Kay Bank Custom Pressings: 03/01/2011

Wednesday, 30 March 2011

KB-90 - NORTH STAR 2012

MA-SEECH

KB-90A - Dora

KB-90B - Blackjack Boogie

NORTH STAR 2012

St Paul, MN

(Issued on both 45 and 78rpm formats)

Tuesday, 29 March 2011

KB-89 - NORTH STAR 2011

ANDY WALSH and the Barn Dance Gang

55 (BB = 14 May 55)

KB-89A - Play An Old Time Waltz

KB-89B - A Lifetime Of Lovin’

NORTH STAR 2011

St Paul, MN

SUNSET VALLEY BARN DANCE (KSTP), St Paul, MN

Stanley E. Hubbard, President and General Manager of KSTP back around 1943, told us in the "Deluxe Edition Favorite Songs KSTP Sunset Valley Barn Dance" that KSTP began a series of Saturday night broadcasts in the fall of 1940 that were known as the "Sunset Valley Barn Dance". The idea was to bring to listeners, young and old alike, '...true American folk music in its original form'. The show had staying power and our research has shown it lasted well into the 1950s.

He wrote that hundreds of thousands of fans had attended the shows in the two and a half years it had been on. These shows featured songs of 'hearth and home', 'breakdowns and fiddle tunes', 'ringing banjo melodies', 'harmonica blues' thrown together with a dash of comedy for good measure.

And well it should have been successful. For the producer of KSTP's Sunset Valley Barn Dance was David Stone, who had previously served in a similar role on WSM's Grand Ole Opry. The show had it all and had performers of every type, much the way the early Opry started. Old-timers entertaining the audiences with their fiddles and banjos. The youngsters of the day did the polkas and schottisches.

In an 1953 article in Cowboy Songs, they asked what made a 'Barn Dance' tick and they listed several ingredients of which the KSTP Sunset Valley Barn Dance had, too. First, there was the fiddles, the guitars and accordions not to mention a great deal of spirit, the love of the old-time music and an understanding and feeling why it lives on and on.

Around 1953 or so, Andy Walsh was the main singer and guitarist on the show and he tried to explain it too. He said he had tried thousands of times to think it through, but admitted freely:

"It's beyond me. I love to play'em and sing'em, and the folks still ask for them. That's enough."

Andy Walsh

The show had a couple of notable fiddle players. One was Fiddlin' Russ, who was born and raised on a farm in Minnesota. He said he could remember being held on his dad's lap as he fiddled into the night for the neighborhood gatherings for a barn dance. Another was Dusty Lane and the two of them would often get together for some twin fiddle magic.

They tried to stay true to the old folk tunes of the past. But perhaps sensing that times were changing, noted that many of their artists were writing their own original tunes.

Noted personalities in the song folio were Brooks Henderson, Cal Karnstedt, Ben Leighton, and Jimmie Valentine.

David Stone also produced the Sunrise Roundup on KSTP back then, too. And they said used his knowledge and experience gained at the Grand Ole Opry to help guide the shows. He was said to have revived the old-time dances and was credited to the square-dance revival in the northwest back then.

Back then, KSTP was 1500 on your AM Dial, a 50,000 watt station. It was said to have an unusual directive antenna array that took the 50,000 watts and created a 133,500 watt night-time impact westward of the Minneapolis-St.Paul area to reach a broader listening audience.

The talented cast of the KSTP Barn Dance in 1953 did more than just the Barn Dance show. They appeared twice a week on a show called "County Road 5" that featured visiting rural families. The other three days of the work week, they appeared on the "Mainstreet" program that featured hillbilly and western folk music as they called it then.

(Source: Hillbillymusic.com)

Monday, 28 March 2011

KB-88 - NORTH STAR 2010

IRV GORSEN with the Little Fishermen Band

KB-88A – Tap The Barrel Schottische

KB-88B – Kraser Waltz

NORTH STAR 2010

St Paul, MN

Friday, 25 March 2011

KB-85 - SOMA 1040

ELMER SCHEID

KB-85A - Miller Laendler
KB-85B - Lida Polka

SOMA 1040

Minneapolis, MN

From twincities.com (4th May 2012)

Perhaps the best concertina player New Ulm ever had - Elmer Scheid - died at age 90 on Friday, May 4, in St. Paul. Scheid, whose polka band performed for 50 years, learned to play the concertina as a youngster, watching his father play the instrument. Scheid performed his first professional dance job at age 13 with the John Fritsche Band. He later played with the Six Fat Dutchmen and the Babe Wagner Band. Scheid managed the Wagner Band from 1949 to 1951 before creating his own band in 1951. The Elmer Scheid Band won the popularity contest at the Marigold Ballroom in Minneapolis in 1958.

At the height of their popularity, Scheid and his band played for nearly all of the dances at George's Ballroom in New Ulm. During the 1950s, more than 50 New Ulm area polka bands including Elmer Scheid and his band were actively booked. Many of the bands toured nationally and recorded for major record labels. At the time, New Ulm was known as the "Polka Capital of the Nation."

Featured in The Journal's 2003 Hometown Harmony tabloid publication, Scheid said the advent of rock 'n' roll music in the 1950s made it more difficult to make a living performing old-time music. He worked as a custodian at 3M in New Ulm for six years but traveled with the band on weekends in its later years.

Scheid produced 15 albums and tapes. The band's last recording was done in 1986. He was inducted into the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame in 1995.

Wednesday, 23 March 2011

KB-83 - KAY BANK 83

MARV HATHAWAY and the E-Z-Notes

KB-83A – Wild Roses

KB-83B – Broken-Hearted Stranger

TWIN TOWN 1001

Minneapolis, MN

MARV HATHAWAY and the E-Z-Notes

KB-83A – Wild Roses

KB-83B – Broken-Hearted Stranger

KAY BANK 83

Minneapolis, MN

I'm a bit confused here. The Kay Bank issue has Twin Town Music Co at the bottom of the label, yet the label name is clearly Kay Bank. But I also have it listed as Twin Town 1001. No label shots for that one.

Apparently there were three Hathaway Brothers who all played music and were based in the Elk River area. "Wild Roses" is a nice country shuffler featuring accordian, pretty heavy double bass (finger picked, not slapped), and some nice country guitar. Flip side is heavily influenced by Hank Williams, especially with the take off of Love Sick blues at the beginning. Nice band with a pleasant enough voice.

Label shots: Derik

Monday, 21 March 2011

KB-81 - POTTER 1008

LES WALDROOP and his Carolinas

KB-81A - I Love Dixie

KB-81B - Moonlight’s A Wasting

POTTER 1008

Potter, WI

Les was born in April 1930 in Franklin, NC. After serving in the Korean war, he started playing in bands and writing songs for himself and anyone else who was looking for a tune to record. His first known disc was on Centennial Records (details unknown). He also cut at least one disc on Country Jubilee Records, based in Demorest GA. In between these two, he ended up on the tiny Potter label, from Potter WI. How this came about is a bit of a mystery. It's possible they were simply recorded in Georgia or NC and shipped out to the label.

Les is better known for "Got It Made(In The Shade)" release on Flop records - a Starday Custom from 1963.

Les passed away in 1989.

(Source: Jay Stern)