Golden Music's Massive Sheet Music Library

Hey all. A few weeks ago I was alerted about an incredible sheet music collection, being housed at Golden Music. The business has taken on a huge project - databasing each and every one of the donated items it currently has stored. We are talking thousands of pieces. It's a huge undertaking, but one which will preserve these important music pieces for decades to come.

We're talking pretty much every type of sheet music you can think of -  pieces from the 1800s to pop music of the 1990s. Seeing it in person is overwhelming. My thanks to project organizer Betsy Nelms, who graciously showed me the collection, and talked to me about the store's plans.

How did you all obtain this massive collection? 

Many people donate used sheet music to Golden Music. When Denver Musicians Association (DMA), the musicians' union, moved their offices to our building, they donated many boxes of sheet music.

What does the collection contain - what kind of music? 

We have had a lending library of school string orchestra music for many years. This library has string orchestra selections from very beginning level through advanced works suitable for high school and collegiate level. This repertoire ranges from classical style through newly written material and arrangements of Broadway and movie tunes. We also have had a music education program ever since the store was started over 20 years ago. The library has teaching materials for piano, electronic organ, every band and orchestra instrument, guitar, and classical voice and theatrical voice. The DMA donation included teaching materials for specific instruments, youth orchestra music, theatre orchestra music from early 20th century and dance band music.

Where did the pieces originate? 

Many individuals donate sheet music to the store, mostly instructional materials for instrumental lessons. The many boxes from DMA also came from various sources. I was told that some came from radio station KOA. In the early days of radio, many stations had their own in-house musicians who played live music on the air. A few of the folios are stamped with KOA National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC). Most have no markings as to their original source. 

 How many pieces are there? 

As you saw when you visited Golden Music, there is a lot of music. The school orchestra lending library probably has well over 1,000 titles from very beginning level to advanced string orchestra. The school band lending library probably has about 100 titles and is expanding. There also is a full symphonic orchestra section (winds and strings) that has about 50 titles. The instructional materials for piano probably has about 250 titles. The materials for other instruments probably has 300 titles ranging from violin, viola, cello, flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, trombone and a few others. The youth orchestra materials are of two types. The first was published by BMI in the early 1940's. There are probably 500 titles ranging from folksongs to arrangements of classical repertoire. The other type is a mix of original compositions for youth orchestra and arrangements of classical repertoire, published by various music publishing houses from late 1800's through mid-20th century. The octavo sized theatre orchestra materials are for a medium sized ensemble of strings and winds, maybe 15-20 players. This portion of the collection has well over 1,000 titles most of which are dance tunes and arrangements of popular songs of the early 20th century.

Do you need help with databasing or other archiving jobs - looking for volunteers? 

Currently, I am doing all the database entry and prefer to continue without assistance. However, when it is time to digitize this music, some help would be appreciated. 

Do you plan to sell any pieces? 

Alex Qualtire, co-owner of Golden Music, was quite adamant that nothing is for sale from this collection. 

Do you plan to make them available to the public - if so, how do you plan to do this? 

At the moment, only the string orchestra lending library, band music library, and the symphonic orchestra library are available for loan to teachers. There are no plans for the older music except to maintain it in archival storage. Once we really know what is in this collection, as I complete the database, Alex may be willing to loan out materials to teachers. 

Do you plan to digitize it? 

Once Alex agrees to lend a title, it will be digitized. Only the electronic version, not the fragile paper pages, will be allowed on loan. There are no plans yet to digitize the entire collection. The database can be made available to anyone who would be interested. 

What are some of the most interesting pieces you all have discovered? 

I found it quite interesting to see many pieces in the youth orchestra music by Irenee Berge who was a Frenchman who moved to the United States at the end of the 1800's to conduct orchestras. He is listed in Wikipedia although I don't know anyone today who knows his name. As I worked through the octavo theatre orchestra music, I found tunes that my mother used to sing. She was born in 1912 and was very familiar with popular tunes from 1920's, 1930's and into World War II era music. In all parts of the collection, there are patriotic tunes and medleys. Some represent tunes from the American Civil War, some from World War I and World War II. There are also many tunes that reflect the culture of early 20th century. with references to Hawaii, China, Japan, Eastern Europe, and Scandinavia. 

Are you accepting more pieces into the collection? If so, how can folks get those to you? 

Golden Music will always accept donations to these various types of library holdings as listed above. The donor should bring the music into the store, Golden Music, 10395 W. Colfax, Lakewood, 80215. The store is also active in assisting band and orchestra programs through the public, charter and private schools. 

Is it safe to say that is one of the largest (if not THE largest) collection of sheet music, in Colorado? Do you know of any other collections, this vast? 

In reality, this is a modest collection of sheet music. Quite likely local universities and school districts have a similar size or larger. What makes this collection unique is the amount of music of historical value. Although the string orchestra and band lending libraries have selections from the past 20-30 years, the majority of the youth orchestra music and the theatre/dance orchestra music comes from the first half of the 20th century.

Newspaper Find: Ray Rodriguez Trio (1971)

 

Ray Rodriguez Trio - Keely Brunner, Bill Weinacht and Ray Rodriguez 
Golden Daily Transcript - July 30, 1971

I often buy old Colorado paper items, if only to see if I can find anything music related in them.  At a recent estate sale, I picked up a large box 1950s-1970s-era Colorado newspapers. Will be sharing my printed finds, over the next few months, but first let's start off with this picture, from the July 30, 1971 issue of the Golden Daily Transcript - the Ray Rodriguez Trio.

The trio included Ray Rodriguez (guitar), Keely Brunner (guitar, banjo and mandolin), and Bill Weinacht (bass guitar). The story I found notes that the group will be the guest performers on the Denver TV show, Insight (which aired on Rocky Mountain PBS, Channel 6).

I couldn't find much on the Ray Rodriguez Trio, minus the fact that they were regular performers at both the Lion's Lair Lounge, in Denver, and the Blue Onion, in Aurora.

"All musicians are self taught. Brunner writes bluegrass and folk tunes, and accompanied Josh White on his tours." Side note: Josh White (February 11, 1914 – September 5, 1969) was an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and civil rights activist. He also recorded under the names Pinewood Tom and Tippy Barton in the 1930s. 

It doesn't appear that the trio recorded any vinyl releases, as I struck out on a search (as always, if you know of anything, let me know).

Towne & Country Revue (Keely Brunner standing, at center)

Keely Brunner later found success in the Towne and Country Review (which included Ned Alterman, Ritchie Mintz, Steve Carnes, Ben Carnes, and Zeke Little). In 2003 the group released the Live at Mountainears CD. Keely Brunner died in 2015. 

Dianne Bascom - "Funky soft rock track...great breaks!"

Took a day to visit a record digging city I had never visited before, Greeley. The Colorado vinyl was pretty sparse, but before I left town, I hit up the local ARC thrift, where I found a large stack of state-made, faith-based albums.

You all know that I'm not one to leave any private Colorado record on a shelf, no matter the genre, so I gathered up my 16 (!!) religious/church albums, and headed back down, to D-Town.

Got home and, one by one, put them on the turntable. Yeah, you can guess, they were all pretty much Happy Goodman-style, religious fare... that is, until I put the needle on Dianne Bascom, and her album I'd Rather Have Jesus.

I was immediately taken by the fact that this wasn't your typical nails-on-a-chalkboard, off-key female soprano, screeching her way through your standard-issue choir book song (trust me, I have lots of those).

Listen to "It Wouldn't Be Enough"

But as pleasant as that cut was, I was not prepared for the surprising funky guitar breaks on the track "Tell Them."

Listen to "Tell Them" (wait for it - break starts at 1:21)

And apparently I'm not the only one who digs this cut. In 2019, a copy of this album sold for $40, on eBay, with the seller stating: "Very rare self release / private label LP...funky soft rock track with nice drum / bass & a great wah pedal guitar that starts mid song & ends with it as well. Great breaks!"

As is usually the case, little is known about this LP, which was recorded at Applewood Studios, in Golden. The producer (and the funky guitarist) is Randy Gipson, of the Colorado Springs-based Gipsons, who recorded the Television Anniversary Album - Vol. 1, in 1972.

Randy and his brothers would go on to record the LP, Heavy on Gospel (which I also found on my Greeley dig, but was apparently used to sharpen knives, so I can't add an audio sample).

Here I Am in Denver... ( Crystal River Band )

So I'm digging through the mountain of bags and boxes, from the move up to Denver, and rediscovered a recent addition to the Colorado stash, courtesy of Austin, at Recollect Records.

I put this fantastic homemade bluegrass disc on the turntable, and my ears perked up, when I heard this catchy, and oh-so-appropriate chorus, which became an instant unpacking earworm:

Listen to "Here I am in Denver"

I hit the Internet to see if I could find out more about the Crystal River Band. It didn't take long to locate former-member Russ Rueger, who graciously offered to tell me more about his involvement in the band, and the recording:

"I joined the band in the fall of 1982. A friend brought me to a small bar that was at the intersection of Hog Back Road and I-70, in Golden. A bunch of guys were jamming, and I joined in on harmonica. They invited me over to their next practice, and I brought a guitar and mandolin. Over the next few weeks we played a lot in the basement of a house, in Arvada, and Saturday nights at the same bar. The band settled into six of us, and we named ourselves "The Crystal River Band," after the river out by Carbondale. The band was: Andre Lefebvre - guitar picker and banjo; Charlie Mueller - bass; Kevin Knudsen - rhythm guitar; Kent Knudsen - banjo; Dan [didn't recollect last name] - drummer, and me on mandolin-harmonica-guitar.

Crystal River

We got into the Medicine Man Saloon up on Lookout Mountain, and became their house band. We played there most Friday and Saturday nights through 1985. We gigged some other clubs in the Denver area, and were the top billing for Bailey Days in 1984 and 1985. We also did a couple of festivals and weddings.

We recorded that album in one cocaine-fueled night in a small studio in Denver. Our drummer had left the band, and the producers brought in a studio drummer [Phil Gonzalez] a few days after our sessions. Mostly I remember being really tired.

We fell apart in 1985. Kevin and Kent disappeared, Andre moved back to Nebraska after a nasty divorce and job loss, Charlie met a woman and spent all his time with her, and I got serious about raising my four kids. I moved the family to Vermont in 1987 [Listen to Russ's new music, on his website].

Here's a pic from our heyday - minus the drummer. Left to right: Charlie, Andre, me, Kent, Kevin."

Russ told me there were probably less than 100 of these LPs pressed. The extensive Slipcue.com website located a copy, and reviewed it:

"I suspect this disc was simply a souvenir of a summer that a few buddies spent smoking pot and picking out tunes by campfires in the Rocky Mountain nights...  There are a few cover songs -- "Ghost Riders In The Sky," Ian Tyson's "Summer Wages," Doc Watson's "Deep River Blues."  It's exactly the sort of stuff you'd expect mellow '70s dudes with guitars to strum along to at a barbeque party or whatever. There are also a fair number of original tunes by mandolin picker Russ Rueger, also in a raggedly folkie vein. Anyway, this is a real record made by real people..."

Of note, and not to be confused, there was also a faith-based Colorado Springs group, going by the Crystal River Band, around the same time period. 

 

Gold Leaf Music

Edit February, 2015 to include the Roger Berig LP. 

Dave Ackerman interviewed April 2013.

I first ran across the Westminster-based Gold Leaf label on the outstanding 1978 self titled Kastles LP. Then, as fate would have it, discovered an earlier Gold Leaf album, a lounge recording by the duo Foxfyre (One of Us is Not Enough), in an Austin used book store. Noting Dave Ackerman's name on both, I tracked him down. He shared a brief history of his label, and his musical career.

Side One:
One of Us
Hello
This Lady Ain't Waiting
One Fine Day
Scotch and Soda
How Lucky Can You Get

Side Two:
I Got Love
Lady My Sweet Lady/Sunshine
No Time to Say Goodbye
Alone
It Was a Good Time/Maybe This Time

"The Foxfyre album was myself and my singing partner, Mary Davis, who performed at the Top Of The Rockies [located on the top floor of the Petroleum Building on the corner of 17th and Glenarm] for seven years. We wanted to have an album to sell to those who really liked us."

The album, released in 1976, was Gold Leaf's freshman effort. Recorded at Applewood Studios in Denver, the album features Dave on bass, flute, and saxophone, guitarist Steve Jerrett, (along with former Synchrony guitarist Jay Salam), plus Ric Duncum and Larry Ziehl on drums, and steel guitarist Todd Clayton.

Two years later he would release the Kastles LP.

"Basically I did private recordings for the Kastles because they sang in church and wanted to share their talents with the congregation," he said.

That same year, Ackerman would record the Roger Berig Polka Variety Band LP, Just for Fun, recorded live at the Shangri-la Club in Westminster.

Gold Leaf's final record would come from country singer Tom Nix (GLM 0502), "Lady Luck"/"No Time To Say Goodbye" (both songs co-written by Ackerman), also recorded in 1978.

 

"I engineered and performed on Tom Nix's record, and he rewarded me with a stop payment check for the entire sessions.  That's when I decided not to record any more people except myself."

He went on to finish his Doctorate in music composition, wrote a symphony, and arranged and conducted the Jefferson Country Symphony's summer seasons for 19 years. 

"There is a CD that I did for gospel singer Alice Pegues, that I believe I put on the Gold Leaf label.  I wrote several songs for that album, including  'By My Side,' which won a Colorado Songwriters top award."

As for the rest of the musicians on the Foxfyre release, Steve Jerrett is a program director at Columbia MO radio station, Jay Salam builds web sites and teaches courses at Arapahoe Community College, Larry Ziehl continues to play around the Denver area, Todd Clayton is an airline pilot, and Ric Duncum passed away in 2007.  Mary Davis' whereabouts are unknown.

In 1981 Tom Nix scored a Billboard Hot 100 country song, "Home Along the Highway."

Jerry Street

Found this Jerry Street disc via eBay, and remembered the name from a 2010 blog post over at LoneStarStomp.

According to that post, it appears Jerry did quite a bit in New Mexico and Texas, but he must have headed north in his later career, as this find is on a Golden, Colorado label.

On this disc Jerry teams up with Lloyd Green, the steel guitar ace, who appeared on records for everyone from Johnny Cash and Charley Pride, to Sir Paul McCartney.

Also of note is co-producer Buster Jenkins, who started out in Denver (on the Rocky Mountain Jamboree, and then later with his band the High Country Travelers). Buster also produced on the Band Box label before he started up the High Country label, in 1968 (producing Dewey Knight's "A Mind of Your Own," among others).

  Listen to a sample  

 Listen to a sample

There is one other High Country/Jerry Street collaboration that I know of. "The Same Old Thing" / "Listen They're Playing My Song" (High Country 70012).