Beech Tree News Network

Thomas Edison often gets credit for the invention of recorded sound.  But Edison’s attempt to commercialize his invention relied on fragile cylinders which could only be played a few dozen times.  They were remarkable, but far from perfect.  It was Emile Berliner who would find a better way.  Berliner’s Gramophone, invented in 1887, played flat discs instead of cylinders. 

Early versions of the disc were made of rubber and later shellac.  They were durable, easy to store and, most importantly, could be mass-produced from a single recording.  That shift from cylinder to disc made recorded music commercially viable for the first time.  Yet Berliner’s contributions weren’t just technological.  A Jewish immigrant from Germany, he quickly realized his invention would be of little use to people unless they had something to listen to. 

In 1895, he formed the Berliner Gramophone Company and began to sign artists to record music that could be played on his Gramophone.  Though Berliner was later forced out amid patent disputes, his company’s legacy endured.  It eventually became the Victor Talking Machine Company, and later RCA Victor.  With the likes of Enrico Caruso, Perry Como and Elvis Presley, RCA became one of the most powerful labels of the 20^th century.  Which explains why, in 1958, when the music industry was creating a statue for its new award. They settled not on a microphone or a phonograph, but on Emile Berliner’s Gramophone.  Yet another chapter in the history of these United States.  That award is called a Grammy.  (CBS Sunday Morning, 2-1-26)