Blog: Music You (Possibly) Won't Hear Anyplace Else

I've been having disturbing flashbacks to those days, not too long ago, when our White House virtually existed to cozy up to Big Oil, among other rich and powerful lobbies. I see images of peaceful protesters being hauled off by police. I watch an administration deaf to the voices of the people. I see.... Oh, wait. That's today's news. Never mind. [...]

In other words, seventy-eights. Eleven of them, from ragtime banjo to a saxophone sextette to a racist barbershop classic. Not, mind you, a classic written in a racist barbershop, but a close-harmony standard which happens to be racist, like so many numbers (say, 30 percent) of the ragtime, barbershop, and early jazz periods. For a while, I avoided putting up stuff like this, but such lyrics are so common to the period, I've had to relax my policy. The past is what it is. (Or was, anyway.) The number in question--a 1917 version of [...]

Check out the label: "Gospel Quartette." Check. "QC 127." Check. Lastly, a track listing. Check. Now you know as much about this record as I do! This gem showed up at the thrift store in the wrong jacket, so all I know is what we see. This disc might set some kind of record for lack of information. Luckily, the music is excellent--very old-fashioned Southern quartet singing, with a superior group of tunes. In spots, "Gospel Quartette" reminds me of Smith's Sacred Singers, though these tracks are obviously 40 [...]

The sleeve continues: "Radio & TV Hit Tunes; Vocals and Orchestra by Popular Radio and Television Artists." And... " Latest Dance Tunes: Popular Tunes Compiled According to Radio, Records and Music Surveys." The label, Value Hit Parade Tunes, describes the package as "An Outstanding Value in Top Quality Phonograph Records" and advises the use of a "sharp needle" for "best results." That's my favorite part. The bigger the build up, of course, the smaller the payoff, and, sure enough, these sound-alike tracks aren't exactly efforts to rival the original hits. [...]

Today's SMG has been rescued from cassette--see the left side of the cassette card for the track list. I taped this back in 1994, and the LP has since left the piles. No on-line info about the group or label (Shield Records of Columbus, Ohio), and I don't recall anything beyond what I recorded on the tape card. (I know--what good am I?) But I do remember that this group was a big hit with both me and John and Bev (with "John and Bev" a single unit for the sake of this discussion), [...]

Referring to Gertrude Stein's "senseless poetry," dissonance in modern music, among other trends: Far be it from us either to endorse or to discourage these newer developments. Everything new had to start and in fact did start at some time or other. Future time may give the verdict. From Think for Yourself , by Robert P. Crawford, 1937.

This blog is your source for vintage polkas! In case there was any doubt on that point. Today's polka playlist goes back to 1910 (!) and travels as far as mid-WWII, with the emphasis on "Bohemian" bands and performances. One has to admire these starving artists for staying so focused on their art, at least long enough to get through the recording session. Oh, wait--wrong "Bohemian." Anyway, these are all from 78s in my collection, and the condition, to put it tactfully, varies. All selections are listenable, albeit with some [...]

"Assorted gospel" sounds better than "Miscellaneous gospel," and so I chose it. Nearly half of today's selections come from the LP, Rex Humbard Presents..., Vol. 1 , inside of whose gatefold cover the above image (stitched by Scan-n-Stitch Deluxe) originates. Six of the Humbard tracks are by the Cathedral Quartet, an offshoot of (or replacement for?) the Weatherford Quartet. Rex sings with them on Last Mile of the Way . Here is their LP photo . The Humbard tracks are 1965-ish. I love putting "-ish" after a year. [...]

Well, maybe not a festival, but this is a nice little group of 1955 sound-alikes released by the Cincinnati, Ohio label, Gateway--in this case, Gateway Parade of Hits. House of Blue Lights is a cover of the Chuck Miller hit, Ain't It (sic) a Shame covers Pat Boone covering Fats Domino, and so on. The most interesting track, to me, is the Roy-Cliffs' Autumn Leaves , onto which the orchestra was most likely dubbed. Why? To allow the track to function as a copy of the Roger Williams hit. That is [...]

Yes, there is a Sunday Morning Gospel theme, and this is it. Played by me on my Casio WK-3800: Down in My Heart Arrangement credited to Thoro Harris, 1929. Lee

I rescued today's selection from cassette tape, and since I can find no information at all concerning the LP, here (for compensation) is a scan of the cassette and case. If anyone has any data on this release--label, number, etc.--please feel free to share. I taped this in 2001, four years before I gave any thought to blogging, or even knew what that word meant. It's one of many LPs I'd have kept, otherwise. But it's gone, with only this analog facsimile remaining. Which actually sounds quite nice in its digital rip, normal bias [...]

"I blog, therefore I sit in front of my PC." Er, I mean, "I blog, therefore I am." Me, in Bev's office, my headquarters prior to the big move to the Media Room, once the uppermost of the two rooms that originally made up our house, circa 1850. (The Media Room, that is. Bev's office is a downstairs add-on.) So, I haven't been blogging as much as I would be if I weren't zonked out by allergies. But mere human sinuses haven't a chance in our hot, humid weather--especially now that ragweed is [...]

Really? I thought it only seemed that way.... (Rim shot) Lee

I previously shared this wonderful LP art (a gift from Diane Werts ), but only now am I sharing the music. I should note that, prior to its sink cleaning, the vinyl looked pretty iffy, as far as a decent rip was concerned, but the post-dust and -grime disc didn't look nearly as phonograph-unfriendly. So I went ahead and ripped it. And save for a little distortion in some loud, full-quartet passages, the rip is a solid decent. Since two-adjective phrases are a cool thing at the moment, I'll leave that as is. [...]

Sometimes, things coincide oddly. At my Merv Griffin post, Ernie commented, "Thanks, Lee! But none of this is Christmas music. Don't you know it's July?"--referring, of course, to Christmas in July . Meanwhile, by the oddest of chances, I had been restoring my 2008 Christmas at Halloween suite, which of course is a take-off on the Christmas in July theme. You see, several days ago, my sister had asked to hear a portion of the suite-- Call Dumb All the Faithful (The Neo-Atheist Creed) --and I said, sure. Then I [...]

Merv's Birthday was the 6th, so I'm a little late--but it's the month that counts. And, so, a late July Birthday tribute to the late, great Merv, all ripped from 78s and 45s in my collection. (Merv made a lot of them!) Included are two of his hits, both big: 1949's I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts , made during his band-singer days with the Freddy Martin Orchestra, and 1951's Twenty-Three Starlets , recorded with Hugo Winterhalter during his solo period at RCA Victor. The latter was written by Tom ( On [...]

Courtesy of Martin D. from Georgia, here are Brenda, Louise, Oral, David, and Freddy--The Loopers--from their LP, It's Worth It All . Previously, we've known them as the Looper Trio or the Looper Family, but today they are The Loopers. An eBay search for whom will bring up Bix Beiderbecke. Not as "down home" as our last Looper offering (the L's second LP), but plenty good, regardless. As the Loopers' music speaks for itself more skillfully than I can in a blog intro, let's simply go right to it. (What do you mean, [...]

Behold--my first perfect scan. This time, I allowed for room on the sides, which resulted in nothing getting shortened or cut off. After much fooling around, I am now an expert in 12" jacket stitching. It helps considerably that the actual stitching part is done automatically by the software, provided I scan the right portions in the proper order before inserting them into the program. Had I consulted the scanning chart in the first place, I'd have saved myself some hassle, but what fun is that? I certainly ended up with some interesting, [...]

This was donated to the MY(P)WHAE library by Diane Werts , whose For Better or Werts column you should be keeping up with. (Click on her name for the link.) After several tries, I finally got the four scans to stitch together properly, though a couple tiny gaps had to be cloned away. I owe my success to finally breaking down and reading the software instructions. It's amazing how helpful it can be to do that. I neglected to clone out the price tag, but I think it [...]

1928. Click on image for larger view. Other finds: a choral LP that didn't live up to the promise of its jacket photo and track listing (I just spot-listened to it), and a praise song collection containing some titles I actually know, thanks to my church organist/pianist gig. Plus, a cat book for Bev. Thrifting is the best therapy I know. Lee