I recently obtained a Grand Roller Organ (32-note) cob and I do not recognize the tune on it.  I am sending a recording of it in the hope that another MMD reader might be able to identify it for me, either from having the cob itself, having the tune on some other mechanical music machine, or just recognizing it.  (I hope that it is not some reasonably familiar classical piece which I should know, but I do not think it is.)

The cob has a scrap of a label containing clear numbers "20" followed by what looks like either a "5" or a "6".  Based on this, I thought that it might be #2054, "Overture -- Caliph of Baghdad", but another collector who has that cob says it is not.  By the process of elimination, the only other cob in the 2050s or 2060s I think it could be is #2069, "University March".

I might be wrong about the third digit being a 5 or 6, however, and other possible titles on the list which I don't know and which I think it might possibly be are #2004, "En Avant March", #2019, "Gracious Heavens--Martha", #2049, "Wang March", #2073, "Because I Love Thee So" and #2078, "Columbus March".  Can any MMD reader name the tune, or confirm that it is not one of the titles I have listed here?

I should add that, while I cannot identify this cob, I do know most of the approximately 159 tunes that appeared on the Grand roller organ and if any of you have any "mystery cobs" of your own and would like to send me a recording of them or play them for me over the phone, there is a good chance I will be able to identify them for you by ear.

Thank you!
Richard Dutton
26 Oct 2003 10:56:41 EST

MP3 audio file: dutton_unknown1.mp3 (943 kb) plays 1:36
More about the Grand Roller Organ is at Todd Augsburger's site, http://www.rollerorgans.com/Roller_Organ_History.htm