Lucie Arnaz - 1973
photographer unknown
Showing posts with label I Love Lucy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label I Love Lucy. Show all posts
March 4, 2026
February 14, 2025
45 RPMs 91: Tennessee Ernie Ford ~ Sixteen Tons
Ernest Jennings Ford,
born on February 13, 1919, known professionally as Tennessee Ernie
Ford, was an American singer and television host who enjoyed success in
the country and western, pop, and gospel musical genres. Noted for his rich bass-baritone voice and down-home humor, he is remembered for his hit recordings of The Shotgun Boogie and Sixteen Tons.
Ford was born in Fordtown, Tennessee,
and spent much of his time in his early years listening to country or
western musicians, in person or on the radio. In his high school years,
taking an interest in radio and began his radio career as an announcer
at WOPI in Bristol, Tennessee in 1937, being paid 10 dollars a week. In 1938, the young bass-baritone left the station and went to study classical music at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music in Ohio.
Ford served in the United States Army Air Corps in World War II as the bombardier on a B-29 Superfortress.
After the war, he worked at radio stations in San Bernardino and Pasadena, California.
At KFXM, in San Bernardino, Ford was hired as a radio announcer. He was
assigned to host an early morning country music disc jockey program, Bar Nothin' Ranch Time. To differentiate himself, he created the personality of "Tennessee Ernie", a wild, madcap, exaggerated hillbilly.
Cliffie Stone, a part-time talent scout for Capitol Records,
brought him to the attention of the label. In 1949, while still doing
his morning show, he signed a contract with Capitol where he released
almost 50 country singles through the early 1950s, several of which made the Billboard charts. He recorded a duet with Capitol Records pop singer Kay Starr, became a huge country and pop crossover hit in 1950. A duet with Ella Mae Morse, False Hearted Girl was a top seller for the Capitol Country and Hillbilly division.
He replaced bandleader Kay Kyser as host of the TV version of NBC quiz show College of Musical Knowledge
when it returned briefly in 1954 after a four-year hiatus. He became a
household name in the U.S., largely as a result of his portrayal of
"Cousin Ernie" in the I Love Lucy episodes "Tennessee Ernie Visits", "Tennessee Ernie Hangs On" (both 1954) and "Tennessee Bound" (1955). In 1955, Ford recorded The Ballad of Davy Crockett (which reached number 4 on the country music chart)
Ford scored a major hit on the pop chart in 1955 with his rendering of Sixteen Tons, a sparsely arranged coal-miner's lament. The song's fatalistic tone and bleak imagery were in stark contrast to some sugary pop ballads and rock & roll also on the charts in 1955:
You load sixteen tons, what do you get?
Another day older and deeper in debt.
Saint Peter, don't you call me, 'cause I can't go;
I owe my soul to the company store...
With Ford's snapping fingers
and a clarinet-driven pop arrangement by Ford's music director,
Jack Fascinato, Sixteen Tons spent ten weeks at number one on the
country chart and seven weeks at number one on the pop chart. The record
sold over two million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. The song became a gold record made Ford a crossover star, and became his signature song.
The song, written by Merle Travis about a coal miner, is based on life in the mines of Muhlenberg County, Kentucky. Travis first recorded the song at the Radio Recorders Studio B in Hollywood, California, on August 8, 1946. Cliffie Stone played bass on the recording. It was first released in July 1947 by Capitol on Travis's album Folk Songs of the Hills.
There have been many versions of Sixteen Tons, Paul Robeson, Johnny Cash, B. B. King and there is a fairly recent cover of it by Southern Raised a bluegrass band from the Ozarks.
45 RPM, side 1
Tracklist:
Side 1:
A - Sixteen Tons, written by Merle Travis - 2:34
Side 2:
B - You Don't Have To Be A Baby To Cry, written by Bob Merrill, Terry Shand - 2:10
Companies, etc.
Side 1:
A - Sixteen Tons, written by Merle Travis - 2:34
Side 2:
B - You Don't Have To Be A Baby To Cry, written by Bob Merrill, Terry Shand - 2:10
Companies, etc.
Manufactured By – Capitol Records, Inc.
Pressed By – Capitol Records Pressing Plant, Los Angeles
Mastered At – Capitol Records Pressing Plant, Los Angeles
Published By – American Music, Inc.
Published By – Frank Music Corp.
Pressed By – Capitol Records Pressing Plant, Los Angeles
Mastered At – Capitol Records Pressing Plant, Los Angeles
Published By – American Music, Inc.
Published By – Frank Music Corp.
Credits:
Conductor [Orchestra] – Jack Fascinato
Notes:
Trailing 1, 2, 4, and ✩ are stamped in the runouts, all other data is etched.
Rights Society: BMI
Rights Society: ASCAP
Matrix / Runout (Label A): 45-14296
Matrix / Runout (Label B): 45-14297
Matrix / Runout (Runout A variant 1): 45-14296-D1 4 ✩
Matrix / Runout (Runout B variant 1): 45-14297-D4 1 ✩
Matrix / Runout (Runout A variant 2): 45-14296-D5 2 ☆
Matrix / Runout (Runout B variant 2): 45-14297-D1 2 ☆
Matrix / Runout (Runout A variant 3): 45-14296-D1 2 ☆
Matrix / Runout (Runout B variant 3): 45-14297-D1 1 ☆
Originally released by Capitol on Oct., 17th 1955 with "You Don't Have To Be A Baby To Cry" as A side an "Sixteen Tons" as B side. Later pressings switched the sides cause of the big success of "Sixteen Tons".
See http://www.ernieford.com/SIXTEENTONS.html :"On October 17, Capitol shipped the new record nationwide, and to deejays around the country, confident that "Baby" would be a hit. But, inexplicably, radio stations coast to coast began 'flipping' the single and playing the B side (...) In eleven days following its release, 400,000 singles are sold. Demand for the song was so great, that Capitol geared all its pressing plants nationwide to meet the deluge of orders."
Barcode and Other Identifiers
Trailing 1, 2, 4, and ✩ are stamped in the runouts, all other data is etched.
Rights Society: BMI
Rights Society: ASCAP
Matrix / Runout (Label A): 45-14296
Matrix / Runout (Label B): 45-14297
Matrix / Runout (Runout A variant 1): 45-14296-D1 4 ✩
Matrix / Runout (Runout B variant 1): 45-14297-D4 1 ✩
Matrix / Runout (Runout A variant 2): 45-14296-D5 2 ☆
Matrix / Runout (Runout B variant 2): 45-14297-D1 2 ☆
Matrix / Runout (Runout A variant 3): 45-14296-D1 2 ☆
Matrix / Runout (Runout B variant 3): 45-14297-D1 1 ☆
Originally released by Capitol on Oct., 17th 1955 with "You Don't Have To Be A Baby To Cry" as A side an "Sixteen Tons" as B side. Later pressings switched the sides cause of the big success of "Sixteen Tons".
See http://www.ernieford.com/SIXTEENTONS.html :"On October 17, Capitol shipped the new record nationwide, and to deejays around the country, confident that "Baby" would be a hit. But, inexplicably, radio stations coast to coast began 'flipping' the single and playing the B side (...) In eleven days following its release, 400,000 singles are sold. Demand for the song was so great, that Capitol geared all its pressing plants nationwide to meet the deluge of orders."
Barcode and Other Identifiers
Matrix / Runout (Side A): F1-693-D3
Matrix / Runout (Side B): F2-693-D10
Matrix / Runout (Side B): F2-693-D10
"Tennessee" Ernie Ford* – Sixteen Tons
Label: Capitol Records – F3262
Format: Vinyl, 7", Single, 45 RPM, Los Angeles Pressing
Country: US
Released: 1955
Genre: Rock, Pop
Style: Pop Rock, Vocal
YouTube links:
Sixteen Tons ~
Label: Capitol Records – F3262
Format: Vinyl, 7", Single, 45 RPM, Los Angeles Pressing
Country: US
Released: 1955
Genre: Rock, Pop
Style: Pop Rock, Vocal
Viewfinder links:
YouTube links:
Sixteen Tons ~
Tennessee Ernie Ford (live)
Styrous® ~ Friday, February 14, 2025
August 19, 2021
Philo T. Farnsworth ~ Nuclear Fusion & Captain Kangaroo
~ 
From left: Dancing Bear, Bunny Rabbit,
However, he invented the tube in his laboratory at the foot of Telegraph Hill (link below), right here in San Francisco, California. 
Plaque at the location of Farnsworth's 
In his later life, Farnsworth invented a small nuclear fusion device, the Farnsworth–Hirsch fusor, employing inertial electrostatic confinement (IEC). The design of this device has been the inspiration for other fusion approaches, including the Polywell reactor concept. Farnsworth held 300 patents, mostly in radio and television.
log cabin
Farnsworth Steps, San Francisco - 2021
Styrous® ~ Thrusday, August 19. 2021
Philo T. Farnsworth with TV statue
Today is the birthday of Philo Taylor Farnsworth. I can just hear you say, “Who the hell is Philo Farnsworth?” Ok, I’ll tell you. He is the father of what we now call The Television! His invention ushered in a new way of living as well as many characters that everyone came to love, the loveable Howdy Doody . . .
Howdy Doody -1947 - 1960
. . . Ed Sullivan . . .
Ed Sullivan Show - 1948 - 1971
, , , Desi and Lucy, . . .
I Love Lucy - 1951 -1957
. . . Ralph Kramden and his wife Alice . . .
. . . and, of course, Captain Kangaroo.
Grandfather Clock, Mister Moose
and Mister Green Jeans.
Farnsworth
is best known for his 1927 invention of the first fully functional and
complete all-electronic television system complete with receiver and
camera—which he produced commercially
through the Farnsworth Television and Radio Corporation from 1938 to
1951, in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
However, he invented the tube in his laboratory at the foot of Telegraph Hill (link below), right here in San Francisco, California.
San Francisco laboratory on Green Street
photo by Adam Kliczek
I
almost met him but we missed each other by 35 years; he was in his
studio in the late twenties and I got there in the early sixties (Wilder link below). Timing is everything!
Farnsworth’s 202 Green Street lab - San Francisco
Philo T. Farnsworth Archives
In his later life, Farnsworth invented a small nuclear fusion device, the Farnsworth–Hirsch fusor, employing inertial electrostatic confinement (IEC). The design of this device has been the inspiration for other fusion approaches, including the Polywell reactor concept. Farnsworth held 300 patents, mostly in radio and television.
Farnsworth was born in a small log cabin that was built by his granfather in Indian Springs near Beaver, Utah.
Indian Springs ~ Beaver, Utah.
When he was a kid he began tinkering with machines and developed an
early interest in electronics after his first telephone conversation
with a relative and after he discovered a large cache of technology
magazines in the attic of a house they moved into. He won $25 in a
pulp-magazine contest for inventing a magnetized car lock.
Farnsworth
conceived of the idea for electronic television at the age of 14 while
working on a farm. He observed the straight rows created by the horses
as he plowed, and thought “he could build the image like a page of print
and paint the image line after line . . . with the speed of the
electron, this could be done so rapidly the eye would view it as a solid
picture.”
According to his wife Pem, Farnsworth reasoned that by using an image dissector tube, he could manipulate electrons to “change a visual image into a stream of electrical current, transmit that to another vacuum tube at the receiver, and on a fluorescent screen turn the current back into the visual image again.” Farnsworth sketched his idea on the blackboard of his high school chemistry teacher, Justin Tolman, and presented him with a drawing of it, which would prove invaluable years later during a 1935 patent suit ruling.
According to his wife Pem, Farnsworth reasoned that by using an image dissector tube, he could manipulate electrons to “change a visual image into a stream of electrical current, transmit that to another vacuum tube at the receiver, and on a fluorescent screen turn the current back into the visual image again.” Farnsworth sketched his idea on the blackboard of his high school chemistry teacher, Justin Tolman, and presented him with a drawing of it, which would prove invaluable years later during a 1935 patent suit ruling.
Farnsworth’s sketch for Justin Tolman
When his family moved to Salt Lake City he became acquainted with
Leslie Gorrell and George
Everson, a pair of San Francisco philanthropists, They agreed to fund
his early television research with an initial $6,000 in backing, and
set up a laboratory in Los Angeles for Farnsworth to carry out his
experiments. In 1974, Everson wrote a book, The Story of Television; The Life of Philo T. Farnsworth.
In 1926 he and his wife, Elma "Pem" Gardner, rented a house at 2910 Derby Street in Berkeley. He applied for his first
television patent, which was granted on August 26, 1930. By that time they had moved across the bay to San Francisco, where Farnsworth set up his new lab at 202 Green Street.
Many inventors had built electromechanical television systems before his seminal contribution, but Farnsworth designed and built the world's first working all-electronic television
system, employing electronic scanning in both the pickup and display
devices. He first demonstrated his system to the press on September 3,
1928, and to the public at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia on August 25, 1934.
From the 1950s until his death, his major interest was nuclear fusion. In 1965 he patented an array of tubes, called "fusors," that produced a 30-second fusion reaction.
Philo T. Farnsworth died in Salt Lake City, Utah, of pneumonia on March 11, 1971, before he could complete his fusion work. He was 64 years old.
Farnsworth's wife, Pem, fought for decades after his death to assure his place in history. Farnsworth always gave her equal credit for creating television, saying, "my wife and I started this TV." She died on April 27, 2006, at age 98.
Philo T. Farnsworth died in Salt Lake City, Utah, of pneumonia on March 11, 1971, before he could complete his fusion work. He was 64 years old.
Farnsworth's wife, Pem, fought for decades after his death to assure his place in history. Farnsworth always gave her equal credit for creating television, saying, "my wife and I started this TV." She died on April 27, 2006, at age 98.
Farnsworth Television Model - 1936
The "Farnsworth Steps" in San Francisco are named after him; they lead from Willard Street (just above Parnassus) up to Edgewood Avenue.
photo by Styrous®
Viewfinder links:
Net links:
Arizona Archives ~ Farnsworth and Everson Papers - 1914 -1999
Indiana History ~
Sound & Communications ~ Farnsworth, The Father Of TV
July 21, 2020
August 6, 2019
Lucille Ball ~ I love Lucy & her madcap adventures
Today, August 6, 2019, is the birthday of Lucille Ball who starred, with her Cuban, English-destroying husband, Desi Arnaz, . . .
Lucille Ball & Desi Arnaz -1950's
. . . in the groundbreaking I Love Lucy sitcom which ran from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, on the CBS network.
She
was born Lucille Désirée Ball on August 6, 1911, in Jamestown, New York. She left home at the age of fifteen to study drama in New York City and began her
early entertainment career with stints as a model and Goldwyn Girl. As well as a comedian,
she was an actress, model, entertainment studio executive and
producer. She was the star of the self-produced sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy, and Life with Lucy, as well as comedy television specials aired under the title The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.
Her career began in 1929 when she was a model. Shortly thereafter, she began her performing career on Broadway using the stage names
Diane Belmont and Dianne Belmont. She began her film debut in 1933 as a contract player for RKO Radio Pictures. She became known as the “Queen of the B’s” for her numerous roles in B-movies. She appeared in more than 75 films.
In 1951, Ball and her husband, Desi Arnaz, launched a comedy television series, I Love Lucy, based on their own lives. The show pioneered technical aspects of a comedy show, using three cameras, a set, and a live audience. It was also the first time a visibly pregnant woman was seen on television.
In 1951, Ball and her husband, Desi Arnaz, launched a comedy television series, I Love Lucy, based on their own lives. The show pioneered technical aspects of a comedy show, using three cameras, a set, and a live audience. It was also the first time a visibly pregnant woman was seen on television.
Cast members from left, standing:
Through
the years I have watched episodes over and over but have never gotten
tired of them; the show is dated in look but the situations are everyday
human
life which never grow old. There are so many episodes that I love: doing the Vitameatavegamin commercial, in the chocolate factory with Ethel, stomping grapes in Italy, Lucy and Superman. I could go on forever.
"Lucy and Superman" - January 14, 1957
Her talents extended beyond the realm of comedy, she became the first female studio head in Hollywood. As president of Desilu Productions, she broke the glass ceiling for women executives in the film and television industry and her shows live on in syndication.
Ball went on to garner thirteen Emmy nominations and four Emmy Awards for her work. In 1986, she received a Kennedy Center Honor for her contributions to the world of entertainment. In 1989, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
On April 18, 1989, Ball complained of chest pains at her home in Beverly Hills and was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where she was diagnosed with dissecting aortic aneurysm and underwent an eight-hour aortic transplant. Shortly after dawn on April 26, Ball awoke with severe back pains then lost consciousness; she died at 5:47 a.m. PDT at the age of 77. Doctors determined that Ball had succumbed to a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm not directly related to her upper aneurysm and surgery. Ball had been a heavy smoker most of her life, increasing her risk of abdominal aneurysm.
On April 18, 1989, Ball complained of chest pains at her home in Beverly Hills and was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where she was diagnosed with dissecting aortic aneurysm and underwent an eight-hour aortic transplant. Shortly after dawn on April 26, Ball awoke with severe back pains then lost consciousness; she died at 5:47 a.m. PDT at the age of 77. Doctors determined that Ball had succumbed to a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm not directly related to her upper aneurysm and surgery. Ball had been a heavy smoker most of her life, increasing her risk of abdominal aneurysm.
YouTube links:
September 8, 2017
20,000 Vinyl LPs 108: Chuy Reyes ~ Rumba de Cuba @ 10"
I was organizing my vinyl LP space with Lon Clark (link below) yesterday and came across this delightful 1949 gem. Chuy Reyes ~ Rumba de Cuba, was a 10" vinyl LP in a book album similar to The Nutcracker and The Pentateuch of the Cosmogony (links below).
This format was common in the 40's and early 50's. Unfortunately, the
record itself disappeared years before I bought it. All I have is the
album but the graphics were too good to pass up.
It was a mono recording, of course, and my version is a re-issue (date unknown). There was also a 45 rpm version of the album issued.
photo by Styrous®
It was a mono recording, of course, and my version is a re-issue (date unknown). There was also a 45 rpm version of the album issued.
original issue - 1949
1st re-issue - date unknown
10" vinyl LP album cover interior
photo by Styrous®
Chuy Reyes was born in Mexico but I could not find the date. He and his Hollywood Mocambo Orchestra was the club band at the Mocambo Night Club from the time it opened on January 3, 1941.
The mocambos (from mocambo, literally Huts) were village-sized communities mainly of runaway slaves in colonial Brazil, during the Portuguese rule. They were also called, ladeiras, magotes, or quilombos.
Mocambos were exile communities established by fugitive Brazilian slaves between the 18th and 19th century. The purpose of these settlements was to protect the slaves from the Portuguese opposition, thanks to their hidden location, which was difficult to find for the punitive military expeditions. Mocambos were a threat to the economy and the social fabric of the slave regime, because the parasitic economy of these communities was mostly composed of theft, extortion and raiding. Though the minority of communities lived off agriculture and arms trade. Mocambos were not controlled by the government and because of the high percentage of Brazilian slaves, which incorporated one third of the total population, the number and the importance of Mocambos was continually increasing. For this reason Mocambos inhabitants were executed by punitive military expeditions and the children born in the Mocambos became property of the leaders of the exterminating expeditions.
Mocambos were exile communities established by fugitive Brazilian slaves between the 18th and 19th century. The purpose of these settlements was to protect the slaves from the Portuguese opposition, thanks to their hidden location, which was difficult to find for the punitive military expeditions. Mocambos were a threat to the economy and the social fabric of the slave regime, because the parasitic economy of these communities was mostly composed of theft, extortion and raiding. Though the minority of communities lived off agriculture and arms trade. Mocambos were not controlled by the government and because of the high percentage of Brazilian slaves, which incorporated one third of the total population, the number and the importance of Mocambos was continually increasing. For this reason Mocambos inhabitants were executed by punitive military expeditions and the children born in the Mocambos became property of the leaders of the exterminating expeditions.
The Mocambo
The Mocambo was located in West Hollywood, California, at 8588 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip and was owned by Charlie Morrison and Felix Young.
The Mocambo - 1957
Among the celebrities who frequented the Mocambo were Clark Gable and Carole Lombard, Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, Errol Flynn, Charlie Chaplin, Elizabeth Taylor, Judy Garland, Henry Fonda, Lana Turner, Ava Gardner, Bob Hope, James Cagney, Sophia Loren, Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis, Natalie Wood and Robert Wagner, Grace Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher, Howard Hughes, Kay Francis, Marlene Dietrich, Theda Bara, Tyrone Power, Jayne Mansfield, John Wayne, Ben Blue, Ann Sothern, and Louis B. Mayer. Myrna Loy and Arthur Hornblow, Jr. celebrated their divorce there.
The Mocambo - 1947
photographer unknown
Mocambo Nightclub - 1942
photographer unknown
Mocambo, 1951
photographer unknown
Mocambo - 1955
photographer unknown
Mocambo nightclub - 1948
photographer unknown
The Mocambo wouldn’t allow Ella Fitzgerald to sing there, because of
the color of her skin. One day Marilyn Monroe, by then a superstar, paid
a visit to Charlie Morrison, the owner of the club. She made Charlie an
offer: if he booked Ella, she promised she would be there, front and
center, every single night of Ella’s show. Morrison agreed, because
there was no star bigger than Monroe at the time (imagine the
publicity!), and Ella suddenly found herself on that stage.
photographer unknown
The club's main stage was replicated on the TV series I Love Lucy as the "Tropicana" Club. Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz were frequent guests at the Mocambo and were close friends of Morrison.
Lobby ~ Mocambo nightclub
photographer unknown
Chuy Reyes And His Hollywood Mocambo Orchestra –
Rumba De Cuba
Tracklist:
Side 1:
A1 = Baracoa, Vocals – Tony Martinez (9), written by Traditional
A2 = Almendra, Vocals – Tony Gari, written by Abelardo Valdes*
A3 = Boteando, Vocals – Tony Martinez (9), written by King-Martinez
A4 = La Yuca, Vocals – Tony Martinez (9), written by Traditional
Side 2:
B1 = La Ultima Noche, Vocals – Tony Martinez (9), written by Bobby Collazo
B2 Blen! Blen! Blen!, Vocals – Tony Gari, written by Pozot-Cugat
B3 = Negra Leono, Vocals – Tony Gari, written by Antonio Fernandez
B4 = Hokey Joe, Vocals – Tony Martinez (9), written by Swan-Ricardo
Side 1:
A1 = Baracoa, Vocals – Tony Martinez (9), written by Traditional
A2 = Almendra, Vocals – Tony Gari, written by Abelardo Valdes*
A3 = Boteando, Vocals – Tony Martinez (9), written by King-Martinez
A4 = La Yuca, Vocals – Tony Martinez (9), written by Traditional
Side 2:
B1 = La Ultima Noche, Vocals – Tony Martinez (9), written by Bobby Collazo
B2 Blen! Blen! Blen!, Vocals – Tony Gari, written by Pozot-Cugat
B3 = Negra Leono, Vocals – Tony Gari, written by Antonio Fernandez
B4 = Hokey Joe, Vocals – Tony Martinez (9), written by Swan-Ricardo
Chuy Reyes And His Hollywood Mocambo Orchestra* – Rumba De Cuba
Label: Capitol Records – H152, Capitol Records – H-152
Format: Vinyl, 10", 33 ⅓ RPM, Mono
Country: US
Original release: 1949
Re-issue: unknown
Genre: Latin
Style: Rumba
Viewfinder links:
“Just the cover, ma’am!”
Lon Clark
Dave Greenslade ~ The Pentateuch of the Cosmogony
Net links:
Martin Turnbull ~ Mocambo: The Nightclub’s Nightclub
Night at the Mocambo ~ Marilyn Monroe & Ella Fitzgerald
YouTube links:
Boteando
La Yuca
Blen! Blen! Blen!
Negra Leono
Hokey Joe YouTube links:
Boteando
La Yuca
Blen! Blen! Blen!
Negra Leono
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