Queen Elizabeth in Chicago, A Labor Day Address, A Demo Reel, Gynecology and "The Dong With the Luminous Nose"

First, I wanted to thank the several people who wrote, either via the comment box or via e-mail, to share their thoughts on last months "BLOWOUT" post. I appreciate the kind words, the thoughts on that format, and the general reactions and impressions of my site. They are all deeply appreciated. It was a small sample, but the general feeling seems to have been that such a post, in which I share a huge volume of material, about which I have relatively little to say, and therefore with minimal text, is a welcome offering. I may do such a post as often as once every other post, at least until I've used up a significant portion of the 400 or so items I have waiting for sharing. For my other posts, I think I will try to cut down on the amount of typing I do, unless there is really something specific I want to pass along.

And now, on with the countdown: 

When I heard the news about Queen Elizabeth, one of my first thoughts was "I should share that tape of the time she visited Chicago". I've owned this five inch reel for decades, digitized it over two years ago, and if I could find it, I would scan the tape box for you. 

Elizabeth visited Chicago for a 16 or so hour visit, after visiting multiple sites in Canada. She arrived, as you'll hear, on a boat in Lake Michigan, and crossed Lake Shore Drive into Grant Park. For decades, that crosswalk was known as "Queen's Crossing", until the city removed the crosswalk and the stop light, a few years ago. I'll let the tape tell the rest of the story. 

Download:  Coverage of Queen Elizabeth's Visit to Chicago, 7-6-59

Play:

As long as I'm sharing that tape, I thought I'd let you hear what was on the rest of that reel. Here's a short segment of WGN radio show called "Midnight Ticker", from the same day as the Queen's visit. 

Download: Peggy Cass on "Midnight Ticker", 7-6-59

Play:

And, as often happens, the remainder of the tape actually contains something which was recorded earlier, and then partially erased by the later material. Here is the tail end of the final episode of "The Gisele MacKenzie Show, a television show which ended its run on March 28th, 1958

Download: The Gisele MacKenzie Show (Final Episode) with Cameraman Lee Mossman and Miyoshi Umeki - 3-28-58

Play:

~~

We also just celebrated Labor Day, and in honor of that, here is a broadcast Labor Day speech by the Vice President of the AFL-CIO, just a short 58 years ago. 

Download: Albert J Hayes, Vice President of AFL-CIO - Labor Day Address, 9-7-64

Play:

~~~

For those of you who, like me, can't get enough of all things Top 40 Radio, I have just the thing for you. Here is a demo reel produced by (or on behalf of) Lee Sherwood, a journeyman DJ, Radio personality and radio executive. This sampling was put together in April of 1971, and is "scoped" - that is, the songs are cut out of the equation. Just listening to this, you can tell that he was that "journeyman", as I described him - still early in his career, this tape represents stops at several different stations. 

Download: Lee Sherwood's Demo Reel, 4-17-71

Play:

~~

Here's a performance of an old bit of nonsense verse with guitar. When I first spooled out this next tape, as soon as the person began reciting the poem, I thought, "I KNOW THOSE WORDS". When I was a kid, one of my favorite books was "The Complete Nonsense of Edward Lear", a fantastic collection of prose, poetry and drawing which I still adore to this day. And for whatever reason, the performer here decided to do a little rendition of "The Dong With a Luminous Nose". The words aren't quite in the order here that they are in my book, but it's certainly the same Edward Lear poem. 

Download: Unknown - Edward Lear's 'The Dong With a Luminous Nose', with Guitar

Play:

~~

And now for something aggressively esoteric. Somewhere along the way I obtained a batch of reels which contain medical lectures and symposiums, under the umbrella title "Audio Digest". These would be sent on a monthly basis to doctors in various specialties, addressing issues within those specialties, from various aspects. The example I have today - this was the tape on the top of the pile, and one of only two of these that I've listened to so far - is on Obstetrics and Gynecology. It is a mind-numbing 57 minutes long, but I am really trying to give a sample of everything in my collection so..... ENJOY!!!

Download: Audio Digest - Obstetrics and Gynecology, Volume 15, Number 13

Play:

~~

And finally, here is our "Very Short Reel" for the day. It is, simply, an ad for a local bank. Here 'tis: 

Download: Pepper-Tanner - Community Bank and Trust Company Ad

Play: 

Life in the Eisenhower Years: Sports, Slumber Parties, Live from Riverview, and Making Fun of the Hits

Howdy, y'all, 

I have a nice little collection of obscurities for you today. And after I selected them, I realized that they all fall within a very specific period: 1953-1960, nearly an exact overlap with the Eisenhower years. I'm not sure what that means, aside from something I already knew, which is that I'm particularly fascinated with recording made in the years before I was born. But I selected them because they are each wonderful in their own ways. 

To start, a tape of a grown man being completely silly. And I don't know who this guy is, but I love him. I have an image of "the Man of the House" in the 1950's, and it isn't this guy. He's not afraid to be ridiculous. I'm not sure if he was trying to amuse his grade school children (who are heard elsewhere on the tape, in less interesting segments), or just amuse himself, or what, but I have rarely come across a tape in recent months that I've adored as much as I do this one. And I'll say this right off - your mileage may vary - I could see this tape annoying the hell out of a person who is not like me. 

Basically, and for the most part, the gentleman in question is simply interacting with the radio, talking back to the announcer, making fun of the songs played, sometimes with satiric asides or comebacks, but just as often with wordless noisemaking. And it's not just the hits - classical music and quiet pop also get razzed - even the newscaster doesn't escape his playing. At one point near the end, he simply sings listing from TV guide over a rendition of "I've Got You Under My Skin". One of his kids joins in a few times, too. 

I am indebted to Brian B., who popped up in my e-mail, out of the blue, back in March, and offered to donate a stack of 1950's reels to me, for my perusal and possible use. Other tapes from Brian will be featured in the future - I've listened to three of them - but this was killer segment, and like I said, one that I couldn't wait to share. 

I love this guy. 

Download: Unknown - Singing Along with the Radio in 1958

Play:  

~~

Shooting back a half-decade, we head to Riverview Amusement Park, which was the place to be for teens and young adults in Chicago, right up to it's closure following the 1967 season. 

Apparently, the mighty WGN radio, which was conveniently located about six blocks from Riverview, had a regular remote broadcast from the park in 1953, and a then-newcomer to the station, Buddy Black, hosted that half-hour broadcast. 

This is another in the series of tapes that I've owned for decades, which I've started revisiting in recent months, and it's another of my favorites. There is a cornucopia of pre-rock 1950's feeling to this reel, from the songs played to the interaction between the host and his friend, to the interviews with attendees. 

Download: Buddy Black at Riverview Park, WGN, 1953

Play:  

~~

Now let's head right back into 1958. 

Clif Mercer (and that is how he spelled his name) was a mainstay in Chicago radio for somewhere around 25-30 years, mostly at WGN, and later, briefly, at WJJD when it was a big band oldies station. He also worked at WGN TV and did everything from news to commercials to DJing. 

He is said to have been a fairly wonderful person. That said, I always wondered, from the first time I heard him, how he ever ended up trying to make it in radio, and once he did, how he succeeded. My mother had the same reaction, as did most of the radio-heads that I knew when Mr. Mercer was still on the air. 

Because, as you'll hear, while Clif Mercer had a lovely, deep and authoritative-toned voice, he also a prominent lisp. One that would, I would think, preclude entry into the field of on-air broadcasting, let alone a 25 year plus career. 

I have several recordings of Clif Mercer, the best two of which I've been wholly unable to put my hands on, since starting this project. Many, many thanks to my best pal Stu, who sent me a digitization of a segment from 1958, featuring a Clif Mercer sports report, that I believe I sent him some time in the early 1990's. Now you can enjoy the dulcet tones of Mr. Mercer, too. 

Download: Clif Mercer - WGN Sports Report, May, 1958

Play:  

~~

And here's a discovery! Would you like to eavesdrop on a slumber party from 1960? Our host set up her reel to reel machine, and for part of this recording, her pals knew it was on, and at other times, it seems to be a surprise to them, particularly the last few minutes when they talk a bit more openly about certain things. 

The sound quality goes up and down here, and there are sections where nothing of very much interest goes on, but the overall tape is interesting to me in its one-of-a-kindness and just that "fly on the wall" aspect that makes, for example, the Beatles "get back" rehearsal tapes (50+ hours of them available on bootleg) so fascinating for some of us. Just to hear people being themselves when they are not conscious of being recorded and don't expect anyone else to hear large sections of it. 

They talk about school (a lot), boys, things they've been doing, etc. - there's even a few moments when they discuss (with someone's father present for a moment) what food to order. 

We're in (or near) Chicago, and the radio gets turned on in the last quarter of the recording. I'm assuming it's WJJD, which was a top 40 station at the time, as this is clearly the winter of 1960, based on the songs played, and WLS didn't flip to Top 40 until May of that year. 

Download: A Chicago Area Slumber Party, Winter 1960

Play:  

~~

For our "Very Short Reel", I've selected two items today, and they're from two sides of the same tape. The first is just under 100 seconds worth of an interview, at Bell Island in Canada, and a then-new ferry called "The John Guy". Since the ferry began its work in 1960, I'm guessing that's about when this is from. 

If you want to read about Bell Island, you can find that here. If you want to see a picture of The John Guy, that's here. 

Download: Brief Interview About "The John Guy" on Bell Island, circa 1960

Play:  

~~

Finally, on the flip side of that tape, is a series of short ads, which clearly date from the same era, just based on the sound of them (and that they're on the same tape). 

This is not actually three ads, but three recordings of the exact same ad. That's the way they're heard on the tape, as indicated on the box (below), and that's what I've provided here for you. The ad is for"Terra Nova Motors", which, like Bell Island, was and is in the vicinity of Newfoundland and Labrador, in Canada, where the dealership has been located since 1930. 

Like the guy who makes fun of the radio at the top of this post, I simply love this little ad. Those tight sixth and seventh chords in the final section are intoxicating to me - like manna from heaven

Download: Terra Nova Motors - 3 Jingles - "All Same"

Play:  

Celebrating Baseball, Trying to Get the Ad Just Right, and Keeping in Touch

How ya doon?

Today marks the completion of the Scotch Tape Box History Series. Last time around, I shared the boring box that Scotch moved towards, during the period when the rest of the advertising world (and the Western World) was moving towards an explosion of color and imagery. Scotch then stayed with that box style, with minor modifications and variations, for at least 15 years, regardless of tape size or item number.

Following that - and I may have missed a design or two along the way, particularly after 1980, a period I don't generally look for tapes from, and during which I was not buying new tapes. But anyway, the next - and last - example I have is the starkest change of all, and even did away with the band of scotch plaid which had been present all the way back since 1948. In fact, it did away with just about everything, and featured a solid black box with the word "Scotch" in silver.

Ecch. What an ignominious end. The word "Scotch" barely appears anywhere else on the box (only in tiny legal type), replaced as a company name by "Magnetic Audio/Video Products Division of 3M".

<a bit of a plug - the tape housed in the box scanned above does happen to include some of the  recordings I made for my 1997 opus "The Many Moods of Bob", available free at that link.>

I'm thinking that now I might move towards sharing some of the other boxes which I consider to be particularly interesting/common/rare/whatever. Any thoughts on this?

And now...

~~

With baseball back in full swing, albeit with only 37% of the games scheduled and 0% of the fans present, I thought it might be perfect time to break out a really nice tape that I've owned for decades - it's actually part of the set of reels that I purchased that had belonged to the family of Merigail Moreland, although it has only a couple of moments which make it clear that it's part of that collection, and nothing of Merigail.

In fact, most of the tape is taken up by recordings of a key baseball game in Chicago history - the night the White Sox clinched the American League pennant, for what was then the first time in 40 years, in 1959.

(Now granted, this is not as special as, say, a Cubs pennant winning broadcast, or, say, a broadcast of a last place Cubs team losing a game. We are, after all, only talking the American League here. But it's nice, anyway.)

This is nowhere near the entire game, and due to sections of it having been erased with other material, it's not even a solid nonstop chunk of the game. However, the end of the game is here, and - perhaps the most interesting part - the last 24 minutes or so is the post-game coverage.

The lead broadcaster here is the immortal Jack Brickhouse, beloved among Chicagoans of at least age 50 or more, and this would have to have been on WGN. I don't think there's anything else I need to say!

Download: Jack Brickhouse, et al - White Sox vs. Cleveland - 9-22-59 - White Sox Win Pennant
Play:

Update, 8/23: Long time reader and Frequent commenter Eric Paddon has listened to this entire chunk of tape and has written three comments expanding on its contents. For one thing, it IS "a solid nonstop chunk of the game", despite what I wrote, but there are other bits of information, too. I admit to not re-listening to the whole thing when I captured it digitally, last month, and was going by memory. 

Anyway, I deeply appreciate ALL of his comments over the years, and encourage you to read them here to fill in a few more bits of information. 

 ~~

Next up, an audio letter. This 30 minute example is fairly pedestrian as these things go, but there's a certain fascination for some people, me included, in hearing the ramblings of someone - or in this case, two someones ("dad and sis") - talking to a loved one who is far away, plus, there is a sort of horrible moment during the tape, which I'll explain.

But first, I'll confirm that you really are listening to the correct item: this one starts in a unique fashion, with bird-tweeting sounds, followed by comments about birds.

Then there's the moment... well, a unique aspect of this tape that is actually fairly chilling. There is a mention at one point about the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, and I certainly assumed, at that moment, that this tape was recorded at some point soon after that tragic event. But NO. At another point on the tape, it becomes clear that the date is August 12, 1967, and listening back to the King mention, is also becomes clear that the speaker is - honest to God - simply making a prediction, more or less as fact and certainly without any rancor or emotion, that King will be assassinated at some point. He doesn't say, as I thought at first, "when they assassinated...", instead, he says "when they assassinate....".

Wow. What an unintended insight into the thoughts and views of some people during the mid 1960's.

Download: Audio Letter from Dad and Sis - 8-12-67
Play:

~~

Next up, here's something fun: It's some radio guy making multiple attempts to record an ad for an end-of-year closeout sale at a local Fresno car dealership, presumably in the summer of 1963. There are multiple different (but similar) ads attempted, and the reader makes several attempts to get them right, breaking down repeatedly along the way. There's a bit of fun in the copy - some understated humor and a sense of making fun of themselves. I find this highly enjoyable.

Download: Trying to Record End-of-Season Ads for Fresno Motor Sales, 1963
Play:

~~

For my "very short reels" sample this week, I again pulled one out at random, and it turned out to be an ad for a local watering hole in Toledo, known as "The Distillery", an ad to be aired on WJZE, which was then on 106.5 FM - it's since migrated to lower on the dial and changed formats. This ad is date 3-20-97.

Download: "The Distillery" Ad - WJZE - 3-20-97
Play:

A Special Post for Pete Seeger's 100th Birthday: The Weavers and Mahalia Jackson, Live on TV, January, 1958

Today is May 3rd, 2019.

 

This is the 100th anniversary of the birth of Pete Seeger. I consider Pete to have been the greatest vocalist ever recorded - and I don't think it's close, with John Lennon as a distant second. His voice can move me to a degree unmatched by anyone else I've ever heard. It was a natural instrument, a clear extension of his speaking voice, and unencumbered by training, artifice, pretention, smarm or anything else that might interfere with simple, direct, emotional singing.

 

On top of that, I consider Pete Seeger to be the single most important American musician of the 20th Century, when one takes into account all of his work: musical, social, political, environmental and more. I can certainly argue this point, but I doubt most of you have all that much interest, and it would take far more time and typing than I'm going to expend here and now. Feel free to disagree, but I'm not trying to start a debate, just telling you where I stand.

 

In addition, The Weavers are indisputably one of the most important groups of the second half of the century. Without the Weavers - and particularly Pete - there's no folk revival, no folk rock, and that's just for starters. So it was with GREAT interest, about 30 years or so ago, when I found the following label on an otherwise nondescript reel of tape:

 

 

In addition to just wanting to hear this, immediately, the date on this session intrigued me. January 13th, 1958. Most articles on the Weavers would have it that they were blacklisted from TV after 1951. AND: from reading a few books by and about Pete Seeger, I knew that he quit the Weavers in the winter of 1958. Was this a live performance on TV, during their blacklist? And was their very last live performance with Pete as a member (prior to reunions)?

Now I have the answers, and both answers are "yes" and "sort of". These answers come from a recent biograph of the Weavers, "Wasn't That a Time". This book documents that the WGN appearance captured here was their first TV appearance in years, and also indicates that, while in Chicago, they took part in a jam session at the then-brand-new Old Town School of Folk Music - the latter seemingly not a scheduled appearance in the evening after the TV program. This was certainly their last pre-arranged live performance.

What happened next was an studio attempt at making a rock-and-roll flavored single, which was panned by everyone involved, then a vote on whether or not to record a commercial for L & M cigarettes. Pete was outvoted, three to one, worked on the commercial with the group, then immediately quit.

That means this is undoubtedly the last recording of the original Weavers prior to the split. And there does not appear to be a copy of this performance anywhere online (it can be viewed at the Museum of Broadcast Communications Museum in Chicago, and I have seen it, but you can't take or get a copy).

A big additional benefit of this recording is the presence of the great Mahalia Jackson, who sings a few songs, including teaming up with the Weavers at the end of the hour long recording.

A huge deficit of this recording is the presence of the consistently and severely insufferable Richard Dyer-Bennett, a performer whose pretentiousness truly knew no bounds. I can imagine plenty of 1950's and 1960's people being unable to take folk music seriously, if they'd first been presented with Dyer-Bennett as a purveyor of the genre. He even manages to ruin "O No John", a fun, playful little number which was in my mother's repertoire. The Anti-Seeger, if you will. (I will add that the effect is even worse if you can see him in this performance which (as I've mentioned) I have.) Again, I'm sure there are those of you out there who's mileage varies. Such are the vagaries of taste.

But enough about him. Way too much.

This is probably the tape from my collection that I consider the most valuable. I would include the Merigail Moreland tapes and the raw tapes I own from an unreleased Dora Hall Dixieland album. The latter two, though would have a tiny, and a small audience interested, respectively. The audience for this one, I'm guessing, is quite large, and I've considered trying to sell it at times. But when it comes right down to it, I'm never parting with this tape, and if that's the case, I might as well share it with the world, or whatever part of the world is reading and listening to this.

Enjoy!

Download: Various Artists - The Hour of Music, January 13, 1958, Part One
Play:

Download: Various Artists - The Hour of Music, January 13, 1958, Part Two
Play:

Happy Birthday, Pete! I miss you.