Episodes
One of the most distinctive signature sounds in all of recorded music.
A buddy song from two of the best buds in the biz.
Robert Burns was also known as “the Ploughman Poet” and, in Scotland, simply, “The Bard”.
Alan Freed may have been the first to attribute "Rock and Roll" to a musical form, but he wasn't the first to use the words together.
Billie Holiday was known to record with ease, often needing only one take for her best studio recordings. This tune, however, was a whole different story.
What happens when the high-gloss worlds of archived sound and auto insurance collide? Hope you’ve got a policy for excitement.
You’re listening to The Buffalo Nickel, a Bobby Smith Apollo 78
As a musician, Art Tatum was a true original – if a recording sounds like Tatum’s…it almost certainly IS Tatum’s.
You’re listening to Burl Ives with “Blue Tail Fly” from 1944 and…
Finding the North Pole is hard enough. The harsh terrain, subzero temperatures…oh, and the fact that the pole isn’t even located on land.
Paganini's talents made him a celebrity, but also inspired "devilish" rumors.
This one’s good for a laugh.
Men, title, even a new name: whatever she wanted, she got.
Censorship has been a big issue in the U.S. since, well, before there was a U.S.
A mother’s lament that perfectly encapsulated American anti-war sentiment.
Legend has it this song came to Williams while with fiancé Billie Jean Horton. Just driving around, talking about standard fiancé stuff…like, his ex-wife.
You’re listening to Bransby Williams with Charles Dickens’ redeemed cheapskate.
It’s that age old tale of love and marriage…and money.
A glimpse into…the zoo: after hours.
This song, Since Henry Ford Apologized to Me, is a response to events surrounding Ford’s newspaper, the Dearborn Independent. One of the largest publications in the US in the 20’s, it printed many anti-semitic articles,
A milestone recording that came about quite by accident.
Sholom Secunda was a songwriter, not a fisherman. But he could tell you all about the “one that got away.”
Considered one of the most influential saxophonists in history, Lester “Prez” Young succeeded Coleman Hawkins at the height of the swing era.