The Legends of the Rocking Dutchman - episode 179

Eight double-siders and a twelve inch

One of the major limitations of the 78 RPM record is that it can hold only some 3:15 per side. A lot of music was composed or arranged to that limit, and longer pieces had to be split up between the two sides of a 78. I'll tell you today, that the recording wasn't just cut in two but that the band nearly always did a short outtro on the A-side to start again on the flip. That way, the second half rather felt like a sequel.

And so you will get eight double-siders - and then I had a few minutes left. I filled that up with the result of another way to extend the play time limit of the record - make it bigger. And so I end with a twelve-inch four-minute 78 of trumpeter Sidney De Paris on the Blue Note label. Not that these records ever got popular. They didn't fit on most phonographs.

Transcript

Playlist

  1. J.T. 'Funny Paper' Smith - Seven Sisters Blues
  2. Victoria Spivey with Lonnie Johnson - You Done Lost Your Good Thing Now
  3. Illinois Jacket - Flying Home
  4. Joe Liggins - Three O'Clock Jump
  5. Pearl Bailey - A Little Learnin' Is A Dang'rous Thing
  6. Jo Jo Adams - Around The Watch
  7. Saunders King - S.K. Jumps (Summertime Boogie)
  8. Jimmie Gordon - Jacksonville
  9. Sidney De Paris' Blue Note Jazz Men - The Call Of The Blues

Outtro:

  • Wild Bill Moore Sextette - Bongo Bounce
The following music served as background music during the spoken parts:
  • Kirk Kirkland - The Saxaphone Rag
  • Johnny Otis - Turkey Hop
  • Lloyd Glenn - After Hours
  • Red Callender - The Honey Jump
  • Sonny Thompson - Long Gone