Welcome to today’s edition of Inside Story where I write about the people, places, and events that inform the novels I write and the novels I love to read. If you’ve been following along in your program, you know my current project is a novel set in 1956. In mid-century America, musical tastes were moving away from the Big Band sounds that supplied the soundtrack for the war. In the 1930’s and 40’s, Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw and Glenn Miller were at the top of their games with Shaw’s “Begin the Beguine” by Cole Porter, Goodman’s “Moonglow” and Glenn Miller’s “Moonlight Serenade” my personal favorite and one that has special meaning to Hutch Joyner, the male protagonist in my novel.
By 1956, when my story begins, the airwaves, and the vinyl recordings were dominated by artists such as Chuck Berry, (“Move Over Beethoven”) Bill Haley and the Comets ( “Shake, Rattle and Roll” ) and a 21 year old boy from Memphis named Elvis Presley who had four hits that year including “Don’t Be Cruel” and “Heartbreak Hotel”.
Record stores popped up everywhere. Teenagers gathered to browse hundreds of albums. As late as the 1970’s when I was living and working in Dallas, there still were stores where you could don a pair of headphones and listen to vinyl in a soundproof room. In those days, my favorites were albums by Eagles ( still a fan), Seals and Crofts, and Linda Ronstadt, she of the perfect pitch. I can listen to her sing “What’s New” or “Blue Bayou” all day long.
An exceedingly brief history of vinyl. Prior to the 1930’s, phonograph records were made of shellac, which meant they were brittle and lacked the capacity to produce the warm, rich sounds later associated with vinyl. In the 1930’s the process of pressing the sounds into grooves was perfected and the popularity of recordings skyrocketed. By 1950, vinyl recordings were the primary way people listened to music. Sales were around 189 million recordings that year, primarily the 33 and a third LP’s. By 1959, sales reached 603 million.
Cassettes, and later, compact discs overtook LPs because of their greater portability. Today many people listen to Spotify, but vinyl is making a comeback because the sound is still in the opinion of many, the best around.
What about you? What’s your favorite way to listen to music? Leave a comment and let me know. And watch for more news about the new novel, tentatively titled A QUIET LITTLE TOWN.
That’s today’s Inside Story. Thanks for reading. If you know people who might enjoy my posts, send them over. My content is always free for everyone.