Denver-area Thrifting Unearths Rare San Francisco Country Radio Discs

Hey all. Going to take a break from posting Colorado finds, because this discovery is pretty amazing.

So I'm digging at the big Denver thrift chain here, and found a stack of homemade-looking 78rpm recordings. I never skip looking at these, even if they aren't from Colorado, as I have found some incredible discs.

The label immediately caught my eye - East Richmond Radio and Appliance Center, Richmond, CA. These appeared to be home recording records, possibly recorded on the Packard Bell Phonocord machine (as noted on the label).

The labels note Dude Martin, who was a West Coast-based country singer and bandleader. Dude's Round Up Gang originated on KTAB radio, but moved over to KYA in 1939, where he stayed until 1950. 

Dude Martin and his band 

(photo courtesy of David Ferrell Jackson's CowpokeRadio.com)

_____________________________________

KYA Radio ID (:21)

These are incredible audio samples of 1940s radio. They all show a date of August 27-28, 1948. One of the discs includes an Amarillo-area singer named Jimmy Ledbetter, who was the fourth contestant in the station's "Talent Tournament."

Give a listen to this sample (2:22)

On this record you also hear Dude mention that they have been using a mic for "16 years," which would imply that he had been singing since 1932. Dude's first band, The Nevada Nite Herders, first appeared on KLX radio on April 15, 1932. Dude (John Stephen McSwain) would later take his show to television, appearing on the The Dude Martin Show, KTTV Ch. 11, Los Angeles. He died in 1991.

Give a listen to this sample (1:22)

Again, no clue if these are simply home recordings of a radio broadcast, or if they were actual radio transcription recordings. My guess would be home recordings, based on the penciled notations on the labels. Still an incredible find. The outstanding Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame has another sample of his show, on its website.

"Wow -- what a find," museum founder David Ferrell Jackson told me. "Dude Martin is a personal favorite of mine; I have numerous photographs, promotional pieces and recordings of his music from over the years -- but only one aircheck. The odds and ends of Dude Martin on the air are rare, so these are amazing to hear."

On a side note, there IS a Colorado connection to Dude Martin. Eddie Kirk, who often provided the musical backing for him, was from Greeley (but left the state in 1934).

La Dama De Los Ojos Verdes

Was recently offered this incredible find, from my dear friend Joel Scherzer. A Spanish-language take on Denver-based band Sugarloaf's Top Five hit, "Green-Eyed Lady," by The White Lines de Paco Sanchez.

Listen to "La Dama De Los Ojos Verdes"

Now, before I get messages on this, this is not the same Paco Sanchez, who is considered the "Father of Hispanic Radio" in Denver. That Paco came to town in 1948. Yes, while he was a lead singer of a musical group (and later a member of the Colorado House of Representatives, and namesake of Paco Sanchez Park), he had moved on to social reform causes, which I doubt included him resurrecting his musical career, at this late stage in life. He passed away in 1973, at the age of 57.

It's actually the group Las Lineas Blancas.

Paco Sanchez is listed as a member. The band put out an 1971 self-titled LP, which includes "La Dama De Los Ojos Verdes" (Caytonics CYS 1293). I found a listing of this group in Florida, and also Mexico.

So now I'm wondering how many Colorado-centric English-language songs were recorded in different languages? Idly wondering if there is a version of "Alto De Las Montañas Rocosa" out there. I'll keep hunting!

MYSTERY SOLVED - The Coachmen

My thanks to my friend, and the mastermind behind the Colorado Springs record show, Chris Davis, for solving the mystery, behind The Coachmen.

They are from Connecticut!

Chris found this Putnam, Connecticut radio station video, and alerted me to the proof (see screenshot, below):

The Coachmen originally formed in 1965 by then-Putnam High sophomore Mike Crotty (the Mike noted on the album cover).

So dear readers, another mystery successfully solved! I'm going to go ahead and leave the original story posted, for a bit longer, then go ahead and remove it from the blog. My thanks to everyone who gave me suggestions, including those who swore this group was out of Colorado.

As for my copy of the album? It is now back home in Connecticut, in the hands of a local record collector, up there. He told me the piece was a longtime "holy grail" want of his, so I was happy to sell it, and get back to where it belongs.

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(Original story posted November 27, 2018)

Hey all.

So I'm working on this massive Colorado song database (cataloging every single song, on every single piece of vinyl I own), when I get to the letter "C" and find this long-forgotten LP in my collection, from The Coachmen. There is a $10 label on the plain back cover, so I'm thinking I obtained it from a used record store, somewhere in my travels. I remember liking the yellowing, pasted-on front cover picture, so I took a chance, and plopped down my Hamilton.

So I get home and, like I always do when I obtain a perplexing find, I head to the Internet to look for additional information. Much to my surprise, I discover the album has had realized online auction prices of well-over $100 (!!), AND I also discover that this record might be from a Colorado group! After searching a few hours, for definitive proof that these guys were actually a Colorado band, and finding none, I filed it away - only to be rediscovered in my stash, today.

The front cover only mentions the band members: Bob, Jode, Terry, Fran and Mike. There is absolutely no mention of a city, a state, or a recording studio. The album was issued on the Director Records label and is an RCA Custom pressing.

The 1960s-era selections give a bit of a clue, as to the time period, with a cover of the Beatles, "Hey Jude," being the "newest" song, noted (1968):

Taste of Honey

Everybody Loves Somebody

More

Alfie

Tijuana Taxi

Around the Lake Polka

Cry Me a River

Theme From "The Oscar"

Somewhere My Love

In the Mood

Sugar Bear Boogie

Hey Jude (YouTube audio)

Apparently, around this same time, there was another band, going by The Coachmen, based in Nebraska. There were also Coachmen bands in Bellinghman, WA; St. Louis MO; Iowa, Mountainside, New Jersey, and Sacramento, CA. The pre-ZZ Top group the Moving Sidewalks were originally dubbed The Coachmen, and an Illinois group, dubbed The Coachmen, which included a young Dan Fogelberg. Plus, there was a group going by Cindy Rella and the Coachmen, who had a minor hit with "Bring Me a Beatle for Christmas" - and that's just naming a few!

To make matters even more confusing, there was apparently a three-piece band, from Colorado, going by The Coachmen. Newspaper archive digging find them playing quite a bit in Colorado Springs, Greeley, and Boulder, from 1966-1969.

Colorado Springs Gazette-Telegraph

December 26, 1966

So dear reader, let's figure this one out. I'm looking for absolute proof that the five-piece Coachmen, with Bob, Jode, Terry, Fran and Mike, are from Colorado, or not. 

Let's solve the mystery!

Solve the Mystery: Presto 3628

Hey all! So I found this unmarked, 78rpm, Presto aluminum plate lacquer disc at the KGNU record show, last week. It was in a box next to a few others I grabbed (including the Rocky Mountain Radio Council disc). There appeared to be grooves on only one side, so I plopped it on the turntable, to give it a listen. Out came this very amateur country recording - just a guy and his guitar:

Listen to a sample

(2:00)

The recording runs almost 5:00 long, and it has its share of goofs, but the singer sings on. There is absolutely no information regarding who the singer is, what the name of the song is, or even if it was made in Colorado. The disc shows "3628," along with the Presto logo. The fantastic Phonozoic website shows that this most definitely a 1940s-era recording.

I'm taking a stab in the dark that someone on here might be able to solve the mystery.

Yes, I did an exhaustive search on some of the lyrics, and came up empty.

Presto sold lots of blank discs, as well as recorders, of which amateur singers used to make demos, or gifts for family and friends. I'm idly wondering if this might be the case here, and we will never know who this mystery singer is.

2018: As Time Goes By

Listen to "As Time Goes By" - The Aviators 

Safety First AV-001B (1984)

Hard to pick a favorite vinyl find, of 2018, but this one easily ranks up there. My thanks to the uber-talented Shepherd Stevenson (vocals, guitar and keyboard for the Aviators), for adding this fantastic Colorado record to my stash.

How a really bad album cover picture became my obsession

UPDATED 8/15/24 -  Just added #38 (!!)

I admit to having a fascination (some might say obsession) with private issue (vanity) albums. But somewhere in time, I became preoccupied with LPs featuring this out-of-focus, faded picture of a man wading in a stream, along a mountain backdrop.

Is that man on this cover relieving himself, burying a body, fishing, dancing... or is it Bigfoot?

Here's the deal - I have amassed, not a couple, not even a half dozen, but a grand total of 38 different albums, with the exact same stock photo (so far).       

No kidding.

It all started with this Colorado Springs folk gem, by the Emanon Majority. Then I spotted another one, and another...(see all of them, at the end of this post). Saying I was fascinated, is an understatement. Who is this guy and what the hell is he doing?

I mean, come on, how is one not scratching their head over this, especially when you learn that all of the artists could have chosen any one of the other (much cooler) 49 cover art options, from the custom album art outfit, Bert-Co., the company responsible for this picture.

(Thanks to my friend George Gimarc, for finding the original 1966 Bert-Co custom cover art brochure - click on image to see a larger picture)

Was the art chosen because there is a mountain in it? I guess I get that, for a Colorado group, but what about Al Stewart's (not THAT Al Stewart) Collegiate Singers, out of Chicago? How does mystery guy best represent a choir recording, out of Illinois?

Catalog picture is actually flipped, compared to the final product.

One might wonder if, after receiving their albums, the client also wondered who this guy was. I couldn't help but notice that "Bigfoot" is really unnoticeable in the original picture of the art sample (above). So, I completely understand how it could have been the obvious choice for mountain state recordings (or they could have picked the other mountain art, below).

The back of the brochure shows a drawing of the Bert-Co building, in Los Angeles (which looks very much like the Century Custom building, I might add)

A bit of history: Bert-Co was based out Los Angeles, and founded, in 1930, by Berton P. Couturier. The company was originally in the printed matchbook and travel brochure business, when they started printing record labels for RCA, Capitol and Columbia. In the 1950s they began to include stock album cover art, whereas a guy in his basement recording studio could press a couple hundred LPs for friends and family, and include a cool custom cover.

But don't think Bert-Co was only catering to unknown vanity vinyl. The company's typesetting efforts can be found on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and Marvin Gaye's What's Going On, and Elvis Presley, Loving You, just to name a few. According to the company's website (yup, they are still in business) "Bert-Co had the distinction of printing, Abbey Road, the first record jacket produced in the U.S. for The Beatles."

(Full disclosure, Bert-Co had no clue who the model is in the picture, nor did they have any additional information on cover production, including locale).

No telling how many artists used the "mystery man wading in the water" cover. I'm surprised I even uncovered a dozen, let alone more than 30. Needless to say, if you find any others. I'm buying!

Colorado LPs:

 

Candlelight A Quiet Quarter Hour with Al French 

(Colorado Springs) 

 

The Thunderbird Band - Cheyenne Mountain High School 1964
10" record
(Colorado Springs)


Polkas From the Rocky Mountains - George Meier and his Polka Band
(Denver)

 The Emanon Majority
(Colorado Springs)

Sam Johnson - Colorado Folk Ballads 
(Colorado Springs)

 Larry Taylor Plays For The Handicapped
(Colorado Springs)

 MIA Conference 1968
(Denver)

Other States: 

 

 

 JUST ADDED (8/15/24) 

Pacific Northwest Youth For Christ - Teens on Tour (Yakima, WA)

 

 

Close to the Master - The Master's Quartet (Prairie Village, KS)

 

A Cappella Choir - South Salem High School (Salem Oregon)

There is a God... Listen - Albert Anthony Bonahur (New York City)

He's Mine, I'm His - Gospel Five 

(Hendersonville, NC)

 

Clover Park High School

(Lakewood, WA)

 

Praise to the Lord - Young Men's Chorus - Salem Mennonite Church

(Freeman, SD)

 

 Gospel Favorites by the Jubliaires of Hammond

(Hammond, IN) 

 

It's Cool on the Banks of Jordan - The Revelators Quartet 

(Lexington, KY)

 

Sandy Union High School Music Department

(Prineville, OR)

Blue Springs High School Band and Choir

(Blue Springs, MO)

 

For The Beauty of the Earth - Boise Honor Concert 1970

(Boise, ID)

 

Eastern Oregon Fiddlers 1969

 

23'rd Annual Spring Program  - The McHenry Choral Club 

(McHenry, IL)

 

Just Beyond the Blue  - The King's Daughters (Frances, Patsy and Sandy Osborne)

(Santa Anna, TX)
 

San Augustine High School Band

(San Augustine, TX)

 

Donauschwaebische Blaskapelle - Danube Swabian Brass Band

(Cleveland, OH)

 

Oregon's Old Fashioned Camp Meeting - Bethel Gospel Park

(Brooks, OR)

 

How Great Thou Art - Dick Pollard and Bill Ness 

(Des Moines, IA)

 

York College Presents the East Hill Minstrels and The Newfolk Trio

(York, NE)

The Rices - Valley of Peace
(Tulsa, OK)


The Bill Daniels Family - Sweeter as the Days Go By
(Hayward, CA)

 
Danny Hibbard
(Coeur d'Alene, ID)

 Surely Goodness and Mercy - Gene and Bobby Moore
(Abilene, TX)

 Beside Still Waters - First Baptist Church Choir
(Las Cruces, NM)

 The King's Harvesters - Gospel Favorites
(Twin Falls, ID)

 Matt Shumac - Mother Lode Laments
(Placerville, CA)

 Meet the Sneed Family
(Spanaway, WA)

 Ray Turner and Dick Barron - Christ For Me
(Fort Worth, TX)

 Glen Walker - Christ in My Heart
(Baytown, TX)

 Al Stewart's Collegiate Singers (Chicago, IL)