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A Unique New Wave/Boogie/Avant Rock/Vanity/Christian EP (MP3's)

Here's a genuinely peculiar and interesting little EP-length 45 from my collection. The title of this post captures the difficulty I encounter in trying to nail down exactly how to label this 1984 release. 

It's a religious record, released by the distinctly un-catchy named Farinella-Siena-Fretto, and housed in a sleeve that shows not only the four members whose names appear above the title, but also the other three members, as well as a drawing of the "Pig In Mud" who is featured in one of the songs. 

The lead track, carrying the very direct title and message "Don't Be Left Behind", fills the entire first side, all 6 1/2 minutes of it. The mixture of new wave sounds and Born-Again Christian theology is quite the experience, but then, just over halfway through the track, it segues into a completely different sound, more of a boogie arrangement, where it stays for the rest of the song. 

"Pig in Mud" starts the second side, and is subtitled (II Peter 2:22). This one reminds me of nothing so much of Captain Beefheart's spoken-word-over-avant-jazz-rock performances - certainly not on the same level, but that's style I'm reminded of here. Then it's back to the New Wave setting for the final piece, "Look At the Mess". 

The back of the sleeve is quite the production, too, with more pictures, a list of credits that mentions that the drummer was named "A. Drummer", links to biblical verses which inspired two of the three songs, and a statement that the record was "Composed, Arranged and Produced by GOD, through Jesus Christ and through Gerald M. Fretto", 

Farinella-Siena-Fretto - Dont Be Left Behind (MP3)

Farinella-Siena-Fretto - Pig In Mud (MP3)

Farinella-Siena-Fretto - Look At the Mess (MP3)

EP Front Cover (JPG)  |  EP Back Cover (JPG)  |  EP Label A Side (JPG)  |  EP Label B Side (JPG)  

Oh, and on another note, All Hail The King, Rafa Nadal!!!

A Song-Poem Easter, From Halmark Records (MP3's)

The varied and numerous song-poem companies which have existed for decades have always attracted writers of religious lyrics in large numbers, but no label seemed to draw them in as high percentage as did the Halmark label, one of the most peculiar purveyors of the song-poem scam.

You can read all about the Halmark story here, but the short version is that they stood alone, among the many providers of this service, for their cheapness, taking existing backing tracks from wherever they could find them, and recycling the same fifteen or twenty-some tracks - nearly all of them sounding like leftovers from 20 or more years earlier - over and over again, using, primarily, a core group of four vocalists to sing the customers' lyrics over this limited set of canned backings. Keep in mind that these records were mostly released in the 1970's, and not, as their sound would indicate, the 1940's or early 1950's. That the folks at Halmark had the nerve to adopt the slogan "Sound of Excellence" just ads to the ridiculousness of their endeavor.  

For the most part, Halmark did not label the vocalists on their 45's, choosing instead to list the name, and often the address, of the lyricists. Those that do list the vocalist have assisted those of us who collect song-poems in identifying the mainstays of the label, but even this can be confusing; on the relatively few records where the vocalist is listed, I've found at least three where the wrong person is credited. 

Today, for Easter, six tracks from various Halmark 45's, all with Christianity as the subject matter, a few specifically related to the observances and celebrations of this week, and others with a more general Christian focus. Unfortunately, the most astonishing, ridiculous and unctuous vocalist from the Halmark stable, Bob Storm, doesn't seem to have appeared on very many of their religious releases, and he is not represented here, but you can hear plenty of his work, and other Halmark sides, on my own song-poem site, as well as on Darryl Bullock's masterful "World's Worst Records" blog.   

I'll start with a song that was heard on the very first song-poem I ever owned, one I picked up in 1975 or so, at the age of 15 - it was 20 years before I knew what a song-poem was, or that this record was a song-poem, but even at 15, I knew that there was something bizarre, otherworldly and somehow just wrong about this record. I particularly enjoy the end of this record, as the lyrics appear to run out of words long before the pre-recorded track runs out of music, and the singer ends up singing "He brings me Joy" over and over and over again. As mentioned above, there is no artist named, but I believe the vocalist here is Halmark mainstay Jack Kim (real name, Jack Kimmel), singing "The Man Called Jesus". 

No Artist Named - The Man Called Jesus (MP3)  |  Record Label (JPG)

Focusing more on the Easter theme than the previous track, here's Jack Kim, again, joined by wife Mary, in the song of a man who thanks Jesus for his life, especially after having been "in a coma, twice!". It's called "He is the Resurrection and the Life": 

No Artist Named - He is the Resurrection and Life (MP3)  |  Record Label (JPG)

Over on the flip side of the same EP, we hear one of my favorite of Halmark's ridiculous backing tracks, this time fitted with the lyrics of the most excellently named Larn Headley, with "From the Manger to the Cross", a song which introduced me to The Legend of the Dogwood Tree, which I'd never heard of before. Mary and Jack sing us this one, yet again: 

No Artist Named - From the Manger to the Cross (MP3)  | Record Label (JPG)

"Jesus Was Standing Right There" is the odd man out in this batch - it comes from what appears to be a later (or different) period of releases from Halmark, it contains a traditional country styled backing that I've never personally heard on another Halmark release, and a vocalist who I do not recognize - I don't believe it's the ubiquitous Mary Kimmel, although I could be wrong. Note that this record likely belonged to either lyricist C. M. Covey of Wallace, ID, as my copy of the record has a whited-out correction to that writer's name, right on the label. 

No Artist Named - Jesus Was Standing Right There (MP3)  |  Record Label (JPG)

The opening bombast of "A Walk on a Lonely Road" seems to promise great things ahead, or at least weird things, but instead, the track bogs down into nearly four minutes of trite lyrics and over-the-top vocalizing from Mary Kimmel. 

No Artist Named - A Walk On a Lonely Road (MP3)  |  Record Label (JPG)

And finally, back to Jack Kim, for the song "My Savior". It's hard to miss that this track features the same singer and the same backing track as the song we started with, "The Man Called Jesus", and this last track offers a nice window into how the same singer and track were used with two different sets of lyrics. By the way, the tape glitch about halfway through this track is right on the record - "sound of excellence", indeed. 

No Artist Named - My Savior (MP3)  |  Record Label (JPG)

A Trip to Hell, With Wayne Pyzer (MP3's)

As the Christian calendar approaches its holiest days, the time is right for some holier-than-thou listening. And here's a perfect example, a two sided trip to hell from our friends at Creative Sound Recordings of Los Angeles, an awkwardly titled EP-length release "Decision for Destiny: The Region Beyond", narrated by Wayne Pyzer. 

This really has to be heard to be believed. Over a variety of B-Movie sound effects, Wayne Pyzer portrays death, I guess, leading a poor soul from her wretched life right into hell, where even when she holds her head in her hands, those hands themselves are in flames. The first voice we hear is actually the dear departed soul herself, then death invites the listener along, and although he asks questions, the woman from the beginning of the record is never heard from again. 

Pyzer's performance is perfect, in terms of appealing to those who already agree with him about where the wicked of the world will go (and surely, they get to decide what makes someone wicked). I can't, however, imagine that this record managed to convince anyone who wasn't already on the same page of anything at all. He performs with a smug, obnoxious, know-it-all tone, sounding very much like a fun-house mirror version of Peter Lind Hayes as "Genie, The Magic Record". But instead of enthusiastically and warmly introducing the listener to the wonders of sound and imagination (as did Hayes), Pyzer sounds like he's looking down his nose at something icky on his shoe, while introducing the listener to the concept of being too late to repent.

In a way, this record reminded me of right wing radio and television - an echo chamber for the converted. I have a hard time believing that anyone who wasn't with him before the record started was converted into any new way of thinking once it was over. It is, however, a quite entertaining little play, especially if one listens to it as if it were meant as satire, and will be the source of many a sound clip for those who like to play with sounds. 

Wayne Pyzer - Decision for Destiny: The Region Beyond (Part One) (MP3)

Wayne Pyzer - Decision for Destiny: The Region Beyond (Part Two) (MP3)

Record Label (JPG)

 

An Unusual Calypso Record from Norridge Mayhams' Label (MP3's)

The story of Norridge Mayhams (aka Norris the Troubadour) is one of the great under-explored stories of 20th Century music making. It has been explored in great detail by Phil Milstein at the American Song-Poem Music Archives, here, but nowhere else in much detail, that I'm aware of.

While Mayhams did work within the song-poem world in terms of employing many of the fields stalwarts to record his material, he exists largely outside of that world, in my view, because he seems to have been quite capable of writing the words AND the music to his songs, rather than farming out the latter. In addition, he often sang on his own records, especially in the early days, released records on legitimate labels at one point, and he even wrote a hit song.

I've explored the Mayhams story a bit more, mostly through the sharing of various records he performed, wrote and/or commissioned.  I've even performed my favorite Mayhams song myself. A handful of Mayhams songs can also be found in the AS/PMA song-poem series that was posted here at WFMU a few years ago. 

As those links will indicate, Mayhams was all over the map, musically, and managed to move with the times, from Gospel to R & B, from Latin rhythms to Rock and Roll. One thing, though, that every record I've seen documented on his own two labels (Mayhams Collegiate and Co-Ed (The Sorority Fraternity Record Company)), is that they all feature at least one song credited to Mayhams, under one of his many names (or at least under a version of his wife's name). Usually, this is true of both sides. 

So what to make of this early Co-Ed 78 RPM release which does not feature any reference to Norridge Mayhams whatsoever?  Yes, I've spent four paragraphs explaining who Mayhams was, only to feature a record that doesn't appear to have involved him. And yet, it must have - this was clearly his label, from the fascination with college life captured in so many of his lyrics (as well as both of his label names), to the DIY sound of the recording, to the fact that it captures a style that was in vogue at that moment - in this case, the early version of Calypso (a passionate favorite of mine) which had a fervent audience in the 1930's and 1940's. 

But no, nothing on this record says Norridge Mayhams, and that's unique for a record on his labels. Side one is credited to The Black Prince, while side two is performed by Babtiste & Co., with the backing on both sides by Padmore, De-Vere, Nat Guy & Grant (however, there is no way four people are performing on the A-Side). Compositions on both sides are by Padmore and De-Vere. None of these names turn up anywhere else on any Mayhams record I've seen). 

The A-Side is the more basic of the two, and holds more appeal to me. Over piano backing (with a soft clarinet and a guitar), The Black Prince sings a classic minor-key calypso, "Misunderstanding", building up a nice head of steam and intensity. Your guess is as good as mine as to whether this is the same Black Prince who recorded calypsos for Decca. "Last Train" by Babtiste & Co. is a more upbeat, major-key calypso, with a considerably busier backing track and choral vocals on the chorus. It's also enjoyable, and I really enjoy the way it ends, mid phrase, but I'll take the A-side any day. 

A disclaimer as to the quality of these MP3's: I was thrilled to buy this record, but when it arrived in the mail, it was in two pieces, with a moon-shaped scoop broken out of it. I repaired the record as best as possible, but as you can imagine, it plays with two significant clicks every time the record spins (the broken part went through the entire length of the sides, almost to the label. But it's a fascinating enough record that I still wanted to share it. 

The Black Prince - Misunderstanding (MP3)

Babtiste & Co. - Last Train (MP3) 

A-Side Label (JPG)  |  B-Side Label (JPG)

 

"How to Draw 1000 Funny Faces" Cartooning Instruction Record by Art Ross

Budding cartoonists and incurable doodlers take note: today's record will sharpen those skills!

From the front cover: "This amazing FUNograph record and cartoon course supplies countless hours of amusement for kids from six to sixty!  Anyone capable of writing his name can learn to draw more than a thousand faces."

No foolin'! This 1946 record by Art Ross (on the Funnyface Records, Inc. label, out of Forest Hills, NY) and the accompanying instructional charts will show you how!

Below is the record itself, so get out your pencils and paper and get ready to draw yourself raw - instructions follow right after the jump!

                               How to Draw 1000 Funny Faces

Christmas With a Toddler - The Sound of Pure Joy, Circa 1953 (Exploring My Reel-to-Reel Catacombs, Volume 36) (MP3)

Today, a relatively brief piece of tape (just under 12 minutes) that I find 
quite magical. It was buried deep in the middle of side two of a tape which was 
otherwise taken up with musical performances. The text on the box indicated that 
all of the recordings contained on it were from 1953, with this particular one 
specified as having been made on December 25, with the added note "Todd's first 
talking Christmas".

What you'll hear is a sound which will be (and has been) no doubt repeated all over the world this December, and every December for more years than any of us have been here. Things start off relatively quietly, with toddler Todd being walked through the opening of a handful of gifts, before daddy steers him towards something special - a train! Around the eight minute mark of this tape, Todd gets cranky for just a minute, but it passes very quickly (with the help of some questionable, yet tried and true words, from his parents), and within two minutes he is shrieking with joy at his new toy.

I love the end of this tape regardless, but particularly when heard after the section with the gift being received, the last two minutes here are, to my ears, pure magic. 

Todd and His Parents - Christmas Morning, 1953 (MP3)  |  Tape Box (JPG) 

A Family Get Together: Folk Songs, Pop Songs and Riding the Cow (Exploring My Reel-to-Reel Catacombs, Volume 35) (MP3)

In honor of this holiday weekend, one in which perhaps more families get together in the US than any other four day period of the year, to enjoy food, family and fellowship, here is a brief tape of one such American family, reflecting two very different times, one being the point it was recorded, just over 50 years ago, and one being the time reflected in a story told on the tape, perhaps another 50 or 60 years before that.

The Matriarch here (and I'm assuming facts about her not in evidence by calling her that) was once a young girl on a farm. She was most likely born at the end of the 1800's, and after some number of years, began to experience the wise words that Lee Hays would one day capture in the lyrics to "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine" - a few kisses started the process that eventually managed to lead to children and grandchildren. That's where we pick up, many decades later, with Grandma, one of her children, and grandchildren Robert and Linda. 

As the tape begins, we're being introduced to Robert, who is nine years old, and who then sings along (rather horridly) with Jack Scott's big hit single "What In the World's Come Over You", which would seem to fairly accurately date this tape to some time in 1960. A family member suggests that Robert sing "She'll Be Comin' 'Round the Mountain", but he'd rather not, offering up a moment of "Witch Doctor" before committing to an equally painful version of "Around the World" before finally acceding to the request for "Comin' 'Round the Mountain". What Robert lacks in style and finesse, he makes up for in enthusiasm, wouldn't you say?

 

Then things turn more interesting and quite sweet, as Grandma is requested to talk about Daisy, the Cow she had had as a girl, and what happened the time she rode on Daisy. It's a simple story, but being one from (today's viewpoint) perhaps just over 100 years ago, it is about as far outside of most people's experience these days as a buggy ride or an old west shootout.

 

Robert is invited to sing again, and in this case demonstrating how different the world was 50 years or so years ago, this nine year old offers up brief renditions not of current hits, or even kiddie favorites, but "Hallelujah, I'm a Bum" and The Marines' Hymn, as well as two others.

 

Then it's Linda's turn. She's five years old, and she sings every five year old's favorite songs, "You're In the Army Now" (sung in the first person, here) and "The Band Played On", just before the tape runs out. 

 

A Family Get Together (MP3)  |  Tape Box (JPG)

How to Sell the Iron Fireman in Winter - A Pep Talk for the Sales Force Via Acetate (MP3's)

In addition to lots of reel to reel tapes, I also collect home recorded and other one-of-a-kind acetates. These heavy records, often are recorded with the same sort of things that can be so fascinating on reel tapes, although usually with the opposite end of things in terms of sound quality. Here's an example, a pep talk for a sales team heading into a difficult sales period. 

Here's what little is evident from what is said on the two-sided, eight minute recording (and on its label): A man named Cy held a position in management with the company that made the automatic coal stoker for furnaces known as The Iron Fireman. It was early winter. It had been an election year, and it was a war year - maybe 1942? 1944? Or possibly during the Korean War (a possibility which depends on whether that conflict was called a "war" at the time, or if it really was called a "police action" at the time). 

Cy is trying to sound buddy-buddy with the guys, and also seems to want the talk to sound off-the-cuff and conversational. But he can't pull it off - it is painfully obvious that he's reading a script - he's just not that good at it. Travel back to another time and place, and see whether you would have had what it took to sell The Iron Fireman during winter: 

The Iron Fireman: A Personal Word from Cy, Part One (MP3)

The Iron Fireman: A Personal Word from Cy, Part Two (MP3)

Record Label (JPG) 

The Elusive Thurl Ravenscroft Single: A 30 Year Search Comes to an End (MP3's)

Today's story begins with another story, from another time and place: It's 1982, and I'm in the music library of Northwestern University.  A few years earlier, I had been turned on to Casey Kasum's American Top 40, and I quickly found that following the charts tied in nicely with my expanding love of then-current pop music, my passion for playing with numbers (and math in general), and, in the years that followed, my burgeoning adoration and knowledge about the music of the '50's and '60's.

So it was that, when I went to a small community college a few years later, and my studies took me to Northwestern's library (mere blocks away), I quickly discovered that their music library had copies of Billboard Magazine going back to the turn of the century - not on microfilm, either, but the real thing. I soon began spending copious amounts of my overabundant free time copying the top 40 pop charts out of those Billboards - by hand, mind you (filling in endless sheets with numbers 1-40, then copying the positions from the previous two weeks in the margins (for use in adding the details later), typically while listening to cassette copies of the contents of my latest reel to reel purchases!) - starting with the year of my birth (1960), and quickly expanding forward. Then, when I wanted to find out more, I began copying the earlier charts, too, going back to the first printed top ten chart, from July 20, 1940. I also developed my own method of determining the biggest hits of the years, and played with the mathematics of the charts for hours on end. (Ah, those were the days - the binders of handwritten charts and math-play chart numbers still sit on a shelf in my office at home.)

Looking through all those magazines also afforded me the opportunity to look at the reviews, ads and other information about records which were released during all those years. This was wonderful for many reasons. Among many examples: I got to see what Billboard had said, upon reviewing all manner of records that I loved, such as "Mecca" the most peculiar and wonderful 45 ever released by that most peculiar and wonderful of early '60's singers, Gene Pitney. I got to follow the shameful way the trade paper fell in line with the Red Scare of the early 1950's. More to the point for this story, I also got to find out about records I would never have otherwise known about, due to them being mentioned in ads or reviews. This was great in terms of many different artists I was interested in, and I developed a lengthy list of records to look for, in the front of my chart binder, but it turned out to be particularly helpful in terms of one of my other quickly expanding passions of the time - collecting records by Thurl Ravenscroft.

Dr. Reginald D. MacNitt with more Psycholaxation (side two)

"All persons, living and dead,   are purely coincidental,   and should not be construed."  (Kurt Vonnegut)

"That is not dead which can eternal lie,  /   And with strange aeons death may die."  (H. P. Lovecraft)

{ PSYCHOPOMPOS :  The guider of souls,  another name for Hermes. }

      "May I come into your home,  and help you relax your mind and body?  Thank you."

      "If you don't mind, I will sit right here beside the couch on which you're lying."  (Reginald MacNitt)

This week I'm back to present side two of this relaxing disc. It's not so much that is an amazing relaxation course or groundbreaking in any way - it's the man's sweet delivery that forced me to eventually DJ him for the public. I think it's the preparatory material on each side, the first few minutes while he sets the stage for his work, that I find the most fun. Side one was presented here two weeks ago, and now let's plunge into the deep waters of side two.

Psycholaxation with Dr. Reginald D. MacNitt / side two

A 1953 CBS Radio Sales Presentation (Exploring My Reel-to-Reel Catacombs, Volume 33) (MP3's)

In one corner of my basement archives, there is a large stack of tapes I bought two or three years ago, which have proven especially fascinating, to the point that I'm deliberately parceling them out to myself, as sort of periodic "gifts" of really special listening. These are media tapes, many of them raw audio from television or film, and most of those having something to do with the CBS networks.  I previously shared a tape of Howard K. Smith and Sen. Albert Gore, Sr., from this same collection (which contains a lot of Howard K. Smith tapes). 

Today's tape is different than the others that I've listened to in that it is the soundtrack for a film, specifically, a film meant to drum up advertising business for CBS radio. There are enough moments of background music, and even a few sound effects, to make it clear that there was a visual element to this presentation. And this tape is undoubtably the final raw source tape for the soundtrack - there are upwards of 50 splices in the tape, where various recorded elements were stitched together from what were probably multiple takes, some of which are visible in the scan of the tape. There's even a cut in the middle where a very non-announcer-like voice tells us that there would be a switching of film reels. 

It's an interesting presentation, even without the visuals. After a brief, catchy introductory piece, there is a lengthy discussion of how prosperous America has become in the last 15 years (and I'm sure those who were in abject poverty in 1953, and/or fighting racism would love to hear how the country was one big middle class at that point, with very few people living at the fringes). It ties this in with the increased buying power of Americans. Then it moves into the sales pitch.

I was sort of fascinated by the fact that although the subject becomes RADIO at about the six minute point, the word "radio" is not mentioned until more than three minutes later (although there are clips from radio programs, and there may have been many visuals of radios, of course), and even more interested in the fact that CBS is not mentioned until about 3/4 of the way through, and initially, it's mentioned as an example of a network, rather than the focus of the presentation. 

The presentation concerns itself largely with the omnipresence of radio in the country, its varied uses and its mobility, and finally, the value of advertising on radio, versus print or television, especially the lower cost for what had been proven to be greater audience attention. There is a funny series of short ads for a fake hair care product in the mix, too.

A odd point is made about CBS having "more of the top 29 programs than all other networks combined", which made me wonder if that "more" number was 15, making the the more typical statement, which would be about the top 30 shows, impossible. Or perhaps there were only 29 network shows left by 1953 - whether the CBS honchos knew it or not, national radio programming of the sort being promoted here was quickly leaving our world. Before the end of 1957, the very last radio network comedy show (Stan Freberg's masterful half-hour) would go off the air, and by 1960, there were precious few dramas, and few, if any, variety shows. 

A 1953 CBS Radio Sales Presentation (Film Soundtrack) (MP3)  | Tape (JPG)  | Tape Box (JPG)

Dr. Reginald D. MacNitt Brings You 'Psycholaxation' - Side One

"Now, let's check your breathing..."     Today I have a lovely little bit of self-help that should be useful to one and all;  step one of learning 'Psycholaxation', which is all the rage these days. You didn't know that you could learn something about it for free from WFMU, did you? Well, worry no more. Relaxation can be yours.  

  Some time ago, rummaging through some dusty old cassette tapes that my mother owned but hadn't played in years and years I came across one entitled "Dr. MacNitt - Psycholaxation", hand-written in someone else's hand, most likely given to my mom as a helpful tool of some sort.  It was clearly copied from a vinyl record, which I've been unable to locate a picture of, or any detailed info about. Upon playing it for the first time, I fell in love with the fellow's voice - he sounds almost like a cartoon character. No insult to the guy - even compared to lots of hypnosis and sleep-training records that I've heard over the years, his pipes and his delivery are priceless!  I think you'll hear what I mean. A more marble-mouthed and nebbish-ey spoken style I can barely accomplish myself - but he's a fun model to imitate.

     Here's some things that I did manage to find out about this technique: The good doctor apparently published a lot of small-press self-help books and articles, including this one attributed to his wife, Mildred L. MacNitt - "Psycholaxation: A New Dimension for Living", as told to Mildred L. MacNitt, 93 pages, published by the Living Arts Foundation in December, 1955. On the record he mentions the book "Three Steps to Better Living", and he also worked up a "Personality and Vocational Guidance Test" course in 1943, which fits him.  

I think you'll find his dialog and vocal style as charming as I did, despite the low-grade old cassette and the scratchy record it was sourced from. Settle back -don't cross your legs or arms - and enjoy the flow of the wonderful Doctor MacNutt. Ooops - I mean MacNitt.                              PSYCHOLAXATION - side one

Reel to Reel to Reality: A Life of Recording and Collecting

A dozen years ago, I had a couple of conversations with a young person I knew, during which I mentioned my pastime of collecting, er…passion to collect the recorded ephemera of many years ago. She was baffled by my interest in this, let alone the degree to which I sought this thing out, finding it odd, if not downright weird. At the time, I wrote this essay, as a way of explaining why someone (well, me) would have developed into the collector that I am. I share it here (with a few edits and addenda made necessary by the passage of even more time), as a sort of background to the material that I’ve been sharing, particularly in my “Exploring My Reel to Reel Archives” posts.

The opening section, which is partly about the rarity of personal recordings way back when, may be familiar ground for those of certain generations. But it was written specifically for this friend, and is offered here for those considerably younger than me, those who have always been able to see and hear huge portions of that which has happened during their lifetimes, I hope that it’s an interesting glimpse into another world.

As the story goes forward, I mentioned several items that I’ve been lucky enough to share (subsequent to the writing of this story), here at WFMU, and I have provided links to those postings. In many cases, I’ve found out much more about those individual recordings in the twelve years since I wrote this, details which are found at those links.

Here’s my story:

A Small Gatherings of Friends (Exploring My Reel-to-Reel Catacombs, Volume 32) (MP3's)

Time was, when a group of friends would get together, they'd fire up the reel to reel recorder and spend a few minutes recording the visit for posterity. Sometimes it might be conversation, sometimes it might be skits, sometimes it might be music. For me, finding such recordings on a secondhand reels of tape is like successfully panning for gold must be for a prospector. There is something special about hearing people enjoying each others company, and listening to the full throated, untrained but enthusiastic singing that rises up on such occasions. Today, two significantly different groups of people, recorded (mostly likely) not so many years apart from each other, enjoying fellowship and singing around the piano. 

In the first tape, features a group of perhaps a half-dozen young adults. I believe this tape was in the same batch of tapes from which I excerpted the off color fairy tales two months ago, and two of the voices here sound to me like the same people who were on that tape. Don't be put off by the fairly out-of-tune rendition of "Row Row Row Your Boat" that leads off this segment - it gets more interesting, as they spend about 15 minutes going through a surprisingly wide variety of music. Throughout the eight or so songs, there is a great, infectious energy and a strong feeling of friendship. 

My favorite point is probably when they veer from the traditional hymn "Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty" directly into Tom Lehrer's wonderfully macabre "I Hold Your Hand in Mind". Another highlight is a version of "Jamaica Farewell" which manages to feature moments both of lovely harmony at some points and of seemingly tone-deaf singing at others. Then there's the moment that everyone in the group repeats an off color phrase, moments before launching into yet another hymn ("For the Beauty of the Earth"). If you stick around until the end, you'll hear a switch from piano to some nice acoustic guitar playing and a spirited rendition of "Bill Bailey". 

Unknown Group of Friends - Hymns and Folk Songs (MP3)

The second recording features another group of friends, older than the first group, and made up of three couples, I believe, named (if I've heard things right) The Beaumonts, the Curtises and the Cohens, and a seventh person named Clara (another couple is mentioned later, but they do not seem to be heard on the recording). The recording here lasts about ten minutes. After the host couple engage in a bit of banter about recording their friends, and some giving of thanks, the other couples arrive, and more bantering for the microphone ensues. 

A brief, sweet rendition of "Always" is followed by some joking comments about the performance, then a longer version of a song I don't recognize, and more jolly comments.

The remainder of the tape, as you'll hear, is poorly recorded, and I have cut out a lengthy solo version of the song "Some Enchanted Evening", sung by one of the women, due to it being particularly badly recorded. This rendition is referenced in the closing two minutes of the tape, in which various people present make some closing comments and thank their hosts for a nice evening. 

The Beaumonts, The Curtises, and the Cohens - Conversation and Songs (MP3)

The Elusive John McFarland

"...He clutches the piano ouija-board style until he finds a musical figure that 'feels good' and proceeds to play it 'til it turns into a song, grabbing a little of 'this' with his left hand and a little of 'that' with his right."

The main thing, I think, that I was attracted to during my early exploration of Martin Denny's 'exotic' period records was the 'otherness' of certain pieces, the almost total divide between the 'real' world of the late 1950's and the interior headspace of an Easter Island-like 'lost world', pregnant with mysterious pauses and sounds hard to identify. When it worked I was briefly transported, and even now, many years later, and with a much better grasp of arranging and recording they still have grains of that magic in the grooves. As much as I enjoy Les Baxter, and some of the other better-quality purveyors (not to fault, however, the occasional rock-bottom rip-off exotica lp that actually delivers some action), I've found precious few moments on wax that can get near to that strange little meta-world of Denny's. The album under discussion today is one of the big exceptions.

Here's a taste of "Provacatif / Nine Exotic Motifs" by Mr. John McFarland to whet your appetite for more after the jump -                                           Head Hunters

MP3 - A Crash Course, guest post by Jonathan Sterne

Today, there are more mp3s in circulation than all other recording formats combined. This alone would be cause to write a book about them, but I became fascinated with mp3s because of how they are made. An mp3 encoder uses a mathematical model of the gaps and absences in human hearing to remove some of the data in an audio file, in order to make it smaller. If the encoder “thinks” you won’t hear part of a sound recording, it yanks it out on the encoding end, so that the resulting mp3 file is smaller, and therefore easier to transmit over data lines or to stockpile on hard drives and flash memories.

I wanted to know where this model of human hearing came from and what it could tell us about our contemporary sonic culture. The result is my new book, MP3:The Meaning of a Format.

The technology behind the mp3 is called “perceptual coding,” and I quickly discovered it has deep connections to the development of hearing science and telecommunications over the last hundred years. Everything we think we know about hearing in the state of nature is a result of the interactions between ears and media in the 20th century.

MP3s also point to the importance of compression in the development of communication technologies. Each generation of new media is usually sold to consumers as being of higher definition and greater verisimilitude than its predecessor (think of how DVDs and Blu-Ray have been marketed, for instance). But developments in compression and lower-definition transmission are equally important for everything from telegraphs, to telephones, to color television, to satellite transmission to the internet. This other history is less apparent because it is manifest inside our hard drives, and inside the massive infrastructures that allow us to move data around. It is not as shiny or sexy as the latest consumer gadget, but it could well be more important for everything from aesthetics to policy.

From a Soldier in Thailand, to His Girl Back Home (Exploring My Reel-to-Reel Catacombs, Volume 31) (MP3's)

Somewhere in my collecting travels, this reel came into my collection. On it, the recipient of (what I'm sure were) countless audio letters from her sweetheart, collected four of them, splicing what were originally three inch reels back to back onto a seven inch reel. 

The sender, as the tapes makes clear, was at the time a soldier stationed in Thailand. The month was June, and the days of the week mentioned (i.e. Saturday, June 19th) would indicate that the year was either 1965 or 1971 (assuming as I do that the tapes were made during the '60's or early '70's). 

The tapes begin on June 7th, but most of that tape seems to have been lost over the years, so I've included the fragments (the first two minutes of side one and the last two minutes of side two) at the end of this post. 

The meat of the audio here are three tapes from late June - on the 19th, the 25th and the 27th. The first tape is nice to hear, but to me doesn't contain as much of interest as do the other two tapes. In between the tapings on the 19th and 25th, the man speaking and a cohort took a lengthy trip to Bangkok, and the sites seen during that trip, and another shorter trip make up for the most interesting parts of the audio letters from the later in the month. 

The tape from the 25th describes the drive, and the endless farm fields, as well as some particularly interesting temples. The tape from the 27th has my favorite moment, in which talks about a bike ride he took with another soldier, and how they were invited into one of the temples, at the virtual insistence of the monks, the reasons why, what happened once they were inside, and... well, you'll hear it, as well as his explanation for why he believes they acted in that way. 

In between all that are descriptions of life on the base, discussions of the oppressive heat, random observations on other things, and many, many tender expressions of his love for the girl he is missing. 

Finding recordings as like the one on this tape is among the biggest reasons I spend my free time delving into the contents of old reels, and I'm sure there are others out there who will enjoy this just as much. Here are the three main recordings, split up into the two sides as they originally would have been heard on the small reels: 

From a Soldier in Thailand - June 19th, Part One (MP3)  |  From a Soldier in Thailand - June 19th, Part Two (MP3)  |  From a Soldier in Thailand - June 25th, Part One (MP3)  |  From a Soldier in Thailand - June 25th, Part Two (MP3)  |  From a Soldier in Thailand - June 27th, Part One (MP3)  |  From a Soldier in Thailand - June 27th, Part Two (MP3)  

Here are the fragments of the earlier recording, as well as a scan of the tape itself:  

From a Soldier in Thailand - June 7th, Fragment One (MP3)  |  From a Soldier in Thailand - June 7th, Fragment Two (MP3)  |  Tape (JPG) 

The Love Song of Kim Jong Un (UPDATE!)

Kim Jong Un has a girlfriend! Or maybe a wife! Or maybe a girlfriend who is somebody else’s wife! No one at Thunk Tank Central (or anywhere else) is really sure. But last weekend he was seen in public with a young woman. Who was she?

Korea Joongang Daily says that South Korean intelligence has identified her as Hyon Song-wol, former lead singer for the Bochonbo Electronic Music Band. Hot gossip: KJU might have had an affair with her when he returned home from his Swiss boarding school. His father, Kim Jong Il, may have objected to the (still unconfirmed that it ever happened) relationship and separated the two. Song-wol might have married an army officer! She might have had a baby! But whose baby was it?

 If, you know, there even was a baby. Or if the woman in the photos with Kim Jong Un isn’t just his sister, which it might be. Whatever! Here’s the video for Hyon Song-wol’s #1 super hit from 2005, Excellent Horse-Like Woman!

 

 

A 1968 Civil Rights Discussion; An Off Color Fairy Tales; An Obnoxious Journalist: Some Reel to Reel Odds and Ends (Exploring My Reel-to-Reel Catacombs, Volume 30) (MP3's)

Today, three tapes which I've been saving for awhile, for just the right time. Now, instead of making each into a post of it's own, I've decided to bundle them together, into an "odds and ends" post.

First up, a very brief tape featuring someone named Oliver, a radio newsman who has been asked (in 1975) to provide a few seconds worth of introduction to a special program on Foreign Policy. He does so, giving seven nearly identical readings in about 90 seconds. What makes this tape memorable is the obnoxious version of the text he shares with his recipients after the seven intros, in giving an eighth intro, in an altered fashion. While I hope this sort of thing no longer goes on, I suspect it probably does. 

Oliver - Tease for Foreign Policy Special (8 Takes) (MP3)

Next up, an equally obnoxious tape. I knew I was in for an interesting listen when I opened this box and saw that the inside cover was labeled "Phallus in Wonderland". The resulting tape did not disappoint, although my enjoyment of it was mostly in the wonder of listening to two people who clearly thought they were being much funnier than was actually the case, rather than any humor or titillation I got out of it. For about 16 minutes, Jerry and an unnamed woman take a trip through a few different children's stories, replacing key words here and there or accenting certain syllables. If you're in the right mood, you may find it either fascinating or mind numbing, or maybe even both. 

Unknown Couple - Off Color Fairy Tales (MP3)

Finally, and on a truly different note, there is a recording of an amazing televised Civil Rights Discussion, probably from a public television station, from a some time in 1968. The last half hour of what was an hour long show is recorded here. 

I'm calling it a discussion, although for significant stretches of it, it's really more of a barely-under-control argument, to the point that at times, the microphones in one of the two studios being used are cut so that the other parties can respond without being interrupted (although you can still hear the "cut" participants continuing to talk). I think I've identified one participant as Maryland Representative Charles Mathias, and wonder if "Mr. Kilpatrick" is one-time segregationist James J. Kilpatrick. I also think one of the speakers may be Hosea Williams, who was part of Dr. King's inner circle. As to the others, I think there are mentions the names Mr. Field, Mr. Palmer and Mr. McKissick, but beyond hearing those names, I have been unable to identify these other speakers. 

At the end of the show there is over nearly 90 seconds of muffled conversation, followed by some ending voice-over comments, and I couldn't help but laugh at the song which started the commercial for an upcoming show, a song whose lyrics did not really fit with what had just gone down. I've left in a moment of that song for your enjoyment. 

Televised Civil Rights Discussion (MP3)

Harold Duncan's "Be American" - The Alternate Version (MP3's)

I've just taken possession of a record I've been looking for for many years, and upon receiving it, was amazed to find that it wasn't the version I've known for almost a decade, but that it contains an alternate version, with new lyrics! And I wanted to share it with as many people as possible! To start from the beginning: 

Back in 2003, in what turned out to be one of the last (if not the very last) new posts to the wondrous, late and lamented Oddball Auditorium, curator John Fitzpatrick offered up several records with song-poem connections, the most endearing and memorable of which, to me, was Harold Duncan's "Be American". This is not a song poem - it's a vanity record found as an acetate on a song-poem/vanity hybrid label, and is as curious as any song-poem record could hope to be. 

Over acoustic backing, driven by some nice ukulele playing, Mr. Duncan offers up his paean to America and Her People. The lyrics are just odd enough to never quite make it quite clear if Mr. Duncan is an all-around patriot ("faithful and true to the red, white and blue"), a rabid isolationist ("let the foreigners fight - stay in the USA") or just a crank ("live American, talk American"). 

Here, with great thanks to Mr. Fitzpatrick (and apology for reposting), here is that original acetate version: 

Harold Duncan - Be American (original acetate version) (MP3)

Now just try to get that song out of your head! 

As I said, I've looked for this record since perhaps two minutes after I heard it for the first time. Finally, last month, an opportunity came to own my own copy (and dirt cheap, too - I'd have paid 50 times what I got it for!). Wonder of wonder, it's on a real record label, has the same performance on both sides of the record, and it's a different vocal, with a few key phrases changed. He even talked over the "doodle-doodle-do" section (although that wordless vocal is still there, too).

Now, instead of letting the foreigners fight, Mr. Duncan mentions our "power and might", and later, where the line would have been again, he has decided that "if we have to, we'll fight", although he then immediately adds "stay in your own back yard" - is he talking to Americans or the foreigners? Actually, the lyrical changes leave me just as confused as to his politics as the first version.

Here, then, is the alternate version of "Be American": 

Harold Duncan - Be American (Alternate Version) (MP3)  |  Record Label (JPG)

So who was Harold Duncan? Damned if I know. But I can tell you that he also wrote both sides of a 45 on the Key West Record label for an act called Houston & Dorsey, a comedy duo who released several records on another song-poem/vanity hybrid label, Carellen, one which was associated with National Songwriters Guild, the label on which the acetate version of "Be American" appeared. "Key West Music" is also the publisher of "Be American". If I can find my copy of that record, I'll post it here next time around. And although it's unrelated, I'll just throw in that Carellen Records (Houston and Dorsey's regular label) also released a 45, the provenance of which is unclear, but if it is a song-poem, is by far the best song-poem I've ever heard.  

(Incidentally, I know that these two versions (which clearly have the same backing track) are in slightly different keys and speeds. I know that my version played as calibrated at 45 RPM. The acetate version may have been mastered slower than on my version or may have been recorded from a turntable that was running a bit slowly.)