Player Piano Music recorded at

Sutro's San Francisco 1954

The musical instruments featured in this recording were from the Musical Museum in the collection of George Whitney, owner of Sutro's at the Beach in San Francisco, "a museum that has devoted itself to the color and background of 'the good old days'".

The recordings from the Musical Museum were made in 1954 by an all night staff announcer for a Bay Area radio station named Al Leavitt who desired to preserve the sound of these rare old machines. "the juke boxes of their day", to delight and charm further generations.

Produced for CD from original LP by Dan Zelinsky.
Remastering for CD at Marin West Recording in San Anselmo, Ca.

39 minutes - $15.00 (+$4 s/h +CA residents pay 8.5% sales tax)

Player Piano Music - Sutro's 1954

Tracks Include

  1. French Organ
    An early model of a hand organ dating from the Napoleonic era.
  2. Piano and Chimes
    This instrument makes use of electric relays to ring the chimes.
  3. Wurlitzer Orchestra
    The Wurlitzer includes paino, organ, snare drum, traingle, bass drum, cymbals, mandolin, and is capable of playing 30 different tunes.
  4. Piano Cymbals and Drum
    This recording is from one of the earliest automatic player piano instruments.
  5. Player Piano
    Although the unit is off key and stops in the middle to rewind, it is unusual.
  6. Motion Picture Organ
    A large machineplayable either manually or by a piano roll and used in the first silent motion picture theaters for background music.
  7. Regina Sublima
    A fashionable and popular instrumetn playing "Old Black Joe".
See Sal