You're listening to Pearl Bailey from 1946 and you're on the Sound Beat.Pearl made her Broadway debut that year, performing "It's a Woman's Prerogative" in St. Louis Woman. Though audiences weren't enamored of the play, her performance marked

Big Stuff

Jan 31st, 2024 1m 30s

Billie Holiday was known to record with ease, often needing only one take for her best studio recordings. This tune, however, was a whole different story.

Insurance Policy Blues

Jan 30th, 2024

What happens when the high-gloss worlds of archived sound and auto insurance collide? Hope you’ve got a policy for excitement.

Camp Meeting Jubilee

Jan 21st, 2024

Alan Freed may have been the first to attribute "Rock and Roll" to a musical form, but he wasn't the first to use the words together.

The Walking Blues

Jan 13th, 2024

Censorship has been a big issue in the U.S. since, well, before there was a U.S.

The Awakening of Scrooge

Dec 25th, 2023 1m 30s

You’re listening to Bransby Williams with Charles Dickens’ redeemed cheapskate.

Begin The Beguine

Dec 12th, 2023 1m 30s

As a musician, Art Tatum was a true original – if a recording sounds like Tatum’s…it almost certainly IS Tatum’s.

The Blue Tail Fly

Dec 7th, 2023

You’re listening to Burl Ives with “Blue Tail Fly” from 1944 and…

To The North Pole!

Dec 4th, 2023

Finding the North Pole is hard enough. The harsh terrain, subzero temperatures…oh, and the fact that the pole isn’t even located on land.

The Devil and Niccolo Paganini

Nov 30th, 2023 1m 30s

Paganini's talents made him a celebrity, but also inspired "devilish" rumors.

The Okeh Laughing Record

Nov 27th, 2023

This one’s good for a laugh.

Crazy with the Blues

Nov 10th, 2023

History’s full of musicians claiming to have made deals with the devil. But only one claimed to have married into one.

25 Minutes to Go

Nov 8th, 2023

Johnny Cash got a little help from a beloved children's book author on this one.

Whatever Lola Wants

Oct 27th, 2023

Men, title, even a new name: whatever she wanted, she got.

The Death of a President

Oct 26th, 2023

Cylinders served as much more than simple entertainment. This one aimed to capture, and perhaps ease, a nation’s sorrow.

I Didn’t Raise My Boy to be a Soldier

Oct 23rd, 2023

A mother’s lament that perfectly encapsulated American anti-war sentiment.

Your Cheatin’ Heart

Oct 20th, 2023

Legend has it this song came to Williams while with fiancé Billie Jean Horton. Just driving around, talking about standard fiancé stuff…like, his ex-wife.