically, it was of insufficient hardness to withstand the increased wear that resulted from playing electrically recorded records. The results were so disappointing that the company decided to drop the technology and return to acoustic recordings in August 1926. However, when GE began using a standard condenser microphone in place of the troublesome vibrating mirror-photoelectric cell set-up, Gennett once more adopted the GE technology, signing an agreement in February 1927. (Presumably, Gennett had also changed the composition of its shellac mix for electrical recordings). Even with the benefit of a condenser microphone, the GE process was still a poor imitation of the Western Electric recording process that had been developed by Bell Labs and adopted by both Victor and Columbia in 1925. The sound is rather 'boxy'.
Peter Van Steeden and his Orchestra play "If You Want The Rainbow (You Must Have The Rain)", featuring excellent work by the sax section and a string of solos after the perfunctory vocals by one Roy Strom (possibly a pseudonym).
VAN AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Peter Van Steeden directing two trumpets, trombone, three saxes (two alto and one tenor, doubling clarinet), violin, piano, banjo, brass bass, drums. Vocals by Roy Strom.
Recorded in New York, August 14th, 1928
GEX-2037…….If You Want The Rainbow (You Must Have The Rain)…….Gennett 6556
The "Electrobeam" name on the label refers to the fact that in early 1926, Gennett adopted General Electric's "Pallophotophone" process to produce electrical recordings. Brunswick had already installed the Pallophotophone equipment in 1925, giving the method the better known commercial appellation "Light Ray Process". The process got around the Western Electric patents by adopting a photoelectric cell that converted light waves from a tiny vibrating mirror into electrical signals, which were then amplified, but the results were harsh, tinny and distorted. In addition, Gennett also experienced problems with the composition of the shellac mix it used - specifically, it was of insufficient hardness to withstand the increased wear that resulted from playing electrically recorded records. The results were so disappointing that the company decided to drop the technology and return to acoustic recordings in August 1926. However, when GE began using a standard condenser microphone in place of the troublesome vibrating mirror-photoelectric cell set-up, Gennett once more adopted the GE technology, signing an agreement in February 1927. (Presumably, Gennett had also changed the composition of its shellac mix for electrical recordings). Even with the benefit of a condenser microphone, the GE process was still a poor imitation of the Western Electric recording process that had been developed by Bell Labs and adopted by both Victor and Columbia in 1925. The sound is rather 'boxy'.
