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The Legends of the Rocking Dutchman - episode 5

Double-siders

Ever since the gramophone record had been standardized to ten-inch, 78 RPM discs made of shellac, the music industry and the musicians had to cope with the fact that only little over three minutes of sound could be pressed on one side of the disc. In this show I will play some of the greatest Rhythm & Blues tunes that have been split up over the two sides of the disc, thus extending the playing length to six minutes. Some of these double-siders became huge hits. Joe Liggins' Honeydripper peaked the R&B charts for 18 weeks in 1945 and 1946, an achievement not surpassed ever since.

I will also point out that when the shellac was replaced by vinyl, that could hold much narrower grooves, the three-minute limit had so much become an convenient standard for radio and jukebox, that the disc size was diminished to a mere seven inch, thus still imposing the same limits to the musician. The practice of splitting up songs continued, with only a few exceptions.

Transcript

Playlist

  1. Joe Liggins & his Honeydrippers - The Honeydripper
  2. Joe Liggins & his Honeydrippers - Drippers' Boogie
  3. Louis Jordan & the Tympany Five - Saturday Night Fish Fry
  4. Sonny Thompson - Mellow Blues
  5. Illinois Jacket - Flying Home
  6. Johnny Otis Orchestra with the Robins - Turkey Hop
  7. Roy Milton - Burma Road Blues
  8. Billy Stewart & Bo Diddley - Billy's Blues
  9. The Isley Brothers - Shout
Outtro:
  • Red Prysock - Take The 'A' Train
The following music served as background music during the spoken parts:
  • Red Prysock - Take The 'A' Train
  • Kirk Kirkland - The Saxaphone Rag