June 1959 to June 1960 was the last year that 78 rpm records were commercially produced in America.
From October 1959 comes a very enjoyable gospel record by the Friendly Brothers. It is Operator b/w You Can t Thumb a Ride issued as Vee-Jay 884. There are online claims that this is from April 1960, but it is mentioned as a new release in the October 26, 1959 issue of Billboard.
I have written about the old 1950s model of covering current hits by no name singers and putting six songs (as opposed to two songs) on a single record to be purchased at a bargain price. As the 1950s turned into the 60s, I assumed the audience was getting more sophisticated and would no longer Continue reading "Eve of Destruction on American 78"
In January 1960 Checker records issued one of the last rock and roll songs to be issued on an American 78: Bo Diddley s Road Runner backed with My Story.
We can always count on the Excello label to give us a late 78. In October 1959, Excello issued the King Crooners doo-wop ballad Now That She s Gone. The B-side is Won t You Let Me Know, which sounds to me like a rip-off of the song that Jo Ann Campbell lip synced in the movie Continue reading " Now That She s Gone "
A couple of online discographies list Dale Hawkins s Poor Little Rhode Island b/w Every Little Girl as being released on 78 in January 1960. One online comment states, If this 78 does exist, then it is the LAST 78 by a white artist to be commercially released. If it ever did exist, it would have Continue reading "Poor Little Rhode Island"
In April 1960 Vee-Jay records released Don t Drive Me Away backed with Will the Circle Be Unbroken by the legendary Staples Singers gospel group. These images come courtesy of record collector Ted Barron.
From September 1959, here is Jerry Butler s I Was Wrong backed with Couldn t Go To Sleep on Abner records. The Abner label was a subsidiary of Vee-Jay and was named after part owner and general manager, and later president, Ewart Abner.
A very late American 78 rpm record from May 1960 has recently been unearthed and sold online for only $19. It s The Comeback b/w Slim s Blues by Memphis Slim on the Vee-Jay label (#343). Comeback is a re-recording of a side that he recorded back in 1953 for the United label. In the May 30, Continue reading "The Comeback"
A reader writes, Your James Brown photo and the one on Discogs leads me to really believe the east coast collector I knew decades ago. He told me he had a copy of Think on Federal 12370 with about 85% of the label damaged/missing. He said you could still tell it was a U.S. pressing Continue reading "James Brown s Think on 78?"
In January 1960 the Angelic Gospel Singers All that I Need In Jesus b/w Out of the Depths was released as Nashboro 659. Nashboro was the gospel music subsidiary of Excello Records in Nashville, TN. Excello continued to release 78 rpm records in America into the summer of 1960.