In the history of extra-musical sounds on LP, we haye heard the roar of sports car engines, the woosh of jet planes, the downpour of tropical thunderstorms, street noises, heart beats, and bird calls. But the biggest impact on the record market was made by a gun, specifically a "French siege cannon", vintage 1761, of the type used by Napoleon during his 1812 Russian campaign.

This weapon was recalled into service after a century's retirement in order to carry out a musical, rather than a military mission. As such, it played a vital role in making Mercury's recording of Tchaikovsky's Overture 1812 (in its original scoring with cannon and bells) the best-selling LP of the past two years.

In audio shows throughout the land, the shots of this now-famous cannon resounded in the booths and corridors, even out-roaring the steam locomotives.

At the New York High Fidelity Show (1956), for example, hordes of visitors squirmed their way into the Mercury exhibit room to hear the 16 cannon shots and the clamorous bell-ringing at the climax of the Overture 1812, staying on to listen attentively to Deems Taylor's description of the manner in which the "effects" were synchronized with the musical track.
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The monophonic version of 1812 was recorded by Mercury late in 1954, only months before the company began its three-channel stereo recording program.

With the advent of commercial stereo tapes and discs, plans were made to re-record the work in stereo. Finally, in early April, 1958, Mercury returned to Minneapolis where Antal Dorati conducted the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra and the University of Minnesota Brass Band in a repeat performance of the redoubtable war-horse for the benefit of the stereo microphones.

The following month, Mercury's crew scaled the heights of the Riverside Church to capture the sound of the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial Carillon (Audio, July, 1958). And in mid-July, Mercury revisited West Point for the third and final stage of its 1812-stereo expedition.

On that hot and muggy day, six shots were fired and recorded in stereo. The site of the firing was near Building 706 and Delafield Road at the U. S. Military Academy, West Point. For the stereo edition of the Overture 1812, the cannon previously used in the monophonic version was passed over in favor of a larger weapon.

After carefully studying the matter, Gerald C. Stowe, Chief Curator of the West Point Museum, settled on a 12-pounder "siege cannon" built in Douay, France in 1775. The inscription near the muzzle reads, "Le Constant" (The Faithful).

It is more than likely that this field piece is a veteran of the Napoleonic Wars. Later, it was purchased by the Mexican government and used against American troops at the battle of Contreras on August 20, 1847, at which time it was captured and brought to the United States, eventually taking its place alongside the other war trophies at the West Point Military Academy. The Academy, incidentally, is one of the few places in the world where such field pieces are kept serviceable.

Two factors dictated Mr. Stowe's choice: size and solidity. The size of this muzzle-loaded cannon promised a truly enormous blast. Equally important, there was practically no danger of cracking, despite its 183 years; the bronze construction guaranteed that.

The cannon having been selected, a naval-type carriage was then built for the firing base. Since the old artillery piece weighed over 3.000 pounds (1,5 Tonnen), heavy oak timbers had to be employed as shown in Fig. 1. Coarse black powder of a century-old battle formula was placed in one- and two-pound paper bags, and the cannon was moved from Trophy Point to the firing site.