This might be the purest podcast I've done so far. I had this idea almost 15 episodes ago for this premise. What you will hear in this episode is a collection of songs from my personal collection of 78 RPM records. I've been, somewhat, collecting them for a long time. There is a lot of care that comes with such a collection. These records, being made out of shellac, and not vinyl, tend to be very brittle. Talk about "kid gloves"... One has to be ginger with these records. They sound so good, however. I thought it would be an interesting experiment to see how, when heard all together in one designated time frame, these records would sound in 2019. I think they sound just as good today as ever. Then again, a lot of that is in the songs I chose to play. Most, if not all, are pretty timeless. There is much to hear on this episode. Johnnie Ray illustrates his influence on the style of Elvis Presley's ballad approach, Harry Choates records in Houston, but waltz's back to Port Arthur, Texas, Amos Milburn orders 3 drinks, Gene Krupa loves his country, Joe Turner can't shed light on matters, The Robins hit up a 24 hour spot, Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys are just over the moon about where they're from, The Orioles approach an old Country/Gospel song with a dark, spare, and sullenly beautiful sound, Sam Cooke can trade lead vocals with Paul Foster Until Jesus calls him home, Percy Mayfield wrote amazing songs for himself, too, Charles Brown soothes with his tone and 3:00 a.m. arrangement, and it's totally okay that Luke drifts on.... Along with more. I hope you guys enjoy this episode. It is something I've wanted to do for a while, and I loved the idea of a challenge in "mixing" 78's. Comments/questions always welcome via email. And as always, thank you all for continuing to support this podcast.
-CEB