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Grand Ole Opry Remembered

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Here is a rare episode of the Grand Ole Opry that Flatt & Scruggs appeared on in 1956. Can you recall watching this live, would like to here your comments.

Host: Carl Smith - Guests include: Buddy Ebsen, Chet Atkins, Collins Kids, The Jordanaires, June Carter, Flatt and Scruggs, Minnie Pearl, etc. Sponsored by Purina with original commercials from April 28, 1956. One interesting scene is Buddy Ebsen dancing for Minnie Pearl in a pair of cowboy boots.



 
 
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Please meet: Jim Beshires (Savannah Morning News)

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By Eric Curl

Southside resident Jim Beshires is not a big fan of today’s movies and television programs. The 67-year-old retiree prefers old radio programs produced during the medium’s “golden age” that spanned 1930 to 1960.

“There was no television for that era, or very little, so people listened to the radio,” Beshires said. “We called it the theater of the mind.”

That appreciation of the medium led him to form what is now the Old Time Radio Researchers Group in 2000.

Before the group’s formation, Beshires said a number of dealers were selling the same episodes under different names to maximize their profits.

The group aims to put a stop to the practice by accurately cataloging the programs and making them available to fans. There are now more than 1,500 members around the world and about 60,000 downloadable episodes available online for free.

“We’ve put some unscrupulous dealers out of the way,” Beshires said. (Read Entire Article)
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Bold Venture is a 1951-1952 syndicated radio series starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. Morton Fine and David Friedkin scripted the taped series for Bogart's Santana Productions.

Salty seadog Slate Shannon (Bogart) owns a Cuban hotel sheltering an assortment of treasure hunters, revolutionaries and other shady characters. With his sidekick and ward, the sultry Sailor Duval (Bacall), tagging along, he encounters modern-day pirates and other tough situations while navigating the waters around Havana. Aboard his boat, the Bold Venture, Slate and Sailor experience "adventure, intrigue, mystery and romance in the sultry settings of tropical Havana and the mysterious islands of the Caribbean."

Bold Venture [ZIV_28] - Slate Shannon, Sucker [HQ@128-44]
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Four Star Playhouse

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Four Star Playhouse aired on radio from NBC on Sunday nights at 8:00 PM for 13 episodes. Premiere episode was on 1949-07-03 and the final episode was 1949-09-25. The series was primarily an anthology type drama. The shows starred Rosalind Russell, Fred MacMurray, Loretta Young and Robert Cummings.


The series was brought back as Four Star Playhouse as a television anthology series that ran from 1952 to 1956, sponsored in its first bi-weekly season by The Singer Company; Bristol-Myers became an alternate sponsor when it became a weekly series in the fall of 1953. The original premise was that Charles Boyer, Ida Lupino, David Niven, and Dick Powell would take turns starring in episodes. However, several other performers took the lead from time to time, including Ronald Colman and Joan Fontaine.

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GUNSMOKE

The Avengers Season 11 Episode 391 Aired: 12/18/1965


Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West.

The radio version ran from 1952 to 1961, and John Dunning writes that among radio drama enthusiasts "Gunsmoke is routinely placed among the best shows of any kind and any time." The television version ran for 20 seasons from 1955 to 1975, and still remains the United States' longest-running prime time, live-action drama with 635 episodes.


One of my favorite You Tube Channels that you might enjoy is "The Gunsmoke Channel"



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Sad news. Fred Foy past away.

For those not familiar with the name, this might help.

 

"Hi-Yo, Silver! A fiery horse with the speed of light, a cloud of dust and a hearty "Hi-Yo Silver"... The Lone Ranger! With his faithful Indian companion, Tonto, the daring and resourceful masked rider of the plains led the fight for law and order in the early West. Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear. From out of the past come the thundering hoof-beats of the great horse Silver. The Lone Ranger rides again!"

 

Fred Foy was the announcer for the Lone Ranger and the Green Hornet. Another voice from the golden age silenced.

 

Mr. Foy passed on December 22. He was 89.

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The Bing Crosby Show 531220 Ep52 Christmas Show (HQ)

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I would like to wish all the members and visitors of Times Past a Merry Christmas. It is a wonderful time.

 

The Bing Crosby Show from December 20, 1953 on CBS sponsored by General Electric. The first tune is, "Adeste Fideles." Bing concludes with "White Christmas and "Silent Night." Bing Crosby, Ken Carpenter (announcer), John Scott Trotter and His Orchestra, Jud Conlon's Rhythmaires, Bill Morrow (producer, transcriber), Murdo McKenzie (producer, transcriber).

 

The Bing Crosby Show 531220 Ep52 Christmas Show (HQ)

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I first made the acquaintance of Ann Blyth on the film set of the filming of Danger Signal (1945). Warner Bros had borrowed Ann for this film. But burring filming, Ann suffered a broken back in a sledding accident while briefly vacationing in Lake Arrowhead and her mother and aunt went to Lake Arrowhead for a week. Ann had to be replaced in the role. It was burring this time that, Ann and became friends I would push her around in that wheelchair day after day for over a year and a half in a back brace). It was also at that time I made the acquaintance of Charlie Marie Gordon we also have been friends for a very long time. After two years Ann got a cameo roll with Universal she was still her in her wheelchair-in Brute Force (1947).

It was a close friend, Charles K. Feldman, a talent agent since 1932, who first Introduced Me to Ann Blyth.

It was Feldman negotiated on behalf of Hawks to direct Sergeant York (1941), the Jesse L. Lasky independent production that became a box office smash. During World War II, Hawks and Feldman organized H-F Productions an independent company that acted more like a liaison with the studios to provide the director more creative leverage. H-F acquired talent and story properties, developed material, and then sold each project as a package to a studio, usually with Hawks as producer-director. Two Hawks successes at Warner Bros. originated in this manner, To Have and Have Not (1944) and The Big Sleep (1946).

On vacation in Lake Arrowhead wilh Ann Blyth these photos were taken before her sledding accident. (see my photo album( - ("My time behind a film camera"). Just a few of my still photos of Ann Blyth.

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Sunny Valley

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Sunny Valley is about the lives of people who lived in a serene little town with music from The Sunny Valley Boys and Jed and Ma Simpkins who run a general store. The show was broadcast from Los Angeles, California and sponsored by The Friendly Dentist Dr. Cowan. It was written and produced by Noreen Gammill. All Shows Sunny Valley.zip Single Shows Sunny_Valley_37-02-14_Valentine_Day_Show.mp3 Sunny_Valley_37-03-02_Could_This_Be_The_Missing_Mitchell_Boy.mp3 Sunny_Valley_37-03-11_First_Tune_Take_Me_Back_To_My_Boot.mp3 Sunny_Valley_37-03-12_First_Tune_Rockaby_Moon.mp3 Sunny_Valley_37-03-16_First_Tune_When_Its_Autumn_In_The.mp3 .
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Jon Provost (born Jonathan Provost on March 12, 1950, in Los Angeles, California) is a former child actor of film and television. He is best known for his role as young Timmy Martin in the CBS series, Lassie. For seven seasons, 1957–1964, audiences grew to love Timmy and his adventures with Lassie.

He has worked with everyone from Jack Benny to Bing Crosby, but this past Thursday on Dec 2nd, Jon was interviewed on the trivia podcast "Wait, I Know This!". The show interviews a celebrity from the world of TV, music or film and you get the backstage stories. One of my favorite podcast.

Here is the interview.


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If you would like to jog your memory before you listen to the interview, watch a few of the Lassie shows with Jon Provost as Timmy.


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Private Files Of Rex Saunders

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The Private Files of Rex Saunders aired Wednesdays at 10:30 P.M. on NBC starring Britain's Rex Harrison in the role of a Manhattan amateur detective along with his sidekick Alec played by Leon Janney. The show was produced and directed by Hyman Brown along with the writing talent of Ed Adamson. RCA sponsor. All Shows Private Files Of Rex Saunders.zip Single Shows PFRS_51-05-02_01_Lady_With_Hate_In_Her_Heart.mp3 PFRS_51-05-09_02_A_Shocking_still_Life.mp3 PFRS_51-05-16_03_Done_to_Death.mp3 PFRS_51-05-23_04_Game_with_Death.mp3 PFRS_51-05-30_05_Shallow_Graves.mp3 PFRS_51-06-06_06_Plan_in_the_Killers_Mind.mp3 PFRS_51-06-13_07_Trip_to_the_Death_House.mp3 PFRS_51-06-20_08_Murder_in_Killers_Mind.mp3 PFRS_51-06-27_09_Namely_Murder.mp3 PFRS_51-07-04_10_Hidden_Thoughts_in_a_Feminine_..> PFRS_51-07-11_11_Murder_is_a_Silent_Companion.mp3 PFRS_51-07-18_12_Until_Death_Do_Us_Part.mp3 PFRS_51-07-25_13_Worth_more_than_its_Weight_in_..> PFRS_51-08-01_14_The_Human_Game_Last_Episode.mp3 .
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Rogers of the Gazette

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Rogers of the Gazette aired on Wednesdays at 9:30 p.m. on CBS Radio starring Will Rogers Jr.(October 20, 1911–July 9, 1993), son of legendary humorist Will Rogers (1879–1935).

Homespun, slow-spoken Will is the friendly editor of a country newspaper who struggles against the pressures and prejudices of small-town life. He drops gems of wisdom in his razzing voice, perhaps in a questioning manner, of his humorist father.



Download more shows in the Times Past OTR Archives


Here is a post I did back in May that ties in quiet well.

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The Story of Will Rogers was a 1952 movie biography of humorist and movie star Will Rogers. Starring in the production was Will Rogers, Jr. Jane Wyman.

William Penn Adair "Will" Rogers (November 4, 1879 – August 15, 1935) was a Cherokee cowboy, comedian, humorist, social commentator, vaudeville performer and actor.

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Known as Oklahoma's favorite son, Rogers was born to a prominent Indian Territory family. He traveled around the world three times, made 71 movies (50 silent films and 21 "talkies"), wrote more than 4,000 nationally-syndicated newspaper columns, and became a world-famous figure.

By the mid-1930s, Rogers was adored by the American people, and was the top-paid movie star in Hollywood at the time. Rogers died in 1935 with aviator Wiley Post, when their small airplane crashed near Barrow, Alaska Territory.

Below is the original movie trailer, and also the radio version from Hollywood Radio Theater as AFRS called it. But also known as episode 812 of Lux Radio Theater. The radio version has the original stars Will Rogers, Jr. and Jane Wyman.

Kind of interesting to watch the movie trailer, and then listen to the radio version.




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Old Radio Times

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"The 'Old Radio Times' is the official publication of the Old Time Radio Researchers. Bi-monthly readers are treated to informational and entertaining features by the hobby’s best writers and researchers. Articles are varied, but are centralized on events surrounding the Golden Age of Radio. Topics include, but are not limited too, how shows were produced, bios and events in OTR personalities lives, detailed series descriptions and information, current research techniques, transcribing techniques, rare OTR photographs, OTR editorials, and much more. Enjoy reading articles written by many of the world's most noted OTR authorities and famous authors who have become regular contributors to the Times. For the OTR fan this e-zine is a must."

You will now find on the bottom Tab Bar a button for Old Radio Times. By clicking on the button you can select to read on-line some of the current issues. So kick back and be entertained with this great publication. Also if you like the publication would like to subscribe, click here. Enjoy and support The OTRR.
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A Statement of Opinion.

Times past is not just any website. This site is a home away from home for many of us, me included. The content here takes me to a time past and to wonderful places I can only visit in my mind and imagination. It can be a passport to intrigue, a ticket to an alien landscape and culture, a trip of fantastic adventure or a date with the bringer of doom. It can be many things to many people. To me it is the gateway to many trips in my minds eye.
this site is constantly evolving and growing in many ways. We operate on a shoe-sting budget in a dwindling world economy and try and improve the experience through volunteer effort. We cannot hire state of the art graphic artists to bring more life and variety into our home away from Home. We rely on the amateur ingenuity and efforts of our members. One such member gives an inordinate amount of time and magic to our pages. She is an Administrator who selflessly gives not only of her administrative talent but also of her amateur artistic ability. She has been spending hours of her own priceless time attempting to bring this site out out of the brown and yellow world it is encased in. Though it may not be what would be interpreted by some as state of the art according to professional Graphic Artists.There is nothing professional about this site except the cost to our members. It is simply the combined creativity and effort of our members. While some choose to use their efforts to complain about what is done others are using their time to do and create an evolving unique experience that is us. I prefer to use my time to contribute in any way I can. I do not have the ability or the expertise needed to design web pages, I simply do other things to help out. I prefer to say Thank You Katy for your time and your efforts to bring us out of the drab brown and yellow world of Times Past.

That being said I invite others to contribute to this space their positive or negative thoughts on anything happening on Times Past. Please temper your negative responses with realistic suggestions and hopefully a volunteering of your own talents and time to enrich the experience of Times Past. In other words idle criticism is counterproductive, so please make your negative comments constructive. That is the current end of my thoughts and opinion. Now it is time for all of your comments for the membership to discuss. ------------- Rick (Site Administration).
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Courtesy and Etiquette Towards Fellow Members

11/07/2010
My Opinion,

I shouldn't have to tell members that other members have the same rights as you do. No matter what you feels about anther member courtesy should be observed at all times. If what you have to say to someone is nasty, then there should be restraint. That is the time to unload the problem to the Administrators or/and the owner of the site. Although we shouldn't have to become involved in petty squabbles we have to when asked to. he said or she said is not what I signed up for when I became an administrator. I became an administrator to physically make this a better site and to keep the outside forces outside.

If you cannot be nice, do not comment. You are not an administrator of the site and you do not set policy. All friendships aside, the site comes first. If you need rules to abide by number One is Do not be nasty to other members. They have as much right to be here as you do. Number Two, Posting is not a requirement for membership but courtesy is. If you request something PLEASE is mandatory as well as THANK YOU.

We all have our own personal problems as well as our own pet peeves. They should be left at the door to the site when we enter. None of us are children chronologically, but childishness appears to be alive and well on Times Past. I am not speaking of any individual, but of a collective we. There are those that choose to rise above the squalor. You know who you are and I commend you. When one of these who rises above has to lower themselves into the muck, then I have no choice but to speak out. This site is here for one express purpose. It is a community of like minded people to preserve, trade and discuss OTR/NTR and Audio Books. Nowhere in that purpose do the words complain, bitch or otherwise harangue other members appear. In the spirit of what I have stated: Please be courteous to other members even when you do not feel that way. There are many ways to say things. Please pick the better way. If the problem is bad enough for you to be angry then place it in the mailbox of the Administrators and the Owner of the site. ---------- Rick (Site Administrator)
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Smiley Burnette Show, The (OTRR Certified)


Smiley Burnette hosted his own radio show called "The Smiley Burnette Show". It was recorded on large transcription records, which were used in the same manner we use cassette tapes and CD's today. The transcription records were sent to the radio stations to be placed on the airwaves. Smiley produced and transcribed his radio show under the "RadiOzark" recording label.

Smiley Burnett, "the clown prince of Western pictures," throws out jokes and Western music like a real pro in this rare Western radio show. Smiley was the first Western movie musical side-kick. Although a great composer and musical genius (he could play over 105 instruments), he is best known as the sidekick to such greats as Gene Autry, Charles Starrett, Roy Rogers, and Sunset Carson.

However, he hadn't even been in the West when he wrote his first cowboy composition, "The Round-up in Cheyenne," for Gene Autry's recording in 1934. After an inspirational drive through New Mexico and Arizona on his way to LA, Smiley fell in love with the West and went on to write almost all of Gene Autry's movie songs. Smiley performed in many Western movies and was a guest on various Western radio show, such as National Barn Dance.

With all of his fame and several million dollars of fortune, Smiley continued to be a down-to-earth simple man. He loved to cook (although he hated spinach and watermelon). He owned a drive-in chain, "The Checkered Shirt," and lived with his wife in a San Fernando trailer park. (From the Old Time Radio Research Group)
Smiley Burnette Official Web Site





You can find the shows in the Times Past OTR Archives
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THE FILMS AND DRAMA PLAYS WERE THE BEST.THE LAUGHTER WAS THE GREATEST.BETTER THEN ANY TV PROGRAMS TODAY.YOU HAD NO PICTURE .BUT IN YOUR MINDS EYE YOU DID.WE HAVE LUX RADIO THEATRE WHICH IS VERY CLOSE TO THEM.BUT A LOT WAS BRITISH .WHICH YOU CAN ONLY LISTEN TO IF YOU PAY FOR THEM NOW.,LIKE PC 49, THE MAN IN BLACK..SO,MANY GOOD SHOWS CAN YOU HELP.AND BRING SOME OF THESE GOOD RADIO SHOWS WE HAD THEN.TO THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE NEVER FORGOTTEN THEM,YOUR WEB-SITE NOW IS THE BEST.I DOWNLOAD LOTS OF THE SHOWS ONTO CD/DVD FOR ALL MY FRIENDS WHOM DON'T HAVE A COMPUTER.AND CAN REMEMBER THE VERY GOOD DAYS OF RADIO.
WHEN YOU LISTEN TO THE RADIO TO DAY.ITS JUST MUSIC.MOST OF IT.WE DON'T UNDERSTAND,THEIR IS NO TUNE.NO GOOD PLAYS .OR FILMS TO LISTEN TO FROM START TO FINISH.,NO ENTERTAINMENT ON THE RADIO ANY-MORE.NOT FOR PEOPLE WHO LIKE GOOD ENTERTAINMENT ANYWAY.
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"Hearts in Harmony”
was a five day a week soap opera syndicated in the mid-West from 1941 into the 1950s sponsored by grocery store chain, Kroger. It's the story of a poor young man, Steve Parker, who wants to be a composer and falls in love with a young beautiful singer named Penny from a wealthy family. Drama and heartbreak follow and of course lots of music. A true dramatic soap opera serial.


 Added about 450 shows in the here

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The Enduring Popularity of Sherlock Holmes

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The ever-lasting popularity of Sherlock Holmes has contributed to hundreds of works based on the character. You can find old time radio shows, full cast dramatizations, stage and screen adaptations, readings of short stories and books; if you can think of it, it has been done. Even two episodes of Star Trek The Next Generation, the popular TV series, featured Sherlock Holmes.

If you have ever listen to audio recordings of Sherlock Holmes, or any audio book for that matter, the narrator, or what I like to call the storyteller, makes all the difference in how enjoyable the story is. Take for example narrator David Ian Davies from One Voice Recordings. The magnitude of distinctly unique voices he performs of the characters creates a magically ensconce and elegant listening experience. Listen to this sample from Audible.com of "Sherlock Holmes and the Shakespeare Globe Murders" narrated by David Ian Davies: Listen

Whatever has sustained this fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the enduring popularity of Sherlock Holmes will continue no doubt. Is it his savvy logical reasoning, his ability to take on almost any disguise, or his forensic science skills to solve a problematic case. Anyway for all of us Sherlockian enthusiast, it is not just another detective case to be solved, with Holmes it is an adventure.
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The House On Haunted Hill (1959) with Vincent Price

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House on Haunted Hill is a 1959 American B movie horror film from Allied Artists. It was directed by William Castle, written by Robb White, and starring Vincent Price as eccentric millionaire Fredrick Loren. He and his fourth wife, Annabelle, have invited five people to the house for a "Haunted House" party. Whoever stays in the house for one night will earn $10,000 each. As the night progresses, all the guests are trapped inside the house with ghosts, murderers, and other terrors.

Cast

* Vincent Price as Frederick Loren, a millionaire whose first three wives all died suspicious deaths
* Carolyn Craig as Nora Manning, a secretary for one of Mr Loren's companies supports her whole family
* Richard Long as Lance Schroeder, a pilot
* Elisha Cook as Watson Pritchard, a man whose sister-in-law and brother were murdered in the house; the owner of the property
* Carol Ohmart as Annabelle Loren, Frederick's fourth wife
* Alan Marshal as Dr. David Trent, a psychiatrist
* Julie Mitchum as Ruth Bridgers, a columnist with a gambling problem
* Leona Anderson as Mrs. Slydes, a housekeeper
* Howard Hoffman as Jonas Slydes, another housekeeper
* Skeleton - Himself




Download:
iPod/Zune (310.4 M) AVI (700.2 M)
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