Centuries of Sound

At Centuries of Sound I am making mixes for every year of recorded sound. The download here is only for the first hour of the mix. For the full 3-hour version either see below for the Mixcloud player, or come to patreon.com/centuriesofsound for the podcast version and a host of other bonus materials for just $5 per month. As it’s the festive season I’ve decided to use the new function on Patreon to do a couple of membership offers. Firstly I’m offering a 10% discount on all tiers, monthly and annual, just go to patreon.com/centuriesofsound and sign up with the promo code 8AA78 – Secondly, if you buy a gift membership for anyone ($5 p/m tier, annual) then I will give you a CD version of the mixes for the year of their birth (only pre-1950/1972/1989)– so cut up into CD-sized chunks each with its own artwork. For gift memberships – patreon.com/centuriesofsound/gift – then send me a message either on Patreon or by emailing james (at) centuriesofsound.com, I will get those to you within three days. Mixcloud player with full mix – or listen on the Mixcloud website. 1949 Part Two – The 12″ Mix How do you listen to recorded music? I feel like every phase of my life has a different answer here – the record player at home, a Walkman, a Discman, the stereo system I had when I went to university, the mp3 player that went around Asia with me, then years of phones, laptops, Bluetooth speakers, headphones, car stereos. Sometimes I would listen privately, sometimes on speakers, sometimes it would be in the background, sometimes it would have my full attention. These days it seems like, aside from the car radio, all my listening is private, streamed from computer or phone, and something feels missing. Centuries of Sound started when I was in an environment where nobody wanted to listen to music so I had to retreat into this private experience, and have I ever emerged from that? Only through sharing with you, really. Putting on a longer piece of music, sitting down and just experiencing it – that’s just something I don’t have time for any more. It is something I miss, but it’s also something I can live without. When end of year polls come around, this is why I focus on the tracks. I like things bite-sized, not because I have a short attention span, more because there’s so much out there and only so much time I can spend with it. And yet, this thing, what is it but very long-form listening? Putting on an LP seems like such a fundamental part of music listening for so many people, it seems odd to note that as we approach the middle of the 20th century, it’s only now that this is really becoming an option. If you were listening to a record before 1949, it was probably a 10” shellac disc with not much more than three and a half minutes of music per side, and unless you had an elaborate disc-changing machine, that’s how long you had before you had to get up and change the record. There were “albums” though, and had been for quite a while. The earliest I can find is a 1907 recording of Ruggero Leoncavallo’s 1892 opera “I Pagliacci,” starring Puerto Rican tenor Antonio Paoli, and supervised in its production by the composer himself. But these were “albums” as in a “photograph album” or a “stamp album” – a large book of separate discs. Frank Sinatra’s first album, 1946’s “The Voice of Frank Sinatra” is in this format, eight songs across four discs. When Columbia introduced the 33? rpm 12” vinyl LP in late 1948, the focus was naturally on what it could do that shellac records couldn’t. With around 26 minutes per side, the initial focus was naturally on classical music – and of course it helped that buyers of classical music had more money and a taste for better quality recordings – LPs had “microgroove technology” that allowed for higher fidelity. Next followed Broadway shows, the more respectable kinds of jazz, and more sophisticated pop music – Frank again. What did not appear at first was the music made by and listened to by poor black people (R&B) or poor white people (country) – neither were the right sort of market. Of course, as we will be seeing in a decade and a half, their descendants would lean into the LP so much that, well, you know. If you want to chat as listen, you can join the conversation on discord here – https://discord.gg/5a7f6wqjcJ Track list Intro (Clip from Dragnet) (Clip from The Hitchhiker) 0:00:18 Pierre Schaeffer – Vagotte (Clip from Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts) (Clip from Suspense) (Clip from You Bet Your Life) 0:01:16 Miles Davis – Budo (Clip from Inner Sanctum) July (Clip from The Shadow) (Clip from Jack Benny Show) 0:04:10 Jay Jay Johnson’s Boppers – Fox Hunt (Clip from Reviewing The Year 1948) 0:07:04 George Shearing – Summertime (Clip from Inner Sanctum) 0:10:13 Charlie Parker – Just Friends (Clip from interview with Alphonse Picou and Paul Dominguez, Jr.) 0:13:54 Lennie Tristano – Wow (Clip) 0:14:05 Lennie Tristano – Intuition (Clip from Review of News for the Year 1949) 0:16:31 James Moody’s Modernists – Tin Tin Deo (Clip from Reviewing The Year 1949) 0:19:28 Blind Willie McTell – Last Dime Blues (Clip from Reviewing The Year 1949) 0:22:52 Professor Longhair – Hey Little Girl (Clip from interview with Alphonse Picou and Paul Dominguez, Jr.) 0:25:11 Francois Awila ye mpangi zandi – Kiboba Kiyma Nkuaku (Kikongo; Congo) (Clip from Passport to Pimlico) 0:27:57 Joe Lutcher – Mardi Gras (Clip from Passport to Pimlico) August (Clip from The Hitchhiker) 0:31:21 John Lee Hooker – Boogie Chllen (Clip from 1949 Year In Review Headlines) (Clip from Review of News for the Year 1949) 0:34:53 The Louvin Brothers – Blues Stay Away From Me (Clip from Jim & Judy in Teleland) 0:38:12 Django Reinhardt – Improvisation N°4 (Clip from Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts) 0:40:42 Sticks McGhee – Drinkin’ Wine, Spo-Dee-O-Dee (Clip from Fred Allen Show) 0:43:14 Charlie Parker – Blues (Fast) (Clip from Reviewing The Year 1949) 0:45:58 Charlie Ventura – Introduction 0:46:12 Charlie Ventura – Body And Soul 0:50:13 Tito Puente – Abaniquito (Clip from 1949 Year In Review Headlines) 0:53:13 Wanda Landowska – Prelude II In C Minor (Clip from interview with Frank Sinatra) 0:55:05 Lennie Tristano – Digression (Clip from interview with Alphonse Picou and Paul Dominguez, Jr.) September 0:58:09 Sidney Bechet – September Song (Clip from Louis Armstrong interview) 1:02:13 Atlantic Quintet – Believe It Beloved (Clip from Louis Armstrong interview) 1:03:45 Lee Konitz Quintet – Fishin’ Around (Clip from Louis Armstrong interview) 1:07:25 George Shearing – Midnight On Cloud 69 (Clip from advertisement for Camel Cigarettes) 1:10:53 Jay Mcshann – You, Cindy Lou (Clip from Reviewing The Year 1949) (Clip from Review of News for the Year 1949) (Clip from Reviewing The Year 1949) 1:13:06 Njembe Gwet Paulemond – Paulemond a Ye Nsinga Ndinga (Clip from The Heiress) 1:15:47 Stanley Black – Jungle Bird (Clip from 1949 Year In Review Headlines) (Clip from 1949 – Year In Review) 1:18:53 Charles Mingus – He’s Gone (Clips from Stray Dog) 1:21:00 Oum Kalsoum – Al Nile (Clip from The Hitchhiker) October (Clip from The Third Man) 1:23:10 Anton Karas – The Harry Lime Theme (Clip from The Third Man) 1:25:50 Osvaldo Pugliese – Malandraca (Clip from 1949 Year In Review Headlines) (Clip from interview with Victor Kravchenko) 1:29:07 Pierre Schaeffer – Variations Sur Un Flute Mexicaine (Clip from Review of News for the Year 1949) (Clip of Mao Zedong speech) 1:30:19 Miles Davis – Move (Clip of Bevin Speech) (Clip from The Third Man) 1:31:50 Bismillah Khan & Party – Shehnai instrumental (Clip from Whisky Galore) 1:35:05 Lead Belly – John Henry 1:39:56 Lead Belly – 4, 5 & 9 1:41:02 Amos Milburn – Hold Me Baby (Clip from On The Town) 1:44:10 Ruth Brown – So Long (Clip from Whisky Galore) 1:46:43 Dizzy Gillespie – That Old Black Magic (Clip from Suspense – Ghost Hunt) November 1:50:07 Ivory Joe Hunter – I Almost Lost My Mind (Clip from Suspense – Ghost Hunt) 1:52:38 Lonnie Johnson – Blues Stay Away from Me (Clip from 1949 Year In Review Headlines) (Clip from 1949 – Year In Review) 1:54:43 Eddie Davis – Mountain Oysters (Clip from You Bet Your Life) 1:56:52 Lightnin’ Hopkins – Jail House Blues 1:59:28 Jerry Byrd – Steelin’ The Chimes (Clip from Fred Allen Show) 2:01:55 Flatt and Scruggs and The Foggy Mountain Boys – That Home Above (Clip from Dragnet) 2:03:33 Lionel Hampton And His Orchestra – Lavender Coffin (Clip of Louis Farrakhan Playing Violin) 2:06:32 Curley Weaver – Trixie (Clip from The Set Up) 2:08:21 Sonny Terry – Riff and Harmonica Jump (Clip from Fred Allen Show) 2:10:56 Lucky Millinder – D Natural Blues December (Clip from Sir Alfred Munnings’ valedictory speech at The Royal Academy of Art) 2:13:37 Machito and His Afro-Cuban Orchestra – Tanga (Clip from 1949 Year In Review Headlines) 2:18:52 Wynonie Harris – Sittin’ On It All The Time (Clip from Dragnet) 2:21:40 Pee Wee Crayton – Texas Hop (Clip from Jack Benny Show) 2:23:57 George Wallington Trio – Fairyland (Clip from You Bet Your Life) 2:26:54 Bud Powell – Sweet Georgia Brown (Clip from Whisky Galore) 2:29:52 Lee Konitz – Retrospection 2:32:58 Surashri Kesarbai Kerkar – Desi 2:35:08 Oum Kalthoum – Yalli Kan Yechgeek Adeeni 2:37:12 Shona – Masongano 2:39:45 Jack Armstrong Chevy Chase – The Cott Ending (Clip from Reviewing The Year 1949) (Clip from 1949 Year In Review Headlines) 2:43:04 The Orioles – Tell Me So (Clips from You Bet Your Life)

At Centuries of Sound I am making mixes for every year of recorded sound. The download here is only for the first hour of the mix. For the full 3-hour version either see below for the Mixcloud player, or come to patreon.com/centuriesofsound for the podcast version and a host of other bonus materials for just $5 per month. This show would not be possible without my supporters on there, so please consider signing up or sharing this with someone who may be interested. Mixcloud player with full mix – or listen on the Mixcloud website. 1949 Part One – The 7″ Mix 2024 has been the year of my 45th birthday (yes, still so young, I know) and the number has set me thinking about the importance of the 45RPM 7” single in my life. I’ve been playing them as long as I can remember, receiving packages of remaindered singles in the 1980s, buying a few every week at Magpie Records in Worcester in the mid-90, traveling with me in a big stripy box as I moved around, and now there they sit on my shelves still, though I don’t have a functioning stereo system now. My LPs, undoubtedly worth more, were left in the locked room of a friend in Southampton nearly 20 years ago and never recovered, it’s annoying, but not something I lose sleep about, the singles are much more important. Beside all the memories, there’s something about the format that seems kind of perfect. Small enough to comfortably carry around, each side just containing a few minutes of music, there’s something at once unfussy and potentially extravagant about both form and content. Singles like the one you see in the picture here often have larger holes, indicating their use in a jukebox, this little disc adaptable enough to be used as a replicable part in any number of mass produced machines. And that of course means b-sides, a chance for the act to try out something new without the risk of a negative reaction, and in many cases the disc would be flipped by a dj, and the b-side could be the hit that changed everything. In short, the 7” vinyl single is one of the most important inventions of the 21st century, and it all started in 1949, when RCA released their new format, replacing the larger, more brittle shellac discs with a new compound – polyvinyl chloride. As when most new formats are introduced, RCA were engaged in a war with a competitor, Columbia’s 12” vinyl LP – only in this case the two formats had very different niches, and could (after a couple of years) be played by the same equipment, so both survived. The original 7” single wasn’t in exactly the standard form we know today. The larger, jukebox-sized hole in the centre came as standard, as did coloured vinyl. The idea was that each genre would have its own colour, with red for pop music, green for country, yellow for children’s records, and a confusion of other shades for jazz, R&B, classical and so on. As should be clear to anyone listening to this mix, the differences between these genres were particularly muddy in 1949, and the idea was soon dropped. The change was not, of course, immediate. Most of the music in this mix was still issued on 78RPM shellac discs, and they would continue to be manufactured all the way through the 50s, and in some countries even into the 70s. But the time was certainly ripe for a cheap, portable, harder to shatter format, and even if rock and roll had not already begun in all but name, early 1950s pop music would also suit it well. We are three years away from the introduction of the UK singles chart, and the 7” record’s abilities and limitations would do a great deal to set the parameters of popular music as we know it. Track list Intro (Clip from interview with Johnny St. Cyr) 0:00:03 RCA Victor Orchestra – South Pacific Overture (Clip from NBC News) 0:00:33 Jnan Prakash Ghose – Tabla Instrumental January (Clip from 1949 Year In Review) (Background from Pierre Schaeffer – Vagotte) (Clip from Dragnet) (Clip from Reviewing The Year 1949) (Clip from You Bet Your Life) 0:04:00 Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five – Saturday Night Fish Fry 0:06:58 Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs – Foggy Mountain Breakdown (Clip from 1949 The Year in Review Headlines) 0:09:58 Tennessee Ernie Ford – Cry Of The Wild Goose (Clip from Harry S Truman Inauguration) 0:13:50 Doris Day – Again (Clips from Harry S Truman Inauguration) 0:16:55 Machito and His Afro-Cuban Salseros – Babarabatiri (Clip from Harry S Truman Inauguration) 0:20:31 Babs Gonzales – Prelude to a Nightmare (Clip from interview with Albert Glenny) 0:22:56 Dizzy Gillespie – Jump-Did-Le-Ba (Clip from You Bet Your Life) 0:25:26 Frank Sinatra & Gene Kelly – New York, New York (Clip from Frank Sinatra interview) 0:28:39 Charlie Ventura – East Of The Sun (Clip from So Much For So Little) 0:31:50 Evelyn Knight And The Stardusters – A Little Bird Told Me February (Clip from 1949 The Year in Review Headlines) 0:34:36 The Angelic Gospel Singers – Touch Me, Lord Jesus (Clip from Reviewing The Year 1949) 0:36:39 Ruth Brown – I’ll Get Along Somehow (Clip from You Bet Your Life) 0:40:11 Fats Domino – The Fat Man (Clip from Dragnet) (Clip from So Much For So Little) 0:42:49 Roy Brown – Butcher Pete, Pt. 1 (Clip from The Heiress) 0:44:41 Roy Brown – Butcher Pete, Pt. 2 (Clip from Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts) 0:46:00 Jerry Byrd – Steel Guitar Rag (Clip from interview with Johnny St. Cyr) 0:48:56 George Lewis & His New Orleans Music – Yaaka Hula Hickey Dula (Clip from interview with Alphonse Picou and Paul Dominguez, Jr.) 0:51:51 Brew Moore – Gold Rush 0:54:55 Lead Belly – Sugared The Beer 0:55:46 Lead Belly – Salty Dog (Clip from interview with Johnny St. Cyr) March (Clip from NBC TV News) 0:59:11 Hank Williams – I Just Don’t Like This Kind Of Living (Clip from Reviewing The Year 1949) 1:02:07 Goree Carter – Back Home Blues (Clip from Jack Benny Show) (Clip from Fred Allen Show) 1:04:10 Myrta Silva & Sonora Matancera – La Tremenduca (Clip from Suspense) (Clip from NBC TV News) 1:07:30 Takamine Hideko – Ginza Kankan Musume (Clip from You Bet Your Life) (Clip from Inner Sanctum) 1:09:06 Bill Monroe and The Bluegrass Boys – I’m Going Back to Old Kentucky 1:09:22 Bill Monroe and The Bluegrass Boys – Blue Grass Stomp (Clip from White Heat) (Clip from You Bet Your Life) 1:11:17 Professor Longhair – Mardi Gras In New Orleans (Clip from You Bet Your Life) 1:14:27 Bull Moose Jackson – Why Don’t You Haul Off And Love Me (Clip from Inner Sanctum) (Clip from You Bet Your Life) 1:16:17 Betty Hutton – Hamlet (Clip from Frank Sinatra interview) (Clip from You Bet Your Life) (Clip from interview with Johnny St. Cyr) 1:19:27 Noro Morales & His Orchestra – 110th Street And 5th Avenue (Clip from Jack Benny Show) April (Clip from Review of News From The Year 1949) (Clip from Reviewing The Year 1949) 1:22:36 Firehouse Five Plus Two – Everybody Loves My Baby (Clip from Review of News From The Year 1949) 1:25:45 A. Rahman & Columbia Orchestra – Oh, Juita Ku (Clip from Reviewing The Year 1949) 1:27:46 Elton Britt & The Skytoppers – Candy Kisses (Clip from The Shadow) 1:29:55 Dinah Washington – Baby Get Lost (Clip from The Jack Benny Show) (Radio jingle for Lipton Tea) 1:32:54 South Pacific Original Broadway Cast – I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair 1:36:19 South Pacific Original Broadway Cast – Happy Talk (Clip from Jim & Judy in Teleland) 1:39:49 Todd Duncan and Chorus – A Bird of Passage, Thousands of Miles (Reprise) (Clip from Jour de feté) 1:41:41 Charles Trenet – Mes jeunes années (Clip from Frank Sinatra interview) (Clip from So Much For So Little) 1:43:51 Texas Slim – Devil’s Jump (Clip from So Much For So Little) (Clip from You Bet Your Life) 1:45:53 Doris Day – I Don’t Wanna Be Kissed By Anyone But You May (Clip from Reviewing The Year 1949) 1:49:02 Marlene Dietrich – Kisses Sweeter Than Wine (Clips from 1949 The Year in Review Headlines / Reviewing The Year 1949) 1:53:01 Muddy Waters (McKinley Morganfield) – You’re Gonna Miss Me (Clips from 1949 The Year in Review Headlines / Reviewing The Year 1949) 1:56:00 Roberto Firpo – Instrumental – De Mi Arrabal (Clip from 1949 The Year in Review Headlines) 1:58:14 Billie Holiday & Her Orchestra – I Loves You Porgy (Clip from Review of News for The Year 1949) 2:01:31 Arsenio Rodriguez Y Su Conjunto – Dundunbanza (Clip from Late Spring) 2:03:19 Sanjou Machiko – Karisome no Koi (Clips from Late Spring) 2:08:14 Ichi no Maru – Shamisen Boogie Woogie (Clips from Late Spring) 2:10:25 Jerry Byrd – Steelin’ The Blues (voc. Rex Allen) (Clip from Frank Sinatra interview) 2:13:26 The Five Scamps – Red Hot (Clip from White Hot) 2:15:60 TJ Fowler – Tj Boogie (Clip from interview with Johnny St. Cyr) June (Clip from 1949 The Year in Review Headlines) 2:18:29 Nathan Abshire – Pine Grove Blues (Clip from Reviewing The Year 1949) 2:21:31 Jewel King – 3 x 7 = 21 (Clip from Reviewing The Year 1949) 2:23:33 Big Joe Turner – Jumpin’ at the Jubilee (Clip from A Warning To Travelers) 2:25:13 Noro Morales – Serenata Ritmica (Clip from A Warning To Travelers) 2:28:15 Sugar Chile Robinson – Numbers Boogie (Clip from A Warning To Travelers) 2:30:57 Evelyn Knight – Powder Your Face With Sunshine (Clip from Frank Sinatra interview) (Clip from The Shadow) 2:33:25 Frank Floorshow Culley – Central Avenue Breakdown 2:34:37 Carl Stalling – Variations on Johann Strauss (Clip from So Much For So Little) 2:34:45 Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys – Ida Red Likes the Boogie (Clip from You Bet Your Life) (Clip from Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts) 2:37:30 Hank Williams – I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry Outro (Clip from Suspense) (Clip from White Heat) (Clip from Frank Sinatra interview) 2:41:05 The Robins – If It’s So Baby (Clip from The Shadow) (Clip from NBC News) (Clip from Le Silence De La Mer) 2:44:35 RCA Victor Orchestra – South Pacific Overture (Clip from The Hitchhiker)

This Centuries of Sound mix comes courtesy of my supporters at patreon.com/centuriesofsound – join them for as little as $5 per month and get a full archive and a host of bonus material. Tracks 0:00:00 Jeff Alexander & Alfred Hitchcock – Music to Be Murdered By (1958) 0:01:36 Screamin’ Jay Hawkins – I Put A Spell On You (1956) 0:04:00 Clip from Invasion of The Body Snatchers (1956) 0:04:22 Bert Convy – The Monster Hop (1958) 0:06:47 Clip from Diabolique (1955) 0:06:48 Tony & The Monstrosities – Igor’s Party (1959) 0:09:02 Clip from The Fly (1958) 0:09:13 The Hollywood Flames – Frankenstein’s Den (1958) 0:11:18 Clip from Them! (1954) 0:11:35 The Swinging Phillies – Frankenstein’s Party (1957) 0:14:10 Nelson Olmstead – Excerpt from The Mummy’s Foot by Theophile Gautier (1956) 0:14:35 Bob McFadden & Dor – The Mummy (1959) 0:16:32 Clip from Horror Of Dracula Trailer (1958) 0:16:58 The Duponts – Screamin Ball (At Dracula Hall) (1958) 0:19:12 Clip from Plan 9 From Outer Space (1959) 0:19:17 Calypso Carnival featuring King Flash – Zombie Jamboree (Back To Back) (1956) 0:21:46 Clip from House on Haunted Hill (1959) 0:22:05 Jack Rivers – Haunted House Boogie (1951) 0:24:47 Clip from The Thing (1951) 0:25:02 The Five Blobs – The Blob (1958) 0:27:29 Clip from Plan 9 From Outer Space (1959) 0:27:43 Sheb Wooley – The Purple People Eater (1958) 0:29:53 Nelson Olmstead – Excerpt from The Body Snatcher by Robert Louis Stevenson (1956) 0:30:05 The Poets – Dead (1958) 0:31:57 Clip from Night of The Demon (1957) 0:32:12 Eartha Kitt – I Want To Be Evil (1953) 0:35:41 Clip from Sleeping Beauty (1959) 0:35:55 Howlin’ Wolf – Evil Is Goin’ On (1954) 0:38:43 Clip from The Quatermass Xmeriment (1955) 0:39:04 Paul J Smith – The Monster! (From 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea) (1954) 0:40:15 Clip from Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956) 0:40:25 Akira Ifukube – Horror in the Water Tank (1954) 0:40:40 Clip from The Headless Ghost (1959) 0:41:02 Nightmares – The Headless Ghost (1959) 0:42:41 Clip from Bell, Book and Candle (1958) 0:42:59 Kip Tyler – She’s My Witch (1958) 0:45:13 Clip from Bell, Book and Candle (1958) 0:45:26 Frank Sinatra – Witchcraft (1957) 0:48:09 Clip from The Night of the Hunter (1955) 0:48:16 Gene Vincent – Race With The Devil (1956) 0:50:16 Clip from The Thing That Couldn’t Die Trailer (1958) 0:50:30 The Calvanes – Horror Pictures (1958) 0:52:30 Clip from Horror Of Dracula (1958) 0:53:27 Archie King – The Vampires (1959) 0:55:44 Clip from The Creature With The Atom Brain (1955) 0:56:00 The Zanies – The Mad Scientist (1958) 0:57:50 Einer Nielsen – Phantom Stimmen (1950) 0:58:07 Bobby Christian With The Allen Sisters – The Spider & The Fly (1958) 1:00:09 Clip from House of Wax (1953) 1:00:23 The Revels – Dead Mans’ Stroll (1959) 1:02:48 Dick Jacobs and his Orchestra – Main Title from The Horror of Dracula (1958)

This time James Errington is joined by John Ashlin to explore the music of 1916. While Europe lies devastated in the midst of the darkest year of the first world war, America is hotting up, with the birth of jazz and blues music imminent, while the old world of Vaudeville and Tin Pan Alley is struggling to adapt. Support Centuries of Sound and access a treasure trove of bonuses at http://patreon.com/centuriesofsound