Rob DeLand wrote in with great excitement about finding a J. L. Cook
78 rpm recording.  I have no exact knowledge of how many recordings were
produced or if there is a discography, but I do well remember that era.
It was the time in my life before I could afford a player piano for the
real music.

It was in the late fifties and early sixties that "Honky Tonk" piano
music was all the rage.  A little time before real ragtime was
rediscovered, and people were still singing for fun.  Lawrence "Piano
Roll" Cook was on the Quality Label here in Canada.   Other big names
of the time were Crazy Otto, Knuckles O'Toole, and pretty nifty stuff
recorded by the Frank Petti Trio.

Now that I have a substantial collection of paper rolls and old disc
records, I don't hear them to be the same.  The phonograph records sound
like a new recording and not a transfer from a paper roll.  These
records are plentiful and easy to find at flea markets, junque shops
and used book stores.

I often wonder if these "Ricky-Tick" sounding records have conditioned
people to expect mechanical music to sound the same!

Yours in Music

Ken Vinen
Stratford, Ontario Canada