The "First Lady of Radio" Sings Again

a review by Paul S. Boyer

 Breakthrough

 In January 1920 Dr. Lee DeForest brought a 23-year-old young woman to the microphone of his wireless studio in New York City's World Tower. In a cramped room with no accompaniment, Miss Vaughn DeLeath sang Swanee River to the delight of the listening audience, most of whom were equipped with nothing more than crystal sets. As far as we know, this was the first broadcast of a live singing performance, and it launched a spectacular career, even as it sensationalized radio. 

 Origins

 The singer was a Mid-western girl, born in Pulaski, Illinois, in 1896. After her father's death, she moved at age twelve with her mother and sister to Los Angeles, where she attended school and studied music. She began writing songs, attended Mills College for two years, then struck out on her own as a performer. Her somewhat complex given name, Leonore Vonderleith, was doubtless a hindrance, so she essentially made her surname into her full name.. This change also conveniently concealed her family's German roots, which may have seemed prudent just after the Great War.

 Voice

 Vaugh DeLeath's voice had unusual range: from deep contralto to soprano. A skilled musician with an unusually varied repertoire, she could handle the quick rhythms of the Jazz Age, the nostalgic dialect songs of the old South, humorous novelty numbers, and sentimental love-songs. At times she would add a surprising soprano flourish to a performance otherwise dominated by her soft, mid-range crooning. Early recordings demanded careful control of dynamic range, which could not be handled by the record-cutting technology of the time. Similarly, early broadcasting equipment would overmodulate and even be damaged by the excessive volume of unrestrained operatic voices. Vaugh's experienced and controlled singing was perfect for the new medium, which did not reproduce well in the higher-pitched ranges. 

Talent and Skill

 Today we have double-dubbing, infinite takes, and the electrical manipulation which enable us to make almost any celebrity's voice, even a pig's grunt, into a fattened producer's purse. All this has come in later decades: the recording and broadcasting artists in the 1920s required real talent of a sort not generally evident in today's popular musicians. This is what most impressed me when I first heard Vaugh DeLeath in three selections of a 1992 CD release of 1929 recordings ("Unreleased Edison Laterals 1" from Diamond Cut Productions). The three cuts in that record are still my personal favorites, and demonstrate the diversity of her ability.

 Restoration

 Thanks to Rick Carlson and Craig Maier, a couple of technically adept and dedicated enthusiasts, a treasure-trove of recordings from the late 1920s is gradually becoming available. These are performances originally intended for distribution by the Edison company in their new lateral series of disks. The project was abandoned about the time of the onset of the Great Depression, and the master cuts have lain, largely unattended, in the attic of the Edison laboratory in South Orange, NJ. Some have been warped, cracked, deformed, and oxidized. After digitizing the recordings, Carlson and Maier have processed them with their own software to restore the original quality as far as possible, but without adding anything not in the original. These are not by any means modern surround-sound stereo, but the fidelity is state-of-the art for 1929, and probably sounds at least a good to us now as it would have on a contemporary phonograph, or broadcast over the airwaves.

 New Release

 The latest issue from Diamond Cut Productions is delightful, 21-selection CD (a full 67 minutes!) of Vaugh DeLeath. For anyone who has radios from the 1920s and 1930s, this is perfect listening as you work on restoration, or gloat over your collection, or show off your radio-treasures to friends. Some day I plan to transmit on (legal) low-power AM, so that my sets will have something appropriate to receive, and this is the sort of performer I will book.

 Rediscovery

 The notes which accompany the new DeLeath CD are wonderfully informative, and to some degree compensate for the injustice of history in neglecting such an accomplished individual. After all, in addition to her singing, Vaugh DeLeath managed an early radio station (WDT in New York); she was probably the first woman to have such executive responsibility in the radio industry. Her crooning style of singing was picked up by Bing Crosby, Rudy Vallee, and others. She was a morning host on WMCA in New York.

 Source

 "Vaugh DeLeath, 'The Original Radio Girl'", Edison Laterals 5, is available from Diamond Cut Productions, P.O. Box 305, Hibernia, NJ 07842-0305; telephone (973) 316-9111. 

 Returns

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   Created 30 Dec 1997