# What's the oldest recording on your iPod or MP3 player? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 3, 2010, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-recording-on-your-ipod-or-mp3-player/552499 "2010-09-03T15:38:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-recording-on-your-ipod-or-mp3-player/552499/21 "2010-09-03T18:39:18Z")
Guessin’ just off the top of my head I’d venture _Green Onions_. ---
**Author:** ![heathen\_earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/13edae/32.png) [@heathen\_earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heathen_earthling)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-recording-on-your-ipod-or-mp3-player/552499/22 "2010-09-03T18:41:58Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > I win the youngest-oldest recorded for now, with Best of Gerry and the Pacemakers, some of which is as early as 1963. The oldest recording on my iPod right now is _Call Me Burroughs_ by William S. Burroughs, which came out in 1965. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-recording-on-your-ipod-or-mp3-player/552499/23 "2010-09-03T18:48:39Z")
Edouard Leon-Scott’s photoautograph from 1860. Both the original digitization (that was thought to be his daughter because it was speeded up) and the corrected one (Leon-Scott himself). I win. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-recording-on-your-ipod-or-mp3-player/552499/24 "2010-09-03T19:13:53Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Edouard Leon-Scott’s photoautograph from 1860. Both the original digitization (that was thought to be his daughter because it was speeded up) and the corrected one (Leon-Scott himself). > > I win. Just listened to his _Au Clair de la Lune_ from 1860. He really didn’t hit the right levels, his EQ is all over the place. 😃 That’s pretty impressive for the fact that it still exists. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-recording-on-your-ipod-or-mp3-player/552499/25 "2010-09-03T19:30:19Z")
I downloaded some Lead Belly from [archive.org](http://archive.org) to use with Fallout 3; as for my iPod, probably Glenn Miller stuff from the late '30s. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-recording-on-your-ipod-or-mp3-player/552499/26 "2010-09-03T20:14:22Z")
Well, if we’re talking _any_ recordings, there’s the 20+ wax cylinders with the Edison Gramaphone in the attic. I have no idea what to do with them. There’s a place out west that’ll MP3 them, but it’s destructive. Rrrroughly 1919, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-recording-on-your-ipod-or-mp3-player/552499/27 "2010-09-03T20:42:42Z")
> [@E-Sabbath](#): > > Well, if we’re talking _any_ recordings, there’s the 20+ wax cylinders with the Edison Gramaphone in the attic. I have no idea what to do with them. > There’s a place out west that’ll MP3 them, but it’s destructive. Rrrroughly 1919, I think. IIRC Theres one place that uses laser to do it. They specialize iin cylinder preservation. ---
**Author:** ![Jet\_Jaguar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jet_jaguar/32/3562_2.png) [@Jet\_Jaguar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jet_Jaguar)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-recording-on-your-ipod-or-mp3-player/552499/28 "2010-09-03T20:56:52Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > Probably my few Abbott & Costello tracks. I don’t have exact dates for the recordings, but Who’s On First was first performed in 1938. I was going to mention some songs I have from the 1950’s (_Rocket 88_ probably being the oldest), but this reminds me that I also have _Who’s on First?_. I believe the version I have was recorded sometime in the 1940’s. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-recording-on-your-ipod-or-mp3-player/552499/29 "2010-09-03T21:13:00Z")
George J. Gaskin singing “After the Ball Is Over,” recorded in 1897. I also have 200+ songs from the 1920s and '30s. I love old-time popular music. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Jet\_Jaguar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jet_jaguar/32/3562_2.png) [@Jet\_Jaguar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jet_Jaguar)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-recording-on-your-ipod-or-mp3-player/552499/30 "2010-09-03T21:15:09Z")
On second thought, I think I missed the point of the OP. While _Who’s on First?_ is the oldest thing in my collection, it’s not the oldest thing on my MP3 player at the moment. That honour would belong to _Rock Around the Clock_ by Bill Haley and His Comets. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-recording-on-your-ipod-or-mp3-player/552499/31 "2010-09-03T21:35:51Z")
[Lydia the Tattooed Lady](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4zRe_wvJw8), from 1939. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-recording-on-your-ipod-or-mp3-player/552499/32 "2010-09-03T23:37:09Z")
The oldest song in my MP3 collection that has a recorded date on it? 1933. Popeye The Sailor Man. (agg-gag-gag-gag.) I probably have older, but not with a date listed in the year section. ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-recording-on-your-ipod-or-mp3-player/552499/33 "2010-09-03T23:46:20Z")
The oldest recording on my iPod is also the music file I’ve had the longest\*: a Django Reinhardt piece (probably late '40s) that a friend sent to me over AIM my first year in college, 1998. - –\> Not counting tracks from CDs that I’ve reinstalled on newer computers. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-recording-on-your-ipod-or-mp3-player/552499/34 "2010-09-03T23:49:41Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > I win the youngest-oldest recorded for now, with Best of Gerry and the Pacemakers, some of which is as early as 1963… Wow. Same year for me… and same album. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-recording-on-your-ipod-or-mp3-player/552499/35 "2010-09-03T23:50:35Z")
If I were to guess I’d have to say eithe r Constipation Blues by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins or Stan Freberg’s version of Banana Boat. ---
**Author:** ![Jman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jman/32/4416_2.png) [@Jman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jman)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-recording-on-your-ipod-or-mp3-player/552499/36 "2010-09-03T23:52:33Z")
I think right now it’s the Benny Goodman recording of _ **Sing, Sing, Sing.** _ ---
**Author:** ![Proudest\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/proudest_monkey/32/13257_2.png) [@Proudest\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Proudest_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2010, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-recording-on-your-ipod-or-mp3-player/552499/37 "2010-09-04T00:04:28Z")
Off the top of my head, I think my oldest is \*\*Tom Dooley \*\*by the Kingston Trio from 1958. Runner up would be Bobby Darin’s \*\*Mack the Knife \*\*from 1959. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2010, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-recording-on-your-ipod-or-mp3-player/552499/38 "2010-09-04T01:04:26Z")
I have several Annette Hanshaw compilations, as well as old Louis Armstrong, all from the 1920s. Oldest written, probably Hildegarde von Bingen. ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2010, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-recording-on-your-ipod-or-mp3-player/552499/39 "2010-09-04T01:07:40Z")
I like colonial-era American music so I have some William Billings covers by the Boston Camerata, dating from 1780-1820 or so. The oldest direct recording is from 1927, Helen Morgan singing “Bill” from the original SHOW BOAT. I have a couple of small comedy bits that are older, including “The Baseball Girl” from 1907. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2010, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-recording-on-your-ipod-or-mp3-player/552499/40 "2010-09-04T01:12:17Z")
Stuff from\* Art Tatum Solo Masterpieces\* all recorded between 1953 and 1955. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-recording-on-your-ipod-or-mp3-player/552499.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-recording-on-your-ipod-or-mp3-player/552499.md?page=3)