As long as we're jumping into seldom featured material on Newstalgia, I thought I would keep it going with a dose of, what is sometimes referred to as "Traditional Jazz", but at the time of this broadcast was known simply as Dixieland.

Pretty much faded from view as genres go, Dixieland (or Traditional Jazz) had a real spike in popularity in the mid-1950's and was considered something of a raucous cousin where serious Jazz was concerned. Certainly when compared to the Cool School, Dixieland got it's fair share of cringe worthy reactions. But, in all fairness, this was the basis for which a lot of Jazz sprang from - as evidenced by Louis Armstrong who is probably it's most well known figure.

Al Hirt was a fixture for Mardi Gras and was as much a part of the scenery in New Orleans as the proverbial Crawfish boil. Hirt achieved huge commercial success through a number of hit singles and popular albums and was, conceivably as instrumental in making Traditional Jazz a popular mainstream idiom as The Kingston Trio and The Christy Minstrels were in making Folk music a popular genre for mainstream consumption.

So tonight it's an episode of the weekly CBS Radio program Jazz Band Ball featuring Al Hirt and his band live in New Orleans from August 18, 1956.

A good time was had by all.

Jumping back over to Basin Street in New York City, from a broadcast aired over CBS Radio on April 16, 1956. Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra with vocals by Dan Grissom.

Need I say more?

I didn't think so . . . .

I wish I could say this recording sounds wonderful, but it doesn't. But it is special and it's from a period of time Szell was very active in the studio.

The trouble with this particular recording is, it came via an Armed Forces Radio re-broadcast and it was pressed on a disc, and with those large 16" transcription discs, so prevalent until the mid-1960's, many of them weren't stored in the best conditions. This one suffered a lot from exposure and simple abuse over the years. But it's a great concert featuring one of the true icons of the podium and that's something of a deal closer for me.

Since CBS Radio ran the Cleveland broadcasts in the early 1960's, only an hour's worth was aired, and in some cases (like this one), it doesn't appear to be from one particular concert but from two.

Two works are featured:

1. Stravinsky: Fireworks
2. Tchaikovsky: Symphony Nr. 5

As best as I can tell, looking at the Cleveland Programs from the period - the Tchaikovsky comes from around April of 1961, while there is no record (at least via the Szell website) of a performance of the Stravinsky from 1961 or any year. I'm sure someone who is familiar with the concert rundowns will let me know (won't you?)

At any rate - a rare and enjoyable concert, marred by some crap sound and some bad scratches. Sometimes you just have to make concessions.

Enjoy anyway.

1979 was not a watershed year for the Jimmy Carter Presidency. A lot was going wrong and a lot that had gone right just the year prior was in danger of sliding off the rails.

Iran was proving to be a bigger problem than originally thought with signals the Soviet Union were contemplating an overture or two towards Tehran. Our presence in the world was not on the best of terms. Embassy's in Iran and Afghanistan were attacked. Our Middle East policy, pointed with such optimism and accomplishment via the Camp David Peace Accords only a year earlier, was in danger of being derailed. The SALT II Treaty with the Soviet Union was on shaky ground if the Senate had anything to say about it and our agreement with The People's Republic Of China at the cost of our relationship with Taiwan had many in and out of government wondering if damage control would do any good.

And so Walter Cronkite, the Most Trusted Man In America, weighed in on the issue of our Foreign Policy and where we stood in the midst of all this. Here is his commentary for February 20, 1979 as broadcast by CBS Radio.

Continuing the look back at previous election years here is a panel discussion, part of the American Forum Of The Air series first broadcast on July 13, 1952, right after the close of the Republican Convention in Chicago and just before the opening of Democratic Convention, also in Chicago.

This panel consists of high ranking officials in both the RNC and DNC along with some of the earliest pollsters to engage in political races. Archibald Crossley, who pre-dated Gallup in his Crossley Poll and who also coined the phrase "ratings", along with Elmo Roper, political analyst and early commentator for CBS Radio join RNC's Albert "Ab" Herman and the DNC's India Edwards in a discussion that illustrates how little the political landscape has changed, but in some areas just how much it has changed.

The issues - then as now; taxes, defense, employment and corruption in Government. The races: the age old plea for a "clean campaign". The Politics: a much more pronounced and powerful Liberal wing of the Republican Party, which I had completely forgotten was instrumental in securing the nomination for Gen. Eisenhower. The Democrats; the Southern bloc.

Then as now there was talk of bitter factional splits within the GOP - the Internationalist/Liberal wing of the GOP in favor of Ike and the Conservative "base" in favor of Robert A. Taft. One gets the feeling Nixon was brought on board as a peace offering to soothe the arch conservatives in the ranks and bring about party unity.

Since, at the time of this broadcast there hadn't yet been the Democratic Convention (a week later), there was still speculation as to who the nominee would be and who the nominee's running mate would eventually become. It's interesting that, within the ranks there was talk about India Edwards, the vice-Chairman (chairperson) of the DNC as a possible vice-Presidential candidate, thus making her the first woman as running mate.

Then as now the whole question of the Independent Voter and just who they were was on the panelists minds. The Independents, it was determined, could swing a vote in either direction and they were hard to pin down.

Some things never change - certainly the ritual doesn't. The talk about long and bloody primary campaigns and the desire for less mud slinging seem completely relevant. It has always been and probably always will be about taxes, about employment and about corruption.

And that's what they were talking about in Picking a Winner on The American Forum Of The Air for July 13, 1952.

Starting sporadically in the late 1970's and turning into a weekly series by the 1980's, CBS Radio's Newsmark was something of a last-gasp at serious radio documentaries produced by mainstream media. With a rotation of weekly hosts and a wide range of subject matter, Newsmark tried to revive what had already become a largely ignored radio genre and inject some new life into it.

One such episode first aired in January of 1988 and the subject was Immigration and the battle over Immigration Reform (sound familiar?). Realizing this is from 23 years ago, the controversy and the attempts at reform are still very much front-and-center in our collective consciousness. And, it would appear, we're as far away from a solution now as we were then.

At times it's gratifying to know some things never change. In this instance, it's rather sad.

A half hour rundown on current life via CBS Radio from a series no longer produced - Newsmark for January 17, 1988.

(Alan Freed (center) With Jackie Wilson and Jimmy Clanton - Rock n' Roll wasn't going to go away)

In 1957, when this CBS Radio Program first aired, the writing was on the wall that Rock n' Roll wasn't going anywhere and the Networks and advertisers scrambled to be part of it. Since radio as it was known since its inception was gasping its last by the late 1950s, networks such as CBS tried to appeal to a new, younger and hipper audience. And since Alan Freed was crowned "The King Of Rock N' Roll", what better personality to get to christen a new era in radio broadcasting? Still looking for the right formula, CBS and advertiser Camel Cigarettes devoted a half hour to live in-studio appearances by the hit makers of the time. Count Basie was a regular and this episode features songs by Faye Adams and The Robins, who had just released Cherry Lips on Whippett some weeks earlier.

A very rare show that is actually a rehearsal (no live audience) before the final run was aired, it offers a fascinating glimpse of a time in transition when musical tastes were changing and there was still an air of charming naivete before the Payola scandals put a dent in the party. And years before anyone even remotely considered smoking to be bad for your health. History is funny that way.

(Stan Getz offers the usual magic)

I haven't done any live Jazz posts in a while, and for absolutely no good reason. So I thought I would make up for that by offering a very special Club date featuring the Shelly Manne Quintet and The Stan Getz Quartet, recorded live by CBS Radio at the Basin Street in New York City on April 21, 1956.

As far as I know neither of these performances have been made commercially available (or even as bootlegs), so this should be a special treat for both Shelly Manne fans and Stan Getz fans. Both groups are in top form and feature an all-star cast of sidemen.

Good way to close out the week.

Enjoy.

("will pick fruit, trim trees, clean toilets - all the jobs you wouldn't be caught dead doing")

(Note: This is a repost from February - the Newstalgia House computer is still dead and we're trying as quickly as possible to get back up and running, but in the meantime . . . since the Health Care Bill has passed a major hurdle and become a historic landmark, there are other issues going on in our country right now. And as was evidenced by the 100,000+ rally yesterday in Washington, Immigration and its reform is the next big issue to tackle. It's no recent problem. It's been with us longer than the issue of Universal Health Care, and battle lines are clearly being drawn as we speak. As soon as is humanly possible, I will be posting speeches and documentary material pertaining to the Immigration question going back to the 1930s in an effort to try and provide you with historic perspective on a very thorny and passionate issue for a lot of people. And as soon as we get back up and running, I will bring those to you. Bear with me. - Gordon)

Ever since we actually became a country we've been tackling the issue of what to do about the unannounced, the undocumented, the illegal. That group of people which, in lieu of the Red Scare (now that it's gone) has given whole other groups of people something new to attach fear and hysteria (and a goodly amount of hate) to - illegal aliens and the immigration issue.

In retrospect the issue flairs up every few years, usually in the context of bad economic times. The desire to lay blame usually goes to the easiest targets; people you know nothing about and yet (we're led to believe) are seemingly everywhere. Just like Communists in the 1950s.

It was the same in 1988, when this documentary first aired (January 10, 1988). CBS Radio ran an installment of their Newsmark series on the then-burning issue of illegal aliens in the U.S.

John Blackstone (CBS News): “Whether we see them or not, these undocumented workers are part of this society, but for most of us their lives remain a mystery. According to Government figures, undocumented workers contribute $23 billion a year to the U.S. economy. And while some blame illegal aliens for American unemployment, the General Accounting Office report released in 1984 says undocumented workers do not take jobs from American citizens. To most Americans, the illegal immigrant is more a statistic than a real face.”

Twenty-two years later, the fingers of blame are pretty much pointing in the same direction with hate and fear achieving the same results.

(Jack Benny - along with Bing Crosby, American Institutions)

My guess is, you're probably looking for some relief from the family traditions right about now. Christmas is something of a minefield with a lot of people and no doubt you're looking for some escape.

In keeping with the concept of Guilty Pleasures, I thought I would post a Jack Benny radio program from Christmas 1953. As a rule, I'm not a fan of "old time radio" - I'm really not. But there are two radio comedians I am a complete fan of; Jack Benny and Fred Allen. Maybe for New Years I'll dig up a Fred Allen show, if you've never heard him before.

I am assuming most people reading this blog will know who Jack Benny is. If not, I've directed you to the Wikipedia page above so you can get some background. Also be aware that Benny, around this time was doing a completely different radio show than he was TV - so if you wonder why there is no video, there isn't any - it was radio only.

In any case, here is a Christmas show, typical of the Benny style of humor. It's also complete and a CBS Radio master, which means it has the original Lucky Strike Cigarette commercials intact. So, those of you in high-voltage anti-cigarette mode may want to skip this one - or at least you can fast forward if they offend you. Fair enough?

Enjoy.