Centuries Of Sound - mixes / audio collages for every year of recorded sound, 1860 to the present day.

Anyway, new one out today, this is for the first half of 1944. Have decided to start splitting the things up to preserve my sanity.
Full tracklist under the link - scroll down for the mixcloud player, the podcast download is a shorter preview version

https://i0.wp.com/centuriesofsound.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/1944-Part-1-Icon.jpg

https://centuriesofsound.com/2023/01/10/1944-part-one/

New one out today, but featuring very little in the way of music. I edited down all the original recordings I could find of D-Day (around 60 hours) into this 80-minute soundscape. Put the whole thing up as a download as copyright issues are less of a concern this time, but it's also up at Mixcloud, etc.

https://centuriesofsound.com/2023/02/06/d-day-tuesday-6th-june-1944/

thank you for keeping us posted. i know i'm not the only one here who adores your mixes. keep it up and sorry i don't comment on them as often as i'd like to.

New one out today for patrons and it's brilliant!

https://www.patreon.com/posts/1944-part-three-79707269

Thank you!

It's out for everyone else too -

https://centuriesofsound.com/2023/03/07/1944-part-three/

(look for the Mixcloud player if you want the whole thing)

SO anyway here it is

https://i0.wp.com/centuriesofsound.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/1944-Part-3-Icon.gif

https://centuriesofsound.com/2023/03/07/1944-part-three

Features a good deal of original radio recordings, as discussed upthread I had WAY too many for 1944 and that's why everything has taken so long.

Aside from radio, film clips, speeches, etc, you can hear:

Louis Jordan, Boyd Raeburn, Dinah Washington, Wally Bastiansz, J.J. Johnson, Illinois Jacquet, Jack Mcvea, Nat King Cole, Les Paul, Johnny Miller, Lee Young, Stan Kenton, Phil Harris, Arsenio Rodríguez, Woody Guthrie, Tino Rossi, Sergei Provokiev, Duke Ellington, Mary Lou Williams, Lead Belly, Lucky Millinder, Wynonie Harris, Cecil Gant, Coleman Hawkins, Tampa Red, Charles Wolcott, Nestor Amaral, Bing Crosby, Walter Houston, Artie Shaw, Spike Jones, Julia Lee, The Andrews Sisters, Rev Utah Smith, Harry James, Josh White, Ernest Tubb, Sarah Vaughan, Dizzy Gillespie, Edmond Hall, Carmen Miranda, Ink Spots, Ella Fitzgerald, Judy Garland, Meade Lux Lewis, Zohrabai Ambalewali, Sons Of The Pioneers, Wee Bea Booze, Kansas City Five, Cootie Williams, Orquesta Casino De La Playa, Glenn Miller, Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday, Ángel D'Agostino and Ángel Vargas.

I love all of this and one reason why is the absence these mixes evoke - absence of the audience that was listening at the time, when this stuff was floating through the air, part of the mix of popular culture. You can imagine its contours, its reactions, its absent-mindedness, but the audio only partially helps you do that, the rest is a void, unknown apart from whatever knowledge you have to bear about 1944 (probably very little). But the audio remains, as vivid and true to itself as it was back then - probably truer, because of the incredible fidelity of today's equipment. Like touching the side of a cathedral.

Centuries of Sound is great! I’m sure that mix is amazing but I’m currently at 1917 (how have I never heard the incredible “Livery Stable Blues” before?) and I want to go in chronological order, not gonna skip any years. I’ll get to 1944 eventually. All in good time. I also love the Centuries of Sound radio podcast on Cambridge 105 radio. Great stuff!

Thanks both - yes TH, I do think about the lives of people at this time, have been researching my grandparents' wartime experiences for my other project and wonder what the world sounded like to them - this is why I have a doodlebug at the start of 1944 part 1. I do also wonder about how much restoration work I should do, it's a complicated question because if the quality is better than would have been experienced at the time then that doesn't feel right. I've used some of the worse quality radio recordings to add tuning-in effects, but this kind of pseudo-authenticity just reminds me that everything is constructed, and everything is a decision I've made rather than an untouched artefact.

Mr Snrub, yes Livery Stable Blues is a great record, it is a shame that the novelty jazz of 1917-1922 is so completely disregarded, though I can well understand the reasons.

New mix up, 1945 Part One

https://centuriesofsound.com/2023/04/10/1945-part-one/ - mixcloud player has the whole mix, dl is just the first hour.

https://i0.wp.com/centuriesofsound.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Raising_a_flag_over_the_Reichstag.jpg

The second world war has been a bit of a cursed time for this project, there is just too much history and not enough music going on, so let's view this one as a last grand flourish for the era, the mix is at least 50% speech radio recordings of various sorts, covering the first 4.5 months of 1945, a time when a lot of history went down. This is not what I had planned for the project, but I'm happy with how it turned out, and even happier that the next phase (and the foreseeable future) is music-centred. Though of course the war is not quite finished yet, so next time will be bebop, jump blues and Hiroshima.

1945 Part Two is up!

https://centuriesofsound.com/2023/05/23/1945-part-two/

Such a relief to finally get to the end if WWII and stop downloading those radio archives.

This one features -

Dizzy Gillespie
Xavier Cugat
Big Maceo
Mary Lou Williams
Bidu Sayao
Louis Jordan
Erskine Hawkins
Abbott & Costello
Stan Kenton
Roy Milton
Don Byas
Duke Ellington
The Les Paul Trio
Frank Sinatra
Ray McKinley Trio
Harry James
Illinois Jacquet
Trummy Young
Wynonie Harris
Miguel Caró
Spike Jones
Bob Wills
Nat King Cole
Lester Young
Luis Vola
Cecil Gant
Woody Herman
Dorothy Squires
Artie Shaw
Mukesh
Slim Gaillard Quartette
Lenny Tristano
Bing Crosby and Judy Garland
Benny Goodman
Jo Stafford
Billie Holiday
Charlie Parker
Charles Trenet
Django Reinhardt
Bill Stegmeyer
Eddy Arnold
Bill Monroe
Merle Travis
Jack Guthrie
Woody Guthrie
Arthur ‘Big Boy’ Crudup
Roosevelt Sykes
Joe Liggins
Rubberlegs Williams
Julia Lee
The Duriyapranit Piphat Ensemble & Chorus
Betty Hutton
Edmond Hall
Carmen Miranda
Hadda Brooks
Coleman Hawkins
Dexter Gordon
Alfredo De Angelis
Carlos Dante
Julio Martel
Johnny Moore
Gene Kelly
Kay Starr

https://i0.wp.com/centuriesofsound.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/War_Ends.jpg

FOUR BLOODY MONTHS, SORRY EVERYONE!

Here is the new mix, 1946 Part One - Things To Come

https://i0.wp.com/centuriesofsound.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Fqs0W7RXsAQtupr.jpg

Main blog post with preview podcast, embedded Mixcloud player - https://centuriesofsound.com/2023/10/13/1946-part-one-things-to-come/
Mixcloud - https://www.mixcloud.com/centuries_of_sound/1946-part-one-things-to-come/
Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/posts/1946-part-one-to-90857599

Might post the tracklist, as usual it is quite long.

Ok, tracklisting. Get ready for some scrolling.

0:00:00 Miguelito Valdes With Noro Morales' Orchestra - Rumba Rhapsody
(Clip from BBC war reporters visit to the Netherlands)
(Clip from The Big Sleep)
0:02:56 BBC - Television Is Here Again
0:03:33 Dizzy Gillespie Big Band - Things to Come
(Clip from BBC - Television Is Here Again)
0:06:51 Henry Red Allen - Count Me Out
(Clip from It's A Wonderful Life)
0:09:34 Amos Milburn - My Baby's Booging
0:11:47 Charlie Parker Septet - A Night In Tunisia (Two Versions)
0:15:08 Lennie Tristano Trio - Interlude [aka A Night In Tunisia]
(Clip from World News In Review)
0:18:19 Woody Herman Orchestra (cond. by Igor Stravinsky) - Ebony Concerto Part 1
(Clip from War Victims Find Haven In America)
0:21:16 Harry James - You'll Never Know
0:24:20 Don Byas - Gloria
(Philip Larkin - Going)
0:27:18 Coleman Hawkins And Orchestra - You Go To My Head
(Alan Lomax - Calypso After Midnight Introduction)
0:31:13 Ella Fitzgerald feat. Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five - Stone Cold Dead In The Market
0:33:50 Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys - Bob Wills Boogie
0:36:52 Nat King Cole Trio - Route 66
(Clip from Truman Speaks To Pathe News)
0:39:48 Baron Mingus & His Octet - This Subdues My Passion
(Clip from World News In Review)
0:42:41 Spike Jones & His City Slickers - Laura
(Clip from World News In Review)
0:45:50 Duke Ellington & His Orchestra - Happy-Go-Lucky Local
0:48:43 Duke Ellington - Bond Promo 4
0:49:52 Kenny Clarke and his 52nd Street Boys - Epistrophy
(Clip from The Big Sleep)
0:52:59 Manik Verma - Charkhi Vale O
0:55:49 Hermanos Huesca - La Bamba
(Clip from BBC - Television Is Here Again)
0:59:00 Boyd Raeburn - Body And Soul
1:01:59 Chanteurs A La Croix De Cuivre - Batata Dia Bwanga
1:04:46 Sister Ernestine Washington - God's Amazing Grace
1:07:32 Billie Holiday - Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans?
(Winston Churchill - Iron Curtain Speech)
1:09:40 Woody Herman Orchestra (cond. by Igor Stravinsky) - Ebony Concerto Part 1
(Clip from World News In Review)
1:11:36 Tabata Yoshiro - Kaeribune
(Clip from Inner Sanctum)
1:13:07 Charles Mingus Sextette (Vocal by Claude Trinier) - Weird Nightmare
1:16:06 Duke Of Iron - Introduction To Ugly Woman / Ugly Woman
1:19:17 Hoagy Carmichael - Huggin' And Chalkin'
(Clip from Casey Crime Photographer)
1:21:53 Benny Bell & Paul Wynn - Shaving Cream
1:23:13 Clyde Mccoy - Mr Wah Wah
1:25:27 Jimmy Mundy - Bumble Boogie
(Clip from Notorious)
1:27:05 Dexter Gordon Quintette - Dexter Digs In
1:29:22 Sacasas - Rumba Negra
(Clip from Inauguration of Cannes Film Festival)
1:32:04 El Marios All Girl Rumba Band - Babalu
1:34:27 Xavier Cugat With Miguelito Valdes - Babalu
(Clip from World News In Review)
1:37:16 Dizzy Gillespie - Convulsion
(Clip from Despotism)
1:39:46 Shalom Katz - Eil Malei Rachmim
(Clip from Despotism)
1:42:05 Charles Brown With Johnny Moore's Three Blazers - You Won't Let Me Go
(Clip from Despotism)
1:45:12 Woody Guthrie - Pastures Of Plenty
(Clip from Despotism)
1:47:40 James Baskett - Zip A Dee Doo Dah
(Clip from Despotism)
1:49:59 Spike Jones & His City Slickers - Jones Polka
1:52:34 Boyd Raeburn and his Orchestra - Boyd Meets Stravinsky
1:55:23 Dizzy Gillespie - Shaw 'nuff
1:58:25 Dinah Washington & Gerald Wilson & His Orchestra - Oo Wee Walkie Talkie
2:00:00 Bing Crosby - Pretending
2:02:38 Sarah Vaughan with John Kirby and his Orchestra - You Go to My Head
(Clip of Albert Einstein on Nuclear Weapons and World Government)
2:05:38 Woody Herman Orchestra (cond. by Igor Stravinsky) - Ebony Concerto Part 1
2:06:25 Piphat Phataya-Koson - Homrong Chan Chao (Thailand)
2:08:04 Duke Ellington and his Orchestra - Perfume Suite from Date with Duke
2:12:04 Dinah Washington - Joy Juice
(Clip from Inauguration Du Festival De Cannes 1946)
2:13:37 Edith Piaf - La Vie En Rose
(Clip from A Matter of Life & Death)
2:16:43 Astor Piazzolla & Francisco Fiorentino - Viejo Ciego
(Clip from Nye Bevan speech)
2:19:51 Neriman Altindag - Soyledi Yok Yok
(Clip from The Best Years of Our Lives)
2:24:11 Chet Atkins - Guitar Blues (Picking The Blue)
2:26:54 Harry Choates - Jole Blon
(Clip - British soldier in Greek Civil War)
2:29:38 Unknown Artist - Huculka & Kozachok
2:30:53 Lord Invader - Introduction to Tie-Tongue Baby / Tie-Tongue Baby
2:34:38 Macbeth The Great - Introduction to Do Lai Do / Do Lai Do
2:37:38 Oum Kalsoum - Excerpt from Nagh El Borda
(Clip of BBC journalist in Greek Civil War)
2:41:23 Erskine Hawkins - After Hours
(Clip from A Matter of Life & Death)
2:43:44 Jo Stafford - Come Rain Or Come Shine
(Clip from A Matter of Life & Death)
2:47:21 Sarah Vaughan with John Kirby and his Orchestra - It Might as Well Be Spring
(Clip from A Matter of Life & Death)
2:50:45 Billie Holiday - No Good Man
2:54:04 The Maddox Brothers & Rose - I Wish I Was A Single Girl Again
2:56:12 Benedito Lacerda & Pixinguinha - Ainda Me Recordo
2:57:30 Peggy Lee - I Don't Know Enough About You
(Clip from "The Seaside Reopens" - Pathe)
3:02:20 Ssekinomu - Ekyalema Nakato
3:02:46 Lusk, Gribble & York - Rolling River
3:05:00 Julia Lee - Lotus Blossom
(Clip from My Darling Clementine)
3:08:27 Teddy Wilson Quartet Quartet feat. Sarah Vaughan - September Song
(Clip from Inner Sanctum)

Thought that picture was from Stairway to Heaven/A Matter of Life and Death.

Yes, seems to be. I had it as one of my backgrounds in the early days of the pandemic.

you're right, the section from around 2:40 to 2:50 is based around samples from A Matter of Life and Death

Can’t wait to listen to this. I will probably burn a CD and give to my mom for Christmas - she was born in 1946.

Can’t wait to listen to this. I will probably burn a CD and give to my mom for Christmas - she was born in 1946.

― Tracer Hand, Saturday, 14 October 2023 18:06 (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

You may want to wait a month or so for 1946 Part Two to be out - the theme for that one (spoilers I guess) is Rock & Roll Starts in 1946

Not sure how you can put 6-7 hours audio on a CD - maybe I can break it into CD-sized up-to-74-minute chunks.

Maybe Tracer's mum has one of those fancy MP3 CD players

She does not 😭

I’m sure I can figure something out

I'll put something together for you

CaAL! I am embarrassed that you would even offer to do that. But like… I’m not going to tell you not to!?! That is so kind of you.

Not to really ladle it on, but she was diagnosed w Stage 4 pancreatic cancer about 2 years ago. She’s been doing incredibly well, considering. Her quality of life has barely changed. Of course obviously her whole mentality has been rearranged. She’s been thinking a lot about how she fits into the universe. Like even - particularly - spatially. I made an orrery for her out of paper and cardboard last year. I don’t know if that helped. But I see this is something similar. A marker in time, a slice of not exactly reality, but what was deemed worthy of recording and either transmitting or selling, the year she was born. She probably won’t recognise much of it, the same way I wouldn’t recognise most popular culture from 1974. But I think she will get a kick out of it, particularly the way you mix it all together.

Posting this here too because why not eh? Why not?

https://centuriesofsound.com/2023/10/25/a-1940s-halloween-from-centuries-of-sound/

https://i0.wp.com/centuriesofsound.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Untitled.jpg

1946 Part Two – That’s All Right For You

https://i0.wp.com/centuriesofsound.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Coleman_Hawkins_Gottlieb_03991.jpg

I know it's Coleman Hawkins, but this mix is basically "Rock & Roll Starts in 1946" + a few other bits.

Blog with all links is here - https://centuriesofsound.com/2023/11/21/1946-part-two-thats-all-right-for-you/
Mixcloud is here - https://www.mixcloud.com/centuries_of_sound/1946-part-two-thats-all-right-for-you/
Patreon is here - https://www.patreon.com/posts/1946-part-two-93180874

Tracer Hand, working on something for you!

I am actually home with my mom right now and I’ve been thinking about this. I recorded her today, answering questions about her childhood. She spent about 45 minutes getting up through age 5 lol.

Here you go then! I can also add a Christmas 1939-45 mix OR if you wait a week or two a Christmas 1946-1954 mix I'm working on.

Here is the link

(For anyone else, this is the two mixes turned into six CD-sized mixes, each with artwork and tracklist, please grab it yrselves if you like)

CaAL you are my hero! Thank you so, so much. (And I’m very psyched for the Xmas mix.)

No worries! Just happy that someone has a use for these.

Anxiously awaiting the Xmas mixes

Seriously, this is heroic.

The first three Christmas mixes are already out there

https://centuriesofsound.com/2022/12/14/christmas-1902-1924-deep-magic-from-before-the-dawn-of-time-the-mix/

https://centuriesofsound.com/2021/12/20/centuries-of-sound-presents-a-holiday-between-the-wars-christmas-records-1926-1938/

https://centuriesofsound.com/2022/12/20/a-wartime-christmas-1939-1945/

Working on the next one (1946-1954) now, any ideas for a name are welcome!

Oh, awesome! Downloading now. Thank you CAAL!

CAAL have you got captions for the great cover art on those CDs? Particularly interested to know what those mysterious holes are that people are looking through.

Listening to the Halloween mix on Mixcloud. This is exceedingly well done.

Did that 1946-1954 Christmas mix ever get posted anywhere? (the Wartime Christmas mix was a hit at my house)
Great work on these CAAL!

just finishing it off today!

any suggestions for the name? "Post-war Xmas" is a bit dull, this is full of classic famous stuff

istr Michael Daddino called his late lamented 1950 Spotify playlist “The Bomb In The Heart Of The Century”

The sixpence in the heart of the Christmas pudding of the century

Stuck in the middle with Yule

If I Knew You Were Comin I’d Have A Baked A Cake

Xmas (Formerly Known as Christmas)

Enjoy Your Christmas (It’s Later Than You Think)

Haha, excellent :)

You were quick in there!

For everyone else:

Baby It’s Cold War Outside – Christmas Records 1946-1954

https://i0.wp.com/centuriesofsound.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Cover-Art.jpg

0:00:00 Red Skelton – Clip from Raleigh-Kool Radio Program – Christmas Stories (1946)
0:00:04 Nat King Cole – The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas to You) (1946)
0:03:11 Jimmy Stewart – Clip from It’s A Wonderful Life (1946)
0:03:50 Bing Crosby with John Scott Trotter Orchestra – White Christmas (1947)
0:06:43 Burns & Allen – Clip from Christmas Presents (1946)
0:07:31 Guy Lombardo & The Andrews Sisters – Winter Wonderland (1946)
0:10:09 Abbott & Costello – Clip from Christmas Show (1947)
0:11:24 Frankie Carle & His Orchestra with Majorie Hughes – Little Jack Frost Get Lost (1947)
0:14:02 Gene Lockhart – Clip from Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
0:14:32 Gene Autry – Here Comes Santa Claus (1947)
0:17:02 Life of Riley – Clip from Family Christmas Present (1947)
0:17:05 Spike Jones & His City Slickers – All I Want For Christmas (Is My Two Front Teeth) (1948)
0:20:12 Phil Harris & Alice Faye Show – Clip from Christmas Present (1948)
0:20:23 Andrews Sisters & Danny Kaye – Merry Christmas At Grandmother’s House (1948)
0:22:38 David Niven – Clip from The Bishop’s Wife (1947)
0:23:01 Kay Starr – December (1949)
0:26:21 Unknown – Radio Commercial for Eggnog (1949)
0:26:36 Louis Jordan & Ella Fitzgerald – Baby, It’s Cold Outside (1949)
0:29:15 Much Binding In The Marsh – Clip from Christmas Programme (1948)
0:29:28 Amos Milburn – Let’s Make Christmas Merry, Baby (1949)
0:32:18 Dragnet – Clip from 22 Calibre Rifle for Christmas (1950)
0:32:23 Lionel Hampton Orchestra – Boogie Woogie, Santa Claus (1950)
0:35:04 Matinee with Bob and Ray – Clip from Christmas Season Program (1949)
0:35:08 Henry Jerome and His Orchestra – Sleigh Ride (1950)
0:36:47 Stars Over Hollywood – Clip from A Christmas Carol (1951)
0:36:57 Sauter-Finegan Orchestra – Midnight Sleighride (1952)
0:39:13 Suspense – Clip from The Night Before Christmas (1951)
0:39:35 Weekend Hyttens Kor And Orkester – Bjaldeklang (Jingle Bells) (1951)
0:41:53 Jack Benny Program – Clip from Christmas Shopping (1951)
0:42:26 Jan Garber And His Orchestra – Frosty The Snowman (1951)
0:45:01 Let’s Pretend – Clip from ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas (1952)
0:45:23 Les Brown Orchestra – Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! (1952)
0:47:46 Billy May and His Orchestra – Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer Mambo (1954)
0:50:20 Bing Crosby with The Rhythmaires – Sleigh Ride / Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer (1953)
0:55:30 John Payne – Clip from Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
0:55:54 Eartha Kitt – Santa Baby (1953)
0:59:13 Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet – Clip from The Lost Christmas Gift (1953)
0:59:16 Clyde McPhatter & The Drifters – White Christmas (1954)
1:01:53 Truth or Consequences – Clip from Christmas Show (1947)

...and the previous mixes

Christmas 1902-1924: Deep Magic From Before The Dawn Of Time
A Holiday Between The Wars, Christmas Records 1926-1938
A Wartime Christmas 1939-1945

Nice to see some Bob and Ray in there!

Not very much though I'm afraid.

Any Bob and Ray is better than no Boh and Ray

ah -- good call. i kept coming up short. thanks.

anthony kiedis and flea produced a biopic about him!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkN2YS-myAg

Sorry for the self-indulgence but this might be the best thing that's ever happened to me.

Wonderful collection of music from 1947.
for anyone needing respite from all the horror.

1947 Part Two - Boptamism https://t.co/7fOYQkFPMT via @Centuries_Sound

— MsAlfieB 🇵🇸 #StopThe Genocide#BDS#ItWasAScam (@duduschka) April 20, 2024

I just played a couple of months then my speaker ran out of juice, so waiting to charge it, as laptop speaker so anaemic. He's not well, very weak, and it's hard to find stuff to cheer him up... he loves it, and me too. So many wonderful people we never heard of....

— MsAlfieB 🇵🇸 #StopThe Genocide#BDS#ItWasAScam (@duduschka) April 20, 2024

omg is that who I think it is

Yes she is, and yes he is!

Amazing

hooooooly moly!

Shit, is that Alfie Benge?!

Amazing in itself, but to think a simple 'he' could signify so much more!

holy crap, that's amazing. can someone please send more stuff like that to cheer bob up?!?!