Dapatchy.com is the most complete music website to find the older rock and roll, country, blues, country and western, doo wop and easy listening songs that we all grew up with in the 50′s and 60′s and some other decades.
This website has been online for 12 years and has had over 2 million visitors.
After arriving at the website scroll down and you will see a group of icons which are links to non-music sections of the website.
To get to the music keep scrolling down and you will see in the first row of icons a section that has some easy listening music and an old time radio section among other icons.
The last five icons on the page will be where most of the music is. You will see a Blues In My Eye Juke Joint icon that has three jukeboxes loaded with blues music.
The next icon labeled Lost in the 50′s jukebox will have six jukeboxes of rock and roll music. In the middle of the second row you will see the words Doo Wop Drivein which will have three jukeboxes of Doo Wop music.
The next icon over will say Satin Smoothies and it has two jukeboxes of easy listening music. The next jukebox will say Sunrise Gospel and will include a lot of traditional hymns and southern gospel type songs.
The last icon on the front page will say Two Steppin’ Tunes Jukebox Saloon and it has three jukeboxes of country and western music.
All of the music at this site is the full track of whatever song is selected.
The website uses Real Player to play the songs. The songs don’t start right away but it may be because of of my slow computer.
Dance marathons were a popular craze during the 20′s and 30′s and a way to win some cash during the economic crisis of the great depression.
Alma Cummings started the dance marathon craze after outlasting six partners in 1923. Spectators were charged admission and the winners would receive a cash prize.
The marathons would become grueling tests of endurance for the participants trying to outlast the other couples. Attendants at the scene would try to keep the contestants awake by dabbing wet towels on their faces.
The contestants would be allowed a 15 minute break every hour. The contests sometimes would last for days, weeks and even months and the craze was memorialized in the movie They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?.
They were not required to dance continuously but had to be in a dancing position to keep from being disqualified. There has been reports of the marathons being fixed by the promoters but I can’t see how they could prevent a local from winning the contest if they had the power to stay awake longer than the ones being in on the fix.
The world record for continuous dancing is held by June Hovick who went on to be known as June Havoc the actress. She and her partner danced for 3400 consecutive hours and collecting a whopping $40 for their efforts.
A couple could earn $20 to $30 a week just for dancing, plus were fed eight meals a day, ostensibly to keep their energy levels high, when they were exhausted from the dance marathons.
States began outlawing the marathons probably mostly for health reasons. Half of the states had outlawed them by the mid 1930′s.
Eventually the marathon dances were outlawed in most states. The dances had become a cheap spectator sport for people who couldn’t afford more expensive forms of entertainment.
Some of the dancers died as they struggled to outlast their opponents. Shady promoters were cheating the contestants by bring in professional marathon dancers who had the art of staying awake to a science.
This is one craze that most people were glad to see go after they realized it was for the most part a scam by greedy promoters to line their pockets will ill-gotten cash.
This is a video of a dance marathon that has been going on for five months. The man being interviewed has to wake up his partner and she asks what month it is.
This video looks more realistic and probably is a bona fide video from the dance marathon days.
Glenn Miller band shown during the height of the big band era and the band is still active today.
Glenn Miller is generally acknowledged to be the best known bandleader in the big band era forming the Glenn Miller Band in 1945 and it is still active 64 years later in 2009.
Miller joined Special Services in 1942 and his band traveled overseas to entertain the troops. The last time Miller was seen alive was when he boarded a transport plane to Paris on December 15, 1944. He was 40 years old at the time of his disappearance.
The Glenn Miller Band was just one of many popular bands during the swing era of big band music.
The Glenn Miller Band playing the big band classic In The Mood.
The following videos are of other big bands of the era:
Frank Sinatra and Connie Haines singing an audio version of Oh Look At Me Now with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra during the 1940′s.
Harry James Orchestra playing I’ve Heard That Song Before with Helen Forrest vocalizing on this audio clip.
The Kay Kyser Orchestra was known not only for great music but Kay Kyser liked to add a comedic touch to his concerts.
This is a modern version of a swing orchestra with the Brian Setzer Orchestra. Setzer is known for being a member of the Stray Cats during the 80′s.
Big band music played a big part in entertaining the people during World War II but also entertained the troops overseas when possible.
Glenn Miller paid the ultimate price to do his part in entertaining the troops overseas and his music lives on today.
I have some of his music in my MP3 player and can play his great hits of the big band era like Moonlight Serenade, Tuxedo Junction, In the Mood, I’ve Got A Gal in Kalamazoo and Chattanooga Choo Choo at any time I get in the mood to hear the great songs of that era.
The late Tammy Wynette singing Till I Can Make It On My Own. When I think of Tammy I think of her ability to sing with so much emotion you could feel like she had experienced in her own life what she was singing about at the time.
A much older Merle Haggard pictured more recently after years of touring and recording.
Merle Ronald Haggard
Born: April 7, 1937 in Bakersfield, California and is now 72 years of age.
If there was ever a person with a troubled childhood it would be Merle Haggard who lost his father James at the age of nine to a brain tumor. His father had played the fiddle in honky tonks prior to his death.
His mother would have him sent to juvenile detention centers but it made little difference in his behavior. He ran away from home at the age of 14 and shortly after was singing in a bar for $5 and all the beer he could drink.
He was influenced to make country music a career after singing for Lefty Frizzell before a show and Frizzell let him sing a couple of songs during the concert and Merle was well received.
By 1957 he was getting more work in Bakersfield nightclubs but encountered financial problems that led him back to a life of robbery. He made the mistake of robbing a restaurant (some reports say it was a tavern which is more likely considering the hour) while he and two other robbers were drunk.
The three robbers thought it was 3AM but it was in fact 10:30 PM and it was still open. Merle was captured and given a 15 year sentence in San Quentin prison.
He got in more trouble in prison by running a gambling racket and brewing beer in his cell. He was found drunk and placed in isolation and would talk to Caryl Chessman who was on death row and would become one of California’s best known death row residents.
Chessman convinced him to get his life together and he also would see Johnny Cash in concert at the prison which also was a factor in him turning his life around. He once told Cash he enjoyed the show at San Quentin and Johnny said he didn’t remember him being in the show and Haggard told him he wasn’t in the show but in the audience.
After having his sentence reduced after his second parole hearing he was released from San Quentin in 1960. He had a chance to escape with a fellow convict but turned it down.
It turned out the convict did escape but shot a police officer and was later executed. The decision not to escape was instrumental because if he had escaped and had been recaptured he may have never been able to pursue his career in country music.
Merle drove to Las Vegas to see the Wynn Stewart club show and he was given a chance to perform by one of the band members who knew Merle. Stewart walked in while Merle was singing and hired him to be a bassist in his band because he was so impressed.
Stewart had a song called Sing A Sad Song which Merle wanted to record and Stewart let him record it and it became a hit nationally.
Swinging Doors would be his first song to rank high in the national country charts and it went to No.5 in the country in 1966. He would go on to have 37 straight songs reach the Top 10 with 23 of them reaching No.1 on the charts.
He would record many songs that had to do with his life in prison with him most famous being Branded Man plus some songs about prison not quite so well known like I Made the Prison Band.
1969 would see Hungry Eyes, Workin’ Man Blues and Okie From Muskogee go to No. 1.
1985 would see a new kind of country artist emerge with traditional country music taking a backseat and singers like Merle would not have the success they had enjoyed in the past. He would have his last No.1 hit with Twinkle, Twinkle, Lucky Star in 1987.
In 2004 he would release Unforgettable: Merle Haggard which features him singing in an entirely different genre of songs from the American songbook.
He sings classics like Unforgettable, Cry Me A River, Pennies From Heaven and the classic song from Casablanca, As Time Goes By.
After listening to clips of these songs at Amazon.com it only impresses me more with Merle that he could sing these songs out of his comfort zone so well.
The following videos are just a few of his many great songs recorded over the years but will still give a good representation of the music of Merle Haggard and remind us again of he turned his life around from a life of crime to being elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1994.
Merle singing his life story and how his mama tried to raise him better in this song Mama Tried.
Merle singing Today I Started Loving You Again in a duet with the late Tammy Wynette.
Merle singing I Take A Lot Of Pride In What I Am in his younger days.
Merle singing his hit Okie From Muskogee in 1968.
Merle singing one of my favorites Branded Man.
Merle singing in of his most popular patriotic songs The Fightin’ Side of Me.
Merle singing a little bit of his Working Man Blues.
Merle singing I’ll Fly Away shortly before his 72nd birthday in 2009 with an introduction by two singers on the stage telling about their respect for Merle Haggard before the show starts and then talking again after the show about Merle.
A duet of Merle and Johnny Cash singing Singing Me Back Home.
Ray Price in his younger days when he was singing country music in a more traditional style.
Ray Price pictured singing in recent years after he had switched to a more urbane country sound.
Ray Noble Price
Born: January 12, 1926 in Perryville, Texas
Ray Price is 82 and is now in his seventh decade of being a country music performer. He is only about three months from performing in eight different decades. He will be 83 in January.
Price was as country as you could get early in his career when he sang such hits as Crazy Arms which was his first No.1 single in 1956. His next No.1 single would be My Shoes Keep Walking Back To You which reached the top of the charts in 1957.
Then in 1957 City Lights (a personal favorite) went to No.1 in 1958. Then in 1959 for the fourth straight year Price had a No. 1 hit in Same Old Me. It would be his last No.1 hit till he recorded For the Good Times which reached No.1 in 1970.
Grazin in Greener Pastures’ also was a No. 1 song in 1970 but it must have been the flip side of For the Good Times since I don’t even remember that song.
By then Price had switched to a more sophisticated urbane sound that was more refined with more orchestration. For the second time in his career he would chart No.1 singles in four straight years.
In 1971 I Won’t Mention It Again went to No.1 followed by She’s Got to be a Saint in 1972. It was a song with a great story and is worth listening to if you get the chance.
He reached the top of the Country Singles chart in 1973 with You’re the Best Thing That Happened to Me. That would be the last No. 1 song for Price but 36 years later he is still going strong. He has appeared in concert with Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard several times recently.
After switching to using violins instead of fiddles with his new sound Price was caught in the middle of having some of his traditional country fans not happy with the change. On the other hand he was winning new fans that liked his more polished sound.
In my book Ray Price was always great whether singing traditional country music or crooning with an orchestra backing him.
Ray singing My Shoes Keep Walking Back To You.
Ray singing City Lights which was written by Bill Anderson.
Ray singing his No.1 hit For The Good Times.
Ray singing She’s Got To Be A Saint with only audio but the words are so good that is what matters the most.
Ray singing the country and western swing classic San Antonio Rose.
This is Ray singing two of his early hits Crazy Arms and Heartaches By The Number in a more recent concert.
It is amazing that after 60 years of singing that Ray Price is still active today at the age of 82 with his 83rd birthday on the horizon.
Watching the videos of the older Price show that he still has a strong voice and sings with the same passion he sang with back in the 1940′s.
My mind is flooded with memories of of the traditional country music of the 50′s and 60′s and those memories have came alive watching the videos of Price over the years in this post.
The song Country Bumpkin climbed to No. 1 on the country charts in 1974. The song tells a story about the joys and sorrows of life and Cal Smith does an excellent job of telling that story through this song.
The song is extremely well written regardless of the title and the phrasing by Smith makes the song come alive to the listener.
Buck Owens singing Together Again his country music standard.
Buck Owens was my favorite country singer and was fortunate to have seen him perform in person in Hawaii at our Army base Schofield Barracks.
My record collection at one time included 15 albums by Owens. He could sing a slow ballad like Together Again and Crying Time and then sing an up tempo song like I’ve Got A Tiger By The Tail or Sam’s Place with no problem.
Later in his career he was almost as well known for being on Hee Haw as for being a country singer.
Buck Owens and Don Rich and the Buckaroos performing I’ve Got A Tiger By The Tail. Rich died in 1974 in a motorcycle accident.
Buck Owens singing Hello Trouble on Hee Haw in 1969.
Buck Owens singing one of my favorite songs Truck Drivin’ Man.
Chubby Checker made a career of singing songs connected with the popular dances of the day.
Ernest Evans was born in Philadelphia on October 3, 1941 but his name was changed at the suggestion of Dick Clark’s wife to Chubby Checker. His boss at the poultry shop where he had worked had given him the name and Mrs. Clark added the name Checker so they both get half credit for the name of Chubby Checker.
Checker had his first huge hit in 1960 when he recorded The Twist which had been recorded by Hank Ballard and the Midnighters in 1958.
Checker’s version soared to the top of the record charts reaching No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts and topped out at No.2 on the R&B charts. Incredibly the song resurfaced again in 1962 and went to No. 1 for the second time.
These are some of his songs that included the word Twist in the title:
The Twist
Dear Lady Twist
Don’t Knock The Twist
Let’s Twist Again
Let’s Twist
Love Is Like A Twist
Mexican Hat Twist
Mr. Twister
Nothin’ But The Twist
Peppermint Twist (Joey Dee and Starliters version better known)
Slow Twistin’
Twist and Shout (Beatles and Isley Brothers versions better known)
Twist It Up
Twist Marie
Twist Train
Twist-A-Long
Twistasize…and seven other songs with the word Twist in the title
He also recorded a lot of other dance songs that were popular at the time like:
Pony Time, Limbo Rock, The Hucklebuck, The Fly, Doin’ The Zombie, Hully Gully, Mashed Potatoes, Shimmy, Slop, Stroll, Huckleberry, Wah-Watusi and Bossa Nova.
It has been 37 years since his last Top 10 album and 40 years since his last No.1 song.
However he has kept busy singing by singing his signature song The Twist which he has probably sang in excess of 1000 times by now. There is no way he would do a show without singing The Twist.
His schedule at his website shows he only has seven shows scheduled between now and March but when he reaches the age of 68 in October it might be time to slow down.
Chubby Checker singing his signature hit The Twist in 1960. He was around 19 at the time and is 68 as of next month.
Chubby Checker singing one of his dance songs called The Fly.
Chubby Checker singing Let’s Twist Again.
Chubby Checker singing a medley.
The Beatles singing Twist And Shout which had been recorded by the Isley Brothers in 1962 with this version being recorded in 1964.
Joey Dee and the Starliters cashed in on the twist craze when they recorded the Peppermint Twist in 1962.
The Three Rivers Rambler pictured still operates today with a steam locomotive pulling the train on a 90 minute excursion.
We have a local train called the Three Rivers Rambler located in Knoxville that takes riders on a 90 minute excursion as it makes a 11 mile trip through the area.
It is good to see these locomotives still operating 97 years after the first commercially successful steam locomotives first ran in 1912.
The first locomotive was built between 1780 and 1794 by John Fitch of the United States. It took about 130 years to perfect the technology enough for commercial use.
The Three Rivers Rambler Christmas train filmed during the Christmas season of 2008.
This clip features scenery from the Mount Rainier National Park area.
This exciting technology lifts trains off the tracks after achieving top speed through magnetic levitation. It reaches top speed of 431 kilometers per hour which translates into 267 miles per hour.
In contrast the fastest regularly scheduled steamlocomotive powered commercial train according to Wikipedia:
The Milwaukee Road had the fastest scheduled steam-powered passenger trains in the world. Both it and the Chicago & North Western had timetables requiring running in excess of 100 mph (160 km/h); it is believed that both railroads’ locomotives exceeded 120 mph (190 km/h).[2]
Technology may be advancing but I still prefer the old days when you could hear the lonesome whistle blowing across the trestle as depicted in the song Blues In The Night.
The highlight of the California State Fair of 1913 was when two locomotives were sent hurdling down the railroad tracks for a head-on collision. Hopefully the engineers were able to jump out before the collision.
This newsreel clip was shot in 1913 at the California State Fair fourteen years before the first talking movie was released.
Evidently at this point in time the fair organizers didn’t know state fairs were for politicians and ladies like Aunt Bea to share her pickles with unsuspecting fairgoers.
One of the larger model train setups which is one of the most elaborate I have ever seen and wished I had one like this.
My father set up a Lionel model train track on top of the bed back in the 1950′s. It was fun watching the train rolling around the tracks and never have tired of seeing model trains run.
A model train layout with at least two trains running at once. This layout is located at Smoky Mountain Trains in Bryson City, North Carolina.
Model train setup in Germany.
Model trains running to the music of City of New Orleans sung by Willie Nelson.
A Christmas train running to the music of the season.
We lived in a house from 1947 to 1952 that had a railroad track running next to our house with only a ditch between our house and the trains. We would wave to the man in the caboose as the train rolled by.
I retained my interest in trains later in life when I drove to Lecompte, Louisiana to see an old locomotive that was parked off the main track. I took photos of the locomotive while I was there.
Railroads have played a major part in the growth of the United States and are still transporting goods across the country to their destinations.
Passenger trains for the most part don’t run to smaller cities today. My last train ride was in January of 1963 when I boarded a train enroute to Indianapolis, Indiana.
I will never forget the snow falling once we reached St. Louis and even more snow was on the ground when we arrived in Indianapolis.
This post is dedicated to train lovers everywhere who enjoy seeing a model train run and riding in a full size train.
Anthony Dominick Benedetto was born on August 3, 1926 in Astoria, Queens, New York. He is now 83 and still singing in concerts today.
He sang at the age of 10 when he sang for the opening of the Triborough Bridge when Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia officiated at the opening of the bridge.
He was drafted into the Army in November of 1944. Bennedetto would see much action during the war as he participated in house to house fighting as the Army rooted out German soldiers hiding in the houses.
While in Germany he experienced the wrath of his superiors when he dined with a black friend from the high school he had attended. He was demoted for being seen with a black man and transfered to another department.
He was present when the American army liberated a Nazi concentration camp. There was no easy duty for Bennedetto and he was in several life or death situations.
After returning from the war he would be known as Joe Bari and even made his first recording under that name. He is now in his seventh decade of being in the music industry.
Bob Hope would change his name to Tony Bennett in 1949 when he made an appearance with Hope. The next year in 1950 he would be signed to a Columbia Records recording contract with instructions not to imitate Frank Sinatra.
Allmusic.com has eight pages of short sound clips from songs Bennett has recorded:
Tony Bennett pictured singing in May of 2009 before his 83rd birthday in August.
Because of Youwould become his first No.1 hit in September of 1951 and was followed by his cover of the Hank Williams hit Cold, Cold Heart which also went to No.1.
1953 would see his hit Rags to Riches reach No.1 on the chart. Then he was a victim of the emergence of rock and roll in the mid 1950′s when it became harder to reach the Top Ten and his songs were less markeable as teenagers rushed to record stores to buy hit songs recorded by singers like Elvis Presley and Pat Boone.
Bennett would sing on the first night of Johnny Carson’s Tonight show in October of 1962.
In 1962 he would first sing his signature song I Left My Heart In San Francisco which a perfect song to showcase the perfect phrasing of Bennett. The song would win him a Grammy Award for Best Record and Best Solo Male Performance.
He would then follow up with I Wanna Be Around which is a personal favorite of mine and Good Life.
Clive Davis of Columbia wanted Bennett to cover the popular rock songs of the era and Bennett tried it but was unsuccessful. He would wind up leaving the Columbia label and eventually tried starting his own label which would be named Improv.
It was not successful either and he had a drug problem like most singers in a time when musicians and drugs went hand in hand. His financial situation also got much worse during this time.
Singers like Harry Connick started recording standards of the past in the middle 1980′s and it was the opening Bennett needed to start recording the music he loved again.
Young people would be intrigued hearing this music since it hadn’t been heard much for several years. Bennett even appeared on MTV Unplugged and the album from that show went platinum and he was on top of the music world again at the age of 68.
He is not only a great singer but also is an accomplished artist and has sold some of his paintings for $80,000.
Frank Sinatra had this to say about Bennett:
“For my money, Tony Bennett is the best singer in the business. He excites me when I watch him. He moves me. He’s the singer who gets across what the composer has in mind, and probably a little more.”
He shows no signs of slowing down or retiring and will be starting a seven concert series in Brazil starting on October 21 and ending at the end of the month. He then returns to the United States for seven more shows before the end of the year.
At 83 Bennett still has it and plans to keep singing as long as physically possible.
Tony Bennett singing his signature song I Left My Heart In San Francisco on the Doris Day Show with Doris also singing while Tony plays the piano.
Tony singing For Once In My Life in 1968 which was 41 years ago and even back then was already in his third decade of recording music.
Tony singing Stepping Out With My Baby about 15 years ago.
Tony has gone from singing at the bridge opening in New York City at the age of ten to being one of the best known recording artists in the world today 73 years later.
Nobody enjoys singing more than Tony Bennett and he is still active 60 years after signing his first recording contract in 1949.
My first thought is of Tony Bennett when I think of a professional singer and he has been true as possible to his music except when his recording company forced him to sing rock songs and caused him to eventually leave that label.
Best of all Tony has passed his music to the MTV generation which nobody in the music business envisioned.
If you ever have a chance to see Tony sing in person take advantage of the opportunity because he is still at the top of his game.
The late Lou Rawls may have recorded a lot of songs in his lifetime but his only hit to make the Top 10 charts is You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine. It is hard to believe that it was 33 years ago when he recorded this song.
He still had a successful career but allmusic.com lists this song in their list of one hit wonders.
Lou Rawls singing You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine from his All Things In Time From 1976.
Gold City is one of the older southern gospel groups still active today. They became Gold City in 1980 after previously being named the Christianairs.
I have a 1988 videotape of a Gold City concert in 1988 in Kentucky. They featured Tim Riley as bass, Brian Free as tenor, Ivan Parker as lead and Mike LeFevre as the baritone. Garry Jones played the keyboard for the group.
The highlight of that concert was Ivan Parker singing Midnight Cry. Part of the concert is on the subject of abortion and Riley talks about it at length and Free sings a heart rendering song about the children that never are born.
In later years Mark Trammell would sing the baritone part while Jay Parrack sang tenor. When Trammell left the group Jonathan Wilburn would join the group.
Trammell was one of the smoothest sounding singers I have heard in southern gospel and he currently is touring with his own group named the Mark Trammell Trio.
Parrack would leave the group to apparently come off the road and as far as I know he hasn’t returned to southern gospel. Parrack was one of my favorite tenors in the industy and was a member of the group for 11 years.
Three years ago the group was shocked to find out their drummer Doug Riley had been killed on the way to a recording session.
My favorite album was their Within The Rock album which included Mercy Rescues Me featuring Mark Trammell and In Time On Time Everytime featuring Jay Parrack.
Tim Riley featured on When He Reached Way Down For Me a song written in 1928. This video is from the 1988 video mentioned above.
Ivan Parker singing the classic Midnight Cry that is southern gospel singing at its best.
Gold City Quartet singing Shouting Ground.
This song is about children who have been aborted missing out on the joys of life. This song will touch anyone that cares about the children being aborted.
Gold City is still recording and touring today 29 years after changing their name to Gold City. I have seen them in person at Texarkana, Arkansas in the late 1990′s.
Joni James pictured on the cover of her 1962 I'm Your Girl album.
Joni James was born Giovanna ‘Joan’ Carmello Babbo on September 2, 1930. She later tired of all the mispronunciations of her name and it was changed to Joni James.
Her 1952 recording of Why Don’t You Believe Me was No.1 for six weeks and she had six other songs that reached the Top 10 Hits list. She retired from the music industry in 1964 to take care of her her sick husband Tony Acquaviva until his death in 1986.
After his death she returned to the music industry but couldn’t regain the magic of the 1950′s she sold millions of records.
Her website mentions no concerts since 2003 so she is apparently retired and will be 74 next week.
Joni singing Maybe You’ll Be There one of the best easy listening songs I have ever heard.
Joni singing the Frank Sinatra hit You Make Me Feel So Young
Timi Yuro who sang Hurt one of the best songs of the 1960′s.
Rosemary Timotea “Timi” Yuro
Born: August 4, 1940 in Chicago, Illinois
Died: March 30, 2004 in Las Vegas, Nevada
Hurt is one of my alltime favorite songs from the 1960′s and even though Roy Hamilton had released it earlier Timi Yuro made it a huge hit as it topped out at No.4 on the record charts.
She also was the first to have recorded Make The World Go Away which went to No.24 on the charts. Eddy Arnold would later record it and it would reach the No.1 spot on the country music charts.
Her career was short-lived as Hurt was No.4 was her first and last Top 10 song in 1961 and What’s A Matter Baby peaked at No.12 in 1962. Make the World Go Away reached No.24 on the charts in 1963, then only four of her songs reached the Top 100, during the rest of her recording career.
There was no doubt about her talent, but for some reason her music didn’t sell well, maybe because Liberty her record label didn’t promote her well.
Timi may not have had a sustained career but for a few years she was as good as any singer of her era.
Her official website has a long list of rare recordings by Timi and tells of how her mother helped Willie Nelson early in his career:
Timi and Willie had a long standing mutual respect and friendship. Her mother (Edith) fed him when he was a struggling musician in the late 50′s. He picked up the tab for all costs to record (all songs Willie Nelson wrote) used for Timi’s album Today released in 1982. Including 2 Duets by Timi & Willie Nelson were recorded.
Governor Jimmie Davis of Louisiana singing You Are My Sunshine at his inaugural ball in 1960.
James Houston “Jimmie” Davis
Born: September 11, 1899 in Quitman, Louisiana
Died: November 5, 2000 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Jimmie Davis didn’t need anyone to tell him what poverty was since he was the son of sharecroppers Samuel Jones Davis and Sarah Elizabeth Works and slept on the floor until he was nine years old.
Encyclopedia.com has written an extensive biography about Governor Davis that makes interesting reading including the time he received a hog’s bladder for a Christmas present:
He went to college at Louisiana College in Pineville, Louisiana where he received his bachelor’s degree and would earn his master’s degree at Louisiana State University.
When he started singing he sang in the style of Jimme Rodgers who was known as the Singing Brakeman. Short clips of these songs and others that Governor Davis recorded can be heard at:
His biggest hit You Are My Sunshine was an international hit covered by hundreds of singers. There is some controversy about who the originally wrote the song. Some online reports credit Governor Davis with writing the song but there are articles saying that he bought the song from Paul Rice of the Rice Brothers.
Regardless of who actually wrote the song he has the copyright for the song and should have received royalty payments till his death.
It is known that he purchased the song It Makes No Difference Now (my personal favorite after You Are My Sunshine which has been the Louisiana state song since 1977) from songwriter Floyd Tillman.
Governor Davis was elected governor for the first time in 1944 and recorded There’s A New Moon Over My Shoulder in 1945. He would also leave Louisiana to make movies in Hollywood during his first term.
He would be elected again to the governor’s post in 1959 defeating Mayor deLasepps Morrison of New Orleans in a runoff to be the Democratic candidate for governor and then defeating Republican Frances Grevemberg in the general election.
When Governor George Wallace made his bid for the presidency of the United States in 1968 he said if General Curtis LeMay had turned down his offer to run as vice president he would have chosen Governor Davis as his running mate.
His first wife Alverna Adams died in 1967. He would later marry Anna Carter Gordon of the Chuck Wagon Gang.
Governor Davis was singing southern gospel music in his later years and one of his best known sacred songs was Suppertime. He did an outstanding job on songs with recitations.
He co-wrote the southern gospel standard Sheltered In The Arms of God with Dottie Rambo.
This website shows the front and back of his tombstone and the Jimmie Davis Tabernacle where a homecoming service was held the first Sunday of October:
Below are some videos made of Governor Davis singing:
Governor Davis and Dottie Rambo singing Nobody’s Darlin’ But Mine and what Dottie calls the biggie You Are My Sunshine.
Governor Davis singing It Makes No Difference Now in the movie Louisiana.
Governor Davis singing There’s A New Moon Over My Shoulder in the movie Louisiana.
This is Jimmie Davis singing in 1991 at apparently the Grand Old Gospel Reunion.
Jimmie Davis grew up dirt poor but he still made something of himself by getting an education and becoming the governor of Louisiana.
He not only was a great governor and my favorite governor during my lifetime but was an excellent singer. He wrote what may be the best known song in the world You Are My Sunshine and could sing a southern gospel song with more emotion than most because he knew what God had done in his own life.
He is one of the few people that lived in three different centuries being born in the 18th century and dying in the 20th century.
Governor Davis may not be with us now but we will always remember his days as governor and we can still listen to the musical legacy he has left for us to enjoy.
Diana Krall a Grammy winning female jazz vocalists that sings many of the standards from the 1940's and 1950's.
One day while browsing through music clips at Amazon.com I stumbled across Diana Krall singing Cry Me A River and I knew she was no ordinary singer and musician.
The song was originally sung by the late Julie London in 1955 who is perhaps better known to this generation as head nurse Dixie McCall on the Emergency television series produced by her ex-husband Jack Webb.
There have been close to a 100 covers of the song but to me the best cover of it was when Diana Krall recorded it on her The Look of Love album released in September of 2001 a week after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Timely Release of Look of Love Album
It couldn’t have been released at a better time since it was the perfect easy listening album for a troubled time. The album was filled with slow ballads but Cry Me A River stood out among the many great songs on the album.
The musical interludes between the verses made the song special and the vocals by Diana were unforgettable. This one song turned me into a Diana Krall fan and have been one ever since.
The best way to tell if a music fan likes someone is if they buy their music and I bought not only her newest album but bought many of her albums going back to the early 1990′s.
Diana was born on November 16, 1964 in Nanaimo, British Columbia in Canada.
She took classical piano lessons at the age of four and was influenced by her father who was a piano player.
Influenced By Fats Waller, Nat King Cole
Diana Krall was influenced by pianists like Fats Waller whose albums were in her father’s record collection. She also was influenced by Nat King Cole and recorded a tribute album in his memory.
When she released her When I Look In Your Eyes album in 1999 it would be break she was looking for. The album became an international best seller.
Won First Grammy Award
Then the album was awarded a Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Performance and was the first jazz album to be nominated for Best Album in 25 years.
The album included songs from the great songwriters of the past like Irving Berlin, Cole Porter and Jimmy McHugh and included a novelty song Popsicle Toes a song I have never heard recorded in the past.
In 2002 she would appear in concert in Paris and made a DVD of the concert. I have this DVD and can say that this may be one of the best concert DVD’s ever made.
Live in Paris CD Also Released
There was also a CD made of this concert that includes the many great songs from the concert including The Look of Love, Let’s Fall in Love, I’ve Got You Under My Skin, Fly Me To The Moon and Just The Way You Are.
The group with Krall on piano, John Clayton on bass, Anthony Wilson on guitar and Jeff Hamilton on drums all did their part to make this an excellent album but Diana’s vocals would have been great if there was only Diana playing the piano.
Anthony Wilson in particular stands out on the album. His guitar solos were outstanding.
Recorded Album of Mostly Originals
In 2004 she recorded her The Girl In The Other Room album and it included more original material than her previous albums. Her husband Elvis Costello who she had married in 2003 co-wrote six of the songs with Diana and wrote one by himself.
She released a Christmas album in 2005 which very well could be the best new Christmas album in several years. Her rendition of I’ll Be Home For Christmas brings back memories of the three Christmases I missed while in the Army.
Back To American Songbook Composers
Diana would release her From This Moment On album in 2006 and it included songs from immortal songwriters like George Gershwin, Cole Porter and Irving Berlin from the American songbook.
The album ended her brief foray into original music for whatever reason as she went back to what had worked for her before.
Quiet Nights a Bossa Nova Album
Quiet Nights album was released earlier this year and it had a bossa nova influence with three Antonio Carlos Jobim songs included.
There is still some songs from American songbook writers Sammy Cahn, Johnny Mercer, Jules Styne and Richard Whiting with Cahn and Styne and Mercer and Whiting collaborating on a song each in the album.
Diana Krall’s music signifies what easy listening music is all about. The orchestration in her music is superb with excellent engineering to achieve the best sound possible from her music.
Diana Krall Best Female Jazz Singer
In my book Diana is the best female jazz singer today and I am already looking forward to her next release.
Some of the following videos are great examples of her artistry on the piano and her polished vocals with excellent backing from her musicians.
The Look of Love is the title song from her album of the same name released exactly a week after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. This performance was in Paris when she recorded her Live in Paris concert DVD and album. John Clayton on bass, Jeff Hamilton on drums and Anthony Wilson back the excellent piano work of Diana and the haunting vocals.
Cry Me A River is my favorite Diana Krall song and this performance was also in Paris.
Diana picks up the pace in this version of I Love Being Here With You.
Diana singing So Nice from her Quiet Nights album.
Diana singing The Best Is Yet To Come with the legendary Tony Bennett.
Diana Krall was not an overnight sensation by any means since she has been recording since the early 1990′s but she should continue to record the music from the American songbook for many years.
She may be the main reason I love music from the 1940′s because she has brought it back for people like me who want to remember a simpler time when nobody had cell phones, MP3 players and air conditioners.
Broderick Crawford as Dan Matthews of the Highway Patrol in the syndicated TV series Highway Patrol.
Highway Patrol was a syndicated television program produced by Ziv TV. It starred Broderick Crawford as Dan Matthews the commander of a highway patrol unit in an unidentified state.
I can still remember Matthews saying 10-4 into his radio-telephone. One show I have in a collection of classic television videos shows a criminal takings a school bus driver and some kids as hostages.
The excitement builds as the story culminates in an exciting conclusion. I haven’t seen the show on any channel for many years.
Crawford was perfect in the role of Matthews since he looked the part of a gruff plainsclothes policeman who was all business and totally focused on his job of getting criminals off the streets and highways.
The show debuted on October 3, 1955 and the last episode was shown on September 1, 1959. 156 shows were shown during its four year run on televison. Back in those days 39 shows were produced for a years run on television but nowadays 24 or fewer new shows are made of a series
Highway Patrol may not compare well with the police shows of today but for me it was the kind of show that I always looked forward to the next episode as soon as that night’s episode had ended.
Crawford may have been better known for his role as Willie Stark in All The King’s Men which was released in 1949. However I remember him better for Highway Patrol since I watched this show regularly week after week.
This is the opening of Highway Patrol which will bring back memories to those that watched it till it went off the air 50 years ago.
Broderick Crawford was born December 9, 1911 and died April 26, 1986 at the age of 74.
Having been born in the 1940′s just four months and eight days after D-Day I have been partial to 40′s music. Since I was only six years old when the 40′s ended I have almost no personal memory of the decade.
In later years I became more aware of the 40′s. For instance having served in Hawaii I had the chance to visit the U.S.S. Arizona museum at Pearl Harbor.
It was like I was being brought back in time to a time when our nation rallied together to fight Japan and Germany. The names of those who lost their lives at Pearl Harbor made me realize the sacrifices that were made on the first Sunday of December in 1941.
My first recollection of music was when the rock and roll era began in the middle 1950′s. Later on I would wonder what music was like before rock and roll emerged on the scene.
Frank Sinatra and Perry Como each had a Top 5 song in 1946. In 1947 the Harmonicats had the No. 2 song of the year. How much chance is there today that a harmonica song would be the No.2 song? Two of the other four songs were songs played by the Ted Weems and Ray Noble orchestras.
In 1948 Bing Crosby, Peggy Lee and Margaret Whiting would have Top 5 hits. Frankie Laine, Vic Damone and Perry Como would have Top 5 hits in 1949.
This trend of vocals and instrumental songs being in the Top 5 continued till 1955 when Bill Haly and Comets recorded Rock Around The Clock. In contrast Roger Williams recorded his piano solo classic Autumn Leaves that year. There was rousing rock and roll song and piano solo both in the Top 5. The same year Mitch Miller recorded The Yellow Rose of Texas.
There was another mixture of rock and roll and orchestra songs in the Top 5 in 1956. Elvis Presley had Heartbreak Hotel and Don’t Be Cruel both on the list in 1956. The Platters vocal group sang My Prayer and Gogi Grant sang The Wayward Wind with Nelson Riddle Orchestra playing Lisbon Antigua.
After 1962 rock and roll music had taken over and the instrumental songs were seldom ranked high on the record charts.
Singers like Perry Como were still around but they weren’t the big names they were in the 1940′s.
Going back to the 1940′s…Big band music was king during the 40′s with Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman and Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey being some of the better known orchestra leaders along with Harry James.
The Andews Sisters singing their famous hit The Boogie Woogie Boy Of Company B from the 1940′s.
Tex Beneke and the Glenn Miller Band playing In The Mood one of the best known orchestra songs from the 40′s.
Dick Haymes singing What A Difference A Day Made in 1945 which shows off the great voice of Haymes.
This is one of the saddest songs ever sung in this song I’ll Walk Alone by Dinah Shore sung in the 1940′s during World War II in a song that tells about a girl waiting for her boyfriend to come home from the war.
Bob Eberle starts this song off with Helen O’Connell joining in for the end of the song.
Helen O’Connell singing many years later starting with All of Me which has become a standard in the American songbook and then sings Tangerine which she sang in the previous video.
Helen joined the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra in 1939 and often sang duets with Bob Eberle.
She was born on May 23, 1920 in Lima, Ohio and died on September 9, 1993 in San Diego at the age of 73 of liver cancer.
In conclusion I like 40′s music because it reminds me of a simpler time. It wasn’t a better time considering the United States was involved in World War II and the Korean War in the 1940′s.
The music was both joyful in songs like The Boogie Woogie Boy of Company B sung by the Andrews Sisters and and melancholy as in the extremely sad I’ll Walk Along sung by Dinah Shore.
The great male vocalists of the 40′s like Dick Haymes, Bob Eberle and Johnny Hartman never reached the status of a Frank Sinatra but still were an integral part of the 1940′s music scene.
Hartman along with Nat King Cole were among the few black singers singing mainstream popular music in the 1940′s and Hartman although blessed with a great baritone voice never reached the notoriety of Cole.
Peggy Lee one of the best female jazz vocalists sang for six decades singing from the 1940′s to the 1990′s and is best known for her signature song Fever which surprisingly only reached No.8 on the record charts while some of her lesser known hits would sell more records than Fever.
Norma Deloris Egstrom was born in Jamestown, North Dakota on May 26, 1920. She would later be known better as Peggy Lee.
She had a very unhappy childhood after her mother died when she was four and her stepmother was very mean to her. Music was her way out of the situation and she sang at an early age.
Whenever I hear the name of Peggy Lee mentioned I instantly think of her best known song Fever. Nobody else could sing that song the way she did.
She personifies what 40′s music was all about before the rock and roll age would start in the next decade.
Some of her hit songs from the 40′s are still being recorded today by other artists.
Just a few of the songs she sang in the 40′s still heard today:
Blues in the Night
The Way You Look Tonight
I Don’t Know Enough About You ( also recorded by Diana Krall in her Love Scenes album in 1997)
Her number one songs include:
1941: Someone Else Is Taking My Place
1947: Manana
1969: Is That All There Is? (originally recorded by Leslie Uggams in 1968) but was No.1 for Peggy Lee in 1969.
Her recording of Manana was the most popular song of 1948.
Is That All There Is was a song that was a story in song with each verse devoted to a different life situation. The last verse is depressing when it mentions suicide as an option but still it is a great song sang by a great artist and is worth listening to.
Peggy had so many great music videos it is not easy to choose which ones to post. These are some more of my favorites:
Peggy singing Why Don’t You Do Right when she sang with the Benny Goodman Orchestra.
Fever was her signature recording and nobody could sing it like Peggy.
This is Peggy singing The Folks Who Lived On The Hill in 1981 forty years after making her singing debut but she still could sing with the same passion she had in the early 1940′s.
Peggy Lee was a special singer that could follow a rousing number like Why Don’t You Do Right with a classic like The Folks Who Lived On The Hill.
Peggy Lee died in Los Angeles at the age of 81 in 2002. She may be gone but she has left a legacy of music that will be enjoyed for years to come.
The following website has more biographical information about Peggy and on the left is a list of options for music, videos,etc. The songs that are not short clips are labeled full tracks.
Someone could spend hours at this website listening to her music and watching her videos.
The Beach Boys in their early days with Dennis Wilson on the far left on the drums, Al Jardine, Carl Wilson, Brian Wilson and Mike Love.
Beach Boys in later years with Mike Love (seated) and Al Jardine, Brian Wilson, Dennis Wilson and Carl Wilson.
It was in 1961 that the Beach Boys group was founded. Looking back it is difficult to believe that 48 years later some of their original members are still singing today.
The Beach Boys were the first group I remember seeing at the Conroy Bowl at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii in 1963 or 1964.
Their music was very popular in Hawaii as the beach music craze was in full force at the time. Their surf rock music has been heard around the world as they traveled to many countries over the years bringing their special unique sound to music fans around the world.
No group has had better harmony than the Beach Boys in my book. While the lead vocalist was singing the rest of the group was backing him up with their harmony in the background.
Three brothers Brian, Carl and Dennis Wilson, Al Jardine and Mike Love made up the configuration of the band in the early days.
The band had several hits including my favorite Surfin’ USA, Good Vibrations, California Girls, God Only Knows, Barbara Ann and Help Me Rhonda and too many others to mention.
The key to their success was the writing ability of BrianWilson who kept the hits coming. Wilson would later have a serious drug problem and he became a recluse a lot of the time.
His brother Dennis also had a drug problem and would be in out of drug rehab several times and sometimes leaving sometimes against the advice of doctors.
He was so zoned out that he let Charles Manson and some of his followers live at his house. Manson and his groupies cost Wilson over $100,000 while living there and he finally had his manager remove them from the house.
A few months after leaving the Wilson house the Manson followers would kill actress Sharon Tate and others.
In the Live At Knebworth DVD shot in England Wilson shows signs of drug induced behavior and was visibly irritating Mike Love while he was singing.
Wilson would die in December of 1983 when he reportedly dived off a boat after drinking and drowned.
His brother Carl would die of lung cancer in February of 1998 at the age of 51. He too had battled substance abuse like his brothers.
Associatedentertainment.com has posted this info on their website about the Beach Boys legal disputes:
Extensive legal battles between members of the group have also played their part. After the death of Carl Wilson, founding member Al Jardine was ousted by fellow-founding member Mike Love. As of 2008, The Beach Boyscontinue to tour, with a lineup of Love, Johnston and a backing band of new musicians. Love retained the rights to the Beach Boys name after a legal dispute. Al Jardine and Brian Wilson also continue to tour with their own respective backing bands, as of 2008. All three groups continue to play Beach Boys hits.
Brian Wilson is still touring as a solo act and Al Jardine has his own band and still sings Beach Boys music like this one:
Beach Boys singing their hit I Get Around in their earlier days.
The Beach Boys singing their classic hit Good Vibrations in 1979 and looking much different 15 years after the first video shown above.
If ever there was a prime example of the damage drugs can do to a group it is the Beach Boys.
The three Wilson brothers had to battle substance abuse for much of their career.
Mike Love the lead singer for the Beach Boys was not happy with the new direction the band was taking when they ventured away from their early sound to the Pet Sounds which produced songs like Good Vibrations.
The Beach Boys can still be heard on oldies radio and those magic days of the early 60′s before the booze and drugs kicked in will never be forgotten by this Beach Boys fan.
Ed Sullivan hosted the Ed Sullivan Show one of the longest running shows on CBS television for 24 years on Sunday nights and is famous for being the first to present the Beatles on American television.
Ed Sullivan was a show business columnist for the New York Daily News who is better known for his 1948 television series Toast of the Town. The name was changed to The Ed Sullivan Show in 1955.
Sullivan hosted the show for 24 seasons encompassing 1024 episodes that were shown on Sunday nights.
Although Sullivan was nothing more than a presenter since he had no talent other than being the host of the show.
However he became known as a starmaker and an appearance on his show could skyrocket a performer to stardom.
Elvis Presley and the Beatles appeared on the show early in their careers to the shrieks and screams of female fans.
At first Sullivan balked at signing Presley for his show but due to Presley’s appearance on Steve Allen show which clobbered Sullivan’s show in the ratings he decided to sign Presley.
Elvis singing Hound Dog on the Ed Sullivan show after saying he was going to sing a very sad song.
When Presley first appeared on the show Sullivan was not present since he was recovering from an auto accident. Actor Charles Laughton filled in for Sullivan for that Presley appearance.
Presley would make two more appearances on the show and Sullivan called Colonel Tom Parker many years later but when Parker had a long list of instructions and demands if Elvis were to appear Sullivan decided not to sign Elvis again.
Sullivan was at Heathrow Airport in London in late 1963 when the Beatles were mobbed by fans. He told his traveling entourage that this was like it was when Elvis first hit the scene.
The manager of the Beatles Brian Epstein was offered good money by Sullivan to appear on a single show. Instead Epstein requested they appear on three shows for less money but that his clients would receive top billing so they would get more exposure.
The Beatles singing some of their hit songs on Ed Sullivan show.
The Beatles surprising sang Till There Was You a ballad from the Music Man written by Meredith Willson. It was a great song but not what you would expect from the hottest musical group on the world who by then had several hit songs of their own.
However before the appearances of Elvis and the Beatles singer Bill Haley had sang Rock Around the Clock and is believed to the first singer to sing a rock and roll song on a American television program.
Bo Diddley was told to sing Sixteen Tons but instead chose to sing his self named hit Bo Diddley. Sullivan was furious at Diddley and told him he was the first black boy to double cross him. He told Diddley he would never appear on another show in his life.
Comedian Jackie Mason made an obscene gesture toward Sullivan once when Sullivan was trying to get him to wrap up his act so President Lyndon Johnson could make a speech.
Sullivan was visibly upset by the action of Mason and they argued with Sullivan firing him on the spot.
Another time Sullivan was angered when Buddy Holly refused to change songs and cut his act to one song and turned off the sound to Holly’s electric guitar so when it was time for his guitar solo Holly was quick to say the problem had nothing to do with him.
Sullivan would often introduce celebrities who happened to be in the audience the night of the shows.
He died on October 13, 1974 of esophageal cancer.
Sullivan had gone from being a boxer in his youth to a newspaper columnist to a TV host with no talent but still had the power to make or break a star.
The cast of Life of Riley television show from the 1950's. From left to right are Marjorie Reynolds as Peg, Lugene Sanders as Babs, William Bendix as Chester A. Riley and Wesley Morgan as Junior.
Life of Riley debuted on radio on network radio on April 12, 1941 with Lionel Stander playing J. Riley Farnsworth.
However it was not nearly as popular as the later version which first appeared on January 16, 1944 on the Blue Network. This version starred William Bendix who had portrayed Babe Ruth in the Babe Ruth Story.
The show was moved to the NBC network on September 8, 1945 and would run on that network till June 29, 1951.
Chester A. Riley worked at an aircraft plant in the series and when something bad happened to him he was known for saying “What a revoltin’ development this is!”.
One of my favorite parts of the program is when the friendly undertaker Digby “Digger” Odell played by John Brown would talk to Riley. Digger would find a way to work in comments about digging graves and dying into every conversation
His character appeared in the first television version of the series starring Jackie Gleason as Riley but when Bendix returned his character was removed from the program. The show really needed Bendix in the starring role because Gleason never fit the role as far as I was concerned.
Riley played a bumbling oaf who always had the best intentions but would stumble his way through each show by always doing the wrong thing but by the end of the show all the problems were solved and everyone was happy including Riley.
His wife on the radio version was Paula Winslowe.
Conrad Binyon was one of the actors who portrayed Riley’s son Junior on the program at some point in the series.
The second television version of the program would be better known with Bendix back on the program. His wife Peg was played by Marjorie Reynolds in the television version.
Marjorie Reynolds pictured with Bing Crosby in the 1942 movie Holiday Inn and eleven years later she would portray Peg Riley in The Life of Riley.
I can remember watching the Life of Riley on Friday nights on KALB television the local NBC affiliate in Alexandria, Louisiana. The show was sponsored by Gulf Oil.
Tom D’Andrea played his neighbor Gillis and his wife was portrayed by Gloria Blondell as Honeybee. Lugene Sanders was Riley’s daughter Babs and Wesley Morgan was Junior the son of Riley.
Riley seemed to get in one bad situation after another in the shows and viewers could empathize with him since Bendix played Riley so well making him a very believable character.
The network run ended in 1958 and it has seldom been seen in recent years on any network.
This is a clip from the Life of Riley television series.
This Is Your FBI was a old time radio show depicting actual cases from the files of the FBI with the approval of FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover.
I have listened to a lot of old time radio shows in the detective genre but this show stands out. The part I like best is that you hear the dialogue between the criminals as they plan their crimes.
Then you also are able to hear the FBI agents try to outsmart the criminals and ultimately apprehend the criminals. Most of time the criminals are caught by surprise.
Many of the programs have some connection with criminals trying to con veterans returning from World War II out of their money.
There are also programs about criminals fighting amongst themselves as they decide how to divvy up the money from a bank robbery or a holdup at a store. More often than not one of the criminals is killed by his own crony trying to get a bigger cut for himself.
These shows are very easy to listen to. The shows are even better when listening to them in a dark room so your imagination can run wild with no distractions.
Anyone interested in finding these half hour shows at minimal prices can write me at Niteowl049@msn.com and I will find the best deals on the internet even though I have no financial interest in these websites.
84 of these shows can be listened to for free on your computer at this website: http://otr.net/?p=yfbi
This is the way we would make corrections in a story by removing incorrect line or lines and insert corrected lines if the correction caused several lines to be reset if a word was left out causing the operator to have to reset the lines to the end of the paragraph.
When I started work at the Alexandria Daily Town Talk in August of 1966 the paper was still using hot metal for each line of type produced.
My first job was working on the type dump. The linotype operators operated a huge linotype machine that produced a slug for each line of type seen in a newspaper. The slugs were extremely hot after being produced by the linotype machine.
This video shows a restored linotype machine in operation and describes in detail how a line of type is produced from the machine.
When all the lines in a story had been set on the linotype machine the finished story would be placed in a galley. The galley would be brought to the type dump where the person working at the dump would make any corrections needed by inserting a corrected slug in the place of the incorrect slug.
Once the story had been corrected the galley would be turned around where the page makeup people would take the galley to the page form where it belonged.
Page Makeup Built Pages According To Layout
They would then follow the page layout for that page and place photos and type as specified by the layout in the proper position. If a story wouldn’t fit the space because the story was too long an editor decided what part of a story could be cut to make it fit in the page form.
After a few months of working on the dump I was promoted to being a page makeup person.
Usually the ads would be placed in the page first before filling the page with type and photos. If an ad wasn’t ready and all the other elements for the page were ready we would place blank slugs the size of the missing ad to fill that space so the page can be built without having to wait for the ad.
Linotype slugs as they look to page makeup person.
Pica rulers similar to what we used to measure when building a newspaper page and these rulers were also called line gauges by newspaper workers.
A page was tightened by inserting slugs into places in columns which had some slack. If the metal slugs were not standing up straight they would lean over and would cause the type to be off its feet making a page harder to read in that portion of the page.
Then we would use a tool to tighten up the page form so the page would remain tightened when running under the mat roller. The mat roller was a metal cylinder that pressed cardboard mats over the type in the page making an impression.
The cardboard impression would then be placed on the press and ink would be applied on the page as the page would rotate in the printing press till the end of the printing run.
Switched to Cold Type In 1972
The Town Talk used hot metal composition for many years and switched to what was called cold type operation in 1972.
The hot metal days are over for the most part in the United States today. Very few linotype machines are in operation but the linotype machines will be forever etched in the memory of those that operated them and those that worked in printing plants where they were still being used.
The New York Herald Tribune was the first newspaper to use a linotype machine in 1886. The machine was invented by German clockmaker Ottmar Mergenthaler.
The Town Talk used the cold type operation which consisted of placing stories on a page using paper for a few years. Eventually they would switch to a system using negatives when an entire page would be produced in negative form and come out of a typesetter.
Used Four Color Process
The camera shop would produce the photos for those pages and the color photos would have to be stripped into blank spaces on the page reserved for the photos using a four color process.
There would be a separate negative for red, yellow, blue and black and the negatives would be registered to make sure they would match the register marks so the photo would be aligned correctly.
Full Page Pagination Using Negatives
Later on full page pagination was developed and the page designers would send out the full pages on negative along with the four color negatives for color photos.
This development only left the camera shop to tone photos for the most part on the computer. After being in the camera shop for a few years I was sent to the platemaking department till I retired in 2004.
Page Designer To Pressrom Technology
Today technology is even more advanced making it possible for a page designer to send an entire page in plate form to the printing press passing over the camera shop and the platemaking department.
Before the platemaking department had burned impressions from negatives onto metal plates and processing the plates until the impression showed up on the plate. Then the page was placed in its page position on the press.
The composing room which numbered close to 40 workers at one time no longer exists as technology continued to eliminate jobs.
None Of My Jobs Still Exist
None of the departments I worked in at Town Talk exist today. It is a sad commentary that technology has made some aspects of printing much easier yet has eliminated many jobs in the process leaving countless employees out of work.
In my 38 years of newspaper production we have come a long way from linotype machines producing a line at a time to a page designer pushing a button on a computer after designing a page and that page would be ready to be placed on the press in a few minutes.
Pressroom Being Closed
The Town Talk recently announced that the newspaper will no longer be printed in Alexandria after being printed here for the last 126 years. The pages will be sent electronically to Lafayette, Louisiana where the Town Talk will be printed in their pressroom.
It will be the first time since 1883 when the paper was founded that the paper hasn’t been printed in Alexandria.
Boston Blackie safecracker becomes a detective as he works to fight crime with a humorous touch.
Boston Blackie first aired on radio on June 23, 1944 and was broadcast till September 25 of that year on NBC. It was a summer replacement for Amos and Andy.
The show went into syndication and ran from April 11, 1945 till October 25 of 1950 and was mostly heard on Mutual radio network.
It was a show that mixed detective work with humor. Blackie and the police inspector Faraday did not get along well. Faraday was quick to pin any crime being investigated on Blackie since he had been a safecracker before becoming a detective.
Chester Morris played Blackie in the NBC version while Richard Kollmar played Blackie in the syndicated version.
Kollmar was the husband of What’s My Line panelist and newspaper columnist Dorothy Kilgallen.
The show has always been one of my favorites and would recommend it to anyone that like old time radio detective shows.
OTR.net has 192 free shows of the Boston Blackie series to listen to:
