WFMU's Beware of the Blog

Pot, Rock and Revolution - Another Reactionary Filmstrip Soundtrack (MP3's)

First off, I want to thank everyone for reading, liking and commenting on my posts on this blog over the years. When I first joined the original 365 Days project (2003), and then the subsequent WFMU hosted 2007 sequel, I had no idea that I'd be invited to start posting on my own early in 2008, starting with this post, let alone that this experience would inspire me to turn my own blog into a song-poem-palooza, or that I'd still be posting here 7 1/2 years later.

All that is in advance of saying that this is my next to last post, because, as you may have heard, the blog is being put to sleep at the end of the month. All posts will remain, but no new ones will appear. This will be my next to last post - the last will be a very special reel to reel tape feature, along with an announcement of a site where I will continue to share reel treasures. For now, I will say that it is my plan and expectation to continue to share vinyl wonders through an expansion of my own blog, adding to the weekly song-poem postings with regular postings of more of the sorts of things that I've been sharing here for the better part of the decade. Starting in August, those posts will appear at my site, "The Wonderful and the Obscure".

Today, however, we have a sequel to a post I made in May, regarding a filmstrip soundtrack for a screed against the people behind a textbook called "Land of the Free". Almost immediately after making that posting, it received a comment from a person who had found another record, apparently from the same organization (who had apparently changed their name to "Constructive Action, Inc.) in the ensuing years, this time trying to scare middle class parents half to death with scary tales of marijuana use and rock and roll.

In listening to this album, I'm reminded of the saying that you are entitled to your own opinions, but not to your own facts. Plenty of the "facts" quoted here seem completely made up, none more than the statement that 40-50% of the young people who were smoking marijuana at that time, would be on heroin within 18 months. That's the most outlandish, but it's hardly the only time the narrator flies off the deep end - he also all but accuses Mick Jagger (who he repeatedly calls "Jaggard") of being to blame for the Manson family murders. It's also always good to base one's views of marijuana on the laws and cultures of such places as Egypt and Morocco.

Oh, but the opinions here, and the leaps of logic made from them, are even more fun. The entire youth subculture is the fault of a few hundred nihilistic students at Berkeley. The major networks and record labels should be charged with treason for creating and promoting what would otherwise be a non-existent "Generation Gap". Once you've had sex while high, regular sex is so disappointing, you have to keep getting high, then seek ever higher highs, until you simply can't function - and this happens to everyone who smokes marijuana. The cartoon cover of the "Yellow Submarine" album (which, by the way, the Beatles had little to do with) shows that John Lennon is a Satanist. And I'm sure the Smothers Brothers will be surprised to find out that their popular and controversial show was apparently on NBC. After all those years of conflict with CBS - they were fighting the wrong people!!!

This thing is ridiculous, but it sure is entertaining. And a huge thank you to Chester for making me aware of this album, and even more for sharing it with me and letting me post it. 

Constructive Action, Inc. - Pot Rock Revolution, Side One (MP3)

Constructive Action, Inc. - Pot Rock Revolution, Side Two (MP3)

Album Cover Sticker (JPG)  |  Record Label Side One (JPG)

Comments can be left below through the 30th, after which they can be sent to [email protected]

Bob

Seeing Color TV for the First Time - A Tape from 1966 (Exploring My Reel-to-Reel Catacombs, Volume 66) (MP3)

I'm not quite old enough to clearly remember the point at which my family got a color TV, and suddenly not everything was in black-and-white. But my guess is that anyone a couple of years older than me or more (I'm about to turn 55) has a clear memory of that moment. 

Here, then, is a tape from my own family's home-recorded collection (a large set of tapes by the way, one which no doubt set me on the road to collection those made by other families). 

The tape dates from the first week of August, 1966 (the ability to date it so closely will be mentioned below), and features me older brother recording with a friend of his. This was his common practice, and became mine, with my friends, as I grew a little older. My brother (Bill) is heard here at 12 years old, his friend about the same. We'd had a color TV for some time, but the friend (Steve) had apparently yet to see TV in color. 

Essentially, this tape captures segments of about six minutes of broadcasting (with much cut due to the recorder being turned off and on), including bits of a game show, a newscast and commercials, as well as what anyone seeing TV in color for the first time in 1966 would want to see most, the NBC Peacock. 

If you can get past the constant noise from handling of the microphone, and the various inanities and noises made by 12 year old boys, this is a neat little time capsule in just under four minutes. 

Some specific highlights: 

    - at 0:13: "Ooh, it's a color TV? I wanna see a color TV"

    - at 0:29 (and again at 1:02): Moments from the original incarnation of "The Match Game"

    - at 039: an ad for New Era Potato Chips and a subsequent discussion of them by the boys

    - at 1:27: the original Match Game theme (aka "A Swingin' Safari"). An indelible, wonderful tune and record, and still my favorite game show theme song ever. 

    - at 2:01: easily my favorite moment here - a comment in response to a "Girl from U.N.C.L.E." ad. 

    - at 2.06: Bill expresses his absolute hatred for the show "Occasional Wife". His strong reaction is odd, given that the show won't debut for another five weeks. 

    - starting at 2:34: here's a neat discussion, with regard to something I'd forgotten. The UHF channels (at least those in Chicago), didn't necessarily have shows that ran hour-to-hour. If a show ended at 2:40, the channel went dead until the next show started at 3 PM. Steve wants to see a UHF channel in color, but neither Chicago UHF station seems to be broadcasting. There is a weak signal from Indiana (Bill says we also could get Milwaukee), but it's mostly just sound. The Chicago stations will likely start up again at 3, but Bill wants to get back to NBC for the peacock. 

    - at 3:12: "that's Nancy Dickerson?" Also, whoever is reporting is talking about the recent University of Texas Tower Shootings of August 1st, which give us an approximate date for this tape. 

    - at 3:36: at last, the NBC Peacock. 

I hope you enjoy this neat little nugget of television history, as experienced in the suburbs of Chicago. 

Bill and Steve: Seeing Color TV for the First Time (JPG)

Land of the Free - A Filmstrip About a Controversial Textbook (Exploring My Reel-to-Reel Catacombs, Volume 65) (MP3)

Here's an example of how I really never know what I'm going to stumble across when I go down and pull out a few random tapes from the vast piles of as-yet-unlistened-to reels in my basement. This was labeled "Education or Indoctrination", and contained very little other identifying information. Here's the story I learned: 

In 1966, a textbook arrived which attempted to focus on many of the things which had been overlooked in history textbooks up until that time. Titled "Land of the Free", and written by John W. Caughey, John Hope Franklin and Ernest R. May, it quickly became the target of many parents, educators, commentators and politicians, primarily conservatives, and even more primarily those on the far right.

The complaints were many, but (and this is a huge simplification) among other things, those complaints dealt with the minimizing (to the point of not mentioning, in some cases) the achievements of many famous Americans in the areas of war and politics, the playing up of the things that Americans have done of which we might not want to be so proud, and an emphasis on the roles that certain members of certain minority groups have played in the country's history. You can read online at length about the controversy regarding this textbook - by 1967, there was even a book describing the controversy! 

Into the fray marched something called "Publius and Associates", and they created a filmstrip to show to concerned parents and educators, all about the horrors of this textbook. The soundtrack to that filmstrip is what turned up in my collection, complete with the little "beeps", that those of us over a certain age remember from grade school.

Not having seen the book, I can't offer much of an opinion. But the first half of this filmstrip soundtrack makes a decent case that the book is woefully incomplete and perhaps deliberately provocative - one paragraph in a US 1966 history book discussing Eisenhower? But soon enough, the true nature of the narrators concerns becomes clear, as we are treated to complaints about which African Americans are focused on, including that Communist Martin Luther King and the radical W.E.B. Dubois, rather than that nice, non-threatening Booker T. Washington. And then there's the complaint that the book is critical of the HUAC/McCarthyism period of American history. Horrors. There are enough code words and insinuations here to make clear what was really on the minds of those behind this filmstrip and narration, even if some of their complaints do appear completely legitimate.

My copy of this tape also includes a postscript, apparently attached to the tape (and presumably to the filmstrip) by whoever was showing this filmstrip in California. It gives the names of those who approved (and voted against) the use of this book in California's Eighth Grade classrooms, and encourages people to vote their consciences when these people come up for re-election. This section also contains the most flaccid sounding filmstrip "beeps" that I've ever heard. 

Here, by the way, is a blurb announcing the presentation of the filmstrip in Pittsburgh, in 1968, by the wonderfully named Western Pennsylvania Parents to protect our youth from Propaganda, Brainwashing and Subversive Textbooks in our Schools. And here's a blog posting regarding two other Publius efforts, pamphlets called "The Hippies" and "Sex-Ed: Conditioning for Immorality". Wow.

By the way, in doing research about this book, I found out two interesting things. First, several minorities not represented well in the book also complained about some of the things this book focused on, saying that if you were going to write an alternative history to counteract the prevailing language in textbook, you shouldn't continue to pick and choose what to leave out. And second, the fallout from this book was that history textbooks got a lot bigger, as future publishers strove to include not only what had always been in previous books, but also to include the history of the marginalized, the obscure, the negative, etc. 

Interesting stuff!

Oh, and comments are back!!!

Publius and Associates - Education or Indoctrination? (MP3)

Tape Box (JPG)

Stanford's Spring Sing '68: "The Rights of Spring" (MP3's)

First, I wanted to point out to anyone who read my previous post, about the mysterious rock and roll songs, thall ALL of them have been identified. The updated post can be found here. And now, on with the countdown: 

I was lucky enough to come across this album last year, the locally produced soundtrack to a show held at Stanford in 1968, and titled "Spring Sing: 'The Rights of Spring'". In different ways, this album is entertaining, eye-opening and not much short of astonishing. 

I was only seven in the spring of 1968, but with the history I'm aware of, it seems likely to me that, aside from perhaps the first three weeks of that season, it was not a very happy, lighthearted spring season. No doubt the murder of Dr. King on April 4 of that year more than took the wind out of the country's sails. 

And yet here we have the recorded evidence of a celebratory college show, held at Stanford that Spring. My strong guess is that it took place after Dr. King's death and most likely after the most extreme of the reactions and fallout from that event (given that most schools hold an even of this type close to the end of the semester), and if that's the case, I find the lighthearted nature of much of this material more than a little surprising. The bottom line is that I found myself listening to this album just short of shocked at how little it seems to reflect the issues of the day. 

Well, now, not all issues. The first track, "We've Got Trouble" contains some biting words about the privilege of being White, and makes several jabs at this and related issues, so clearly the problems of the day were not unknown to these young people. 

The other issue touched on, though, in several tracks, is the relationship between the sexes on campus. While the soon-to-be coming of co-ed dorms is excitedly mentioned multiple times, I was more taken with the tracks which casually, with attempted good humor and complete acceptance, make light of the possibility of co-eds getting drunk and being taken advantage of, or just in general the question of when and how will the lovely young lady get home. And this occurs without critical comment in songs by both men and women's groups on the album. Looked at through today's lens, I can't imagine that these songs would have made it into the show in these forms, or that if they somehow did, heads wouldn't have rolled the next day. 

That's not to say that this album is a horror of unabashed sexism and cluelessness, just that nearly half the time, there seems to be only one thought on the performers' minds, and it is expressed in a way that I don't think would fly today. There are plenty of nice moments, funny moments and enjoyable musical moments here. On the other hand, there are a few straight numbers, uniformly dull and uninspired (one is labeled "Renditions of Simon and Garfunkel", but could have just as well be labeled "Sounds of Silence" as that's all it is). 

A few other notes: The track "My Lord and Master" is the second track on side two, as indicated on the label, and not the fourth track, as indicated on the cover. And there is no mention of the little speech the ends the album, on the cover or the label. What's odd here is that the person speaking seems to be introducing the next act as he finishes speaking, except that.... that's where the album ends! 

1.) Jordan/El Capitan – We've Got Trouble (MP3)

2.) Business School – Goodnight Little Girl/I Should Have Known Better/ Goin’ to Live with God (MP3)

3.) Lathrop - The Simple Joys (MP3)

4.) Delta Upsilon - Renditions of Simon & Garfunkel (MP3)

5.) Alpha Delta Phi – I've Been Waiting For Spring (MP3)

6.) Fremont - Getting the Cure (MP3)

7.) Soto - My Lord and Master (MP3)

8.) Kappa Sigma/Roth - The Wrongs of Spring (MP3)

9.) Roble - Death of the Roble Dollie (MP3)

10.) El Toro - Conception of Stanford (Blown By the Winds of Freedom (MP3)

11.) Unknown - Announcement at End of Album (MP3)

Here are the covers and the labels: 

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

Stanford Front Cover (JPG)  |  Stanford Back Cover (JPG)  |  Stanford Back Cover Close Up (JPG)

Comments can be sent to [email protected]

The Story of Xavier Cugat & Other Super-Friends

 


"A caressing, torchy voice that enchants even the most hardened theater-goer, plus an astonishing beauty, make gorgeous Lena Horne one of the most exciting blues singers of our time. Her haunting style of singing has lifted this Brooklyn girl to the top of the nation's outstanding entertainers."

We missed a post due to illness here at the WFMU Comic Supplement, but we're back with a vengeance this week with all true-life stories of famous music and entertainment stars of yesteryear, as depicted oh-so-realistically in comic books of their day.

We've got six whole life stories to learn about so let's get right down to it; come and join us for non-fictional fun right after the jump!

Franklyn MacCormack and Friends Discuss Old Time Radio, March, 1964 (Exploring My Reel-to-Reel Catacombs, Volume 62) (MP3)

This tape came to me with a batch of others, none of them in boxes, and with minimal indication of what it might contain. There is a sticker on the reel, seen at the right, which reads "Radio's Nostalgic Yesterdays, 3/30/64

That sticker's information is true enough, but what it doesn't say is that the tape contains a rare recording of the legendary WGN Radio personality, Franklyn MacCormack, chatting with a few other long-time radio voices, about the history of radio, in particular, what would later become known as "Old Time Radio". The show was part of a series - an episode of "The Reviewing Stand" - which brought together personnel from WGN and WNUR, the radio station run by Northwestern University. 

Also featured in the conversation are Willard Waterman (best known as "The Great Gildersleeve"), radio producer James Jewell, and moderator James H. McBurney, then dean of the school of speech at Northwestern University.

Besides the involvement of MacCormack, I find this discussion particularly interesting because those taking part don't have any notion - indeed, they don't seem to think it would be possible - of the comeback in popularity of what would become known as Old Time Radio (OTR). That comeback would begin taking place in the early '70's, thanks to, among others, Chuck Schaden, whose career reviving OTR shows and stars started right in Evanston, mere blocks from Northwestern, a career that took him to the Radio Hall of Fame.

There is an assumption, mentioned a few times here, that these shows no longer existed in any playable form, which Schaden and many others demonstrated to be untrue, and which you can still determine to be inaccurate via visits to myriad OTR websites, as well as eBay.

They also discuss the likelihood of OTR drama and comedy being attempted anew in that day and age, 1964, and their belief that it could work. Aside from the CBS Radio Mystery Theater, no attempts made after that point that I'm aware of (Theater 5, The Zero Hour, etc.), actually did make and keep an audience. 

And of course, in the midst of this, there is the requisite, gratuitous slapping down of the rock and roll music that had taken the place of "good" radio; music which, we're told, is un-hummable and forgettable. Interestingly, it was this very week when The Beatles held the top five positions on the Billboard Hot 100, with some very memorable work indeed. 

Just an interesting conversation with a couple of radio legends involved. I enjoyed it, and I hope you will, too. 

Franklyn MacCormack and Friends (MP3)

Tape (JPG)  |  Tape Label (JPG)

Comments can be sent to [email protected] 

NAME THAT TRIVIA!!! A New Party Game via the Record Player, circa 1966 (MP3's)

So imagine it's the fall of 1966, and, since you and your family have recently moved to the new high-end subdivision, you want to get to know your neighbors better. What better why than hosting a dinner party, after which you'll play a game? Perhaps you'll invite the neighbors on either side of you, and the those from the three houses on lots that are across from yours and those other two neighbors! And next Friday, the kids will all be at the school dance!

You have lots of new recipes to try out!

But the real fun will come after dinner, when you break out that album you bought over the summer, the one you got as soon as you heard about it back in July, the one on the Frisky record label, featuring everyone's favorite quizmasters, Phyllis Hedeman, James Dukas and Jerry Roberts, "NAME THAT TRIVIA!". It came with even answer pads for everyone, see?: 

Name That Trivia Answer Pad, Side One (JPG)  |  Name That Trivia Answer Pad, Side Two (JPG)

You've touched the needle down on the record just to see if the questions are too hard or too easy, but they seem just right for people of your vintage. Things like:

"Remember 'Pebeco'? What would you do with it?"

and

"what was that chased away that villian, 'Mr. Coffee Nerves'?"

and

"What was a Hooverville?". 

This sounds like a LOT of fun! Here's hoping your party goes well!

Phyllis Hedeman, James Dukas and Jerry Roberts - Name That Trivia, Side One (MP3)

Phyllis Hedeman, James Dukas and Jerry Roberts - Name That Trivia, Side Two (MP3)

Front Cover (JPG)  |  Back Cover (JPG)

Comments can be sent to [email protected]

Can We Have a Do-Over? (MP3's)

I 'm just kicking myself that I didn't come across this record prior to the elections last week, because I think this record could have turned the tide and resulted in something much better than what ended up happening last Tuesday. 

This is a record out of Rockford, Illinois, apparently dating from 1968. This date is based on the introduction on side one of the single, by Samuel Shapiro, who introduces himself as the Governor of Illinois, a position he held for just under eight months, nearly all of that term in 1968.

The performer is Pete Quinto, and he certainly is gung-ho in his get-out-the-vote performance, particularly in the last chorus, when both he and the trombone player behind him get quite stirred up and exuberant.

I've also included the flip side, which is lacking the spoken introduction, and which appears to be an instrumental, until that final chorus, when the vocal comes in again.

Pete Quinto: Mister Democrat (With Spoken Introduction) (MP3)

Pete Quinto: Mister Democrat (Largely Instrumental Version) (MP3)

A-side Record Label (JPG)  | B-side Record Label (JPG)

Comments remain closed for some reason, but can be sent to [email protected]

Sounds of Senn High School, 1960 (MP3's)

Senn High School, in the Edgewater Community of Chicago, is an imposing building that looks every moment of its 101 years old. As you drive through the surrounding area, which is filled with apartments and condos seemingly filling every available space, coming to an intersection and seeing this huge school come into sight for the first time can be quite an experience, something akin to drving through ten blocks of nearly identical bungalows, turning a corner, and finding yourself in front of the White House.

For the 1959-1960, a group of students - perhaps those involved in the Yearbook, put together an audio documentary of the school year. Other schools were, of course, starting to do the same thing around this time, and I own several of these, most of which were on 10" LP's - by the mid '60's, they tended to be full 12" LP's. But the folks at Senn limited themselves (or were limited for other reasons) to a seven inch, 33 1/3 RPM release, with five-plus minutes on one side, and seven minutes on the other. 

The record hits most of the high points featured on those longer versions produced by other schools, just in more abridged fashion - the sports teams (team final records not mentioned), band performances, prom, graduation, and, in this case, the talent show. Listening to the Talent Show highlights, it's not clear to me why they didn't, instead, just mount a full production of "West Side Story". 

Travel back in time with me now, to the school year of 1959-1960 at Senn High School!

Sounds of Senn, 1960, Side One (MP3)

Sounds of Senn, 1960, Side Two (MP3)

Record Label A-side (JPG)  | Record Label B-side (JPG)

Comments remain disabled, but are welcomed at [email protected]

The Most Repulsive Album I've Ever Heard (MP3's)

Here’s an album with virtually no redeeming qualities. I say “virtually” because there is a argument to be made for making this sort of thing known, in an historical context, the same way we can use the written and filmed records of prior atrocities to be more aware of similar threats in our midst going forward.

Without that – or even with that “value” taken into consideration – this album is simply repugnant and vile. It came to its original owner, who lived in the deep south, in the early 1960’s, when it was produced. The people behind it called themselves the “Christian Votes and Buyers League”, but most people buying the album would likely have known that this was a front for the Ku Klux Klan.

 

Essentially, the first side of the record is a twenty minute screed, telling listeners how Kosher rules cause the price of your grocery items to become more expensive, and how to make sure to avoid these products and grocers. Along the way, you’ll hear that Dr. King’s activities were being directed behind the scenes by a Jewish cabal, among other obnoxious lies, the rest of which I’ll let you hear for yourself – although please be aware of just how creepy this entire endeavor is.

 

The album is narrated by Wally Butterworth, who was at one time a well known radio announcer and quiz show host. According to the brief outline on his Wikipedia page, it would appear that, like so many others, when things didn’t go his way (he lost a lawsuit and his radio platform) he seems to have made a hard turn to the right wing and joined organizations that supported his (and many other people’s) ideas that everything was someone else’s fault, especially the fault of those who didn’t look or think like him.

 

I’d like to think that this sort of thinking – and the more general group mindset behind it that led to these albums (and much more) would be behind us as a country, but sadly, that’s clearly not the case. 

 

Rather than repeat anything else Wally has to say, I'll let him speak for himself: 

 

Wally Butterworth - Kosher Food Blackmail of American Housewives (MP3)

 

Record Label

 

That folksy “Goodbye, all” at the end, following nearly twenty minutes of hate, is, in context, among the creepiest things on the album.

 

I’m admittedly not as familiar with the issues that Butterworth gets into on the flip side of this album, but a quick web search indicates that it was about the move towards “one man, one vote”, in that era. Essentially, small towns and rural areas, at least in the south, were getting far more representation in Congress than the number of residents should have allowed. Some congressional districts had literally just hundreds of votes, while those in big cities might have had in the tens of thousands, meaning that the issues of the rural votes had much more pull than all of those other people in the big cities. Around the time of this album, some court decisions had resulted in that imbalanced system having been thrown out.

 

Now, it seems to me that changing extremely unbalanced representation into something approaching equal representation would be a no-brainer, but Wally Butterworth and his pals seem to see it as an assault on Apple Pie, Mom, Baseball, and the very center of their way of life. At one point, he makes it clear what the concern was: all of those minorities (racial and religious) that live in the cities would suddenly have electoral power that had been denied them, due to the God-given rights of the Rural White Protestants.

 

Nearly the sum and total of his “solution” seems to be for local jurisdictions to refuse to follow the courts’ decrees, and a cry to his fellow white southern men to rise up and resist the Gum’int’s evil plans to make sure everyone has an equal vote. Sheesh. 

 

Again, here's Wally:

 

Wally Butterworth - How to Deliver the Knockout Punch to Federal Judges (MP3)

Record Label

The record sleeve that the album came in is a piece of work, too: 

Record Sleeve

Comments seem to be closed again, for some reason, so I'll accept comments at [email protected]

Audio Letters From An Army Doctor in Korea, 1954, Part Three (Exploring My Reel-to-Reel Catacombs, Volume 50) (MP3's)

I've had a few requests for more tapes from the Army Doctor in Korea, a set of recordings from 1954 from which I've previously shared, in random order, two reels in a post from 2011, and two more in another post, about a year ago. At the moment, I can only put my hands on one more of these tapes, although I know there are several more in my catacombs, somewhere, and I will continue to share these if the interest continues. 

This tape was made two days after one of the tapes shared a year ago, and the doctor's big news is his upcoming move to a new location within Korea, which doesn't appear to have been by his choice, and which he sounds decidedly unhappy about. Also of note is the story related at the start of side two of the tape, recounting why someone he knew sent him an actual U.S. dollar bill, and why such an item was not supposed to be among his possessions, a story which also touches on the religious practices of the locals in that time.

Comments appear to still be stuck on "closed" on this site, so if you have anything to say, feel free to write me at [email protected], and I'll update this posting with those comments. 

Audio Letter from Korea, 5/27/54, Part One (MP3)

Audio Letter from Korea, 5/27/54, Part Two (MP3)

His Holiness, Mar Eshai Shimun, Patriarch of the East and of the Assyrians, Speaks on WGN, Chicago, 10/27/46

Quite some time ago, I picked up a large batch of acetates from some online seller. They were the usual mish-mash of home recordings, audio letters, recordings off the radio, etc.

But two of the records, one recorded on both sides, the other on one side, contained a curious recording of a radio program which aired on the legendary WGN on October 27, 1946, as part of a 15 minute series called "Distinguished Guest", sponsored by one of the Department Store giants of the Chicago area, then and now, Carson, Pirie Scott and Company.

The episode I have is primarily given over to a speech by "His Holiness, Patriarch of the East and of the Assyrians", Mar Eshai Shimun. Reading up on Shimun, beyond his brief Wikipedia entry, provided quite an education, and I encourage those interested to do so, as well. He took over his position at age 11, and saw his people and their lands go through extensive changes and upheavals during his lifetime. By the time of his recording, it appears that he was living in Chicago. He seems to have been viewed as a great man by some of his people, and nothing short of evil by others, at least by the point of his assassination, nearly 30 years after this recording was made. Reading up on him gives a bit of background to what is already (to me, at least) a very interesting speech heard here. 

As interesting as this recording is, I do wish I had a copy of the speech from the following week, by Arkansas' then-Governor, Ellis Arnall, who seems to have been just as interesting a character.   

His Holiness on WGN, Part One (MP3)

His Holiness on WGN, Part Two (MP3)

His Holiness on WGN, Part Three (MP3)

Comments are welcome at [email protected] 

The Amazing Backstory to "The Most Unusual Voice on an Audio Letter" (Exploring My Reel-to-Reel Catacombs, Volume 49) (MP3's)

Today, a follow-up. Two weeks ago, I wrote an entry about "The Most Unusual Voice I've Ever Heard on an Audio Letter"

Being currently unable to accept comments to this site, I invited comments about these mysterious tapes to my own e-mail address, and was happy to hear from more than a half-dozen commenters. 

Many suggested that the person speaking had undergone a tracheostomy. I was previously only familiar with the machine used by people with this impairment, which makes sort of a burping, low toned vocal sound, but I guess the sound on these recordings is an earlier method of assisting someone who has had this procedure to be able to speak. 

I also got a least five suggestions as to the language being spoken. The correct answer appears to be Estonian (explained in a moment)

But one intrepid writer went much further, and by searching for the return address on the tapes, and then for the name that site turned up, found something truly amazing, and equally horrifying. 

Remember that the sender of the tapes, and presumably the primary person talking, was listed as A. Mere at 180 Mere Rd. in Leicester, England. Using that information, this led my researching correspondent to a site which indicates that the person at that address, Mr. Ain Mere, was an Estonian who retired to England, and who was a collaborator with the SS during World War II. Here is the first site found.

That led both my correspondent and me to check Wikipedia, and we came up with even more information - which you can see here - that after retiring to England he was accused and convicted of war crimes, by a Russian court, and sentenced to death. As the page goes on to say, due to lack of evidence, English authorities refused to extradite him.

Several writers, intrigued by what is on these tapes, have asked where I got them. While I don't keep close records of where I've come to own most of the myriad tapes in my collection, there is really only one place I would have acquired a large collection of tapes sent from one person to another, and that is eBay. When and from where the seller was located, at this point I haven't a clue.

But this is just another reminder that you literally can never know exactly what's going to come out of the speakers on the next reel of tape you spool up. And why I'll be continuing to explore this amazing world of sound for the rest of my days. 

And now, for your dining and dancing pleasure, here's another one of Ain Mere's tapes, featuring the dulcet tones of Mr. Mere. On this tape, the other person who appears on these tapes (a younger woman, I'm guessing) speaks about as much as the sender does, which is unusual for these tapes. She even briefly lapses into English a couple of times. 

This tape only features two songs, but what numbers they are, first an early number by The Beatles (I think I hear him say "Beatles" in the comments just after the song ends), and the other a lovely yodeling tune - She Taught Me to Yodel - as sung by Friank Ifield, whose version was memorably lip-synched by Craig Ferguson (although my favorite version is by Rod Erickson). (The hiccup heard during the song on this tape is from a splice in the tape.) 

What occurred to me, while digitizing this tape, is that there are few things that have less in common with the allegations against Ain Mere than the do either the joyful sound of the early Beatles or the good cheer found in "She Taught Me to Yodel". 

Ain Mere - Greetings From England, Side One (MP3)

Ain Mere - Greetings From England, Side Two (MP3)

Tape Box Front (JPG)  |  Tape Box Back (JPG)

Thanks to all who wrote, and many, many thanks to GM in cyberspace for filling in the blanks!

Comments still appear to be disabled, so if you'd like to say something, please write to me at the address you can find on this page, and I'll try to add some of those comments to this post, when I get a chance.  

 

 

Pete Seeger (MP3's)

The unusual, obscure and fascinating trips to my reel to reel collection, and the offbeat, unknown and one-of-a-kind records from the archives will wait until another day and another post. 

My hero is gone.

Pete Seeger, 1919-2014.

For my money, the best singer ever recorded, and that I've ever heard anywhere. No one comes close. His voice was the purest expression of joy, or sadness, or anger, or righteous indignation, or whatever else was called for. In addition, his singing was a natural extension of his speaking voice, unadorned by any embellishment, misguided training or showboating, and that's exactly the sort of singing we don't have enough of today. HIs voice is pure emotion. His voice is the sound of America. His voice is the sound of life being lived well.

And not only that, Pete was without question in my mind, the most important American musician of the 20th century. I'm not saying that based solely on his songwriting or performances - I wouldn't try to support that statement. What I mean is - looking at any prominent musician of the century, and the totality of what each of them did, in all areas, musical or otherwise, again, no one comes close. He was one of the most important Americans of the century, period. 

I could support those statements, if I had the time and the space - it would take (and has taken) a book. But instead, just a focus on one important moment from history, and then I have a few of my favorites from Pete's works below.

There is also a much more detailed version of this post, with nearly 20 samples from his career, in a post you can find here. 

Before the music, a trip back in time to one of the pivotal events in Pete's life. While he kept up his professional career from 1955-1962 - Pete made at least five albums with the Weavers, and perhaps three dozen albums for Folkways, including hundreds of tracks recorded during that time, in addition to non-stop touring - he was, for that entire period, facing the wrath of the U.S. Government, including what seemed likely to be a likely prison term, essentially for refusing to reveal his private thoughts.

Indeed, the most significant moment of his life I can revisit is what happened when he appeared before the House Un-American Activities Committee, to answer charges that he was a communist, among other things. 

Many others had cowardly turned over names of friends and former friends to the committee, while even more had reasonably taken the Fifth, which had imperiled if not ended their careers. Pete took a riskier, and flat out ballsier step, one I don't believe anyone else took - he essentially pleaded the First Amendment, telling the panel that, as an American, he had the right to believe whatever he wanted to, and in addition, was entitled to be free from the need to be compelled to reveal those thoughts in such a situation as he was then in. Basically, he told the committee that, under the constitution, his beliefs were none of their business. In 1950's America, those were daring things to say. Read his entire testimony here - it is bracing. 

And for this, facing the charges brought, he could have faced a decade in prison - he was actually found guilty and sentenced, although the ten counts of one year each were to be served concurrently - and was under the threat of this sentence for nearly half a decade. It's a good thing he didn't have to serve this term in prison, but a shame that the case was thrown out on a technicality, as it might have been (had it been decided correctly) a nice precedent to prevent or halt similar Congressional abuses in the future.

But all of that was going on while Pete toured the country, spreading the word that through music can come peace and brotherhood, and, not coincidentally, being the key figure in the flowering of the folk revival of that era in the process.

And now, a quick three song sampling of my favorite Seeger tracks, which, again, is greatly expanded on here. 

Here's a recording from the Newport Folk Festival. To me, it is among the prime examples of Pete's ability to lead a crowd in group harmony - as he first encourages them to sing, then goes over each part, then, realizing it should be in a higher key, moves his capo before launching into an inspired rendition of "Oh, Mary, Don't You Weep". The spoken opening is a great demonstration of how Pete's singing voice was just an extension of his way of speaking, and the moments here in which he sings a single high note over the harmonizing audience... well, that's something he often did, and it was always an amazing sound, rarely better than it is here.

Pete Seeger - Oh, Mary, Don't You Weep (MP3)

From 1974, here's my second favorite Seeger track, a performance with his great friend Fred Hellerman on the folk standard "Banks of Marble". The track here, with banjo, guitar and piano, goes into a rolling rhythm, as their voices harmonize as in the old days, and they sing a song which is, sadly, yet to lose its meaning - it is as relevant today as when it was written, about 65 years ago. To quote a well known Seeger song: "when will we ever learn?".

Pete Seeger and Fred Hellerman - Banks of Marble (MP3)

And finally, the recording I consider not only Pete Seeger's finest moment, but one of the two or three greatest single tracks ever recorded. This is one of those perfect records that I could listen to multiple times a day without getting tired of it. It's found on an album recorded at the Weavers' reunion concerts at Carnegie Hall in 1963, but aside from some key instrumental backing from other members of the group (the double bass in particular is essential here), this is all Pete's show, or rather, Pete Seeger with an choir-by-audience numbering in the thousands. 

Listen to how simply Pete suggests they sing with him, going into the second chorus, and how, by the end of the song, it's a towering massed vocal singing with him. It helps that Tom Paxton's "Ramblin' Boy" is an incomparable song, but the magic here is what Pete does with it, with his singularly wonderful voice and with the audience.

Pete Seeger with the Weavers - Ramblin' Boy (MP3)

Thanks, Pete, for the myriad ways that you colored our lives, made it a more beautiful, musically vibrant world, help open our eyes to so many things, and worked to make America and the world a better place. 

Uncle Bernie, Novelty Mart and Frank Zappa in the Comics

"Hi Folks - Uncle Bernie wants all the children (and grown-ups too) to be happy!  In this latest Novelty Mart catalog you will find fun galore and new excitement for the entire family, year-round entertainment and delights for all the children -- handy useful novelties to fascinate the grown-ups.

You will be thrilled with the magnificent assortment of exciting action toys, novelties, and housewares. You will be delighted with their fine quality and workmanship. You will be absolutely amazed at their rock bottom prices --- sensationally low priced because we're the largest mail order firm of its kind in the country. So just turn these pages for a remarkable PARADE OF VALUES. And feel perfectly safe in ordering any of them. Remember! Every item you choose has Novelty Mart's full unconditional guarantee..."

------ Uncle Bernie ------

Thus goes the pitch from Bernie himself opening up his 1953 catalog, issued from their regular address of 59 East Eighth Street, New York 3, NY. In my last post here at the Beware of the Blog Comic Supplement we briefly examined Uncle Bernie's mail order outfit and its possible tangential relationship to Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention which then dovetails into comic book ads in general and some other areas of folk Americana / arcana / ephemera that bubble and boil just beneath the surface of wide public consciousness. The comic book publishing business could be sketchy enough, but the folks that advertised in pulp magazines, digests and comics could run the gamut of flim-flammery. All harmless and good fun for the family, usually cheap, but sometimes with price-tags quite high for their day. Old junk that gives you a wistful feeling when you realize it was probably better manufactured junk in its day than one could find now.

Welcome to the comic book sideshow, my friends. Right this way - join me after the jump!

The Other Side of Glam Rock

BY KOLLIN HOLTZ

 

Watch all 16 videos on Network Awesome

Tony Visconti found Glam Rock buried in the basement of the UFO Club in London when he saw Tyrannosaurus Rex play to a crowd of 200 hippies on instruments they found in the garbage. Obviously I’m not talking about the giant, prehistoric reptile! I mean the band founded by Marc Bolan, and Steve Took (which is not as well known as the giant lizard). It was Visconti’s assignment to go out, and find a new band for the record label to sign as part of his six-month visit to England from Brooklyn, NY. At the time, they were folk heavy on the sound, but after three records, they topped the charts in the UK. It was the 1970’s. The radical US political group, The Weathermen (later called the Weather Underground) HAD gone underground, the Summer of Love died in a biker rage at a Stone’s concert, and the British Invasion of the US Billboard Top 100 was showing little sign of stopping. You ready boys and girls, because we’re about to get it on like a gong. Glitter? Check. Hair? Check. Unbridled, raw, sexual rock lyrics? Double check.

Let’s talk about who comes to mind when we all think of Glam Rock: David Bowie. A month or two after meeting Marc Bolan of Tyrannosaurus Rex, Tony Visconti was introduced to David Bowie. A man he worked for suggested he meet Bowie saying he had a talent for, “working with odd artists [paraphrased].” Bowie and Visconti hit it off, talking about everything from their favorite musicians, spoken word artists, and seeing the new Polanski film, Knife In The Water (Original US release in 1962)* before parting ways at around nine in the evening. His first album was apparently a mish-mash of inspiration from show-tunes, folk, rock and everything else in between. Bowie took time to discover himself, according to Visconti. In the few years they worked together, Bowie took mime classes, and discovered the art of Kabuki Theater. Both of these heavily influenced his showmanship.

Mime taught him how to use his body, and Kabuki inspired the wardrobe and makeup of his stage persona. He may not have been the impetus of the movement, but he was certainly one of its most major influencers. As soon as he wore what he wore, everyone rushed to copy him without understanding the source material and inspiration he was working from. The influence of Kabuki makeup, and the strong pronouncement of

Highlights of "Juke Box" Number One, from March 1948

Today let's look at a late product from the Funnies, Inc. comic book packaging company, founded by Lloyd Jacquet in 1939 as First Funnies Inc. One of the earliest heavy players in the budding comic book making business, and also one of the best-paying, they attracted a lot of terrific talent over the years, many of them working freelance at home, not a common practice in those days.

By the time they published the series that we'll look into today, the company was located at 500 Fifth Avenue in New York and still managed by Jacquet. There were only six issues of Juke Box produced, each one stuffed full of popular musical performers and writers, but like many post-war comics it didn't last. Once wartime paper restrictions were lifted, everyone flooded the newstands with too many comics and that generally helped to crush many comic book publishers altogether. A lot of subjects were tried out in the late 1940s, but few books held on for very long.

This first issue of Juke Box is very promising, well-drawn and written throughout, and we'll see most of it today. I plan to showcase excerpts from the other five issues in future WFMU blog posts as they are rife with interesting artists. So come along now and learn about Lindley Armstrong Jones (who he?),  the habits and interests of Duke Ellington, fight crime with Benny Goodman, pen some hits with Johnny Mercer, and much more musical excitement - all after the jump!

"Beethoven" from True Comics 29, November 1943 / Plus Two More Features from 1946

Today in the Comics Supplement we find more educational material from some 'non-fiction' comic books from the 1940s, specifically the yellowed pages of True Comics and Picture News magazines.

We've talked previously at BOTB about the proprietors of True Comics here, and Picture News was helmed by editors Leigh Danenberg and Emile Gauvreau with art editor John A. Lehti assisted by Henry Cordes. More information about them seems to be hard to come by, but I did publish another piece from this comic book series here, and we'll be seeing more from that same unknown artist in todays section.

We'll lead off with Ludwig Van Beethoven and then join Picture News for stories about Benny Goodman and Captain Robert Crawford (who he?).  All of this knowledge and color pictures too - right after the jump!

Down by the Riverside with Sister Rosetta Tharpe

Watch the 30 minute show on Network Awesome

Before Bob Dylan, before Joni Mitchell, before Chuck Berry, heck, even before Elvis Presley, Sister Rosetta Tharpe was rockin’ it gospel with her electric guitar at a time when such a thing was unimaginable. Born in 1915, the Arkansas native began playing guitar at the age of four and performing with her mother at Southern tent revivals from the age of six. Tharpe stayed on the road until her untimely death at the age of 58, confounding critics and supporters alike with her blend of the spiritual and the secular and inspiring scores of performers along the way.

Sister Rosetta Tharpe, born Rosetta Nubin, began performing for charismatic evangelical church audiences with her mother in Chicago, where she achieved fame for being such a unique child talent. Throngs of church attendees would flock to Chicago’s Church of God in Christ to witness the “the singing and guitar playing miracle,” performing hymns and dancing on the church piano. From the very beginning, 'Little Rosetta Nubin' understood the importance of a strong stage presence, something that she would carry with her throughout her performing life.

In the 1930’s, Nubin moved to New York, married for the first time, changed her name, and in 1938 was the first gospel artist signed to Decca Records. Her first singles, such as “This Train” and “Rock Me” transformed traditional gospel hymns into rollicking, rhythmic recitations. “Rock Me” was actually a spiritual called “Hide Me in Thy Bosom,” that Tharpe repurposed into a sultry and sensual seduction. Naturally, her

Andrzej Żuławski: A Man Possessed

by David Selden

Watch the whole film on Network Awesome

Andrzej Żuławski’s “intellectual horror film”, Possession begins with the protagonist’s return from an unspecified but apparently dangerous assignment. In an empty room at Tempelhof Airport in Berlin, Mark’s employers plead with him to stay but he is adamant. His “subject” (and his pink socks) will elude them for now. Returning to his bland apartment in a 70’s housing complex, Mark (played somewhat woodenly by Sam Neil), finds his wife is leaving him for Heinrich, an intellectual martial arts expert with a wardrobe of silk shirts.

From there the film spirals into a queasy out of control psycho-drama, with acts of gratuitous violence appearing out of the blue with increasing frequency. Schlock is piled upon schlock until it almost becomes a bonfire of all the vanities of European art house cinema of this period, as well as being a cathartic scream and (perhaps) a pitch black comedy in the tradition of the Grande Guignol.

Żuławski, a protégé of Andrej Wadja, was never a director shy of overstatement. Here in Possession, his first and only English language film, scripted in the midst of a messy divorce case, he piles it on thick with