Casablanca: "As Time Goes By" and "Knock on Wood" by Dooley Wilson (Warner Bros., 1942). Fine/Very Fine. Original Acetate Re...

Description

Casablanca: "As Time Goes By" and "Knock on Wood" by Dooley Wilson (Warner Bros., 1942). Fine/Very Fine. Original Acetate Recording Disc. (10" Diameter).
A kiss may just be a kiss, but even eight decades on, this song is not just a song. A central plot point in one of the most beloved Best Picture Academy Award-winning films of all time, Dooley Wilson's rendition of "As Time Goes By" is arguably the most memorable musical number from a dramatic film in motion picture history. Having such a profound place of prominence in one of the era's most popular movies, you'd think the audio recording of Wilson performing "As Time Goes By" would have been a music charts blockbuster in its own right. Here, you'd be mistaken. Because of a strange turn of socio-political events at the time, Dooley Wilson was never able to release a commercial recording of the song to capitalize on the success of his screen performance. Beginning August 1, 1942, the American Federation of Musicians went on strike against major recording companies due to disagreements over royalty payments. The strike forbade union members from recording any sessions for labels, including Columbia, RCA Victor, and Decca Records. Although Dooley Wilson recorded his famous version of "As Time Goes By," the record was never released because of the strike, which lasted over two years. This extremely rare studio acetate is perhaps the best surviving recording of Wilson at the height of his powers performing the songs for which he was best known. "Knock on Wood," Wilson's other big number in Casablanca, also appears on this disc. As a note of clarification, acetates are not the same as typical records. On an acetate, the grooves are etched directly into the media from a sound source such as a live in-studio performance. Vinyl records are pressed. The pressed records available to consumers are actually created from original acetates such as this. Acetate recordings offer superior fidelity over pressed records. The acetate is in excellent condition and comes with its original a typed label (detached but present). We invite you to sample an edited selection below of this landmark audio recording taken directly off this disc. The acetate runs at 33 1/3 rpm and can be played on a conventional turntable. The purchaser of this lot will be furnished with the full digital wav file recording of both songs unedited in their entirety.


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