The Bensman Radio Program Archive was started in 1969 when Dr. Marvin Bensman, a University of Memphis professor, began collecting recordings of American radio programs. The …show more content…
Of the dozen or so songs performed, only a few have a distinct country or old time sound. Instead, the dominant style is jazz. The Dixieland Swingsters were something of a house band at the time, and in this show member “Haywire” Dave Durham, an accomplished trumpet player who host Lowell Blanchard introduces as “the hottest fiddle player on the air,” blazes through two jazzy fiddle tunes. Accordion player Tony Musco plays two numbers that have more jazz and polka inflection than country flavor. Even a group singalong of old time tune “Back to Old Smoky Mountain” is more swing than western. After a series of corny jokes, the performer referred to as Monk sings the equally corny “Oh Susanna, Dust Off That Old Pianna” a saloon song recorded by jazz artists such as Fats Waller and the Harlem Hot Shots. “Looks Like I’m in Love Again” is performed as a show tune, and toward the end of the program Blanchard himself takes a crack at crooning with “At the End of the