Centuries of Sound James M Errington

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 nearly four-hour version please come to centuriesofsound.com to stream, or patreon.com/centuriesofsound for downloads 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.



Here's what stuck me as I put this mix together: In late 1944 the disconnect between music and everything happening in the world is, from different perspectives, both narrower and wider than it has been before. Narrower because the wartime spirit is no longer enough of a novelty to even be notable - almost nobody is writing music about the war, it has just become a background presence in the way any change in culture does. American troops are in Europe now, and that's already just a fact of life. Wider because, in the earlier days of the war, there was a real, visceral sense of the horrors of the conflict, of an existential threat. This dread hasn't just faded into the background as the allies start to look like victory is inevitable, the dread is missing entirely. They know they can't celebrate just yet, but they are keen to start.



In terms of music, we are jammed in the middle of two eras. The big bands are clearly on their way out, broken by the war, the strike, the inability to tour due to fuel rationing - but also because there are much more interesting sounds out there. The individual musicians in these bands have mostly moved on too, to rhythm & blues, to be bop, or to both. Still at this point they probably have a day job playing big band music, but it's already a heritage industry.



The birth of be bop has been underway for a little while already, we can make a case for it existing as early as 1941, but it's only really now that we can feel it emerging into the record. Next year it will fully emerge, to the extent of being recorded in studios, so best leave it until then.



Rhythm & blues is at full levels of excitement this year - unsurprisingly it sounds like people wanted to have a party. Louis Jordan in particular is producing so many absolute classics that it's a wonder he doesn't get more credit for anything more than being a progenitor of rock & roll - a genre only subtley different to Jordan's "jump blues" but one which he nonetheless had no time for. Just imagine dancing at a live performance by Jodan, Lucky Millinder or Cootie Williams, really who needs rock & roll to happen?



One other aspect I've noticed here is the groove - whether it's Arsenio Rodríguez, J.J. Johnson, Boyd Raeburn, Lester Young or Orquesta Casino De La Playa, there is more music than ever before spreading out and allowing itself to build up slowly. We are still a good few years away from the introduction of the LP, so expect only more of this to come.



Finally, let's not forget that we are still in the early days of the Allied invasion of Europe, and consequently there are many journalists on the continent producing a vast amount of interesting content. I've included plenty of this, while trying not to let it interfere too much with the music. If the news footage isn't much to your taste, please be assured that there will be much less in the post-war year mixes. If that's what you're mainly here for then, well, you're in for a treat today.



Introduction



0:00:00 Victor Young - Excerpt from Ministry of Fear
(Clip from A Canterbury Tale)
(Clip from Tokyo Rose broadcast)
0:00:30 MGM Studio Orchestra - The Most Horrible One
(Clip from WOR Year In Review)
(Clip from Abbott & Costello Show - Special Guest Alan Ladd)
(Clip from CBS World News Today)
0:01:14 Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five - Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby
(Clips from NBC at Democratic National Convention)
(Clip from Arsenic & Old Lace)
0:05:11 Boyd Raeburn - Little Boyd Bl

Another adventure back into the early days of recorded sound with James Errington, this time joined by Cambridge 105 Radio’s Maciek Pawlikowski to listen to some of the sounds of 1913, the year of the short-lived hot dance ragtime craze, led by the first all-black orchestra and the couple who brought the foxtrot to prominence.



Centuries of Sound is an independent podcast without any advertising, and it’s only with the support of my patrons that the show can survive. To download full mixes, get early access to the radio podcast, and a get host of other benefits for $5 (or local equivalent) per month (and yearly payment is also now available) please come to https://patreon.com/centuriesofsound

The D-Day landings of the 6th of June 1944 are much too big a story to be covered in the middle of a mix. New recording technology, a wider variety of coverage, and the hoarding and preservation instincts of generations of historians, amateur and professional, have resulted in an unprecedented amount of material being available, around sixty hours all together. From this I've edited for you a tight 82 minute sound collage, taking you from pre-D-Day messages, through the landings, the first reports and dispatches from the field, to the reactions and repercussions the following few days.



Here's what you can hear.



0:00:00 1944-06-06 0330 CBS D-Day Broadcast
0:00:15 1944-06-06 0332 NBC D-Day Broadcast



The Buildup



0:00:33 1944-06-05 BBC European Service With Resistance Messages
0:01:37 1944-06-04 Frank Gillard - Build for D-Day
0:02:20 1944-06-05 FDR Fireside Chat
0:02:33 1944-06-05 Eisenhower's Pre D-Day Announcement to Troops
0:04:13 1944-06-05 BBC Field Marshall Montgomery Address On Eve Of D-Day



The Journey



0:05:08 1944-06-03 BBC Robin Duff On Sealed Ship
0:05:50 1944-06-06 BBC Robin Duff Mid Channel To Normandy
0:06:16 1944-06-08 BBC Allied Troops Prayer Before Invasion
0:06:45 1944-06-08 CAN Travelling With D-Day Convoy
0:07:10 1944-06-06 D-Day Ship Attack



The Assault Begins



0:09:21 1944-06-06 BBC Colin Wills Lands With Infantry
0:09:57 1944-06-08 BBC Robin Duff Five Minutes Before H-Hour
0:10:20 1944-06-08 BBC Robin Duff At Signal For Landing
0:10:45 1944-12-31 MBS News 1944 In Review
0:11:22 1944-06-08 BBC British Tank Crew Describes Beach Landing
0:11:48 1944-06-08 BBC UK Soldier Landing Near Coastal Mines
0:12:10 1944-06-08 CAN Recounting The Landing
0:12:41 1944-06-08 CAN The Scene On The Beach (3 Clips)
0:13:32 1944-06-08 CAN US Soldier On The Beach (2 Clips)
0:13:58 1944-06-08 CAN A Handful Of French Sand



The First Reports



0:14:45 1944-06-06 0330 CBS D-Day Broadcast
0:14:49 1944-06-06 0300 CBS News Unconfirmed Reports Of Invasion (3 Clips)
0:16:27 1944-06-06 0332 NBC D-Day Broadcast
0:16:45 1944-06-06 0330 CBS D-Day Broadcast (2 Clips)



The Paratroopers Land



0:17:26 1944-06-06 BBC Chester Wilmot In Glider
0:18:11 1944-06-06 BBC Chester Wilmot Sees Gliders
0:18:36 1944-06-06 CAN Glider Formations Flying Over The Beaches
0:19:45 1944-06-06 BBC Chester Wilmot Reports From Inside British Glider
0:20:09 1944-06-06 BBC Guy Byam Parachutes Into France
0:20:43 1944-06-06 BBC Alan Melville Sees Paratroops
0:21:03 1944-06-08 BBC The 13th Man To Land In France
0:21:15 1944-12-31 MBS News 1944 In Review



The Announcement



0:22:29 1944-06-06 D-Day Announcement - BBC Newsflash
0:23:28 1944-06-06 0332 NBC D-Day Broadcast (3 Clips)
0:25:31 1944-12-31 MBS News 1944 In Review
0:26:59 1944-06-06 0332 NBC D-Day Broadcast



4am to 5am EST



0:27:23 1944-06-06 0415 CBS D-Day Broadcast (4 Clips)
0:28:51 1944-06-06 0400 NBC D-Day Broadcast
0:28:58 1944-06-06 0415 CBS D-Day Broadcast
0:29:45 1944-06-06 0415 NBC D-Day Broadcast
0:30:00 1944-06-06 D-Day Message To Free French Troops



5am to 9am EST



0:30:19 1944-06-06 BBC John Snagge D-Day Has Come
0:30:56 1944-06-06 0500 CBS D-Day Broadcast (11 Clips)
0:34:12 1944-06-06 0540 CBS D-Day Broadcast (4 Clips)
0:36:45 1944-06-06 BBC Eisenhower to Western Europe
0:37:14 1944-06-06 0540 CBS D-Day Broadcast



9am to 12pm EST



0:38:00 1944-06-06 0900 NBC D-Day Broadcast
0:39:10 1944-06-06 0930 NBC D-Day Broadcast
0:39:42 1944-06-06 0900 NBC D-Day Broadcast
0:40:20 1944-06-06 0927 CBS D-Day Broadcast
0:40:34 1944-06-06 0930 NBC D-Day Broadcast
0:41:00 1944-06-06 0900 NBC D-Day Broadcast
0:41:33 1944-06-06 0930 NBC D-Day Broadcast
0:42:16 1944-06-06 0927 CBS D-Day Broadcast
0:43:13 1944-06-08 CAN Reports From The Beachhead
0:43:31 1944-06-06 0927 CBS D-Day Broadcast (2 Clips)
0:44:10 1944-06-06 US D-Day Bulletin On Landing Success
0:44:23 1944-06-06 1015 CBS Light Of The World



12pm to 4:30pm EST



0:45:33 1944-06-06 Eisenhower's D-Day Broadcast to West

More time-travel to the early days of recorded sound with James Errington. This time we find out about the interminable history of musical snobbery, hear some immensely beautiful, surprisingly thick Edison diamond discs and hear what Al Jolson and Billy Murray are up to.



Centuries of Sound is an independent podcast without any advertising, and it’s only with the support of my patrons that the show can survive. To download full mixes, get early access to the radio podcast, and a get host of other benefits for $5 (or local equivalent) per month (and yearly payment is also now available) please come to https://patreon.com/centuriesofsound

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 please come to centuriesofsound.com to stream, or patreon.com/centuriesofsound for downloads 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.











1944 is a big year. It looms large. This isn't just a recent development either. Listen to these few hours of music and speech and one thing I think you'll pick up is that everyone is very much stuck in the present. There's little in the way of nostalgia, there's hardly any dreaming, everyone seems to be living for the here and the now. Only a couple of years prior "the war" was this imposition on popular culture - now it seems to be the wellspring from which everything goes. Do we need a song about a GI when we've got Cecil Gant the G.I. Sing-Sation? There's this fateful abandon underpinning everything, like they're saying "here we are, we may get through this, we may not, but for now we're going to enjoy every moment" and it's infectious.



You may have also noticed that this mix is called "Part One" - this is perhaps a temporary solution for how sprawling these mixes have become. It's been increasingly difficult to contain all I would like in a single mix, the materials available are getting altogether too much, but more importantly I have discovered vast radio archives for these years, and have spent much too long digging through them for gems. I must have listened to over a hundred hours of 1944 radio broadcasts. So this time we will have three mixes, and as I prepare myself for 1945 I promise I will try to find a new strategy.



January



(Clip from 1944-03-xx NRK News Of Norway)
(Clip from 1944-12-31 MBS News 1944 In Review)
0:00:00 Lester Young et al. - Jammin' the Blues (Excerpt 1)
(Clip of V1 Bomb)
(Clips from 1944-12-31 - WOR Year In Review)
0:02:03 Bing Crosby & The Andrews Sisters - Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive
(Clip from Bing Crosby & The Andrews Sisters - Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive (rejected take))
(Clip from Phantom Lady)
0:04:50 Boyd Raeburn - Hep Boyd
(Clip from Arsenic & Old Lace)
0:05:54 Boyd Raeburn - March Of The Boyds
(Clips from 1944-12-31 MBS News 1944 In Review)
0:07:37 Lead Belly - Mr. Hitler (Hitler Song)
(Clips from 1944-01-04 CBC Matthew Halton The Fall Of Ortona)
0:10:28 Mary Lou Williams - Blue Skies
(Clips from 1944-01-09 CBS World News Today)
0:13:00 Lata Mangeshkar - Barsaat Mein Humse Mile Tum
(Clips from 1944-01-13 - It's That Man Again Navy Show)
0:16:07 Billie Holiday - That Ole Devil Called Love
(Clips from 1944-01-16 CBS World News Today)
0:19:13 Dinah Washington - Evil Gal Blues
(Clip from 1944-01-26 BBC Wynford Vaughn Thomas In Anzio)
0:22:21 Lester Young et al. - Jammin' the Blues (Excerpt 2)



February



(Clips from 1944-12-31 MBS News 1944 In Review)
(Clip from Know Your Ally - Britain)
0:26:50 Arsenio Rodríguez & Su Conjunto - El Pirulero No Vuelve Mas
(Clip from 1944-02-01 Fibber Mcgee - diamond ring at cut rate price)
(Clip from Laura)
0:30:11 Cootie Williams and His Orchestra - 'Round Midnight
0:30:30 Cootie Williams and His Orchestra - Seven Eleven
(Clip from 1944-02-05 CAN MacArthur At Flag Raising Ceremony On Manila)
0:34:19 Anjos do Inferno - Acontece Que Eu Sou Baiano
(Clip from 1944-02-06 CBS World News Today)
(Clips from 1944-02-05 NBC Skelly News Of The World)
0:36:16 Gene Autry - Don't Fence Me In
(Clips from 1944-02-06 CBS World News Today)
(Clip from Hare Ribbin)
0:39:10 Louis Jordan - Mop! Mop!
(Clips from 1944-02-17 - It's That Man Again RAF edition)
0:42:22 Duke Ellington - Johnny Come Lately
(Clips from 1944-02-20 CBS World News Today)
(Clip from Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo)
0:45:51 Andrews Sisters - Straighten Up And Fly Right
(Clips from 1944-02-27 CBS World News Today)
0:49:44

Merry Christmas Centuries of Sound Followers!



This is a mix of original Christmas-related records and radio broadcasts from 1939 to 1945. It's also available as a compilation CD for supporters on Patreon here - https://www.patreon.com/posts/76151409



0:00:00 Bernard Herrmann - Snow Ride (1942)
0:00:41 Bing Crosby - White Christmas (1942)
0:03:48 Jimmy Durante - Clip from Christmas Show (1944)
0:04:20 Lionel Hampton - Gin For Christmas (1939)
0:06:48 King George VI - The Royal Christmas Message (1939)
0:07:08 Judy Garland & Mickey Rooney - Hollywood Christmas Parade (1940)
0:08:36 Claude Thornhill - Snowfall (1941)
0:11:32 Winston Churchill - The White House Christmas Tree (1941)
0:11:57 Franklin D. Roosevelt - Christmas Broadcast (1941)
0:12:14 Woody Herman & His Orchestra - Santa Claus Is Coming To Town (1942)
0:14:49 Mayor of The Town - Clip from 'A Christmas Carol' (1942)
0:14:53 Christmas with The Eighth Army (1942)
0:16:18 Flanagan & Allen - There's A Boy Coming Home On Leave (1940)
0:18:52 Fibber McGee and Molly - Listening to Christmas Carols (1942)
0:19:45 Glenn Miller Orchestra - Jingle Bells (1941)
0:22:53 Amos and Andy - Clip from Annual Christmas Show (1942)
0:23:41 Heavenly Gospel Singers - When Was Jesus Born? (1941)
0:26:49 The Andrews Sisters - Sing (1943)
0:29:52 Bing Crosby with the Andrews Sisters - Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town (1943)
0:32:31 Columbia Workshop Theatre - Clip from "The Plot To Overthrow Christmas" (1944)
0:32:40 Bob Crosby - The Skaters Waltz (In Swingtime) (1939)
0:35:27 Billy Mills & The Orchestra - Jingle Bells (1944)
0:37:05 Erroll Garner with Columbia Workshop Theatre - Great Christmas (1944)
0:41:12 Jimmy Durante - Clip from Christmas Show (1944)
0:41:30 Spike Jones & His City Slickers - Jingle Bells (1944)
0:44:19 Ken Derby & The Kings Men - The Night Before Christmas (1944)
0:50:53 The Mills Brothers - I'll Be Home For Christmas (1944)
0:53:04 King George VI - The Royal Christmas Message (1944)
0:53:22 Lead Belly - Christmas Song (1943)
0:56:01 Amos And Andy - Clip from Christmas Show With Andy As Santa (1944)
0:56:13 Fats Waller - Swingin' Them Jingle Bells (1944)
0:58:54 NBC Studio Orchestra - Clip from Amos & Andy Christmas Show (1944)
1:00:19 Dinah Shore - I'll Walk Alone (Through Every Christmas) (1944)
1:03:02 Life of Riley - Clip from 'Roswell's a Guest for Christmas' (1944)
1:03:21 Kenny Baker, Karen Kemple and Alexander Smallens - Hail To Christmas (1944)
1:05:52 Vick's Matinee Theatre - A Stable in Bethlehem Pennsylvania (1944)
1:06:06 Tex Ritter - Christmas Carols By The Old Corral (1945)
1:08:27 Life of Riley - Clip from 'Roswell's a Guest for Christmas' (1944)
1:08:56 Judy Garland - Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas (1944)





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