What made Davis's work on Rainey and Smith's songs labor-intensive?

• A. Transcribing lyrics from unclear vinyl recordings
• B. Comparing to other artists' versions
• C. Digitizing the recordings
• D. Conducting archival research

Answer: (A)

Transcribing lyrics from unclear vinyl recordings is labor-intensive because old records often mask the words with hiss, crackle, and groove wear, and the singer’s phrasing or pronunciation may vary from take to take. When Davis worked on Rainey and Smith’s songs, the task required listening repeatedly to extract exact wording, decide which words fit best, and note how the lyrics line up with the music and timing. This careful reconstruction—checking possible ambiguities, cross-referencing with any available lyrics or notes, and choosing consistent spellings and punctuation—takes a lot of meticulous, patient work. While digitizing the tracks or doing broader archival research are important steps, they don’t demand the same level of detailed vocal text recovery that transcription from imperfect recordings does.