Hello Central, Give Me Heaven by Byron G. Harlan (1901)
CD 1, track 17
Today’s reveal is “Hello Central, Give Me Heaven,” written by Charles K. Harris (of “After the Ball” fame) and performed by Byron G. Harlan on a brown-wax cylinder with piano accompaniment in 1901. It’s the record that put Harlan firmly on the map of acoustic recording pioneers, and it’s one of the songs that helped usher in the early “hillbilly” craze, being waxed by Riley Puckett, the McCravy brothers, Lester McFarland & Robert A. Gardner, Pie Plant Pete, the Carter family, and others.
