Spinning My Dad’s Vinyl

Here's a disk that was in the record player stack every December. It was definitely played during Christmas eve and day...a lot! You can tell by the shape it's in.  This is one of 12 records by this artist and one of a large list of Christmas Recordings from my dad’s collection. And it once again includes my dad’s favorite trumpet player SINGING a song. So get ready to feel that south of the borde...

Even though he was mostly into early jazz and pop, my dad liked his cowboy music too. And he bought a great collection in a 7-record box set. We’ve already featured two of those records in previous episodes. This record features a lot of music you have probably heard over the years yourself, but most likely by other bands. In fact, the eight songs you’ll hear have been recorded more than a thousan...

Here’s another great compilation album from my father’s collection. It’s filled with music from some pretty big names in the music world. And every tune swings…hard. There is some serious 1950s grooving going on within these recordings. And it was put together to promote pens. And not the ballpoint kind. So, get ready to hear some of the most uptempo music you’ll find on this show with Volume 154:...

Here’s a fun find from my father’s LPs and an artist that we have not gotten to yet despite my dad having a couple records from him. He’s a piano player you might not have heard of, but you’ve probably heard in many famous recordings, including Elvis’ Heartbreak Hotel. He has also covered many hits and made hits for himself. All in his slip-note style. And he liked recording TV themes, as you’ll h...

Normally when I see that an album has been released by the Longines Symphonette Society, I’m a little leary about what’s actually on it. I’ve been burned before. For example, the Longines album in episode 30 with Bing Crosby featured on the front cover was just some of his favorite recordings, not necessarily him. After carefully researching the music on this record, I think I have found a gem. It...

It was 60 years ago today, at 12:30 PM local Dallas Time that those terrible shots rang out. I was only 16 months old when it happened. Welcome to a special extra episode of Spinning My Dad’s Vinyl. My dad’s collection is known for its extensive and eclectic mix of music and other albums. This is one of those Other Albums. My dad was a big enough fan of the 35th president of the United States that...

We slide now quite nicely into the first record of a two album set of popular New York City Jazz musicians taking their music around the U.S. In fact, according to the album back cover, they performed in front of 200 thousand fans during 37 concerts in 25 cities. This is one of those concerts. So get ready to hear the East-West Coast All Stars with music refined at a famed jazz club named after on...

This is a special milestone episode. It's November 2023. Four years since my dad said, “here, have all my records to do with them what you want,” and four years minus a month since he died. It was a couple of months after that when I came up with the idea for this show to share this wonderful collection rather than sell it. We are now at episode 150! Along the way on this musical journey through m...

My dad did try to connect us to all sorts of music through his record collection. I have a separate pile of records filled with just music for children. I've mentioned the Teddy Bears Picnic album in a previous show. But my parents made sure we weren't only listening to the classic children's tunes, they made sure we knew what real classical music was. And they bought records like this one that he...

Once again we reach into my dad’s stack of shellac records where we pull out another big name among the early record labels…Decca. It’s a label that saw its share of some of the biggest names in the recording industry. Several you have heard on this show. And if you’re watching the video version, you’ll see that I pulled out my old timey RCA Ribbon mic. I thought it would give this show extra atmo...

Music has always been important and supported in the region where I grew up. The local county community college has been the focus of many concerts, both that I’ve observed and participated in, over the years. And their musical legacy goes back a long way. This album is a great example of what happens when there is civic pride in the talented music makers of the area. And the sponsor of this recor...

This is a great compilation album of jazz artists who all recorded for Roost Records. These are some major stars that appeared on a minor label. And once I try to figure out what the characters are doing on the album cover, I’ll try to explain it to you. So get ready to hear some memorable musicians in their own version of an O.R. in Volume 146: Operation Jazz. Credits and copyrights Various – Ope...

One of the unique aspects of my dad’s collection is how many historically significant records he has in it. In this episode, we feature an example of this. This comedian, and this album, were the first to win a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Performance - Spoken, when the Academy first introduced that category in 1959. So, get ready for a man on a stool who often pretended he was on the phone in Vol...

This is a special edition. Its timing only has a little to do with the fact that it’s the beginning of Halloween season around here. The musicians you will hear have all been heard in previous episodes of this show. A few of them might have played together at one time or another. None of these songs are found on the same album. But the artists have one thing in common. All of their final resting p...

Of course my dad loved his opera. What music collection in any Italian household was without some of the world’s finest music. Several of the songs on this album had special meaning for my parents. It’s music from a singer they saw at least once in concert. He held a special place in both their hearts as one who could deliver Italian music at its purest. So, get ready to hear one of the best to ev...

Here’s another gem of a find from my dad’s collection. Not only is the album cover attention grabbing with five stuffed TIGERS playing various instruments. But how they’re the wrong animals according to the album title. Faulty album cover aside, this is true roots of dixieland music with a twist.  So get ready for a Sousa good time with Volume 142: Parading Bobcats. Credits and copyrights Bob Cros...

This is the third of eight records my dad had of this orchestra leader. He was an innovator who used the voice as an instrument, not as a vocalist. The previous episode we featured Ray on is my most viewed on YouTube…by a lot! Let’s hope this one gets past the copyright police unlike the first time I featured this artist. So get ready to hear a multi-million selling recording musical style in Volu...

Here’s another album in my dad’s collection that featured a group of jazz musicians recording an album before playing the same music on live TV days later. This time, the live TV show was a drama about a jazz trumpet player in the 1920s. Several of the musicians you’ll hear had speaking parts in the show as well as playing some great music.  So get ready to hear Ruby Braff as Spencer Lee playing m...

While my dad had a handful of polka records, I had at least heard of the songs and musicians on them. Not this one. In fact, I’ll have to use the album cover to…uh…cover the info I usually do on each episode. The internet not only had no idea who the band leader was, but had no idea who wrote any of the music. That doesn’t matter. This music always means there’s fun to be had. So get ready to hear...

Latin jazz, especially Cuban music, was wildly popular in the 1950s and my dad’s collection has plenty of examples of that. That popularity is partly because of the artist you are about to hear. He’s really known for his mambo recordings. This style of music is just a slower tempo. But not much slower. So, get ready to hear The King of Latin Jazz in Volume 138: Cha Cha With Tito. Credits and copyr...

We pull out the second of five records my dad has from this artist. His career started in the late 1930s and spanned almost three decades where he found success and recorded over 100 songs that became hits on the pop charts. So get ready for him to meander through some older hits in Volume 137: Nat is Ramblin'. Credits and copyrights Nat King Cole – Ramblin' Rose Label: Capitol Records – T 1793 Fo...

Here’s an album I used to steal so much from my dad’s collection I thought it actually might be mine when I went through his records. This entertainer had an unmistakable voice, an unmistakable style, AND unmistakable cool. He seemed to always sing the most recognizable version of most of the standards. And he only ever needed one name to introduce him. So get ready to hear from who I think is the...

The team of Rodgers and Hammerstein was a multiple award-winning and highly influential broadway show writing duo. They also weren't afraid of touching on controversial subjects in their shows. The show we will be hearing music from started as a book, became a highly successful broadway show, then an award-winning movie. So, get ready to hear cuts from one of the two copies my dad had of this soun...

After this episode we will be two thirds of the way through a great Jack Benny hosted box set from my dad’s collection. The six records of the set had Benny reminiscing about the era when most families were crowded around their radios instead of their television sets for their news and entertainment. This record had the same subjects on both sides as episode 92 of this show.  So get ready for a se...

We break out another of my dad's favorite musicians, but he's not a trumpet player. He does however play the style of music that is a big portion of my dad's collection...Dixieland. While this album was released 57 years ago, all of the music on it was written over 100 years ago. In fact four of the songs on this episode were written in the 19th century. So get ready for some old traditional music...