Russell Hunting

Russell Dinsmore Hunting (May 8, 1864 – February 20, 1943) was an American comic entertainer, pioneer sound recordist, and an influential figure in the early years of the recorded music industry.

[1] He was born in West Roxbury, Massachusetts, and began his career as a dramatic actor in the Boston Theatre Company.

In 1893, Hunting recorded the earliest version of the baseball poem "Casey at the Bat" (Columbia Graphophone Grand, #9649).

[5] In 1896 Hunting founded the first independent magazine for the recording industry, Phonoscope, and set up a phonograph shop in New York with his partner Charles M.

Hunting was identified by his distinctive voice, and a detective working for Anthony Comstock, the founder of the newly formed New York Society for the Suppression of Vice arrested him for violating obscenity laws.

[1] After the United Kingdom became involved in the Boer War in 1899, he recorded "The Departure of the Troop Ship", with the sounds of "crowds at the quayside, bands playing the troops up the gang-plank, bugles sounding 'All ashore', farewell cries of 'Don’t forget to write', troops singing "Home Sweet Home", which gradually receded in the distance, and the far-away mournful hoot of the steamer whistle."