July 1, 2009
“Great Scenes from Great Plays” was a dramatic half-hour program syndicated by the National Council of the Protestant Episcopal Church. Using some of the top stars and performers of the day, the shows are well-produced entertainment that might remind you of shows like “Academy Award” or “Lux Radio Theater”.
In celebration of the July 4th holiday, we offer program 12 in the series, “Young Mr. Lincoln”, starring Henry Fonda. The play focuses on Lincoln’s famous defense of two brothers accused of murder where a certain little book provides a vital clue in the trial. The program includes some simple announcements at the end to encourage you to attend church next Sunday.
The show was transferred from an original vinyl transcription set pressed by Columbia, matrix numbers YTNY 10214 and YTNY 10215.
A special tip of the hat to blog listener Michael Utz for his donation of this disc to may collection.
Here’s another great show to help celebrate the July 4th weekend.
From NBC’s Radio City in New York, we hear the September 12, 1947 episode of the “Fred Waring Show”. The program kicks off with a rollicking version of the old tune, “Hindustan”, but most of the program is taken up by a salute to the “Great Forty-Eight”, a medley of songs about various states that, I think, pretty much mentions every state in the union at the time. The series was sponsored by the Minnesota Valley Canning Company, makers of Green Giant corn and peas so we get to hear Waring’s group perform some great singing Green Giant commercials.
This rare, uncirculated program was transferred from original line check acetate transcription from unknown local NBC station and it includes opening system cue and NBC chimes.
What could be more American on July 4th than apple pie?
In this post, we continue our peek into some local programming from NBC affiliate KGW, Portland with the Hood River Valley Apple Picking Contest. The show looks at a local apple picking contest staged at Vic Thompson’s Orchards near Mount Hood, Oregon. The announcer describes the contest, which went on for a couple of days, and interviews some of the individuals participating as we listen in on the last few minutes of the contest and find out who won. We even get to hear the “snap” of the apples as they’re picked off the vine.
There’s no label or date on the disc, but it would seem to be from the late 1940s or early 1950s since it mentions that the show is being brought to us via a wire recording.
Now you can tell all your friends you heard an apple picking contest on the radio.
Here’s a short bit of rare local programming I discovered on the flip side of a lacquer transcription, an excerpt from a local show probably only saved because an engineer was testing out some equipment.
From KGW, Portland, we offer a few minutes of “620 Matinee”, a morning music program featuring local musicians. The show appears to date from November 1948. The recording starts out with the NBC id and chimes from the end of a network program. Then we hear the local ID, program opening, a song and some commercials. The excerpt includes ads for a local dentist, John H. Miller, and for Richard L. Neuberger who was running for the Oregon State Senate at the time.
According to Wikipedia, Mel Blanc started at KGW and was featured on a variety program on the station from 1927 to 1933. The station took on the call letters KPOJ in 2003 after several call sign changes in the 1990s.
A few months ago, I picked up several discs of “Reminiscin’ with Singin’ Sam” that don’t appear to be in circulation, so I’ll be putting one up on the blog now and then. The July 4th weekend seems like a perfect time to dive into this little slice of Americana.
Harry Frankel, aka “Singin’ Sam”, was a native of Kentucky. Starting in minstrel shows and vaudeville, he got his big break on radio in 1930 on WLW in Chicago. He show was heard throughout the thirties and he became known as “Singin’ Sam, the Barbasol Man” and he’d keep the “Singin’ Sam” name for a series he did for Coca-Cola from 1937 to 1942. Sam passed away in 1948 and his sheet music collection and personal papers and records are housed in the Morrisson-Reeves Library in Richmond, Indiana. The Library has an online digital collection of his 78 rpm recordings, photographs and memorabilia.
“Reminiscin’ with Singing’ Sam” was a syndicated series he produced through his own company in the 1940s and preserves his unique singing style and radio presence. Frankel possessed one of the largest private collections of sheet music in the country and the focus of his show were long-forgotten popular songs that were “oldies”, some reaching back to the late 19th century. With his warm, “down home” manner, he’d invite the parents and grandparents to pull up a chair in front of the radio and remember the good old times and songs of long ago. The fun for listeners today is rediscovering long-forgotten tunes.
Program 3 in the series kicks off with what sounds like an old minstrel show tune, “When I’m Walkin’ With My Sweetness”, and we also hear “My Little Mule Wagon”. Sam is backed by the Charles Magnante Trio and the Mullins Sisters. You might remember Charles Magnante from his work on the Jack Berch Show, heard previously on the blog.
Our mp3 was transferred from original Transcription Sales, Inc vinyl disc, matrix number L-19667-A1. The original “Singin’ Sam” discs I obtained were stored without sleeves for many years and were pretty scuffed up; I’ve run the file through some click reduction software to make it more listenable.
I’ve run into several shows over the past few months where only part of the program survives. I’ve resisted posting them since they’re incomplete, but I’ll start putting up one now and then that’s particularly unusual or rare.
I think the name of this series is “Doctors Then and Now”, judging by the show opening. However, I haven’t found any listings to confirm the title. The program was carried on NBC, probably in the late 1940s, and was sponsored by the American Medical Association. The series dramatizes “the story of 100 years of American medicine”. This particular program tells the story of a country doctor, Dr. Albert Wagoner, and how becomes a trusted member of the community.
Unfortunately, only part one of the show survives on this unlabeled lacquer. The other side of the disc contains part of an episode of “Candy Matson” with an NBC Reference Disc label.
Goldin, by the way, lists a few episodes of a series called “Doctors Today” that may be related to this program.
Since the July 4th holiday is coming up this weekend, I’m posting this week’s shows a bit early. First up, our continuing series, “The Adventures of Frank Race”, with Paul Dubov and Tony Barrett.
In program 35, Race goes back to his travels to exotic locales in “The Adventure of the Gold Worshipper”, where he’s been tapped to investigate the kidnapping of a gold dealer’s daughter in Macau.
The show was transferred from a vinyl Bruce Eells and Associates transcription set, matrix numbers UR-155188 A-1 and UR-155189 A-1.
June 26, 2009
Gracie Fields was a well-loved English-Italian actress and comedienne who first gained fame on stage and screen in her home country. During World War II, because of her Italian citizenship, she chose to live in the United States since she would have been detained in Britain. She spent the War years entertaining the troops and appearing here in the US.
Originally broadcast on NBC as a summer replacement series for “Charlie McCarthy”, here’s an episode of the seldom heard “Gracie Fields” program of July 9, 1944. In this episode, Jack Carson banters with Gracie about getting her started on a career in Hollywood and they do a sketch about an American boy calling on a British girl for a date. Along with Gracie Fields and guest Jack Carson, we hear Lou Bring and His Orchestra and announcer Bill Goodwin.
The show was transferred from an original AFRS vinyl transcription.
Here’s another disc of a fun little morning program I ran into, featuring the “Whistle Man”, Jack Berch in what they bill as “The Shortest Fifteen Minutes in Radio!”. Sponsored by Prudential Insurance, the show ran on NBC daily and is a mix of songs and banter and includes a trio made up of Charles Magnante, Tony Mottola, and George Schackle and announcer Eddie Dunne.
The show of August 29, 1947 starts out with a great crack-up by the announcer. Songs include “It’s a Good Day”, “Apple Blossom Wedding”, and the trio’s version of Raymond Scott’s tune “Power House”.
Our mp3 was digitized directly from an original lacquer line check from an unknown NBC local station. This appears to be a previously lost episode of the series.
Here’s another one of those original line checks from 1947-48 I keep running into. In this one, the August 28, 1947 edition of the “Kraft Music Hall” featuring Nelson Eddy with Nadine Carter, pianist Leonard Pennario and announcer Ken Carpenter. Nelson kicks off the show with “The Ranger Song”, and we hear “Smiling Through”, “The Floral Dance” and other tunes. All that great music makes you want to go out and stock up on Kraft Cheese Spreads and Kraft Prepared Mustard, doesn’t it?
Transferred from an original lacquer line check recorded at an unknown local NBC station. My apologies for the skip I couldn’t work around in “I’ll See You Again” in the second half of the show.
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