California Ramblers, 1921 - 1971

SUB-SERIES 2A: LEGAL/FINANCIAL, BUSINESS CORRESPONDENCE AND PUBLICITY: Boxes 2 and 22. Early contracts giving researchers a glimpse into contracts between artists and record companies in the early days of recording. Two separate lawsuits underscore the failure of two attempts to establish major venues in New York and Miami to promote the Ramblers, aside from the highly successful California Ramblers Inn in Westchester County, New York. California Ramblers Scrapbook #1 contain the bulk of materials focus on the Ramblers in their heyday in the early to mid twenties.

SUB-SERIES 2B: CALIFORNIA RAMBLERS, PERFORMANCE: Boxes 2-4, 32. Kirkeby's flair for organizing the careers of his artists, and documenting and preserving important documentation, is clear from the beginning. Among the types of material present in series are listings of repertoire, publisher, recording and contact information; correspondence and fan mail; materials relating to broadcasts on New York radio stations between 1923 and 1933; and concert bills, advertising, publications and clippings. Of special note are four datebooks of Ramblers between 1926 and 1931.

SUB-SERIES 2C: CALIFORNIA RAMBLERS MUSIC MANUSCRIPTS, PARTS, PUBLISHED ARRANGEMENTS, LEAD SHEETS AND LYRICS: Box 35. This series is largely a listing of songs composed by Ed Kirkeby and Ramblers pianist Lew Cobey for later recordings by the orchestra.

SUB-SERIES 2D: CALIFORNIA RAMBLERS SCRAPBOOKS AND PHOTOGRAPHS: Boxes 24-25. Two scrapbooks primarily from the California Ramblers era and before contain rich documentation of Ed Kirkeby's early career in the form of correspondence and other papers and supplemented with equally vibrant visual material-photographs and ephemera-that suggest the multifaceted ways in which he promoted his artists. There is other material from Kirkeby's time with Fats Waller and the Deep River Boys as well as other artists whom Kirkeby did not manage. Some correspondence and documents were photocopied and placed in sequence in the appropriate series for easier intellectual access by researchers, while the originals remain with the scrapbook. Thirty-two 11x14" prints of the Ramblers can be found in the Box containing Scrapbook #1. The 67 pages comprising Scrapbook #2 have been placed in order in mylar sleeves.