Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast AMERICAN GROOVES RADIO HOUR hosted by JOE LAURO

From his first traveling gig wi the territory band THE BUFFALODIANS to his earliest Harlem and Hollywood years - at the cotton Club and MGM! The songs and singing of HAROLD ARLEN

From 1928 to 1932 RCA Victor records had specific series desiganted to the African American recird buying public- The Blues of Tommy Johnson & Frank Stokes, The Jug Band recordings of Gus Cannon and Memphis Jug Band, the sanctified and gospel recordin=gs of Pace JUbilee Singer snd Reverend Gate and the Jazz of the likes of Jelly Roll Morton, Duke Ellingtom and so much more- we will play a selection of the 100s of sides recorded

From 1928 to 1932 RCA Victor records had specific series desiganted to the African American recird buying public- The Blues of Tommy Johnson & Frank Stokes, The Jug Band recordings of Gus Cannon and Memphis Jug Band, the sanctified and gospel recordin=gs of Pace JUbilee Singer snd Reverend Gate and the Jazz of the likes of Jelly Roll Morton, Duke Ellingtom and so much more- we will play a selection of the 100s of sides recorded

We celebrate Louis' first years on record 1923-35 as a sideman, band member and rising jazz star

How RAGTIME was a continuing influence in 1920s-30s Blues, Jazz and Country recordings - From Blind Blake to Hoosier Hot Shots!

Let's get drunk and TRUCK! - Songs about drinking in blues, jazz and country!

The stuff that dreams are madeof...JAZZ on Richmond Indiana's GENNETT records - From King Oliver to King Mutt- we take a deep dive into some hot Gennett rarities!

Blue Blowing- the art of playing jazz on a kazoo or comb was all the rage in Skiffle Bands, Jug Bands and even some Jazz Bands - we will hear some fine and hot examples!

For Fathers' Day 2023 - all tunes about Papas and Dad's! From Jimmie Rodgers to Helen Kane!

This Sheldon Brooks pen tune became the theme song for SOPHIE TUCKER back in the teens and never left the playing field as a jazz standard covered by most every hot band in the land - several versions are played on this episode

Brody Hunt's shellac extravaganza held bi-yearly in the lovely Asheville NC brings a multitude of like minded shellac collectors young and old - here's some of the goodies I scored at the awesome event! ( 2023)

Besides the usual assortment of pre-war goodies, Joe features severa versions of the pre-war perennial AFTER YOU'VE GONE - From Sophie, Bessie and Miff om!

Ralph Rinzler, Alan Lomax, John Cohen and Mike Seeger were just a few of the talent scouts that searched the rural south for forgotten pre-war Bles and Country artists to revive at the ealry Newport Folk Festivals - DOCK BOGGS, MISSISSIPPI JOHN HURT, ROBERT WILKINS to name a few were given new, late era careers...no to mention SKIP JAMES and SON HOUSE!! This episode features them in vibrant, hypnotic their youth!

One of those tunes that most every jazz band played...sort of the Johnny B. Goode of it's day - in this episode we play all kinds of cool pre-1935 versions of.....TIGER RAG!

some of the eclectic music that helped fuel the cultural explosion known as the Harlem Renaissance - From its earliest days with BERT WILLIAMS and Charles Gulpin to Duke and Cab!

We celebrate some jazz's FIRST great bassists - Wellman Braud, Steve Brown Bill Johnson and others will be featured!

Tunes recorded during Franklin Roosevelts big experiment of getting Great Depression ravaged regular folks back to work - we tap into a slew of topical WPA related Blues, Country and Pop tunes recorded during the dog days of the Great Depression

Joe plays an eclectic selection of pre-war Jazz, Blues, Gospel and Hillbilly pre-war 78s from his collection and the collection of some of his generous friends .

From Joel Shaw and his orchestra on CROWN to Bessie Smiths final session in 1933 we will have a party and play some fun 1920s-early 30s tunes celebrating good times!

Originally broadcast as a Bix Birthday Bash -we will just call this episode a celebration of the short life of one of Jazz's true early legends

100s of gospel recordings were recorded and sold to the "race Records" market- sermons, quartet singing, sanctified singing and preaching AND Sacred quartets, duos, fiddle-vocals you name it! - we play a selected set of some of these masterpieces of Americana

Rare recordings of some of the legendary 1900s-30s songwriters performing thier own songs - from Irving Berlin in 1913 to Willard Robison in 1927 and much more

In 1923 Ralph Peer recorded Henry Whitter and Fiddlin John Carson - the record executives released there was shellac gold in them thar hills - this episode explores some of the first Hillbilly recording stars

Joe and his pal Russ Shor present some of the dances that were rage circa 1900-1936 as presented on original 78 rpm recordings! CHARLESTON, BLACK BOTTOM, HEEBIE JEEBIES, LINDY HOP, SUZIE-Q will all be in the house!

LGBTQ themed songs were NOT widely recorded in the pre-ww2 era...Gay performers were also certainly not the norm but there was a vibrant underground movement in the adukt nightclubs of Paris, New York and Los Angeles We will present some of those amazing rare recordings!

The 1920s and 30s was not as buttoned up one may think- some of the dirtiest " double entendre " blues tunes made their way to the market by the likes of Bessie Smith ,Ethel Waters, Lucille Bogan and many more - !

The Harlem Renaissance was an intellectual and cultural revival of African-American music, dance, art, fashion, literature, theater, politics and scholarship centered in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, spanning the 1920s and 1930s. Its roots actually go back to the turn of the century- In two episodes we will present some of the recordings of the musical and theatrical movers and shakers of that movement

From 1917 when the Original Dixieland Jass Band waxed their first sides, through the mid-1920s small band jazz was the way to hot town - This episodes featres some of those recordings

Salvadore Massaro was born in Philadelphia in 1902 -picking up the banjo in the early 1920s by the early 1930s' he became the most sought after recording guitarist - both for jazz and offering accompaniments to a slew of pop and blues singers alike - it all ended to fast- by 1933 he was gone, the victim of a botched tonsillectomy! But he left behind hundreds of fine recordings - we will play some highlights!

Our first listener REQUEST episode of sorts - We asked our online chat group friends to send in their suggestions of the hottest f the hot jazz recordings - we received so many submissions that we created three programs around them - listen in to what your fellow collector pals feel will burn the house down!

Our first listener REQUEST episode of sorts - We asked our online chat group friends to send in their suggestions of the hottest f the hot jazz recordings - we received so many submissions that we created three programs around them - listen in to what your fellow collector pals feel will burn the house down!

Our first listener REQUEST episode of sorts - We asked our online chat group friends to send in their suggestions of the hottest f the hot jazz recordings - we received so many submissions that we created three programs around them - listen in to what your fellow collector pals feel will burn the house down!

Let's face it, the litany of budget record labels produced by Grey Gull Records in the 1922-30 era were amoungst the worst sounding, cheaply produced and CHEAPEST of all of the popular ealry 120th century Ameriucan record labels. BUT, not only did tey manage to produce some of the hottest records of the era, their loosey goosey approach to A&R left behind some hysterical recordings - we will play but a few!

From Ina Ray Hutton to Lil Hardin the 1920s-30s had quite a few lady jazz band leaders and instrumentalists - this episode presents some of the best recordings by these unsung ladies

Deep Ellum was born in 1873 when the Texas and Pacific (T&P) Railroad crossed the Houston and Texas Central (H&TC) Railroad near the intersection of Elm Street and Central Avenue. The area came to be called “Deep Ellum,” derived from “Deep Elm,” Deep Ellum was a place where day laborers were picked up and dropped off, and a thriving entertainment sector. Deep Ellum was a crossroads, a nexus, where people interacted in relative freedom and the subject of a multitude or early 20th century blues, jazz and f;k songs- we will play some of them on this episode.

What's beyond those pearly gates has been a frequent subject of early hillbilly, blues, jazz and gospel tunes for ever! - Joe tries to get to heaven with a variety of pre-war rarities

The blues roots of this barrel-house tune that made it as a perennial in the rock era are explored! From James Wiggins to Lizzie Miles!

Many American Jazz musicians travelled across the ocean to Europe and beyond from the earliest years of recording into through the 1930s ( the era we cover here on American Grooves) This episode explores some fine Jazz recorded on the continent!

Joe explores early recordings and early careers of two of Harlem's early jazz piano innovators - JAMES P. JOHNSON and THOMAS "FATS" WALLER

Joe explores some of the great voices and instrumentalists of EARLY ( pre-1940) Country music

Joe explores the origins and many versions of this classic American folk tune

In this episode Joe explores some of the musical roots of THE GRATEFUL DEAD - From Gus Cannon' Jug Stompers to the unlikely ELDER McINTORSH! Jerry was all ears in regards to American roots music!

WE WILL CELEBRATE THE FIRST 10 YEARS OF THE RECORDING CAREER OF BILLIE HOLIDAY - FROM HERE FIRST EVER SIDES WITH THE BENNY GOODMAN BAND IN 1933 TO HER IMMORTAL "STRANGE FRUIT" IN 1944 FOR MILT GABLERS' COMMODORE MUSIC SHOP LABEL

WE DEDICATE OUR ENTIRE PROGRAM TO LONNIE JOHNSON - BLUES AND JAZZ GUITAR INNOVATOR - FROM THE MID-1920S THROUGH THE 60S JOHNSON ADAPTED TO THE CHANGING TITEDS OF MUSICAL STYLES - AN INNOVATOR OF R&B, A FIDDLER, PIANO MAN AND ONE OF THE GREATEST RECORDED GUITARISTS OF HIS ERA

WE EXPLORE THE MANY VERSIONS AND LEGEND OF THIS CLASSIC AMERICAN FOLK TUNE -

FROM RILEY PUCKETT TO DICK JUSTICE WE WILL FOCIS ON SOME OF TE INNOVATORS OF COUNTRY GUITAR STYLES

WITH THE END OF PROHIBITION IN 1933 JAZZ MOVED DOWNTOWN FROM HARLEM TO THE LEGENDARY 52ND STREET - WE WILL FEATURE SOME OF THE BANDS AND SINGERS THAT MADE "SWING STREET" THE JAZZ MECCA OF NEW YORK

Victor labels budget BLUEBIRD imprint recorded quite extensively in Charlotte North Carolina in the mid-1930s - Iconic "firsts" happened there ( Bill Monroe for one!) and 100s of Hillbilly and some dance and jazz sides by local bands were preserved. We will re-discover some of Charlotte's finest!

Cab Calloway's immortal MINNIE THE MOOCHER was one of the first million selling black jazz records and spawned several sequels! Here we play homage to the tune and it's origins - from Cab to the Boswell Sisters, Roland Smith's Rascals and more!

A mixture of many great recordings - from Valverts' Creole Band recorded in Paris circa 1930 to some hot Hawaiian sides and much more- the wonders of pre-1940 78s!