sweartotellthetruth

Swear to Tell the Truth for Tuesday, July 9th, 2013 (1:00-2:30 pm)

It was in January that we presented a full-length feature on the the Victor label’s Bluebird subsidiary, the brand logo that included so much excellent blues, country music and jazz in the 1930s. Bluebird was a budget label, created in 1932 to sell music while the Depression was on and abandoned in 1944. We promised in January to present a feature on the Victor label’s full-price blues catalogue before the Bluebird logo was created and that will be the subject of this week’s program–Victor blues recordings between 1926 and 1931. Victor was a late entry to blues recording and the catalogue was not vast but it had quality. In addition, the venture into “race” recording came about the same time as Victor introduced a new electric recording system so Victor’s blues records were fine technically as well as artistically.  One factor that inhibited the development of an extensive blues catalogue is that few records were made in Victor’s home base of Camden, New Jersey, or in New York or Chicago. Most Victor blues recordings in the twenties were the result of “field trips” to locations like Memphis and Atlanta.

On the show: 

Dinwiddie Colored Quartet (1902) –  Mamie Smith  –  Julius Daniels – Bobby Leecan’s Need-More Band – Ishman Bracey – Jim Jackson – Cannon’s Jug Stompers – Sippie Wallace – Luke Jordan – and others

Listen to the program at FM 93.3 in Hamilton or on CFMU online at cfmu.mcmaster.ca. The program will be available to stream or as a podcast until August 6th.

Contact Us

To reach us with comments or queries, write us at sweartotellthetruth@gmail.com.

You can also follow the program at sweartotellthetruth@nosignifying on Twitter.

Next week (July 16th)

No plan for next week beyond the promise of some kind of eclectic mix with blues, soul and gospel. We may present our Louisiana Music special  on July 30th and we are considering a repeat of the Alan Lomax Southern Journey special for August 6th.

cmc