I have a bunch of comments, observations and insights that have been received recently, that I planned to start off this post with, but I've been working on this one for five days and want to get it posted. But I thank everyone who has written in, and I will get to them next time.
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Let's start with a reel made, presumably, by a teacher. It sounds like she was in the Phoenix area, and she opens the tape by explaining why she wants to show local students a film about The Grand Canyon - some of them have never seen it and may not even know much about it. There follows her narration for the film, accompanied by a musical score. This being audio only, we can't see it, of course. I hope all readers out there have had a chance to see it.
Download: Grand Canyon Film Introduction and Narration
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And here, for your dining and dancing pleasure, are the some folks, also in Phoenix, heard on the tape for ten minutes after the Grand Canyon narration, sitting around and chatting about all manner of things. Conversations about a few government programs and issues, including Head Start, as well as a mention of the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum, pretty effectively date this to the mid 1960's, and no earlier than late 1965.
Download: Conversation In Arizona Circa Mid 1960's (After the Grand Canyon Film Narration)
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This next tape comes in a box that looks like this:
Download: Dub of NWB Show, 10-20-59 - For Club Page (Final Tape)
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Perhaps you would prefer, though, to listen to a 28 minute speech from roughly 53 years ago, given by Tony Cortellessa, to the Franklin Life Insurance Company. If so, BOY ARE YOU IN LUCK!!!:
Download: Tony Cortellessa Speaks to the Franklin Life Insurance Company, 9-11-72
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Here is someone named Eve - I think so, anyway, doing a variety of stage-musical-type songs, including some from the show "Oliver!". The tape box is written on sort of haphazardly. I don't know if that says "Eve Many Songs" or "Eve <her last name> Songs. I think it's "many".
What do you think? And let me know if you want to hear more of people rehearsing songs (or less, for that matter). I have quite a few.
Download: Eve Practices Several Songs with Piano - January 30
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This next one is labeled like this:
That's a mouthful, and rather than offering comments, I'll let you experience its charms, whatever you find (or don't find) them to be. One warning - after a really quiet section, the tape suddenly gets REALLY LOUD at 21:15. Be prepared.
Download: Johnson-Mort Wedding Anniversaries, November 5, 1960, at the Miller Home
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And now it's time for our "Acetate of the Month". In this month's episode, Joan records a song ("Always in My Heart") for her absent husband Edward (with Gladys on piano) and then talks to him about how much he is missed. Someone named Jean then sends her love to Tom (who was apparently with Edward). Nothing was written on this acetate so I can't really tell you anything more about it.
Download: Black and Silver Metal Acetate - Joan Sings a Song for Her Husband and Talks
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Today's "Very Short Reel" is actually another excerpt, which is a cheat, but I really wanted to share this segment.
First, a little story. When I was little, we had a miniature player piano thingee. I don't quite remember how big it was, or what happened to it, but it had genuine (little) player piano rolls and they really did make it play the way a full sized one does - it was almost more like a music box, due to its size.
In case you don't know how player piano rolls work, they have spots on the sheet of paper which correspond to all 88 keys on the piano, and there is a hole punched for every note that is to be played. I believe they were made by someone actually playing the piano attached to a machine that would poke the holes, and then additional holes would often be made to add embellishments. There are piano rolls "cut" by Scott Joplin which contain embellishments that render performances that no single pianist could actually ever play.
As you might imagine, tearing extra holes in the piano roll results in extra notes being played. And, in fact, one of our little piano rolls developed a large tear near the center but off to one side a bit, right near the start of the piece. When you fed that one into the machine, it played the first five seconds or so of the piece, then about 20 keys all slammed their tones, not quite together, but roughly the way you might think a piano falling over might sound. It was quite humorous.
So anyway.... I found a tape someone made in 1953, capturing a series of player piano rolls fed through their player piano, interspersed with what were, even then, ancient 78 RPM releases. And two of the piano rolls clearly had the same issue as the one we owned.
What you'll hear here is the woman who introduces all of the rolls and 78's on the tape, introducing the next piano roll, and then the entire roll - well most of it: it would appear that the end of it was damaged and then, most likely, torn off completely before the piece ends. You can hear the woman giggle a little as the odd sounds retreat. I laughed out loud. There is just something devastatingly hilarious about the way it shudders to a stop after such musical eloquence, to that point, as if an actual pianist had been playing and suddenly dropped dead, mid phrase.
A man then speaks briefly about the wonderful weather they are having - exactly 72 years ago tomorrow, as I post this (wow). Then the woman introduces another piano roll, and THAT one is damaged a few seconds into the song, then is fine from that point on. This second one sounds just like the piano roll we had, with a moment of good music, a few moments of complete mayhem, and then the rest of it is normal again. I've faded it after the goofy part. I hope this makes you laugh as much as it does me. Every... single... time.
Download: Short Excerpt from a Tape of Piano Roll (with comments on the Weather) - 10-18-53
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