NRR Project: 'Hound Dog' (Aug. 13, 1952)

 

NRR Project: “Hound Dog”

Composed by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller

Performed by Big Mama Thornton

Recorded Aug. 13, 1952; released 1953

3:01

First, read Michael Sporke’s exemplary essay on this piece at the National Recording Registry. It covers all the salient facts about this recording.

This raucous, fast-moving blues song set the stage for rock and roll. It was the brainchild of Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller, who were only 19 at the time. They were tasked with writing a song for blues singer Willie Mae Thornton (1926-1984), a formidable 350-pound shouter who growled and rasped her way through her material. They completed the song in about 15 minutes.

Thornton first began singing the song as a ballad, but Leiber and Stoller persuaded her to try an upbeat approach. She complied, backed only by drums (played by the great Johnny Otis), guitar, and bass – the foundational instruments of rock. The arrangement of the song is unusual for the time in that it used neither the saxophone nor the piano.

Her aggressive and angry attitude fit the content of the song, which was the rejection of a dependent male. The song became an immediate hit, riding high on the R & B charts for many weeks. Rapidly, others covered it and wrote “answer” songs to it.

However, it was Elvis’s cover of it in June 1956 that made it an international hit. His appropriation of Black blues style made him a messiah of rock and roll to millions of fans. This recording earned Lieber and Stoller thousands in revenue; however, both Thornton and bandleader Johnny Otis, who had a hand in writing and recording the song, got next to nothing.

The National Recording Registry Project tracks one writer’s expedition through all the recordings in the National Recording Registry in chronological order. Next time: John Brown’s Body.

NRR Project: 'The Eagle Stirreth Her Nest' (1953)

 

NRR Project: “The Eagle Stirreth Her Nest”

Composed and spoken by Rev. C.L. Franklin

Recorded 1953

30:29

Evangelical Christianity has a long tradition of powerful, emotionally impactful speechifying. Whether a sermon from a minister or witness from a member of the congregation, inspired oratory is the norm in this branch of beliefs. What was in the Old World a staid practice turned, through the mouths of Americans, into a whirlwind, enthusiastic, transcendent activity.

One of the most admired practitioners of this soul-stirring style of declamation was the Rev C.L. Franklin, a Baptist preacher in Detroit. Such was his renown that record store owner Joe Von Battle recorded this sermon and released it on 78 rpm discs. Read Nick Salvatore’s excellent essay on this selection at the National Recording Registry here.

Franklin’s approach is intensely dramatic. Starting his sermon with slowly voiced statements, Franklin picks up in volume and intensity as he hits the main points of his lecture. The congregation, as is usual in evangelical churches, responds frequently with comment and encouragement. Finally, Franklin turns incantatory, expressing himself almost musically with rhythmic cadence and swooping phrasing, whipping his listeners up into an inspired frenzy, drawn ecstatically to God.

Franklin’s showmanship at the pulpit inspired many – not least, his daughter . . . Aretha.

The National Recording Registry Project tracks one writer’s expedition through all the recordings in the National Recording Registry in chronological order. Next time: Hound Dog.

NRR Project: “Gunsmoke: The Cabin” (Dec. 27, 1952)

 

NRR Project: “Gunsmoke: The Cabin”

Broadcast Dec. 27, 1952

30 min.

This program was perhaps the best in the history of American network radio. It fully explored the medium’s potentialities, both in terms of content and sonically. The detailed and grim world of the frontier it created endures if listened to in the present. The show, a Western, began in 1952 and lasted well into the Television Age – and transitioned to television itself, in a show that ran concurrently with the original radio show from 1955 to 1961, then persisted itself to 1975.

There are many great resources out there on this show. You can read Charles Tranberg’s essay on it at the National Recording Registry here. The eminent historian John Dunning covers it in his On the Air, pages 302-306; another comprehensive record is SuzAnne and Gabor Barabas’ Gunsmoke: A Complete History.

It was the brainchild of director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. For the first time, the two took a cliché-ridden genre and revitalized it completely, turning a kids’ subject into one starkly adult. The show was set in the frontier town of Dodge City, Kansas; there, all manner of characters and stories could spring to life. There would be violence, insanity, crime, and all of life’s foibles. But how to anchor the show?

Brilliantly, Meston created Matt Dillon, U.S. Marshal (William Conrad) – a lawman grim and largely unhumorous, capable of righteous rage and cold-blooded calculation, as close to an anti-hero as the time would permit. He is a man with a past and no great concern about his future. He deals justice with understated intensity. He is perpetually alert, guarded, lonely. Rarely would an episode go by without Dillon regretfully killing a miscreant, but there were splashes of mercy from him as well.

Characters were complex; real-sounding people learned hard truths about themselves in the short space of a half hour. Dillon’s companions were deputy Chester Proudfoot (Parley Baer), doctor Addams (Howard McNear) and Kitty Russell (Georgia Ellis). Together they faced up to the killers, the thieves, the gunfighters, the bankers, the tenderfeet, the loose women, the cavalrymen . . .It is surprising to see how varied the subject matter could be, within the solid confines of the outline of the show.

Macdonnell and Meston were aided by the excellent music of Rex Koury, and the “sound patterns” of the sound effects team consisting of Tom Hanley, Ray Kemper, and Bill James. Never before had such an artful backdrop of appropriate sounds been rendered over the air. Listen to it today: you can make out the burble of a crowded bar, or the prairie at midnight, or people trapped by a raging storm.

The episode chosen for inclusion here is typical of the series. It does not feature Chester, Doc, or Kitty – it is a Matt story, and a bloody one. Dillon, trying to ride home, confronts a deadly blizzard. He finds shelter inside a house – that turns out to be occupied by two psychotic criminals and their female hostage. How he extricates himself from his predicament I’ll leave to you – you can listen in to the episode on any of a number of sites; I prefer Radio Echoes and the Internet Archive.

The show’s strength was such that the network ran it for an entire decade, long after most other radio shows had dried up and blown away. Listening to it is an education in how to write, produce, direct, and perform a radio show.

The National Recording Registry Project tracks one writer’s expedition through all the recordings in the National Recording Registry in chronological order. Next time: The Eagle Stirreth Her Nest.

NRR Project: 'It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels' (1952)

 

NRR Project: “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels”

Composed by J.D. “Jay” Miller

Performed by Kitty Wells

Released 1952

1:40

Well, if you want to know all about this entry, just read John Rumble’s excellent essay on it at the National Recording Registry.

The country subgenre of the wronged-woman song really starts here. Interestingly, this is an “answer song” to Hank Thompson’s 1952 hit “Wild Side of Life,” which blames an unfaithful woman for the singer’s troubles. Wells’ response casts the blame back on men.

The National Recording Registry Project tracks one writer’s expedition through all the recordings in the National Recording Registry in chronological order. Next time: ‘Gunsmoke’: “The Cabin.”

NRR Project: 'Happy Trails' (1952)

NRR Project: “Happy Trails”

Composed by Dale Evans

Performed by Roy Rogers and Dale Evans

Released 1952

1:40

This delightful and instantly memorable little ditty became the theme song for Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, cowboy stars of movies, TV, and radio in the middle of the 20^th century. Rogers and Evans were married in real life. Evans penned this herself.

Roy Rogers (1911-1998) was a phenomenon. Born Leonard Slye, he knocked around show biz in California while working many different menial jobs. In 1933, he helped to form a singing group that soon became known as the Sons of the Pioneers. The group scored hits such as “Tumbling Tumbleweeds” and “Cool Water.”

Then, in 1938, cowboy star Gene Autry wanted more money for his film work. The studio decided to create their own singing cowboy, whom they could pay less. Leonard won the job. He was quickly rechristened Roy Rogers, and he made Under Western Stars. He was an instant hit, and was soon to be known as the King of the Cowboys.

In 1944, he met Dale Evans (1912-2001), who up to that point had a successful career as a jazz singer. They married on New Year’s Eve, 1947 and immediately began performing together. In 1952, Evans created this song as the closing theme for the radio and TV incarnations of The Roy Rogers Show.

The lyrics are upbeat:

Happy trails to you, until we meet again.

Happy trails to you, keep smilin' until then.
Who cares about the clouds when we're together?
Just sing a song and bring the sunny weather.
Happy trails to you, 'till we meet again.

Some trails are happy ones,
Others are blue.
It's the way you ride the trail that counts,
Here's a happy one for you.

Happy trails to you, until we meet again.
Happy trails to you, keep smilin' until then.
Who cares about the clouds when we're together?
Just sing a song and bring the sunny weather.

Happy trails to you, 'till we meet again.

The song has become part of the collective consciousness.

The National Recording Registry Project tracks one writer’s expedition through all the recordings in the National Recording Registry in chronological order. Next time: Kitty Wells sings “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels.”

NRR Project: Chopin, Polonaise Op. 40 no. 1; Arthur Rubenstein, piano (1952)

NRR Project: Polonaise, Op. 40, no. 1

Composed by Frederic Chopin

Performed by Arthur Rubenstein

Recorded 1952

5:31

This stirring performance gives just an indication of the brilliance of pianist Arthur Rubenstein (1887-1982). Read Annik LaFarge’s excellent essayon Chopin and Rubenstein at the National Recording Registry here!

The National Recording Registry Project tracks one writer’s expedition through all the recordings in the National Recording Registry in chronological order. Next time: Happy Trails.

 

 

 

 

 

 

NRR Project: 'A Child's Christmas in Wales' (1952)

 

NRR Project: ‘A Child’s Christmas in Wales’

Written and recited by Dylan Thomas

Released 1952

21:22

This mellifluous recording was the first offered by the spoken-word record label Caedmon. Read Nerys Williams’ excellent essay on it here.

Dylan Thomas (1914-1953) was a dramatic and engaging Welsh poet, whose stentorian voice chanted out his verse powerfully. While his private life was chaotic, he turned out many assured works. He gained fame through his reading of his works. A Child’s Christmas in Wales is a prose work, but it is beautiful and potent.

The National Recording Registry Project tracks one writer’s expedition through all the recordings in the National Recording Registry in chronological order. Next time: Chopin’s Polonaise, op. 40, no. 1, performed by Arthur Rubenstein.