Back in Business...

Hey all! Well, I'm now a Denver resident! You may remember, back in April, I announced that I was moving up the Interstate, after a little more than three years, in Colorado Springs. It took a bit longer than I would have liked (more than a month to get the house packed up and ready for sale, but then it only took 48 hours to go under contract - wow!).

Finding our next home took a bit longer, but we think we have  the perfect Denver house, for us. We close in mid July. I can't wait to get all of the records back on the shelves!

In the meantime, we are doing the temporary extended-stay hotel housing, and I'm having a blast exploring all of the local thrifts and record stores!

Less than 24 hours after we checked in to our short-term accommodations, I got back into the record diggin' game. First stop, visiting my Denver Record Convention bud, Austin, at Recollect Records.

1255 Delaware St, Denver, CO 80204

(720) 542-8785

After taking in the fantastic Denver Art Museum, the walk over to Recollect is easy peasy, and makes for a fun Sunday afternoon.

Recollect is, by far, the cleanest record store I have ever entered. While I love getting all dusty and dirty, going through unsorted boxes, there is something to be said about leaving with your purchase, minus sneezing and immediately needing a shower. Dare I say, there is a elegance about this place. A nice glass of wine would be completely appropriate here, while rummaging through the neatly sorted selections.

 Austin saw me coming, and directed me right to the Colorado vinyl area. There are $3 local LPs in the back, while the higher dollar, but very reasonably-priced, state-made albums are located in the front left bins of the store. While my ever-supportive, but non-record-collector hubby sat in one of the comfy chairs, I got down to business.

This store did not disappoint. I walked out with a grand total of 20 Colorado albums! Ohhhh yeah, I plan to be a regular.

I already have plans to highlight several of these new finds on this blog, as well as play several of these on the radio show (UPDATE: new Elk Bugles shows are in production, now, and I will also have some cool news, about a SECOND Colorado vinyl show, coming soon, on KGNU - stay tuned).

Dawilla Records

Hey all! Taking a quick break from packing for the big move, up the Interstate...

So, I'm using some stockpiled newspapers, to wrap items, when I spot a loose page from an Aug. 15, 1964 Cash Box. I have no clue why this was sandwiched in between a 2015 front page of the Pueblo Chieftain, and a 2016 Sunday insert from the Colorado Springs Gazette, but this tiny ad immediately caught my eye.

I was familiar with Dawilla Records, as I once had a copy of the Danny Williams single, "My Little Black Book" / "Stranger To Love" (Dawilla 101). However that single had no mention of Denver (kicking myself now, that I long-ago sold this, without knowing the Colorado connection).

Side note: In 1962, Danny Williams appeared on the Pilot record label, with the semi-milquetoast single, "Dreamer." The single lists Eddie Cochran as producer, however it is NOT the same "Summertime Blues" singer, who died two years earlier.

My curiosity about the above ad got the better of me, as I spent most of my moving break trying to track down the Denver connection. I found nothing, until I found this single:

Bingo! Note the Denver address listed, on the upper right side, which corresponds with the address on the advertisement, and the one I also found, below.

Billboard 

November 21, 1964

The trail goes cold, after 1964. A few websites indicated that Danny Williams and Alton Albright were one in the same. Who knows.

OK, done with my little break. Back to packing...

Published in Rye: Eva Alice Stone

Hey all! Taking a much-needed break from packing, to attend a Castle Rock antique show, today. I really didn't expect to find anything, music-related, as I really just wanted a quiet respite from shoving more of my life in a moving box.

Famous last words.

I immediately spot a vendor with sheet music, for a buck, and dove in. After sorting through about 100 pieces, and finding nothing from Colorado, I get to the very last piece - a 1934 composition, published in the little town of Rye, located about half an hour south of my hometown zip, Pueblo.

 

Always Look Inside an Album Cover...

So I was databasing the LPs I found, at the spring Denver Record Expo, when I discovered a typewritten piece of paper inside the recently-acquired Public School Music Festival, Cañon City, Colorado, Spring 1966.

(click to enlarge)

The paper inside noted that the albums were pressed at Lewis Record Manufacturing, of Inglewood, CA., by Mr. Ted Lewis. It noted that Ted was "a former student, at Cañon City schools." So I hit the Internet, to see what I could find, on this former Southern Colorado resident, who was now in the record business, in California.

 (click to enlarge)

The first thing that came up, was a 1980 Billboard story titled "Springsteen Awarded $2.1 Million In Federal LP Bootlegging Case" noting that the FBI questioned a Lewis Record Manufacturing employee, Kathleen May Jones, who admitted to pressing bootlegs, at the Inglewood location.

Wait, what?

The next thing mentioning Ted Lewis and Lewis Manufacturing, was a link to the incredible blog The Amazing Kornyfone label, yes the same label (known also as just TAKRL) which was one of the first bootleg record labels in America. Based in Southern California, in the 1970s, the label churned out hundreds of illegal (mostly live) recordings from The Beatles, Bruce Springsteen, Elvis, The Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd, and that's barely touching the surface. The label was run by "Ken," (Ken Douglas) who previously ran the equally infamous Trade Mark of Quality (TMOQ) bootleg label, along with "Dub" Michael Taylor. Douglas started up TAKRL, in 1973.

As a record collector, I have seen (and have formerly acquired), a few of these deemed illegal, but rare and often $$$ bootleg LPs, over the years. They are prized among specific artist collectors, and have a devoted following.

In an archived interview with Douglas, he stated that he employed Ted Lewis and Lewis Manufacturing, to press bootlegs.

"... taken our business to a place called Lewis Record Manufacturing, where we dealt with a wonderful woman there named Kaye. She was old enough to be my grandmother and she kind of reminded me of a woman who would have been comfortable with the likes of Bonnie and Clyde in her youth. She wasn’t afraid of anything. It was to her that we handed My God (Jethro Tull boot) and Establishment (Bob Dylan boot - both TMOQ releases) and these were our first records on colored vinyl which the growing number of bootleg fans really seemed to like..."

Needless to say, shocked doesn't cover my reaction. I couldn't find any information on just how many bootlegs Lewis pressed for TMOQ / TAKRL, nor could I find any information on what repercussions they faced for doing so. I also hit a dead end on finding out what ever happened to Ted Lewis, or Kaye.

The fact that there is now a documented Southern Colorado link with these labels is crazy to believe. If it had not been for that typewritten piece of paper, found in a Cañon City Public School Music Festival LP, that fact may have been lost forever.

Dick Hull

 Dick Hull Plays the Hammond Organ

Monaco FT 592 (1955)

I'm a sucker for organ music. My great-grandmother, grandmother, and mother each had an organ in their homes. I remember hearing three generations of "Laura" throughout my childhood, and I guess the sound just stuck with me (for the record, the closest I ever came to personally playing the organ, was attempting to bang out "Rock Lobster," on mom's living room Hammond).

 I found this album, at the recent spring Denver Record Show, thanks to my buddy Chris. Guess he knew I would probably be the only person in the room who would quickly hand over $3 for a Colorado organ LP (grin). Turns out, it was one of the highlights of the daylong dig.

Packing finds: Theron Bennett and The Dutch Mill Sheet Music Publishing Company

The "Great Move" is underway, with packing commencing, as we prepare to relocate up the road, to the Denver metro.  The process has been daunting, but it has allowed me to rediscover a few Colorado-related music items, in my collection. Example #1 - a piece of sheet music from Theron Bennett, the original proprietor of Denver's Dutch Mill Cafe.

I won't copy and paste the extensive Theron Bennett / Dutch Mill history that's out there, so check out this fantastic synopsis and list of his published works.

"My Love's A Radio" was published in 1924, and appears to be one of the last pieces of sheet music published by Bennett. He died in 1937, at age 57, after a prolonged illness.

When the night is falling and there beams a silv'ry moon

Then comes love enthralling and my love is yours I tune

And far through heaven's blue, my heart sings to you.

My love's a radio

Each night at nine

It's calling soft and low

Your heart to mine

Tis my love light a glow

And tells you true dear

My love's a radio

That's calling you, my you.

Distance lends enchantment, and through it may have its charms

Still to me 'tis sweeter just to hold you in my arms

And so love's song a new, calls each night to you.

My love's a radio

Each night at nine

It's calling soft and low

Your heart to mine

Tis my love light a glow

And tells you true dear

My love's a radio

That's calling you, my you.

Russ Wolfe and the Flying W Wranglers

Got word, late last night, that Russ Wolfe, the co-founder of the Flying W Ranch, passed away, at the age of 94. You can see his amazing biography, along with his obituary, here.

The Flying W Ranch has put out numerous LP and 45rpm souvenirs (and later cassettes and CDs), in its history. Several of the LPs started off with an introduction, by Russ Wolfe.

Russ Wolfe's Introduction
(audio sample taken from Volume 1, below)

As I mentioned above, these chuck wagon musical mementos were plentiful, as one always manages to find one (or more) at a neighborhood garage sale, or local thrift store, around these here parts. Here are the ones I managed to corral (See what I did there? - heheh). Some of the last names are missing, in this story. If you can provide any info, drop me a line. Also, you will obviously see the label numbers and volumes are hard to keep track of, as you will note the inconsistency in the discography.

An Evening at the Flying W Ranch (Vol. 1)
Year unknown (label is marked FW-1000)

Members: Russ Wolfe, Cy Scarborough, Jack Smith, Bob Minser, Babe Humphrey, Chuck Camp, and Laramie Jordan (who was later replaced by Buck Teeter)

Echo Valley

FW-5705 (no year, possibly 1957)
Members are not noted

 

Folk Songs of the Western Frontier

FW-5750 (no year, possibly 1957)

 The back of this LP promotes "Vol. 1" and Echo Valley, but no other LP, which indicates this is (possibly) the third release for the group.

Members (introduced in the recorded intro): Russ Wolfe, Chuck Camp, Babe Humphrey, Bob Minser, Buck Teeter, and Cy Scarborough

The Rostvit Sisters Sing 

FW-5760 (no year, possibly 1957 or 1960)
(Fay, Sharon, Janice and Lora Jean, accompanied by the Flying W Wranglers)

 

An Evening at the Flying W Ranch (Vol. 2)

7961 could indicate "1961" 
Members (introduced in the recorded intro): Jim Blanton, Chuck Camp, George Jackson, Buck Teeter, Cy Scarborough, and Russ Wolfe

An Evening at the Flying W Ranch (Vol. 2)  

 (label is marked FW 1001) 
NOTE: This LP also says "Volume 2". 
Members (shown in order on LP cover): Cy Scarborough, Buck Teeter, George Jackson, Chuck Camp, Jim (J.B.) Blanton, and Russ Wolfe

An Evening at the Famous Flying W 

NOTE: LP uses the same cover photo as Vol. 2, directly above, but the back cover shows a different photo (with the same members as above). The songs are the same as those on the "first" Volume 2.

SR4S-050 (no year) 

Winter Swing

FWWS 140 
(no year, but the subtitle is "Dance Album Volume One") 
Members: Russ Wolfe, Sam Nicola, Rick Martinez, Scott Vaughn, and Denny Peter

The Place Where I Worship

SW-4 (no year listed)
Members names not listed

 

An Evening at the Flying W Ranch (Vol. 3)

Year unknown (label marked LPFW 420) 
Members: Russ Wolfe, Sam Nicola, Babe Humphrey,  
Larry Humphrey,  J.B. Blanton, and Larry Mahan
 

 

An Evening at the Flying W Ranch (Vol. 4)
FWS-1970

Label is marked 1970, and thus starting a new label numbering system, indicating year.
Members: Russ Wolfe, Sam Nicola, Babe Humphrey,  
Larry Humphrey,  J.B. Blanton, and Larry Mahan
 

Cow Country Styles (Vol. 5)

FWR-1973
Members: Russ Wolfe, Sam Nicola, Babe Humphrey, Larry Humphrey, Terry Martin, 
 J.B. Blanton, and Larry Mahan

Centennial Show (Vol. 8)

FWR-1976
Members: Russ Wolfe, Sam Nicola, J.B. Blanton, Babe Humphrey, Larry Humphrey, Denny Peter, and Bill___ 

 

This is Flying W Country (Vol. 9)

FWR-1977
Members: Russ Wolfe, Sam Nicola, J.B. Blanton, Babe Humphrey, Larry Humphrey, Denny Peter, and Scott Vaughn

This is Flying W Country (Vol. 11)  
FWR-1979

Members: Russ Wolfe, Sam Nicola, Vern Thomson,   

Scott Vaughn, Jim Blanton, Denny Peter, and Rick Martinez

This is Flying W Country (Vol. 12)  
FWR-1980
Members: Russ Wolfe, Sam Nicola, VernThomson,  Scott Vaughn, Jim Blanton, Denny Peter, Rick Martinez, and LarryMahan

This is Flying W Country (Vol. 13)

FWR-1982
Members: Russ Wolfe, Sam Nicola, Vern Thomson, Rod Black, Rick Martinez, Gary____, Jim Blanton, and Lewis Mock

On The Trail (Vol. 14)

FWR-1983 
Members: Wes English,  Rod Black, Sam Nicola, Vern Thomson, and Scott Vaughn

Where the West Begins (Vol. 15)

FWR-1985
Members: Dennis Bailey, Wes English, Sam Nicola, Vern Thomson, and Scott Vaughn

Live at the Ranch  
FWR-1987
(back cover doesn't show members)