Herbert Hoover, in 1932 was in the unenviable position of running for re-election as President on the GOP ticket. During his first term, in fact, some 8 months into it, the great 1929 crash of Wall Street and the ensuing panic that resulted turned what was an economic disaster into
Douglas Moore – Farm Journal – CBS Symphony – Alfredo Antonini – 1949 – Gordon Skene Sound Collection – Some mid-century Americana this week. A performance of American composer Douglas Moore’s seldom played Farm Journal, as performed by the CBS Symphony conducted by Alfredo Antonini from a CBS Radio broadcast
May 23, 1938 – News For Radio Berlin, Shortwave English Service – Gordon Skene Sound Collection – Berlin – May 23, 1938. Gathering clouds for a crisis. The situation between Germany and Czechoslovakia over the disputed Sudeten region was heating up. With accusations by Berlin of Czech troops staging raids
Maurice Emmanuel – Sonatine Number 3 – Yvonne Lefébure, piano – Centenary Concert 1962 – ORTF, Paris – Gordon Skene Sound Collection – The music of Maurice Emmanuel this weekend, as played by the legendary French pianist Yvonne Lefébure, who frequently played Emmanuel’s works and was the dedicatee of his
Mary Lou Williams Trio – Live at Keystone Corner, San Francisco – April 29, 1977 – KPFA – Anybody who has even a passing interest in Jazz knows the name Mary Lou Williams – Artists, arranger, composer, band leader; Mary Lou Williams was one of the true innovators in Jazz
Supreme Court Revision Plan – March 23 and 29, 1937 – FDR Library – Gordon Skene Sound Collection – In February 1937 President Roosevelt unveiled a bill to increase the number of Justices on the Supreme Court, from 9 to 15. Critics immediately denounced the idea as Court-Packing; a
Wendell Willkie – Madison Square Garden Address – May 7, 1941 – Gordon Skene Sound Collection – Wendell Wilkie, a former Democrat who switched parties in 1939 to become a Republican lawmaker and oppose Franklin Roosevelt in the 1940 Presidential election, wound up an ally and an emissary of FDR’s
Spanish Civil War – eyewitness Accounts – Society Of Newspaper Editors – April 17, 1937 – Gordon Skene Sound Collection – Spanish Civil War – the years 1936-1939 saw some of the worst devastation, division and bloodshed since the World War (World War 1, as 2 hadn’t gotten started yet).
Louis Jordan – live at Zardi’s Jazzland, Hollywood – July 15, 1956 – Gordon Skene Sound Collection – Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five, live at Zardi’s Jazzland on Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood and recorded for posterity by the venerable NBC Radio on July 15, 1956 for the All-Star Parade
Vittorio Giannini – An Opera Ballet (World Premier) San Francisco Symphony – Edwin MacArthur, cond. – August 27, 1939 – Gordon Skene Sound Collection – Vittorio Giannini – a name mostly forgotten, but one of the leading lights of the Neo-Romantic movement in American classical music in the early and
