Charlie Summer has made this “alternate” version available on his blog:

http://blogs.oldradio.net/archives/2009/11/05/podcast-the-war-of-the-worlds-program-2/

However, if you listen closely, it’s the well-known recording of the program that has been edited.

In the first few minutes, I can hear that the surface noise is the same, but there’s quite a bit of editing going on - the musical passages are shortened, pauses that Welles does in the intro are shortened, and the sound seems to be faded in and out to take out the discs surface noise in between phrases of speech.

Why in the world would anyone bother creating an edited version of the program?

I seem to recall, deep from the recesses of my brain, hearing WoW on some documentary or movie that was edited this way.

Was this prepared for use on a movie or tv production where characters were listening to the show?  That would make sense - the director might have wanted to give the impression of listening to the “live” broadcast, trying to eliminate as much of the surface noise as possible and to take out “dead” air or “flubs” that would have been distracting to the drama of the film?

That’s my new theory about this mysterious recording - it’s from some documentary or movie.  Editing the music would make sense in this situation, since the director or editor would have been trying to match narration or scenes with actors to timing of the “War of the Worlds” show or vice versa.

Anyone have a copy of Ken Burns’s “Empire of the Airwaves”, that tv movie about the “War of the Worlds” broadcast or other films where it was used to compare?

“Your Home Front Reporter” was broadcast in the afternoons on CBS starting in May 1943 and sponsored by the Owens Illinois Glass Company.  The program is a mix of light operetta music by Frank Parker and Met opera star Eleanor Steber and commentary and news on the War aimed at housewives.

Program 106 in the series was originally broadcast October 4, 1943, and includes news of advances by the Allies in Europe and the Pacific.  There’s also commentary about how the Fall harvest celebrations and Thanksgiving are a little different during Wartime.

The program was transferred from vinyl transcription, matrix numbers BB37198 and BB37199, pressed by World Broadcasting System, Inc. for the Owens Illinois Glass Company.

“Blue Ribbon Music Time” was a program of light orchestral music broadcast on NBC and, of course, sponsored by Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer.  The series threw the spotlight on David Rose and His Orchestra and vocalist Georgia Gibbs.  On the program of September 11, 1947.  Rose starts off the show with “I Get A Kick Out of You” and Gibbs sings “The Boy Next Door”.  Later in the show, we hear Rose’s arrangement of “Rhapsody in Blue”.  The announcer is Jimmy Wallington.

The show was transferred from original line check acetate recorded at unknown local NBC station and includes the chimes; it appears to be lost/uncirculated.

This excerpt, part of 2 of a program originally recorded in three sections, has Pick and Pat doing a routine about poetry.  “I Married an Angel” is played by saxophonist Benny Kruegar and the orchestra and tenor Edward Roecker sings “The Girl in the Bonnet of Blue”.  The excerpt would appear to be from sometime in 1938, based on other discs in the series from this collection.

The show was transferred from original WABC aircheck lacquer recorded by Advertiser’s Recording Service, New York and was previously lost.

The host of the program is Jane Nye.  The King Sisters kick off the show with “Candy”.  Betty Grable, Bob Hope, Humphrey Bogart and Bing Crosby appear in a sketch that parodies “The Princess and the Pirate”.  The program also includes appearances by Dick Haymes, Ken Murray, Marilyn Maxell.  It sounds like it’s probably an “assembled” show, with Nye’s segments recorded to introduce segments from other Armed Forces Radio programming.

The show was transferred from a unusual 14″ microgroove lacquer that sounds like a dub of an original AFRS disc and appears to date from the 1960s.  Christopher McPherson donated the disc to the blog and, believe it or not, the disc came from the estate of Mae West.

Goldin lists his particular “Mail Call” episode, but I couldn’t find any other references to the show.  Is the original vinyl disc still out there somewhere?

Program 7 in the series, “The Story of Big Bill Tilden” focuses on the world of tennis.  Included in the show is an interview with player Vinnie Richards, who had an outstanding career in the sport in the 20s and 30s.

Our mp3 was transferred from original RCA Thesaurus 12″ vinyl transcription, matrix number F7-MR-5064-1.

We’ve skipped ahead a few episodes, since I’m missing some discs in the series.  In program 48, the story picks up with the dedication of a new factory in town and Luke Robinson, editor of the paper, has gotten a speaking slot at the event for Windy Bill and tries to get a job for him at the factory.

The show was transferred from an original World Broadcaster’s acetate transcription, matrix number 8911-1.

The blog returns later this week when things start getting back to normal (whatever “normal” is)….

“The Sealed Book” was a horror program from the 1940s that was a bit of a mish-mash.  It was hosted by a “keeper of the book” that remind you of “The Hermit’s Cave” or “The Witch’s Tale”.  And most of the scripts were originally produced on Mutual’s series, “The Mysterious Traveler”.  The show isn’t particularly well regarded for its acting and direction, but it can be campy, gruesome fun.

“Escape by Death” is program 5 in the series and tells the story of an elderly woman who comes to believe that her relatives are trying to kill her.  The show is dated by Goldin to April 14, 1945, and it was originally broadcast on Mutual.  According to otrsite.com’s log of the series, the script was originally produced on “The Mysterious Traveler” on April 23, 1944.

The show was transferred from an original vinyl Charles Michelson transcription set, matrix numbers WOR-7-2315A and WOR-7-2315B.

It’s a concert from the “Hollywood Bowl”, distributed as Program 78 in the series when it was broadcast on the Armed Forces Radio Service.  According to Jim Hiliker of Monterey, California on the OTR mailing list, KFI locally broadcast the Hollywood Bowl concerts in the 30s and 40s, so the show probably originated at KFI.

A Mario Lanza website dates this particular show to July 24, 1948.  It’s “MGM Night”, so we hear various musicians and personalities under contract to the studio.  The orchestra is conducted by Miklos Rozsa and we hear Mario Lanza, very early in his Hollywood career, and Kathryn Grayson doing the vocal duties.  The program opens with the overture to the “Bartered Bride” and we hear works by Puccini and Victor Herbert.

The highlight of the show is “The Halloween Suite” composed by none other than actor Lionel Barrymore, who also provides narration for the piece.  This “Time” magazine article from 1944, notes that Barrymore had composed hundreds of works in the since the turn of the century, a side of the famous actor not as well known as his work on the screen.

The show was transferred from an original undated AFRS vinyl transcription set and appears to be uncommon or uncirculated among old time radio enthusiasts.

updated 11.3.2009: Corrected spelling of “Miklos Rozsa”.

Program 2 in the series is “Music Box from Hades”, concerning a man who finds a music box that can kill.

The show was transferred from vinyl NBC Orthacoustic Syndicated Program Series transcription, matrix ND5-MM-11445-5.

If you ever run into any transcriptions for this series, let me know - I really enjoy it and would like to add more to my collection beyond the single disc I have.

Program 19 is something of a mystery play, “Goodbye My Love” and stars Lurene Tuttle.  Her character tells the story of her husband, an up and coming novelist, who receives a strange telegram from another writer, inviting him to collaborate on a new book.  As usual, the opening announcements and commercials aren’t included, since these would be read by your local announcer.

The show was transferred from original ZIV vinyl transcription set, matrix numbers UR 174878 and UR 174879 AU1.  The disc suffered water damage, obscuring the label, so there’s no photo and I’ve run the file through click reduction software to improve the sound of this rather scratched disc set.

updated 10.29.2009 - corrected spelling of “Lurene Tuttle”

Betty and Dick returned from their honeymoon last week.  This week, in Program 43, they find Windy Bill camping out in their house.  Will the young couple be able to get rid of their unwanted house guest so they can have some time alone?

The program was transferred from an original World Broadcasting acetate transcription, matrix number SS 8723-2.

The show was transferred from original RCA Thesaurus 12″ transcription, matrix number F7-MR-5074-1A.

Program 43, as broadcast on the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service and dated September 19, 1958 in the disc matrix, is a drama called “The Man is Always Right” by Sophie Kerr.

The show was transferred from an original AFRTS vinyl microgroove transcription.

In this post, we hear the episode of September 25, 1945 heard on the Armed Forces Radio Service as program 23 in the series, “Hildegarde”.  Hildegarde starts off the show with her chipper version of “It’s a Hap-Hap-Happy Day”.  Guests are comedian Willie Howard, Paulette Goddard and Harry Conover and one of his models, Marsha.

The show was transferred from an original AFRS vinyl transcription, matrix numbers HD5-MM-12784-1 and HD5-MM12785-1, probably pressed by RCA.  Date is from the transcription matrix.  The original disc has groove damage and has been sent through some click reduction software to improve the sound.

Here’s the next to last excerpt of the CBS series “Pick and Pat” in my collection, drawn from a set of discs produced for the series producer, Frank Macmahon.

This is part two (of three parts) of an undated show from 1938.  Pick and Pat’s routine is about appearing in court because one of the pair is accused of stealing chickens.  The band plays “There’s a Far Away Look in Your Eyes” with a solo by Benny Krueger.  Edward Roecker sings “Did Your Mother Come from Ireland?”.

The excerpt of this otherwise lost show was transferred from original WABC aircheck laquer recorded by Advertiser’s Recording Service, New York.

This week, Luke and Mrs. Robinson rush to greet newlyweds betty and dick at the railroad station as their daughter and new son in law return from their honeymoon.  Of course, this fun little comedic episode quickly turns into a conversation about how farmers don’t like socialism.

The show was transferred from an original World Broadcasters, Inc acetate transcription, matrix number SS 8722-2.

Program GRS-5 is titled “The Dempsey-Tunny Fights” and features and interview with Jack Dempsey, reflecting on his years in boxing and Grantland Rice.

The program was transferred from original RCA Thesaurus 12″ transcription, matrix number F7-MR-5060-1A.

Perhaps you can pick up a few tips from Fibber McGee in program 85 of the “Fibber McGee and Molly” series from the Armed Forces Radio Service, originally broadcast December 26, 1944 on NBC.

The show features Jim and Marian Jordan, Arthur Q. Bryan, Billy Mills and His Orchestra, Harlow Wilcox, the King’s Men.  Our transfer is directly from a vinyl AFRS Navy Department transcription.  The program date is from the matrix and was verified by Goldin and a log of the series of otrsite.com.

A very special thanks to listener Michael Utz for donating this disc to my collection.

Program 2 of series B features Mercury Theater regular Everett Sloane in “Blow That Whistle”.  The drama is about a mailman who, against his better judgment, is drawn into “American First” group that harasses immigrants in the local community.

The show was transferred from an original vinyl Orthacoustic transcription pressed by NBC/RCA, matrix number ND7-MM-5851.

Program 42 of the series as broadcast on AFRS, features guest Kathy Barr promoting her new album “Follow Me”.  Barr was one of several female vocalists of the fifties that felt at ease with more sultry and uptempo material.  She was brought to the attention of RCA by Mario Lanza.  You guys out there might be saying “hubba hubba” when you take a look at the cover of the album.  The show includes informational AFRTS announcements about NATO for the troops.

Our program was transferred from an original AFRTS vinyl microgroove transcription.  It’s dated May 2, 1958 in the matrix, which could be the date the show was recorded, originally broadcast on Mutual, or the date this version was mastered by AFRTS engineers.

The curious thing about this disc is that it appears to be a program in the series you weren’t supposed to hear - the disc’s pressing plate on this side has been scratched out in a definite spiderweb pattern.  It’s hard to tell if this was done before the series was first distributed or later in the run.  But, based on the contents, one can see why.

Luke goes into a diatribe about “boondoggling” - the government creating useless jobs for the unemployed.  It’s one of the more heartless little  talks in the series, considering the high level of unemployment during the Depression and how many people that might have heard the show were either themselves working on a WPA or CCC job or had a relative that did.

I have a friend from the small town of Graham, NC, that recalls his parents and grandparents talking about one of his aunts who was an organist at the local movie theater.  At that time, small theaters couldn’t afford the upgrade to sound, so even into the late 1930s, the theater was still showing silent movies - you had to drive thirty miles or more to the big city of Greensboro to see a sound picture.  His aunt received WPA support to accompany films and the theater and give music lessons.

This episode of the series was transferred from an original World Broadcasting red acetate transcription, matrix number S 8686-2.  The file was compiled from two passes of the disc and was run through click reduction software - I had to reconstruct the program, since the disc skipped so much.

The show was transferred from original RCA Thesaurus 12″ transcription, matrix number F7-MR-5059-1.

Next week, we hear the inside scoop on the famous Dempsey-Tunney fights.

Here’s another excerpt from “Pick and Pat”, a program featuring blackface performers Pick Padgett and Pat Malone, two Irishmen who teamed up in 1929 as Molasses and January and had their own network show from the early 1930s through 1945.  The shows in this series I’m posting on the blog are from rare aircheck discs that were created for the shows producer, Frank Macmahon.  The programs from this group were heard on CBS and sponsored by Dill’s Best and Model tobacco in 1937 and 1938.

This week, we hear part 1 (of three parts) of the program of December 12, 1938.  Unfortunately, the disc containing part 2 of the show is missing and the flipside of this disc, part 3, was damaged and I was unable to give it a transfer to digital.

The recording starts off with the end of the previous show on the network and the WABC id.  This particular episode, unlike the others I’ve posted on the blog, is billed as “Model’s Minstrels” and is formatted more like a traditional minstrel show.  he male chorus sings “There’s Gonna Be a Great Day”.  Pick and Pat read letters they’ve received, including one from “Shorty” wanting advice about his farm.

The date on the label is obscured, but the flip side of the disc contains part 3 of the show.  Unfortunately, the disc has extensive cracking of the lacquer and I couldn’t play it well enough to transfer, but I did hear the opening of the December 12, 1938 episode of “Lux Radio Theater” (”The Scarlet Pimpernel”) to date this “Pick and Pat” episode.

The program was transferred from original WABC aircheck laquer recorded by Advertiser’s Recording Service, New York.  This is a previously uncirculated episode of this rare series.

This is a pretty amazing little half-hour program.  Program 93 features hostess Paulette Goddard introducing W.C. Fields, Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd with Edgar Bergen, Virginia O’Brien, Borrah Minnevitch and the Harmonica Rascals and the King Sisters.  The announcer for the show is Don Wilson.

The program is dedicated to armed forces personnel from the State of Kentucky, so there’s something of a Kentucky Derby theme going on, at least in the program’s opening and first number by the orchestra, “Kentucky”.  The King Sisters sing the War themed tune, “Milkman, Keep Those Bottles Quiet” and the Harmonica Rascals do a wonderful arrangement of “Brazil”.  (I’m a fan of the Harmonicats, so this was a real treat.)

The highlight of the show is the sketch with W.C. Fields and Edgar Bergen.  They’re in rare form, with Fields and Bergen tossing in adlibs as Fields gets lost in the script.

The show was transferred from an original AFRS vinyl transcription.  According to the log of the series at otrsite.com, it was recorded May 24, 1944.

By the way - do you recognize the theme the orchestra plays after the intro of Paulette Goddard?  It would turn up years later as a main theme used on “The Big Show“.  Was this some kind of stock cue in the music score library at NBC?

In this post, program 88 in the series as broadcast on AFRS, originally heard on CBS on December 21, 1945.  The first question during opening is “Why does the subway have to raise the fare?” and the first question during the main body of the show is “What is the color of the Little Red Schoolhouse?”.  The show features host Tom Howard, George Shelton, Lulu McConnell, Harry McNaughton, and announcer Ken Roberts.  I think this particular episode might not be in common circulation among collectors.

Frank, a listener to the blog who has had a long  career in radio, remembered seeing “It Pays to Be Ignorant” and other shows live when he worked in the mailroom at Mutual.  Now that was an employee perk!

The show was transferred from original AFRS vinyl transcription.  Date is from the transcription matrix.

Program 13 is “The London Legend” with Jane Wyatt, possibly a previously lost/uncirculated program in the series.  The story concerns a love triangle involving a real diva, actress Victoria London, her secretary, and a small-town newspaper man.  You’ll notice there’s no opening announcement to identify the show - just music.  Your local announcer would provide the opening, along with a commercial from one of your fine local merchants.

You younger listeners prying your eyes away from the television to listen to some classic old time radio might recognize Jane Wyatt for her roles on “Father Knows Best” and as Spock’s human mother on “Star Trek”.

The show was transferred from original ZIV vinyl transcription set, matrix numbers UR 174870 AU1 and UR 174871 AU1.  This one doesn’t have a scan since there are no labels left on the discs - the set suffered water damage.  The discs were also pretty heavily scratched, so the file has been click-reduced before converting to mp3 format.

I have several more shows from the series that I’ll post on occasion.

In program 40, crazy schemer Windy Bill visits his brother-in-law, Luke, to bemoan the fact that he’s loosing the patent to his house car to Miss Timmons.  Gus “The Gorilla” Olson, Windy Bill’s bodyguard, shows up and gets to know Luke’s secretary - could we have a budding romance here?

Of course, we can’t have an episode of “American Family Robinson” without some speechifying; in this case, the topic is how big business isn’t bad just because it’s big.

The show was transferred from an original red acetate World Broadcasting system transcription, matrix number SS 8652.

Next week … the episode of “American Family Robinson” you weren’t supposed to hear…

In program GRS-3, “Big Red - Man o’ War”, sportscaster Jimmy Powers narrates Grantland Rice’s stories about great horses and great races from Rice’s long career as a sports reporter.   The show features an interview with jockey Earl “The Handy Guy” Sandy who was a friend of Grantland Rice, reminiscing about his own career in horse racing.

The show was transferred from original RCA Thesaurus 12″ transcription, matrix number F7-MR-5054-1C.

Next week, Jimmy Powers tells us Grantland Rice’s stories about boxer Jack Dempsey.

“When did Ayn Rand get a syndicated talk show?” he asked.

That pretty much sums up this odd mix of serial drama and comedy from the National Industrial Council (aka the National Association of Manufacturers) that includes at least one diatribe against FDR’s New Deal policies in each episode.  Perhaps the show influenced Ayn Rand’s writing style.

I found out a couple more interesting tidbits about the show from the Museum of Broadcast Communication’s “Encyclopedia of Radio”.  The idea for the show came from Harry A. Bullis, the vice president of General Mills and chairman of the NAM’s public relations committee.  Scripts for the show were originally submitted to both NBC and CBS, with the National Industrial Council hoping that one of the networks would carry it as a sustaining feature.  Not only did the networks turn them down, but NBC prohibited their owned and operated stations from carrying the show after seeing more of the scripts.  The Encyclopedia notes:

“Reviewing the series’ first three episodes, NBC script editor L.H.Titterton hardly knew what to make of the Robinsons, or the direction the story might take. An outline for the rest of the series and a script of the last episode received three days later confirmed Titterton’s suspicion. After meeting with Selvage and Douglas Silver, the scripts’ author, Titterton reported that the American Family Robinson proposed “to take on a definitely anti-Rooseveltian tendency.” “You would probably not find in the entire series any specific sentence that could be censored,” Titterton wrote to his network superiors, “but the definite intention and implication of each episode is to conduct certain propaganda against the New Deal and all its work.”

Probably the last thing the networks wanted was to antagonize the Roosevelt administration and, by extension, the Federal Communications Commission.

Program 39 in the series is more typical of the series, focusing on Luke, editor of the local paper, and his dealings with crazy relative Windy Bill.  It seems that Windy Bill is has a plot going to get some property that belongs to Miss Timmons, so she and Luke work out a scheme to thwart his plans.  Somehow, this quickly turns into a discussion of social welfare in European countries.

Don’t you have conversations like this every day?

My thanks to the Old Time Radio Researcher’s Group for their donation of these discs to my collection.

By the way - I recently obtained the First Generation Archive’s “Little Orphan Annie” set that includes shows dating from the mid-1930s. The “American Family Robinson”’s Luke sounds like the same actor that appeared on “Little Orphan Annie”.  Anyone else think so?

This disc promotes the movie “Francis”, the comedy with Donald O’Conner and the talking mule.  The interview was probably released in 1950 since “Francis” premiered in February and would have been in wide release throughout the spring and summer.  In the interview, Zasu talks about how she got her name, her reputation as one of the best party hostesses in Hollywood and, of course, her new movie.

If you’d like to follow along or create your own interview with Zasu, here’s the original cue sheet distributed with the disc.

Zasu Pitts interview cue sheet - PDF, 600 kb

Studios and tv networks still do this kind of thing today, with video interviews of stars distributed to tv stations where local reporters are cut into pre-recorded footage with “canned” questions.  I’m surprised that political figures haven’t started doing the same thing.

Our mp3 was transferred from an original 12″ Universal Pictures red vinyl transcription, matrix number .

Listener Christopher McPherson donated this fun little disc to my collection and provided a scan of the cue sheets.

“The Upholsterer”, program 4 in the series as heard on the Armed Forces Radio network, was originally broadcast November 17, 1949 on CBS as “Casey, Crime Photographer”.  In this episode, we get the standard “murder in a locked room” mystery that stumps the cops, but is a breeze for Casey and his eagle eyes and pushy personality to sort out.

The show was transferred from original AFRS vinyl transcription, matrix numbers D-63384 and D-63385.

Listener Joseph Webb loaned me the disc to dub for the blog and provided a bit of trivia on the show.  There were two broadcasts of “The Upholsterer” in the series.  Both shows are only circulating in their AFRS versions and you can tell them apart by the closing announcement.  The episode broadcast November 17, 1949 ends with “This is the United States Armed Forces Radio Service” right after the last line of dialog.  On the repeat broadcast of November 16, 1950, the ending AFRS announcement includes the words “starring Staats Cotsworth as Casey, came to you through the facilities of the United States Armed Forces Radio Service.”

Musician Alfred Wallenstein’s favorite story, “A Doll’s House” by Henrik Ibsen, is program 62 in the series.  The cast includes John Beal, Janet Waldo, and William Conrad.

The show was transferred from original red vinyl Ziv transcription set.  I think the show may be an uncirculated episode of the series among collectors.

The show was transferred from original RCA Thesaurus vinyl 12″ transcription, matrix number F7-MR-5049-1.  The program appears to be previously uncirculated.

Next week’s show looks at horse racing.  Guests start showing up to share their own stories about Rice and the personalities he covered in his reporting in program 7 of the series.

In this excerpt from the program of May 23, 1938, Pick and Pat present a routine about golfing and we hear a commercial for Model tobacco and a number by the orchestra with a solo by Benny Krueger.  This episode is particularly interesting since the team briefly mentions television during their routine.  This is part 2 of the program only; the show was originally recorded in three parts and parts 1 and 3, unfortunately, are lost.

This previously lost/uncirculated program was transferred from an original WABC aircheck laquer recorded by Advertiser’s Recording Service, New York.  The reverse of the disc is blank.

We have three more excerpts of “Pick and Pat” in the coming weeks.

Also, a little update on one of last week’s posts.

If you’ll recall, I posted a 78 called “Forbidden Broadcast” in the memorabilia section by vaudeville and nightclub performer Ray Bourbon.  I’ve been researching his life and work for over a decade and I’m pleased to report a significant new find - Ray wrote and self-published a novel in 1932.  You can read about the book and download a copy of it in a page I posted at the site yesterday.

Now, on with this week’s shows…

It’s the “Victor Radio-Tone Demonstration”, a 78 prepared by Victor for dealers to show off the sound of one of their radio-phonograph combinations.  It’s a fairly common record and easy to find on auction sites, but we offer it here in its more-rare Canadian pressing version which features a white “batwing” label, rather than the more common US version pressed with a black “scroll” label.

The first side of the disc features Milton Cross and his round tones extolling the virtues of Victor’s dedication to superior sound; the second side consists of the theme song to the weekly Victor radio broadcast, called, appropriately, “Victory” and performed by the Nat Shilkret and the Victor Symphony Orchestra.

One 78 collectors discussion board I frequent dates the disc to late 1930 and notes that it was likely used to demonstrate the RE-57 sets.  You can see a photo of this model at this site.

Our mp3 was transferred from an original Canadian pressing of the disc, matrix numbers D-1-A and D-1-B.

“Forbidden Broadcast” is a comedy record made by nightclub performer Ray Bourbon sometime in the 1930s.  Ray got his start in vaudeville, was a bit player in silent movies at Paramount and was friends with Rudolph Valentino and William Boyd, and made a name for himself with his outrageous improvised comedy.  He was also a sexually ambiguous “drag queen” that wasn’t afraid to do gay humor at a time when homosexuality was illegal and gay clubs were regularly raided by police.

Ray’s career would extend from the 1920s until his death in 1971 in prison.  He was convicted of the murder of the owner of the Pet-A-Zoo, a business in Big Springs, Texas.  When Ray left his dogs with the owner, Roy Blount, and couldn’t pay the bill, Blount sold the animals for medical research.  But, during Ray’s storied life, he appeared on stage with such stars as Mae West and helped composers Chet Forrest and Robert Wright and actor Robert Taylor get started in the business.  Even Robert Mitchum, when he was breaking into the business, wrote songs for Ray’s nightclub act to pick up a few dollars in the 1940s.  Ray travelled all over the US and Europe, performing well into his 70s.

Despite Ray’s reputation as a “smutty” comedian, his material is rather tame and coy today and he did appear on radio a few times.  In May 1933, his San Francisco revue “Boys Will Be Girls”, was carried live on the radio - and, in a twist that made headlines at the time, the show was raided by the police and the raid was carried live on the station.  I’ve also found documentation on program schedules that Ray appeared on radio three times in December 1938 on Los Angeles radio station KTMR in a 15 minute show.  Ray was regularly working in Los Angeles nightclubs during this period and may have bought the time to promote his stage act.

Researching Ray’s life and work and collecting his recordings and other memorabilia has been another one of my hobbies over the past decade.  I was lucky enough to obtain the original typed manuscript of Ray’s incomplete memoirs that he was working on when he was in prison in Texas.  If you’d like to learn more about Ray’s very strange life, check out my website on this unique performer.  Also, sixties underground cartoonist Skip Williamson had a fascinating blog post a few months ago on working as a publicist for one of Ray’s productions.

“Forbidden Broadcast” is one of over 150 recordings Ray made from the 1930s to the 1960s.  He was a true “do it yourself” artist, contracting to have 78s and lps produced and selling them at his shows and via mail order.  Some were sold “under the counter” at record shops and the discs are well known to “party record” collectors today.

So, in this post, give a listen to “Forbidden Broadcast” by Ray Bourbon, originally released on Western Record Company Bourbana, matrix number WR-716-A.

My sincere thanks to collector Sara Hassan for providing a tape copy of this 78 used as the basis for this mp3 file.