Re: [Phono-L] Whistler Sybil Sanderson Fagan
Thanks Loran for your investigative footwork and posting some of your findings. I would love to know more about Sybil Sanderson Fagan as I've been fascinated by her whistling since the early '80s when I got my first record that featured her. Sometimes you find her name spelled as Sibyl. From the moment I first heard Sybil Sanderson Fagan, I couldn't believe my ears. I have a few of her records on different labels, but my first (and I think her most virtuosic performance -- though I haven't heard all her records) was The Bird at the Waterfall on Edison 80629-R. I too was curious about her and like you found almost nothing meaningful on the Internet. Coincidentally I also discovered the studio photo with the W-250 on a more recent attempt to learn more about her, just within the past week. I have an interesting tidbit about her that isn't documented anywhere. About 15 years ago I was attending an SCBWI retreat and I had copies of my Edison phonograph pencil drawing for sale, along with a couple of my pop-up books. A woman attending the event, upon seeing my Edison phonograph poster, surprised me by saying my piano teacher recorded for Edison when she was young. Of course I had to ask who her piano teacher was and she replied Sybil Chapek. I had no idea who Chapek was but came back with I'm aware of an Edison recording artist named Sybil Sanderson Fagan. She was an amazing whistler. My new friend Charleen seemed very surprised and said Yes, that's her!. Came to find out that Sybil was her piano teacher when she was a girl in the 1950s, and Charleen's family were close friends with the Chapeks for many years. Charleen's younger brother took violin lessons from Sybil's husband Joe. Some time later Charleen came up to Santa Fe with some of her family that were visiting over the holidays and I played The Bird at the Waterfall on my A-250, and several other Fagan sides for them on this and other suitable machines. They all seemed to quite enjoy it, and Charleen recalled hearing Sybil's whistling before when she was a girl. She couldn't recall if Sybil played a record for her or actually demonstrated her technique. On that visit I learned among other things that Sybil had enormous callouses on her pinky's. I've been trying to reach her lately to learn more but haven't been able to get through for some time now. Coincidentally, I just tried to contact her by email last week to try to learn exactly some of the information you dug up (dates, places, etc.). So thank you so much for posting what you learned about Sybil. Joe Chapek, when a young man, played in an outfit called the Chicago Businessmen's Orchestra. Joe Chapek's father (also named Joseph, born about 1860) was apparently the leader of a small orchestra in Czechoslovakia. My last communication from Charleen was a package in the mail containing sheet music, with a note that said they had belonged to Sybil. There are about six orchestra scores, the sheet music in each being for a different instrument in the orchestra, with penciled notes, crossed out sections (all pieces of music from the same piece having the same sections X'd out), Sybil's name (sometimes appearing to be her signature and on the back of some pieces of sheet music simply written as Miss Fagan, and other notes like Bird Cadenza, also written in pencil at specific places on the sheet music. To my joy, the first set of sheet music was for Bird at the Waterfall. This could be the original score for the Edison recording. Do you have any idea if she recorded this number on any other label, and is her complete discography available in one place? I've only been able to find bits and pieces on line, and nothing in Rust's Entertainment Discographies. One last thing -- I have scans I made from Charleen's family photo album, and of Jos. H. Chapek's String Quartette (the senior Joe Chapek, in a formal studio photo). From the photo album there was just one photo of Sybil, at her and Joe's residence, taken some time in the 1960s. I also have had for perhaps 25 years the ca. 1916 - 1917 Edison publication Composers and Artists Whose Art is Recreated by Edison's New Art. Sybil appears on the lower left corner of a right page, several pages from the end of the book, along with five other artists including Arthur Fields (Cal Stewart, Lewis James, Fred Van Eps and Walter Van Brunt all appear on the facing page). In the photo, I've always imagined that Sibyl (as it's spelled in this book) looks something like a bird. Any further information on her would be greatly appreciated! Best, Andy Baron Santa Fe, NM On Jul 30, 2011, at 3:01 PM, Loran Hughes wrote: Earlier this week, someone on FaceBook posted an artist photo of a young woman, fingers in mouth, standing next to an Edison W-250. After a little discussion about the machine, the question came up about the history of the artist. Googling brings up little more
Re: [Phono-L] Whistler Sybil Sanderson Fagan
Andrew, aren't you going to post Bird at the Waterfall on Youtube? There are other songs by her on the Internet, but not that one. Jim Nichol On Jul 31, 2011, at 4:48 PM, Andrew Baron wrote: Thanks Loran for your investigative footwork and posting some of your findings. I would love to know more about Sybil Sanderson Fagan as I've been fascinated by her whistling since the early '80s when I got my first record that featured her. Sometimes you find her name spelled as Sibyl. From the moment I first heard Sybil Sanderson Fagan, I couldn't believe my ears. I have a few of her records on different labels, but my first (and I think her most virtuosic performance -- though I haven't heard all her records) was The Bird at the Waterfall on Edison 80629-R. I too was curious about her and like you found almost nothing meaningful on the Internet. Coincidentally I also discovered the studio photo with the W-250 on a more recent attempt to learn more about her, just within the past week. I have an interesting tidbit about her that isn't documented anywhere. About 15 years ago I was attending an SCBWI retreat and I had copies of my Edison phonograph pencil drawing for sale, along with a couple of my pop-up books. A woman attending the event, upon seeing my Edison phonograph poster, surprised me by saying my piano teacher recorded for Edison when she was young. Of course I had to ask who her piano teacher was and she replied Sybil Chapek. I had no idea who Chapek was but came back with I'm aware of an Edison recording artist named Sybil Sanderson Fagan. She was an amazing whistler. My new friend Charleen seemed very surprised and said Yes, that's her!. Came to find out that Sybil was her piano teacher when she was a girl in the 1950s, and Charleen's family were close friends with the Chapeks for many years. Charleen's younger brother took violin lessons from Sybil's husband Joe. Some time later Charleen came up to Santa Fe with some of her family that were visiting over the holidays and I played The Bird at the Waterfall on my A-250, and several other Fagan sides for them on this and other suitable machines. They all seemed to quite enjoy it, and Charleen recalled hearing Sybil's whistling before when she was a girl. She couldn't recall if Sybil played a record for her or actually demonstrated her technique. On that visit I learned among other things that Sybil had enormous callouses on her pinky's. I've been trying to reach her lately to learn more but haven't been able to get through for some time now. Coincidentally, I just tried to contact her by email last week to try to learn exactly some of the information you dug up (dates, places, etc.). So thank you so much for posting what you learned about Sybil. Joe Chapek, when a young man, played in an outfit called the Chicago Businessmen's Orchestra. Joe Chapek's father (also named Joseph, born about 1860) was apparently the leader of a small orchestra in Czechoslovakia. My last communication from Charleen was a package in the mail containing sheet music, with a note that said they had belonged to Sybil. There are about six orchestra scores, the sheet music in each being for a different instrument in the orchestra, with penciled notes, crossed out sections (all pieces of music from the same piece having the same sections X'd out), Sybil's name (sometimes appearing to be her signature and on the back of some pieces of sheet music simply written as Miss Fagan, and other notes like Bird Cadenza, also written in pencil at specific places on the sheet music. To my joy, the first set of sheet music was for Bird at the Waterfall. This could be the original score for the Edison recording. Do you have any idea if she recorded this number on any other label, and is her complete discography available in one place? I've only been able to find bits and pieces on line, and nothing in Rust's Entertainment Discographies. One last thing -- I have scans I made from Charleen's family photo album, and of Jos. H. Chapek's String Quartette (the senior Joe Chapek, in a formal studio photo). From the photo album there was just one photo of Sybil, at her and Joe's residence, taken some time in the 1960s. I also have had for perhaps 25 years the ca. 1916 - 1917 Edison publication Composers and Artists Whose Art is Recreated by Edison's New Art. Sybil appears on the lower left corner of a right page, several pages from the end of the book, along with five other artists including Arthur Fields (Cal Stewart, Lewis James, Fred Van Eps and Walter Van Brunt all appear on the facing page). In the photo, I've always imagined that Sibyl (as it's spelled in this book) looks something like a bird. Any further information on her would be greatly appreciated! Best, Andy Baron Santa Fe, NM On Jul 30, 2011, at 3:01 PM, Loran
Re: [Phono-L] Whistler Sybil Sanderson Fagan
I visited Sybil's grave when I attended Union in 2008. Here's a picture of it for those who are interested: http://www.phonostalgia.com/sybil1.JPG I never got around to writing about her (or my visit) since I've been distracted with so many other priorities. The date I have for the picture is Friday, June 13, 2008. Somewhere I have an email from her niece describing a little more about her in later years. I'll try to quote from it if I can find it. I remember vividly from the email that she and her husband Joseph collected a lot of antiques that were later auctioned off, and that she taught Anita O'Day stage presence. Again, I'll try to find it in my mess of correspondences. The latest recording I have of her is from 1930, from an American Record Corporation master: The Wedding of the Birds by Lou Gold and His Orchestra, vocal refrain by Irving Kaufman, whistling by Sybil S. Fagan. Anything later? -Ryan Barna www.facebook.com/Phonostalgia ___ Phono-L mailing list http://phono-l.org
Re: [Phono-L] Whistler Sybil Sanderson Fagan
For what it's worth, I'm finding almost nothing in newspaper archives after her marriage in 1932. I did find an article about her participating as a pianist in a music club concert in Barrington in 1945. Loran On Jul 31, 2011, at 5:01 PM, Ryan Barna wrote: I visited Sybil's grave when I attended Union in 2008. Here's a picture of it for those who are interested: http://www.phonostalgia.com/sybil1.JPG I never got around to writing about her (or my visit) since I've been distracted with so many other priorities. The date I have for the picture is Friday, June 13, 2008. Somewhere I have an email from her niece describing a little more about her in later years. I'll try to quote from it if I can find it. I remember vividly from the email that she and her husband Joseph collected a lot of antiques that were later auctioned off, and that she taught Anita O'Day stage presence. Again, I'll try to find it in my mess of correspondences. The latest recording I have of her is from 1930, from an American Record Corporation master: The Wedding of the Birds by Lou Gold and His Orchestra, vocal refrain by Irving Kaufman, whistling by Sybil S. Fagan. Anything later? -Ryan Barna www.facebook.com/Phonostalgia ___ Phono-L mailing list http://phono-l.org ___ Phono-L mailing list http://phono-l.org
[Phono-L] Whistler Sybil Sanderson Fagan
Earlier this week, someone on FaceBook posted an artist photo of a young woman, fingers in mouth, standing next to an Edison W-250. After a little discussion about the machine, the question came up about the history of the artist. Googling brings up little more than discographies, so I dusted off my research cap and pieced together some facts about her life. It may be interesting to some. Sybil Sanderson Fagan was born May 27, 1895 in Huntington, Indiana. Sometime between 1900 and 1910, the family moved to Springfield Ohio. In an interview printed in The Music Trades in 1919, she stated that she was named after the opera singer, Sybil Sanderson. She began whistling at the age of 5 and later, when a professional whistler visited her home, she decided that she could whistle a little better than the average person. She also studied piano. She had a short - and odd - marriage to a New York playwright, Eugene B. Bardin, in 1920. According to Fagan's divorce petition, she had no sooner met Bardin than he proposed marriage, both threatening to kill or drug her if she didn't. She inferred Bardin put a drug into her tea on Feb 22nd and they were married that same day. She immediately boarded a train for her parent's home in Ohio, then sued for divorce in June. The divorce was finalized on September 2, 1920. The 1930 census shows Fagan living in a Manhattan boarding house. Singer George W. Ballard and his wife were neighbors in the same building. On January 6, 1932, Fagan married violinist Joseph E. Chapek. She died on September 5, 1974 in Barrington, Illinois and buried in the Evergreen Cemetery in Barrington. They were married 42 years. ___ Phono-L mailing list http://phono-l.org
Re: [Phono-L] Whistler Sybil Sanderson Fagan
Great Research, Loran. Thanks. From: lo...@oldcrank.com Date: Sat, 30 Jul 2011 14:01:32 -0700 To: phono-l@oldcrank.org Subject: [Phono-L] Whistler Sybil Sanderson Fagan Earlier this week, someone on FaceBook posted an artist photo of a young woman, fingers in mouth, standing next to an Edison W-250. After a little discussion about the machine, the question came up about the history of the artist. Googling brings up little more than discographies, so I dusted off my research cap and pieced together some facts about her life. It may be interesting to some. Sybil Sanderson Fagan ___ Phono-L mailing list http://phono-l.org
