Cumberland Square Dance - Frank Kaltman
Editor's note: We have classified this as Northern / New England but in reality the dance is a traditional English square.
Tony Parkes comments:
The dance is Cumberland Square. The caller is Frank Kaltman, co-founder and proprietor of Folkraft Records. In the mid-1950s he made a series of 78 rpm singles (some of which were later issued on 45 rpm) for the educational market. One side was an existing instrumental from his catalog, the other side was the same music with calls overdubbed. Kaltman did most of the calling himself, but Bob Brundage and Dick Leger guested on a few numbers.
The tune is Winster Galop. The instrumental, like most in that series, was originally recorded at 9 or 10 x 32 bars. I believe the instrumental side of the “flip” release was full-length, and only the called side was trimmed to the length of the dance. I have Three Meet to the tune Cock o’ the North, from the same series, and it was treated in that way. (That instrumental is actually 11 x 32, or nearly 6 minutes, requiring very fine grooves for a 78.)
The band was billed on the label as the Folkfraft Americana Orchestra. I believe Floyd Woodhull, uncredited, was the accordionist; other then-current members of his band may have participated as well. Simon Bronner’s book “Old-Time Music Makers of New York State” has personnel lists that are relevant here. Why? Because when Kaltman released Blackberry Quadrille with what sounds like the same band, he billed them as “Floyd Woodhull’s Old Time Masters” for their name recognition on what had become their signature tune due to their earlier version on Victor. I think I recall reading in Bronner that Kaltman played guitar on this series.
Full-page ads for various segments of this series, both the original instrumentals and the “flip” versions, appeared in American Squares magazine in the mid-1950s, usually on the inside front cover. To the best of my knowledge, a handful of the advertised titles (e.g. Petronella) were never released as “flips.”
Subjects: Northern / New England
Tags: Cumberland, England, Frank Kaltman
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Tony Parkes comments:
The dance is Cumberland Square. The caller is Frank Kaltman, co-founder and proprietor of Folkraft Records. In the mid-1950s he made a series of 78 rpm singles (some of which were later issued on 45 rpm) for the educational market. One side was an existing instrumental from his catalog, the other side was the same music with calls overdubbed. Kaltman did most of the calling himself, but Bob Brundage and Dick Leger guested on a few numbers.
The tune is Winster Galop. The instrumental, like most in that series, was originally recorded at 9 or 10 x 32 bars. I believe the instrumental side of the “flip” release was full-length, and only the called side was trimmed to the length of the dance. I have Three Meet to the tune Cock o’ the North, from the same series, and it was treated in that way. (That instrumental is actually 11 x 32, or nearly 6 minutes, requiring very fine grooves for a 78.)
The band was billed on the label as the Folkfraft Americana Orchestra. I believe Floyd Woodhull, uncredited, was the accordionist; other then-current members of his band may have participated as well. Simon Bronner’s book “Old-Time Music Makers of New York State” has personnel lists that are relevant here. Why? Because when Kaltman released Blackberry Quadrille with what sounds like the same band, he billed them as “Floyd Woodhull’s Old Time Masters” for their name recognition on what had become their signature tune due to their earlier version on Victor. I think I recall reading in Bronner that Kaltman played guitar on this series.
Full-page ads for various segments of this series, both the original instrumentals and the “flip” versions, appeared in American Squares magazine in the mid-1950s, usually on the inside front cover. To the best of my knowledge, a handful of the advertised titles (e.g. Petronella) were never released as “flips.”