1.
Illinois
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Illinois is a state in the midwestern region of the United States, achieving statehood in 1818. It is the 6th most populous state and 25th largest state in terms of land area, the word Illinois comes from a French rendering of a native Algonquin word. For decades, OHare International Airport has been ranked as one of the worlds busiest airports, Illinois has long had a reputation as a bellwether both in social and cultural terms and politics. With the War of 1812 Illinois growth slowed as both Native Americans and Canadian forces often raided the American Frontier, mineral finds and timber stands also had spurred immigration—by the 1810s, the Eastern U. S. Railroads arose and matured in the 1840s, and soon carried immigrants to new homes in Illinois, as well as being a resource to ship their commodity crops out to markets. Railroads freed most of the land of Illinois and other states from the tyranny of water transport. By 1900, the growth of jobs in the northern cities and coal mining in the central and southern areas attracted a new group of immigrants. Illinois was an important manufacturing center during both world wars, the Great Migration from the South established a large community of African Americans in Chicago, who created the citys famous jazz and blues cultures. Three U. S. presidents have been elected while living in Illinois, Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, additionally, Ronald Reagan, whose political career was based in California, was the only U. S. president born and raised in Illinois. Today, Illinois honors Lincoln with its official slogan, Land of Lincoln. The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum is located in the capital of Springfield. Illinois is the spelling for the early French Catholic missionaries and explorers name for the Illinois Native Americans. American scholars previously thought the name Illinois meant man or men in the Miami-Illinois language and this etymology is not supported by the Illinois language, as the word for man is ireniwa and plural men is ireniwaki. The name Illiniwek has also said to mean tribe of superior men. The name Illinois derives from the Miami-Illinois verb irenwe·wa he speaks the regular way and this was taken into the Ojibwe language, perhaps in the Ottawa dialect, and modified into ilinwe·. The French borrowed these forms, changing the ending to spell it as -ois. The current spelling form, Illinois, began to appear in the early 1670s, the Illinois name for themselves, as attested in all three of the French missionary-period dictionaries of Illinois, was Inoka, of unknown meaning and unrelated to the other terms. American Indians of successive cultures lived along the waterways of the Illinois area for thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans, the Koster Site has been excavated and demonstrates 7,000 years of continuous habitation
2.
Encino, Los Angeles
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Encino is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Fray Juan Crespi, a Franciscan missionary travelling with the expedition, all of Crespis name was later dropped except encino. Rancho Los Encinos was established in 1845 when a parcel of former Mission San Fernando land was granted to three Mission Indians by governor Pio Pico. Many ranchos were created after the secularization of the California missions, Encino derives its name from the rancho. In 2008, the city estimated that the resident population had increased to 44,581, in 2000 the median age for residents was 42, considered old for city and county neighborhoods, the percentages of residents aged 50 and older were among the countys highest. The neighborhood was considered not especially diverse ethnically within Los Angeles, the breakdown was whites,80. 1%, Latinos,8. 5%, Asians,4. 9%, blacks,2. 4%, and others,4. 1%. Iran and Russia were the most common places of birth for the 32. 8% of the residents who were born abroad—an average percentage for Los Angeles, the median yearly household income in 2008 dollars was $78,529, considered high for the city. The percentage of households that earned $125,000 and up was high for Los Angeles County, the average household size of 2.3 people was low when compared to the rest of the city and the county. Renters occupied 38. 4% of the stock and house- or apartment-owners held 61. 6%. The percentages of divorced residents and of widowed men and women were among the countys highest, in 2000 military veterans amounted to 10. 6% of the population, a high rate for the county. Encino is situated in the portion of the southern San Fernando Valley. It is flanked on the north by Reseda and the Sepulveda Basin, on the east by Sherman Oaks, on the southeast by Bel-Air, on the south by Brentwood, the local economy provides jobs primarily in health care, social services, and professional services sectors. There are approximately 3,800 businesses employing about 27,000 people at a payroll of $1,400,000,000. Encino is in Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors district 3 and it is also represented within the city of Los Angeles by the Encino Neighborhood Council, an advisory body under the auspices of the city Department of Neighborhood Empowerment. The United States Postal Service operates the Encino Post Office at 5805 White Oak Avenue, forty-six percent of Encino residents aged 25 and older had earned a four-year degree by 2000, a high percentage for both the city and the county. The percentage of residents with a masters degree or higher was also high for the county. Lull Special Education Center, LAUSD,17551 Miranda Street Lanai Road Elementary School, LAUSD,4241 Lanai Road As of 2009, public high schools serving portions of Encino are Birmingham High School in Lake Balboa, and Reseda High School in Reseda. In 1982 the board considered closing Rhoda Street Elementary School in Encino, in April 1983 an advisory committee of the LAUSD recommended closing eight LAUSD schools, including Rhoda Street School
3.
Country music
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Country music is a genre of United States popular music that originated in the southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from the genre of United States, such as folk music. Blues modes have been used throughout its recorded history. The term country music is used today to many styles and subgenres. In 2009 country music was the most listened to rush hour radio genre during the evening commute, immigrants to the Southern Appalachian Mountains of North America brought the music and instruments of Europe and Africa along with them for nearly 300 years. Country music was introduced to the world as a Southern phenomenon, Bristol, Tennessee, has been formally recognized by the U. S. Congress as the Birthplace of Country Music, based on the historic Bristol recording sessions of 1927. Since 2014, the city has been home to the Birthplace of Country Music Museum, historians have also noted the influence of the less-known Johnson City sessions of 1928 and 1929, and the Knoxville sessions of 1929 and 1930. Prior to these, pioneer settlers, in the Great Smoky Mountains region, had developed a musical heritage. The first generation emerged in the early 1920s, with Atlantas music scene playing a role in launching countrys earliest recording artists. Okeh Records began issuing hillbilly music records by Fiddlin John Carson as early as 1923, followed by Columbia Records in 1924, many hillbilly musicians, such as Cliff Carlisle, recorded blues songs throughout the 1920s. The most important was the Grand Ole Opry, aired starting in 1925 by WSM in Nashville, during the 1930s and 1940s, cowboy songs, or Western music, which had been recorded since the 1920s, were popularized by films made in Hollywood. Bob Wills was another musician from the Lower Great Plains who had become very popular as the leader of a hot string band. His mix of country and jazz, which started out as dance hall music, Wills was one of the first country musicians known to have added an electric guitar to his band, in 1938. Country musicians began recording boogie in 1939, shortly after it had played at Carnegie Hall. Gospel music remained a component of country music. It became known as honky tonk, and had its roots in Western swing and the music of Mexico. By the early 1950s a blend of Western swing, country boogie, rockabilly was most popular with country fans in the 1950s, and 1956 could be called the year of rockabilly in country music. Beginning in the mid-1950s, and reaching its peak during the early 1960s, the late 1960s in American music produced a unique blend as a result of traditionalist backlash within separate genres
4.
Accordion
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Accordions are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type, colloquially referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist, the concertina and bandoneón are related, the harmonium and American reed organ are in the same family. The instrument is played by compressing or expanding the bellows while pressing buttons or keys, causing pallets to open and these vibrate to produce sound inside the body. Valves on opposing reeds of each note are used to make the instruments reeds sound louder without air leaking from each reed block. The performer normally plays the melody on buttons or keys on the manual. The accordion is widely spread across the world, nevertheless, in Europe and North America, some popular music acts also make use of the instrument. Additionally, the accordion is used in cajun, zydeco, jazz music. The piano accordion is the official city instrument of San Francisco, the oldest name for this group of instruments is harmonika, from the Greek harmonikos, meaning harmonic, musical. Today, native versions of the accordion are more common. These names refer to the type of accordion patented by Cyrill Demian, accordions have many configurations and types. Similar to a bow, the production of sound in an accordion is in direct proportion to the motion of the player. The bellows is located between the right- and left-hand manuals, and is made from pleated layers of cloth and cardboard, with added leather and metal. It is used to pressure and vacuum, driving air across the internal reeds and producing sound by their vibration. These boxes house reed chambers for the right- and left-hand manuals, each side has grilles in order to facilitate the transmission of air in and out of the instrument, and to allow the sound to better project. The grille for the manual is usually larger and is often shaped for decorative purposes. The right-hand manual is used for playing the melody and the left-hand manual for playing the accompaniment. The manual mechanism of the instrument either enables the air flow, or disables it, the different types have varying components. All instruments have reed ranks of some format, the most typical accordion is the piano accordion, which is used for many musical genres
5.
Acoustic guitar
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An acoustic guitar is a guitar that produces sound acoustically—by transmitting the vibration of the strings to the air—as opposed to relying on electronic amplification. The sound waves from the strings of an acoustic guitar resonate through the guitars body and this typically involves the use of a sound board and a sound box to strengthen the vibrations of the strings. The main source of sound in a guitar is the string. The string vibrates at a frequency and also creates many harmonics at various different frequencies. The frequencies produced can depend on string length, mass, gitterns, a small plucked guitar were the first small guitar-like instruments created during the Middle Ages with a round back like that of a lute. Modern guitar shaped instruments were not seen until the Renaissance era where the body, the earliest string instruments that related to the guitar and its structure where broadly known as the vihuelas within Spanish musical culture. Vihuelas where string instruments that were seen in the 16th century during the Renaissance. Later, Spanish writers distinguished these instruments into 2 categories of vihuelas, the vihuela de arco was an instrument that mimicked the violin, and the vihuela de penola was played with a plectrum or by hand. When it was played by hand it was known as the vihuela de mano, vihuela de mano shared extreme similarities with the Renaissance guitar as it used hand movement at the sound hole or sound chamber of the instrument to create music. The real production of guitars kicked off in France where the popularity, the production became so large that early famous creators such as Gaspard Duyffooprucgars instruments were being sold as copies by other guitar makers in Lyon. Benoist Lejeune, a maker, offered and sold guitar copies of Duyffoprucgars instruments and was later imprisoned for using his mark and work. During this time, the production was increasing tremendously but it was not until Robert and Claude Denis appeared overproducing the early Renaissance guitar in Paris, as father and son, Robert and Claude produced hundreds of guitars that increased the popularity of the instrument greatly. Because of them and the great many guitar inventors of this time, by 1790 only six-course vihuela guitars were being created and had become the main type and model of guitar used in Spain. Most of the older 5-course guitars where still in use but were also being modified to a six-coursed acoustical guitar, by the 19th century, coursed strings where evolved into 6 single-stringed instruments much like that of the guitar today. It had evolved into the modern look except for size, retaining a smaller frame, the acoustic guitars soundboard, or top, also has a strong effect on the loudness of the guitar. No amplification actually occurs in this process, because no energy is added to increase the loudness of the sound. All the energy is provided by the plucking of the string, but without a soundboard, the string would just cut through the air without actually moving it much. The soundboard increases the surface of the area in a process called mechanical impedance matching
6.
Banjo
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The banjo is a four-, five- or six-stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity as a resonator, called the head. The membrane, or head, is made of plastic, although animal skin is still occasionally but rarely used. Early forms of the instrument were fashioned by Africans in America, the banjo is frequently associated with country, folk, Irish traditional and bluegrass music. Historically, the banjo occupied a place in African American traditional music. The banjo, with the fiddle, is a mainstay of American old-time music and it is also very frequently used in Traditional Jazz. The modern banjo derives from instruments that had used in the Caribbean since the 17th century by enslaved people taken from West Africa. Written references to the banjo in North America appear in the 18th century, the etymology of the name banjo is uncertain. The word could have come from the Yoruba word Bami jo and it may derive from the Kimbundu word mbanza. A Banza, a five double string courses Portuguese viuhela with two short strings, mbanza is a string African instrument that has been built after the Portuguese Banza. Banza is quite similar to Banjo, various instruments in Africa, chief among them the kora, feature a skin head and gourd body. Banjos with fingerboards and tuning pegs are known from the Caribbean as early as the 17th century, 18th- and early 19th-century writers transcribed the name of these instruments variously as bangie, banza, bonjaw, banjer and banjar. Instruments similar to the banjo have been played in many countries, another likely relative of the banjo is the akonting, a spike folk lute played by the Jola tribe of Senegambia, and the ubaw-akwala of the Igbo. Early, African-influenced banjos were built around a body and a wooden stick neck. These instruments had varying numbers of strings, though often including some form of drone, the five-string banjo was popularized by Joel Walker Sweeney, an American minstrel performer from Appomattox Court House, Virginia. In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white performer to play the banjo on stage and his version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth string. This new banjo was at first tuned dGdf♯a, though by the 1890s this had been transposed up to gcgbd, Banjos were introduced in Britain by Sweeneys group, the American Virginia Minstrels, in the 1840s, and became very popular in music halls. In the Antebellum South, many black slaves played the banjo, two techniques closely associated with the five-string banjo are rolls and drones. Rolls are right hand fingering pattern that consist of eight notes that subdivide each measure
7.
Capitol Records
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Capitol Records, LLC is an American record label which operates as a division of the Capitol Music Group. The label was founded as the first West Coast-based record label in the United States in 1942 by three industry insiders named Johnny Mercer, Buddy DeSylva and Glenn Wallichs, in 1955, the label was acquired by the British music conglomerate EMI as its North American subsidiary. EMI was later acquired by Universal Music Group in 2012 and was merged with the company in 2013, making Capitol Records, Capitol Records circular headquarter building located in Los Angeles is a recognized landmark of California. Mercer first raised the idea of starting a company while golfing with Harold Arlen. By 1941, Mercer was a songwriter and a singer with multiple successful releases. Mercer next suggested the idea to Wallichs while visiting his record store, Wallichs expressed interest in the idea and the pair negotiated an agreement whereby Mercer would run the company and identify their artists, while Wallichs managed the business side. On February 2,1942, Mercer and Wallichs met with DeSylva at a Hollywood restaurant to inquire about the possibility of investment of the company from Paramount Pictures, while DeSylva declined the proposal, he handed the pair a check worth $15,000. On March 27,1942, the three men incorporated as Liberty Records, in May 1942, the application was amended to change the companys name to Capitol Records. On April 6,1942, Mercer supervised Capitols first recording session where Martha Tilton recorded the song Moon Dreams, on May 5, Bobby Sherwood and his orchestra recorded two tracks in the studio. On May 21, Freddie Slack and his orchestra recorded three tracks in the studio, one with the orchestra, one with Ella Mae Morse called Cow-Cow Boogie, on June 4,1942, Capitol opened its first office in a second-floor room south of Sunset Boulevard. On that same day, Wallichs presented the companys first free record to Los Angeles disc jockey Peter Potter, on June 5,1942, Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra recorded four songs at the studio. On June 12, the recorded five more songs in the studio. On June 11, Tex Ritter recorded Jingle Jangle Jingle and Goodbye My Little Cherokee for his first Capitol recording session, and the songs formed Capitols 110th produced record. 133 - Get On Board Little Chillun - July 31,1942 - is a Freddie Slack/Ella Mae Morse/Mellowaires recording that might be the first rock n roll record and she has sometimes been called the first rock n roll singer. A good example is her 1942 recording of song which, with strong gospel, blues, boogie. Bone Walker recorded Mean Old World a pioneering example of the use of electric guitar. The earliest recording artists included co-owner Mercer, Whiteman, Tilton, Morse, Margaret Whiting, Jo Stafford, the Pied Pipers, Johnnie Johnston, Tex Ritter, Capitols first gold single was Morses Cow Cow Boogie in 1942. Capitols first album was Capitol Presents Songs By Johnny Mercer, a three 78-rpm disc set with recordings by Mercer, Stafford and the Pied Pipers, all with Westons Orchestra
8.
Columbia Records
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Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, Inc. the United States division of Sony Corporation. It was founded in 1887, evolving from an enterprise named the American Graphophone Company. Columbia is the oldest surviving brand name in the sound business. Columbia Records went on to release records by an array of singers, instrumentalists. It is one of Sony Musics three flagship record labels alongside RCA Records and Epic Records, rather, as above, it was connected to CBS, a broadcasting media company which had purchased the company in 1938, and had been co-founded in 1927 by Columbia Records itself. Though Arista Records was sold to Bertelsmann Music Group, it would become a sister label of Columbia Records through its mutual connection to Sony Music. The Columbia Phonograph Company was founded in 1887 by stenographer, lawyer and New Jersey native Edward Easton and it derived its name from the District of Columbia, where it was headquartered. At first it had a monopoly on sales and service of Edison phonographs and phonograph cylinders in Washington. As was the custom of some of the regional companies, Columbia produced many commercial cylinder recordings of its own. Columbias ties to Edison and the North American Phonograph Company were severed in 1894 with the North American Phonograph Companys breakup, thereafter it sold only records and phonographs of its own manufacture. In 1902, Columbia introduced the XP record, a brown wax record. According to Gracyk, the molded brown waxes may have sold to Sears for distribution. Columbia began selling records and phonographs in addition to the cylinder system in 1901, preceded only by their Toy Graphophone of 1899. For a decade, Columbia competed with both the Edison Phonograph Company cylinders and the Victor Talking Machine Company disc records as one of the top three names in American recorded sound. In order to add prestige to its catalog of artists. The firm also introduced the internal-horn Grafonola to compete with the extremely popular Victrola sold by the rival Victor Talking Machine Company, during this era, Columbia used the famous Magic Notes logo—a pair of sixteenth notes in a circle—both in the United States and overseas. Columbia was split into two companies, one to make records and one to make players, Columbia Phonograph was moved to Connecticut, and Ed Easton went with it. Eventually it was renamed the Dictaphone Corporation, in late 1923, Columbia went into receivership
9.
Western (genre)
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Cowboys and gunslingers typically wear Stetson hats, bandannas, spurs, cowboy boots and buckskins. Other characters include Native Americans, bandits, lawmen, bounty hunters, outlaws, mounted cavalry, settlers, Westerns often stress the harshness of the wilderness and frequently set the action in an arid, desolate landscape of deserts and mountains. Often, the vast landscape plays an important role, presenting a. mythic vision of the plains, specific settings include ranches, small frontier towns, saloons, railways and isolated military forts of the Wild West. Many Westerns use a plot of depicting a crime, then showing the pursuit of the wrongdoer, ending in revenge and retribution. The Western was the most popular Hollywood genre, from the early 20th century to the 1960s, Western films first became well-attended in the 1930s. John Fords landmark Western adventure Stagecoach became one of the biggest hits in 1939, Westerns were very popular throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Many of the most acclaimed Westerns were released during this time – including High Noon, Shane, The Searchers, the Western depicts a society organized around codes of honor and personal, direct or private justice–frontier justice–dispensed by gunfights. These honor codes are played out through depictions of feuds or individuals seeking personal revenge or retribution against someone who has wronged them. The popular perception of the Western is a story that centers on the life of a semi-nomadic wanderer, a showdown or duel at high noon featuring two or more gunfighters is a stereotypical scene in the popular conception of Westerns. In some ways, such protagonists may be considered the descendants of the knight errant which stood at the center of earlier extensive genres such as the Arthurian Romances. And like knights errant, the heroes of Westerns frequently rescue damsels in distress, similarly, the wandering protagonists of Westerns share many characteristics with the ronin in modern Japanese culture. The Western typically takes these elements and uses them to tell simple morality tales, Westerns often stress the harshness and isolation of the wilderness and frequently set the action in an arid, desolate landscape. Apart from the wilderness, it is usually the saloon that emphasizes that this is the Wild West, it is the place to go for music, women, gambling, drinking, brawling and shooting. The American Film Institute defines western films as those set in the American West that embodies the spirit, the struggle, the term Western, used to describe a narrative film genre, appears to have originated with a July 1912 article in Motion Picture World Magazine. Most of the characteristics of Western films were part of 19th century popular Western fiction and were firmly in place before film became an art form. Protagonists ride between dusty towns and cattle ranches on their trusty steeds, Western films were enormously popular in the silent film era. With the advent of sound in 1927-28, the major Hollywood studios rapidly abandoned Westerns, leaving the genre to smaller studios and these smaller organizations churned out countless low-budget features and serials in the 1930s. Released through United Artists, Stagecoach made John Wayne a mainstream star in the wake of a decade of headlining B westerns
10.
Sidekick
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A sidekick is a slang expression for a close companion or colleague who is, or generally regarded as, subordinate to the one he or she accompanies. Some well-known fictional sidekicks are Don Quixotes Sancho Panza, Sherlock Holmes Doctor Watson, The Lone Rangers Tonto, The Green Hornets Kato, Shreks Donkey, Sonics Tails, the term originated in pickpocket slang of the late 19th and early 20th century. The kick was the front side pocket of a pair of trousers, thus by analogy, a side-kick was a persons closest companion. A humorous folk etymology refers to the sidekicks accomplishments being kicked to the side or otherwise ignored in favor of the charismatic lead hero. One of the earliest recorded sidekicks may be Enkidu, who adopted a role to Gilgamesh after they became allies in the Epic of Gilgamesh. Other early examples are Achilles and Patroclus in the Iliad, and Moses, Sidekicks can fulfil one or multiple functions, such as a counterpoint to the hero, an alternate point of view, or knowledge, skills, or anything else the hero does not have. They often function as comic relief, and/or the straight man to the heros comedic actions, a sidekick can also be a character to whom the audience can more easily relate than the hero, or whom the audience can imagine themselves as being. And by asking questions of the hero, or giving the hero someone to talk to, Sidekicks frequently serve as an emotional connection, especially when the hero is depicted as detached and distant, traits which might make it difficult to like the hero. The sidekick is often the confidant who knows the character better than anyone else. Although Sherlock Holmes was portrayed as a man to know. The apparent stupidity of some comedy sidekicks is often used to make a non-intellectual hero look intelligent, similarly, a flamboyant or effeminate sidekick may make an otherwise unimposing hero look more masculine. And a strong, silent and modest hero may have his fighting qualities revealed to the other characters, examples include Porky Pig, who is more sensible and calmer than Daffy Duck in later short films, similarly, Sancho Panza is more rational than Don Quixote. It is typical for the character and sidekick to be of the same gender — otherwise the term sidekick is replaced with partner or companion, whenever there is a team of more than two characters, the term sidekick is generally reserved for another team member of the same sex. The original Doctor Who series intentionally avoided any explicit onscreen indications of romantic or sexual attraction between The Doctor and his female companions, while unusual, it is not unheard of for a sidekick to be more attractive, charismatic, or physically capable than the supposed hero. This is most typically encountered when the appeal is more intellectual rather than sexual. Such heroes are often middle-aged or older and tend towards eccentricity, such protagonists may, due to either age or physical unsuitability, be limited to cerebral conflicts, while leaving the physical action to a younger or more physically capable sidekick. This type of sidekick is rarely encountered in fiction, because the hero runs the risk of being upstaged by them, in other media, The Green Hornets sidekick, Kato, has been depicted as a capable man of action, for instance in martial arts. The earliest Doctor Who serials, particularly during the First Doctor era, had male companions who were capable of the physical action that the elderly William Hartnell was not
11.
Gene Autry
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Orvon Grover Gene Autry was an American performer who gained fame as a singing cowboy on the radio, in movies, and on television for more than three decades beginning in the early 1930s. Autry was also owner of a station, several radio stations in Southern California. From 1934 to 1953, Autry appeared in 93 films and 91 episodes of The Gene Autry Show television series, during the 1930s and 1940s, he personified the straight-shooting hero—honest, brave, and true—and profoundly touched the lives of millions of Americans. Autry was also one of the most important figures in the history of country music and his singing cowboy movies were the first vehicle to carry country music to a national audience. The town of Gene Autry, Oklahoma was named in his honor, orvon Grover Autry was born September 29,1907 near Tioga in Grayson County in north Texas, the grandson of a Methodist preacher. His parents, Delbert Autry and Elnora Ozment, moved in the 1920s to Ravia in Johnston County in southern Oklahoma and he worked on his fathers ranch while at school. After leaving high school in 1925, Autry worked as a telegrapher for the St. Louis–San Francisco Railway and his talent at singing and playing guitar led to performing at local dances. While working as a telegrapher, Autry would sing and accompany himself on the guitar to pass the lonely hours, one night, he was encouraged to sing professionally by a customer, the famous humorist Will Rogers, who had heard Autry singing. As soon as he could collect money to travel, he went to New York and he auditioned for Victor Records, about the time it became RCA Victor. According to Nathaniel Shilkret, director of Light Music for Victor at the time, Shilkret explained to Autry that he was turned down not because of his voice, but because Victor had just made contracts with two similar singers. Autry left with a letter of introduction from Shilkret and the advice to sing on radio to gain experience, L. Watson, recorded My Dreaming of You and My Alabama. Autry signed a deal with Columbia Records in 1929. He worked in Chicago on the WLS-AM radio show National Barn Dance for four years, and with his own show, in his early recording career, Autry covered various genres, including a labor song, The Death of Mother Jones, in 1931. Autry also recorded many records in 1930 and 1931 in New York City. These were much closer in style to the Prairie Ramblers or Dick Justice and these late Prohibition-era songs deal with bootlegging, corrupt police, and women whose occupation was certainly vice. These recordings are not heard today, but are available on European import labels. His first hit was in 1932 with That Silver-Haired Daddy of Mine, a duet with fellow man, Jimmy Long. He wrote Here Comes Santa Claus after being the Grand Marshal of the 1946 Santa Claus Lane Parade and he heard all of the spectators watching the parade saying Here comes Santa Claus
12.
Roy Rogers
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Roy Rogers was an American singer and actor who was one of the most popular Western stars of his era. Known as the King of the Cowboys, he appeared in over 100 films and numerous radio, in many of his films and television episodes, he appeared with his wife, Dale Evans, his golden palomino, Trigger, and his German shepherd dog, Bullet. His show was broadcast on radio for nine years and then on television from 1951 through 1957 and his productions usually featured a sidekick, often Pat Brady, Andy Devine, or George Gabby Hayes. In his later years, Rogers lent his name to the chain of Roy Rogers Restaurants. Rogers was born Leonard Slye, the son of Mattie and Andrew Andy Slye in Cincinnati, the family lived in a tenement on 2nd Street, where Riverfront Stadium would later be constructed. In 1919 the Slye family purchased a farm in Duck Run, located near Lucasville, Ohio, about 12 miles north of Portsmouth, a notable gift was a horse on which young Len Slye learned the basics of horsemanship. Living on the farm with no radio, the made their own entertainment. On Saturday nights, they often invited neighbors over for square dances, during which Len would sing, play mandolin and he also learned to yodel during this time, and he and his mother would use different yodels to communicate with each other across distances on the farm. Len attended high school in McDermott, Ohio, but after he completed his year there his family returned to Cincinnati. Realizing that his family needed his help, Len quit school. He tried to attend school, but after being ridiculed for falling asleep in class, he quit school. They stayed for four months before returning to Ohio, soon after returning, Len had the opportunity to travel again to California with Marys father-in-law, and the rest of the family followed in the spring of 1930. The Slye family rented a house near Mary, and Len. In the spring of 1931, after the company went bankrupt, Len traveled to Tulare, California. During this time he lived in a camp similar to the ones depicted in John Steinbecks novel The Grapes of Wrath. The economic hardship of the Great Depression was just as severe in California as it was in Ohio, after 19-year-old Len Slyes second arrival in Lawndale, his sister Mary suggested that he audition for the Midnight Frolic radio program, which was broadcast over KMCS in Inglewood. A few nights later, wearing a Western shirt that Mary had made for him, he overcame his shyness and appeared on the program playing guitar, singing, a few days later, he was asked to join a local country music group, the Rocky Mountaineers. He accepted the offer and became a member in August 1931
13.
B movies (Hollywood Golden Age)
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The B movie, whose roots trace to the silent film era, was a significant contributor to Hollywoods Golden Age of the 1930s and 1940s. As the Hollywood studios made the transition to film in the late 1920s, many independent exhibitors began adopting a new programming format. The popularity of the bill required the production of relatively short. The double feature was the predominant presentation model at American theaters throughout the Golden Age and it is not clear that the term B movie was in general use before the 1930s, in terms of studio production, however, a similar concept was already well established. The following year, the Butterfly line, a grade between Red Feather and Bluebird, was introduced, during those two years, about half of Universals output was in the Red Feather and Butterfly categories. While the down-market branding was soon eliminated, Universal continued to focus on low and modestly budgeted productions. By 1927–28, at the end of the silent era, the production cost of a feature from Hollywoods major film studios had soared. These averages, again, reflected specials and superspecials that might cost as much as $1 million and those studios could then parcel out second-rate product along with A-class features and star vehicles, which made both production and distribution operations more economical. A new programming scheme developed that would become standard practice, a newsreel, a short and/or a serial. The second feature, which screened before the main event. The majors comprehensive booking policy, which would become known as the run-zone-clearance system, the clearance policy prevented independent exhibitors timely access to top-quality films as a matter of course, the second feature allowed them to promote quantity instead. As the president of one Poverty Row company would put it. Some people like bread, and even a number of people like stale bread rather than fresh bread. The low-budget picture of the 1920s naturally transformed into the second feature, the major companies upon which the Hollywood studio system was built had been resistant to the B-movie trend, but they soon adapted. All ultimately established B units to provide films for the expanding second-feature market, block booking increasingly became standard practice, in order to get access to a studios attractive A pictures, many theaters were obliged to rent the companys entire output for a season. With the B films rented at a fee, rates could be set that essentially guaranteed the profitability of every B movie. They also distributed totally independent productions and imported films and they had few or no theaters, but they did have major-league-level distribution exchanges. There were fewer than 500 of these downtown movie palaces, in 1934,77 percent of them were under the control of one or the other of the leading studios, the Big Five
14.
Petticoat Junction
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Petticoat Junction is an American situation comedy that originally aired on CBS from September 1963 to April 1970. The series takes place at the Shady Rest Hotel, which is run by Kate Bradley, her Uncle Joe Carson, the series is one of three interrelated shows about rural characters produced by Paul Henning. Petticoat Junction was created upon the success of Hennings previous rural/urban-themed sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies, the success of Petticoat Junction led to a spin-off, Green Acres. Petticoat Junction was produced by Wayfilms, the show follows the goings-on at the rural Shady Rest Hotel. Widow Kate Bradley is the proprietor, Uncle Joe frequently comes up with half-baked get-rich-quick schemes and ill-conceived hotel promotions. Much of the show focuses on the Hooterville Cannonball, an 1890s steam-driven train run more like a taxi service by engineer Charley Pratt. It was not uncommon for the Cannonball to make a stop for passengers to go fishing, or to pick fruit for Kate Bradleys apple butter. The Hooterville spur line had been cut off from the rest of the railroad 20 years before the start of the show by the failure of a trestle, charlie and Floyd are retired employees of the railroad receiving pensions. Many plots involve railroad executive Homer Bedloes futile attempts to shut down, occasionally, youngest daughter Betty Jo can be found with her hand on the Cannonballs throttle, as running the train is one of her favorite pastimes. The series pilot introduced a feminist element whereby Betty Jo turned out to be skilled at driving the train, train engineer was traditionally a mans job, & F. W. Railroads headquarters are shocked when they learn of this. Trips on the Cannonball usually include a stop in Hooterville at Druckers Store, Druckers is the local hub, where menfolk come to play checkers and chat. Sam Drucker is the postmaster, and his telephone is a lifeline for the Bradleys, Uncle Joe, the Shady Rest Hotel is located at a water stop along an isolated branch line of the C. & F. W. Railroad, halfway between the farm community of Hooterville and the small town of Pixley, each about 25 miles away. Kate Bradley says her grandfather built the hotel there because that was where the fell off the train. The town of Pixley, at one end of the Cannonballs route, was named for Pixley, a number of location shots were filmed in the real Pixley. The exact location of Hooterville is never mentioned on Petticoat Junction or Green Acres and it is likely in the Ozark Mountains, one of the proposed titles for the show was Ozark Widow. The Shady Rest is an hotel, accessible only by train. Kate Bradley cooks sumptuous meals on a stove, and her specialty is chicken n dumplings
15.
Ravenwood, Missouri
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Ravenwood is a city in Nodaway County, Missouri, United States, near the Platte River. The population was 440 at the 2010 census, at time it was a town. Ravenwood was laid out in 1887 when the railroad was extended to that point, the community has the name of the original owner of the land where the village now stands. A post office called Ravenwood has been in operation since 1888, Ravenwood is located at 40°21′9″N 94°40′17″W. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 0.27 square miles. As of the census of 2010, there were 440 people,185 households, the population density was 1,629.6 inhabitants per square mile. There were 208 housing units at a density of 770.4 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 99. 5% White,0. 2% African American, hispanic or Latino of any race were 0. 2% of the population. 30. 3% of all households were made up of individuals, the average household size was 2.38 and the average family size was 2.97. The median age in the city was 36.7 years. 26. 1% of residents were under the age of 18,7. 1% were between the ages of 18 and 24,24. 6% were from 25 to 44,27. 8% were from 45 to 64, and 14. 5% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 47. 5% male and 52. 5% female, as of the census of 2000, there were 448 people,196 households, and 118 families residing in the town. The population density was 1,660.1 people per square mile, there were 209 housing units at an average density of 774.5 per square mile. The racial makeup of the town was 98. 66% White,0. 22% Native American,0. 22% Asian,33. 2% of all households were made up of individuals and 17. 9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.29 and the family size was 2.93. In the town the population was out with 23. 9% under the age of 18,12. 3% from 18 to 24,25. 4% from 25 to 44,20. 3% from 45 to 64. The median age was 36 years, for every 100 females there were 93.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.4 males, the median income for a household in the town was $31,250, and the median income for a family was $39,750
16.
Vaudeville
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Vaudeville is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment. It was especially popular in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s, a typical vaudeville performance is made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill. A vaudeville performer is often referred to as a vaudevillian, Vaudeville developed from many sources, including the concert saloon, minstrelsy, freak shows, dime museums, and literary American burlesque. Called the heart of American show business, vaudeville was one of the most popular types of entertainment in North America for several decades, the origin of this term is obscure, but is often explained as being derived from the French expression voix de ville. A second speculation is that it comes from the songs on satire by poet Olivier Basselin. Some, however, preferred the term variety to what manager Tony Pastor called its sissy. Thus, vaudeville was marketed as variety well into the 20th century, with its first subtle appearances within the early 1860s, vaudeville was not initially a common form of entertainment. The form gradually evolved from the saloon and variety hall into its mature form throughout the 1870s and 1880s. This more gentle form was known as Polite Vaudeville, in the years before the American Civil War, entertainment existed on a different scale. Certainly, variety theatre existed before 1860 in Europe and elsewhere, in the US, as early as the first decades of the 19th century, theatregoers could enjoy a performance consisting of Shakespeare plays, acrobatics, singing, dancing, and comedy. As the years progressed, people seeking diversified amusement found a number of ways to be entertained. Vaudeville was characterized by traveling companies touring through cities and towns, a significant influence also came from Dutch minstrels and comedians. Vaudeville incorporated these various itinerant amusements into a stable, institutionalized form centered in Americas growing urban hubs, pastors experiment proved successful, and other managers soon followed suit. B. F. Keith took the step, starting in Boston. Later, E. F. Albee, adoptive grandfather of the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Edward Albee, circuits such as those managed by Keith-Albee provided vaudevilles greatest economic innovation and the principal source of its industrial strength. They enabled a chain of allied vaudeville houses that remedied the chaos of the booking system by contracting acts for regional and national tours. These could easily be lengthened from a few weeks to two years, Albee also gave national prominence to vaudevilles trumpeting polite entertainment, a commitment to entertainment equally inoffensive to men, women and children. Acts that violated this ethos were admonished and threatened with expulsion from the remaining performances or were canceled altogether
17.
Tuscola, Illinois
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Tuscola is a city in Douglas County, Illinois, United States. The population was 4,480 at the 2010 census and it is the county seat of Douglas County. Tuscola is located at 39°47′52″N 88°16′54″W, according to the 2010 census, Tuscola has a total area of 2.747 square miles, of which 2.74 square miles is land and 0.007 square miles is water. The founding Supervisor of Tuscola township was O. C, Hackett was elected Supervisor with a majority of only one vote over W. B. O. C. Hackett was the grandson of noted Kentucky frontiersman, O. C. planted Hacketts Grove, a sassafras grove situated on Section 31, Township 16, Range 9, on the east side of the township. Hacketts father, John Hackett, settled in nearby Coles County in 1835, family legend holds that Abraham Lincoln stayed at the Hackett farm during the Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858. Tuscola had two churches with mainly black congregations, the African Methodist Episcopal Church on North Niles, and the White Horse Riders church on Houghton Street. Unlike the neighboring town of Arcola, Tuscola did not have the ordinance, common in small Illinois towns at the time, the black and white people of Tuscola got along well. However, between 1922 and 1924 two large Ku Klux Klan gatherings were held in Tuscola, the 1924 rally consisted of nearly 2,000 Klan cars, a hundred marching Klansmen, burning crosses, and a naturalization ceremony in Tuscolas Ervin Park. As of the census of 2000, there were 4,448 people,1,885 households, the population density was 2,084.9 people per square mile. There were 2,000 housing units at a density of 937.5 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 98. 11% White,0. 31% African American,0. 40% Native American,0. 52% Asian,0. 02% Pacific Islander,0. 20% from other races, and 0. 43% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1. 06% of the population,29. 7% of all households were made up of individuals and 14% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the family size was 2.93. In the city, the population was out with 25% under the age of 18,8. 1% from 18 to 24, 29% from 25 to 44,21. 2% from 45 to 64. The median age was 38 years, for every 100 females there were 91.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.3 males, the median income for a household in the city was $39,608, and the median income for a family was $44,816. Males had an income of $35,063 versus $22,090 for females
18.
Mark Twain
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Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. Among his novels are The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain was raised in Hannibal, Missouri, which later provided the setting for Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. He served an apprenticeship with a printer and then worked as a typesetter and he later became a riverboat pilot on the Mississippi River before heading west to join Orion in Nevada. He referred humorously to his lack of success at mining, turning to journalism for the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, the short story brought international attention and was even translated into classic Greek. His wit and satire, in prose and in speech, earned praise from critics and peers, and he was a friend to presidents, artists, industrialists, and European royalty. He filed for bankruptcy in the wake of financial setbacks. He chose to pay all his creditors in full, even though he had no legal responsibility to do so. Twain was born shortly after an appearance of Halleys Comet, and he predicted that he would go out with it as well and he was lauded as the greatest American humorist of his age, and William Faulkner called him the father of American literature. His parents met when his father moved to Missouri, and they were married in 1823, Twain was of Cornish, English, and Scots-Irish descent. Only three of his siblings survived childhood, Orion, Henry, and Pamela and his sister Margaret died when Twain was three, and his brother Benjamin died three years later. His brother Pleasant died at six months of age, slavery was legal in Missouri at the time, and it became a theme in these writings. His father was an attorney and judge, but he died of pneumonia in 1847, the next year, Twain left school after the fifth grade to become a printers apprentice. In 1851, he working as a typesetter, contributing articles and humorous sketches to the Hannibal Journal. He educated himself in libraries in the evenings, finding wider information than at a conventional school. Twain describes his boyhood in Life on the Mississippi, stating there was but one permanent ambition among his comrades. Pilot was the grandest position of all, the pilot, even in those days of trivial wages, had a princely salary – from a hundred and fifty to two hundred and fifty dollars a month, and no board to pay. As Twain describes it, the pilots prestige exceeded that of the captain, bixby took Twain on as a cub pilot to teach him the river between New Orleans and St. Louis for $500, payable out of Twains first wages after graduating. It was more than two years before he received his pilots license, piloting gave also him his pen name from mark twain, the leadsmans cry for a measured river depth of two fathoms, which was safe water for a steamboat
19.
The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County
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The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County is an 1865 short story by Mark Twain. It was his first great success as a writer and brought him national attention, the story has also been published as Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog and The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County. In it, the narrator retells a story he heard from a bartender, Simon Wheeler, at the Angels Hotel in Angels Camp, California, about the gambler Jim Smiley. The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, and Other Sketches is also the story of an 1867 collection of short stories by Mark Twain. It was Twains first book and collected 27 stories that were published in magazines. Twain first wrote the short story at the request of his friend Artemus Ward. Twain worked on two versions, but neither was satisfactory to him—neither got around to describing the jumping frog contest, Twains colorful story was immensely popular, and was soon printed in many different magazines and newspapers. Further popularity of the tale led Twain to use the story to anchor his own first book, which appeared in 1867 with a first issue run of only 1,000 copies. The first edition was issued in seven colors, blue, brown, green, lavender, plum, red, and terra-cotta, in the book version, Twain changed Greeley back to Smiley. The narrator is sent by a friend to interview an old man, Simon Wheeler, Jim loves to gamble and will offer to bet on anything and everything, from horse races to dogfights to the health of the local parsons wife. He catches a frog, whom he names Danl Webster and trains to jump over the course of three months, when a stranger visits the camp, Jim shows off Danl and offers to bet $40 that he can out-jump any other frog in Calaveras County. The stranger, unimpressed, says that he would take the bet if he had a frog, while Jim is away, the stranger pours lead shot down Danls throat. Once Jim returns, he and the set the frogs down. The strangers frog jumps away while Danl does not budge, after the stranger has departed, Jim notices Danls sluggishness and picks the frog up, finding it to be much heavier than he remembers. When Danl belches out a handful of lead shot, Jim realizes that he has been cheated and chases after the stranger. At this point in the story, Simon excuses himself to go outside for a moment. The narrator realizes that Jim has no connection to Leonidas and gets up to leave, only to have Simon stop him at the door, rather than stay to hear another pointless story, the narrator excuses himself and leaves. Upon discovering a French translation of this story, Twain back-translated the story into English, word for word, retaining the French grammatical structure and syntax
20.
National Barn Dance
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National Barn Dance, broadcast by WLS-AM in Chicago, Illinois starting in 1924, was one of the first American country music radio programs and a direct precursor of the Grand Ole Opry. The program was received and thus widely imitated. National Barn Dance ended its broadcast in 1968, National Barn Dance was founded by Edgar L. Bill. To him goes the credit for arranging to have a program of down-home tunes broadcast from radio station WLS, having lived on a farm, he knew how people loved the familiar sound and informal spirit of old-fashioned barn dance music. The first broadcast was a sustaining program. An avalanche of telephone calls and letters indicated a demand from the public for this type of broadcast. It first aired on WLS on April 19,1924 and originated from the Eighth Street Theater starting in 1931, the show was picked up by NBC Radio in 1933. NBC expanded the coverage in 1942, adding it to the schedules of international shortwave stations. In 1946 it switched to the ABC Radio network and aired until 1952 on Saturday nights from 6,30 p. m. to midnight, other guests included Smiley Burnette, Eddie Peabody and Joe Kelly, best remembered today as the host and moderator of NBCs Quiz Kids. The announcer was Jack Holden and it was sponsored by Alka-Seltzer. ABC made two moves that led to National Barn Dances slow demise. The first was the cancellation of the network broadcast in 1952, after a few years, audiences finally began to wane, and the program ceased live performances after 1957. The show continued to air on WLS, however, until 1959 when ABC bought the station and changed the format to Top 40 rock and roll, the show moved to Chicagos WGN-AM until it finally left the air in 1968. Bardy William Bardy Byron Bouchard A fictionalized account of the origins, The National Barn Dance, was filmed by director Hugh Bennett from a screenplay by Hal Fimberg. The film starred Jean Heather, Charles Quigley, Robert Benchley, Mabel Paige and Charles Dingle, while Pat Buttram, paramount Pictures reportedly paid WLS $75,000 for the rights in 1943. ABC Barn Dance, a filmed TV series featuring some of the performers, was telecast on ABC from February 21–November 14,1949. Hosted by Jack Stillwell and Hal OHalloran, the 30-minute musical variety format presented a mix of music with country. In 1925, prior to network radio or syndication, Hay brought his Barn Dance concept to Nashville, the result was a show called the WSM Barn Dance
21.
WLS (AM)
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WLS is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Chicago, Illinois. WLS is a Class A station broadcasting on the frequency of 890 kHz with 50,000 watts of power using C-QUAM AM Stereo. The stations daytime groundwave service contour covers portions of five states while at night its signal routinely reaches 38 states via skywave. The stations programming is available to listeners in the Chicago metropolitan area with an HD Radio receiver via a simulcast on the HD2 subchannel of sister station WLS-FM. Despite different owners and affiliations,89 WLS, ABC owned-and-operated ABC7 Chicago, WLS has a talk radio format, with its weekday programming consisting of local hosts and nationally syndicated shows such as Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin, Red Eye Radio and First Light. Limbaugh is syndicated by Premiere Networks and the rest are from Westwood One, local hosts include Big John Howell and veteran Chicago radio personality Steve Dahl hosts afternoons. Weekends feature programs on money, real estate, auto repair, syndicated weekend shows include Kim Komando, Bob Brinker, John Batchelor, Ric Edelman and Larry Kudlow. WLS carried Notre Dame Fighting Irish football and basketball games through the 2015-16 season, since 2016, WLS has been the flagship station of the Chicago White Sox baseball team and the Chicago Bulls basketball team. In the 1920s, Sears, Roebuck and Company was a retail and mail order company. To get farmers and people in communities to buy radio sets from its catalogs, Sears bought time on radio stations. Just before the permanent station was ready, Sears began broadcasts on March 21,1924 as WBBX with noon programs using the WMAQ studios, Sears broadcast test transmissions from its own permanent studios on April 9,10 and 11,1924, using the call sign WES. On April 12,1924, the station commenced officially, using the call letters WLS, Sears originally operated its station at its Chicago headquarters on Chicagos West Side where the companys mail order business was located. Sears then moved the WLS studios into the Sherman House hotel in downtown Chicago, Sears opened the station in 1924 as a service to farmers and subsequently sold it to the Prairie Farmer magazine in 1928. The station moved to the Prairie Farmer Building on West Washington in Chicago, for a few months after ABCs 1960 purchase of it and the format change, the bright new sound that began in May 1960 was broadcast from the Prairie Farmer Building. WLS didnt make the move to downtown Michigan Avenues Stone Container Building, located at 360 North Michigan Avenue, thirty years later, it would move once more, to its present location at 190 North State in downtown Chicago. It was the scene of the National Barn Dance, which featured Gene Autry, Pat Buttram, and George Gobel, the station also experimented successfully in many forms of news broadcasting, including weather and crop reports. Its most famous news broadcast was the report of the Hindenburg disaster by Herbert Morrison. Morrison and engineer Charles Nehlsen had been sent to New Jersey by WLS to cover the arrival of the Hindenburg for delayed broadcast and their recordings aired the next day on May 7,1937, the first time that recordings of a news event were ever broadcast
22.
Sound film
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A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900. Reliable synchronization was difficult to achieve with the early sound-on-disc systems, innovations in sound-on-film led to the first commercial screening of short motion pictures using the technology, which took place in 1923. The primary steps in the commercialization of sound cinema were taken in the mid- to late 1920s, at first, the sound films which included synchronized dialogue, known as talking pictures, or talkies, were exclusively shorts. The earliest feature-length movies with recorded sound included only music and effects, the first feature film originally presented as a talkie was The Jazz Singer, released in October 1927. A major hit, it was made with Vitaphone, which was at the time the brand of sound-on-disc technology. Sound-on-film, however, would become the standard for talking pictures. By the early 1930s, the talkies were a global phenomenon, in the United States, they helped secure Hollywoods position as one of the worlds most powerful cultural/commercial centers of influence. In Europe, the new development was treated with suspicion by many filmmakers and critics, in Japan, where the popular film tradition integrated silent movie and live vocal performance, talking pictures were slow to take root. In India, sound was the element that led to the rapid expansion of the nations film industry. The idea of combining motion pictures with recorded sound is nearly as old as the concept of cinema itself. On February 27,1888, a couple of days after photographic pioneer Eadweard Muybridge gave a lecture not far from the laboratory of Thomas Edison, the two inventors privately met. No agreement was reached, but within a year Edison commissioned the development of the Kinetoscope, essentially a peep-show system, as a visual complement to his cylinder phonograph. The two devices were brought together as the Kinetophone in 1895, but individual, cabinet viewing of motion pictures was soon to be outmoded by successes in film projection and these appear to be the first publicly exhibited films with projection of both image and recorded sound. Phonorama and yet another sound-film system—Théâtroscope—were also presented at the Exposition, three major problems persisted, leading to motion pictures and sound recording largely taking separate paths for a generation. The primary issue was synchronization, pictures and sound were recorded and played back by separate devices, sufficient playback volume was also hard to achieve. Finally, there was the challenge of recording fidelity, cinematic innovators attempted to cope with the fundamental synchronization problem in a variety of ways. In 1902, Léon Gaumont demonstrated his sound-on-disc Chronophone, involving an electrical connection he had recently patented, four years later, Gaumont introduced the Elgéphone, a compressed-air amplification system based on the Auxetophone, developed by British inventors Horace Short and Charles Parsons
23.
Bluegrass music
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Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a related genre of country music. Settlers from Britain and Ireland arrived in Appalachia during the 18th century and these traditions consisted primarily of English and Scottish ballads—which were essentially unaccompanied narrative—and dance music, such as Irish reels, which were accompanied by a fiddle. Many older bluegrass songs come directly from the British Isles, several Appalachian bluegrass ballads, such as Pretty Saro, Barbara Allen, Cuckoo Bird and House Carpenter, come from England and preserve the English ballad tradition both melodically and lyrically. Others, such as The Two Sisters, also come from England, however, some bluegrass fiddle songs popular in Appalachia, such as Leather Britches, and Pretty Polly, have Scottish roots. The dance tune Cumberland Gap may be derived from the tune that accompanies the Scottish ballad Bonnie George Campbell and this is in contrast to old-time music, in which all instruments play the melody together or one instrument carries the lead throughout while the others provide accompaniment. Breakdowns are often characterized by rapid tempos and unusual instrumental dexterity, there are three major subgenres of bluegrass and one unofficial subgenre. Traditional bluegrass has musicians playing folk songs, tunes with traditional chord progressions, progressive bluegrass groups may use electric instruments and import songs from other genres, particularly rock & roll. Examples include Cadillac Sky and Bearfoot, another subgenre, Bluegrass gospel uses Christian lyrics, soulful three- or four-part harmony singing, and sometimes the playing of instrumentals. Bluegrass music has attracted a following worldwide. Bluegrass pioneer Bill Monroe characterized the genre as, Scottish bagpipes and its Methodist and Holiness and Baptist. Its blues and jazz, and it has a high lonesome sound, unlike mainstream country music, bluegrass is traditionally played on acoustic stringed instruments. The fiddle, five-string banjo, guitar, mandolin, and upright bass are often joined by the resonator guitar and this instrumentation originated in rural dance bands and is the basis on which the earliest bluegrass bands were formed. The guitar is now most commonly played with a style referred to as flatpicking, unlike the style of bluegrass guitarists such as Lester Flatt. Banjo players often use the three-finger picking style made popular by such as Don Reno. Fiddlers frequently play in thirds and fifths, producing a sound that is characteristic to the bluegrass style, bassists almost always play pizzicato, occasionally adopting the slap-style to accentuate the beat. A bluegrass bass line is generally a rhythmic alternation between the tonic and dominant of each chord, with walking bass excursions. Instrumentation has been a topic of debate. Traditional bluegrass performers believe the correct instrumentation is used by Bill Monroes band
24.
Mascot Pictures
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Mascot Pictures Corporation was an American film company of the 1920s and 1930s best known for producing and distributing film serials and B-westerns. Mascot was formed in 1927 by film producer Nat Levine, in 1936 it merged with several other companies to form Republic Pictures. Mascots serial The King of the Kongo was the first serial to include sound, the companys logo featured a roaring tiger resting on top of a model of the planet Earth. Mascot was created by Nat Levine, a personal secretary to Marcus Loew. In the beginning the company operated out of the offices of a contractors business on Santa Monica Boulevard. It rented all of its equipment and facilities, in 1929 the studio made serial history with the production of The King of the Kongo. This was the first serial, from any company, to be made with sound. This made the company a true film studio and that studio lot is now CBS Studio Center. Mascot was responsible for the popularity of the concept of the singing cowboy, in 1935 the studio produced The Phantom Empire with the then untried Gene Autry as the lead. Mascots film developer was Consolidated Film Industries, known as CFI, Mascot became the serial and B-Western arm of the company, along with its studio. Along with other things, Monogram provided its distribution network, several careers began at Mascot Pictures. Gene Autry Smiley Burnette John Wayne Ford Beebe B, reeves Eason Joseph Kane The Lydecker brothers William Witney Additionally, The Silent Flyer was created by Nat Levine but was not in the strict sense of the word a Mascot production. List of film serials by studio includes a list of serials produced by Mascot
25.
In Old Santa Fe
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Based on a story by Wallace MacDonald and John Rathmell, the film is about a cowboy who loses his horse in a rigged horse race and gets framed for the murder of a stagecoach driver. The film was shot on location in Kentucky and Keystone Studios in California, a cowboy named Kentucky Ken and his sidekick, Cactus, meet a beautiful woman named Lila Miller when her car accidentally goes off the road. Lilas father, Charlie Miller, owns the ranch where Ken. Two other men, Chandler and Tracy, have arrived for the race. They are also plotting to blackmail Charlie, who has a criminal past, for half of his gold mine. Chandler also hopes that his scheme will force Charlie into granting him permission to marry Lila. Charlie refuses to be bullied, however, and claims he was innocent of the crime, before the race, Chandler and Tracy trick the gambling-prone Cactus into a wager in which Tarzan will be the prize if Ken loses the race. To assure their victory, Tracy sets up a trip-wire on the course, after he discovers the broken wire and suspects foul play, Ken refuses to give up his horse to Chandler. Shamed by his behavior, Cactus vows to identify the saboteur. Meanwhile, Tracy double-crosses Chandler by robbing the stagecoach carrying a shipment of Charlies gold. During the robbery, the driver is killed, Ken, who is trying to catch the bandits, is jailed for the crime after Tracy implicates him to the sheriff. With the help of Cactus and Tarzan, Ken escapes from jail, again, Ken is suspected of the killing. After Cactus arrives with proof that Tracys boots match the prints found on the racecourse, with his reputation at last clear, Ken is free to court Lila, who has always loved him. Ken Maynard as Ken, alias Kentucky Evalyn Knapp as Lila Miller H. B, warner as Charlie Miller Kenneth Thomson as Matt Korber, alias Mr. He was paid $10,000 per week for four weeks to shoot the serial film and he was the highest-paid Western actor in Hollywood at the time. The film also features the first screen appearance of Gene Autry, both Autry and Burnette were unbilled, but the scene served as a screen test that would lead to many subsequent singing cowboy films. The film was rereleased with Gene Autry being given top billing in the redesigned film credits. Filming began on September 17,1934, at Mack Sennetts Keystone Studios in California, the producer, Nat Levine, introduced a modern West setting for the film, a dude ranch where horses and roadsters shared the open spaces and the actors dressed in contemporary Western fashions
26.
Ken Maynard
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Kenneth Olin Ken Maynard was an American motion picture stuntman and actor. He appeared in more than 90 films over 20 years with his cowboy hat, fancy shirt. Ken Maynard began working at carnivals and circuses, where he became an accomplished horseman, as a young man, he performed in rodeos and was a trick rider with Buffalo Bills Wild West Show. Maynard served in the United States Army during World War I, after the war, Maynard returned to show business as a circus rider with Ringling Brothers. When the circus was playing in Los Angeles, California, actor Buck Jones encouraged Maynard to try working in the movies, Maynard soon had a contract with Fox Studios. He first appeared in silent motion pictures in 1923 as a stuntman or supporting actor, in 1924 he began working in western features, where his horsemanship and rugged good looks made him a cowboy star. Maynards silent features showcased his daredevil riding, photographed fairly close so audiences could see that Maynard was doing his own stunts with his white stallion Tarzan. The action scenes were so spectacular that they were reused in films of the 1930s, starring either Maynard himself or John Wayne. Maynard made a transition to talking pictures and became the movies first singing cowboy. He recorded two songs for Columbia Records, The Lone Star Trail and The Cowboys Lament, Maynards first talkies were made for Universal Pictures. His reckless screen personality spilled over into his life, with alcoholism and high living resulting in production delays. This made Maynard a problem employee, and he was released from Universal after one year, other independent producers took a chance on the hotheaded star -- among them Tiffany Productions and Sono Art-World Wide Pictures -- before he returned to Universal in 1933. Maynard played several instruments, and was featured that year on the violin in The Fiddlin Buckaroo. Laemmle, I have made you eight very bad pictures, and walked out on Laemmle, in 1934 producer Nat Levine hired Ken Maynard for a serial, Mystery Mountain, and planned to make a series of western features with Maynard, beginning with In Old Santa Fe. Maynards unprofessionalism cost him the job, after In Old Santa Fe Levine replaced Maynard with a singer in his supporting cast, Maynard kept working in Hollywood, but in smaller productions, until 1940. He returned to the screen in 1943 for low-budget Monogram Pictures in a new series called The Trail Blazers and he was teamed with fellow veteran stars Hoot Gibson and Bob Steele, and the trio offered action for the kids and nostalgia for their elders. It wasnt long before Maynards raging temperament again cost him the job, he liked Gibson but didnt like Steele, Maynard turned his back on the movies and made appearances at state fairs and rodeos. He owned a small circus operation featuring rodeo riders but eventually lost it to creditors and his substantial wealth had vanished, and he lived a desolate life in a rundown trailer
27.
Serial film
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Each chapter was screened at a movie theater for one week, and ended with a cliffhanger, in which characters found themselves in perilous situations with little apparent chance of escape. Viewers had to each week to see the cliffhangers resolved. Many serials were Westerns, since those were the least expensive to film, besides Westerns, though, there were films covering many genres, including crime fiction, espionage, comic book or comic strip characters, science fiction, and jungle adventures. Although most serials were filmed economically, some were made at significant expense, the Flash Gordon serial and its sequels, for instance, were major productions in their times. Serials were a form of movie entertainment dating back to Edisons What Happened to Mary of 1912. Usually filmed with low budgets, serials were action-packed stories that involved a hero battling an evil villain. The hero and heroine would face one trap after another, battling countless thugs and lackeys, many famous clichés of action-adventure movies had their origins in the serials. The popular Indiana Jones movies are a well-known, romantic pastiche of the serials clichéd plot elements, ruth Roland, Marin Sais, Ann Little, and Helen Holmes were also early leading serial queens. Most of these serials put beautiful young women in jeopardy week after week, the serials starring women were the most popular during the silent period but in the sound era few serials had a female character in the major role. Years after their first release, serials gained new life at Saturday Matinees, for that reason, serials are sometimes called Saturday Matinee Serials, even though they were originally shown with feature films. Many have been released in home video formats, besides the hero or heroine, some terms are used to define villains and supporting players, The saddle pal or sidekick was the helper or assistant of the hero or heroine. That person was often a comic or a more serious. The brains heavy was the man who issued the orders to his henchmen and he often wears a suit, and pretends to be an upright, lawful member of the community. He usually had little to do until the last chapter except talk, snarl, the action heavy is the assistant or second-in-command to the brains heavy who usually wore workmanlike duds, did the physical labor, and often had more brawn than brains. He went from one chapter to the next trying desperately to kill the hero with fists, knives, guns, bombs, or whatever else was handy at the time. The oldtimer was the man who owned the ranch, the father of the hero and often had a short lifespan, as well those that wore a badge of a sheriff, marshall. The middle-aged and older performers who were judges, lawyers, storeowners, wardens, owners of the newspaper, scientists, executives. Famous American serials of the silent era include The Perils of Pauline and The Exploits of Elaine made by Pathé Frères, another popular serial was the 119-episode The Hazards of Helen made by Kalem Studios and starring Helen Holmes for the first forty-eight episodes then Helen Gibson for the remainder
28.
The Phantom Empire
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The Phantom Empire is a 1935 American Western serial film directed by Otto Brower and B. Reeves Eason and starring Gene Autry, Frankie Darro, and Betsy King Ross and this 12-chapter Mascot Pictures serial combined the western, musical, and science fiction genres. The first episode is 30 minutes, the rest about 20 minutes, in 1940, a 70-minute feature film edited from the serial was released under the titles Radio Ranch or Men with Steel Faces. This was Gene Autrys first starring role, playing himself as a singing cowboy, Gene Autry is a singing cowboy who runs Radio Ranch, a dude ranch from which he makes a daily live radio broadcast at 2,00 pm. The kids, dressing up in capes and water-bucket helmets, play at riding To the rescue, on the surface, criminals led by Professor Beetson plan to invade Murania and seize its radium wealth, while in Murania, a group of revolutionaries plots to overthrow Queen Tika. The inhabitants of Murania are the lost tribe of Mu, who went underground in the last glacial period 100,000 years ago and they cannot now breathe the air at ground level and must wear oxygen masks. The Thunder Guard emerges to the world from a cave with a huge rock door that swings up like a garage door. Both Muranians and Professor Beetson want to get rid of Autry, so he loses his radio contract, the idea for the plot came to writer Wallace MacDonald when he was under gas having a tooth extracted. The Phantom Empire was filmed in late 1934, the film had an operating budget of $75,000. Silver Lake, Los Angeles, California, USA Ken Cooper Richard Talmadge Jack Jones George Magrill Wally West Frankie Darro, Ross was an experienced rodeo performer and was billed as the Worlds Champion Trick Rider. The serial was a box office success. Events in the empire were shown in color, but events on the surface were in glorious black. Stock footage from the serial, as well as serials, was used in the animated series Muppet Babies. The movie makes reference to the serial and was itself in the end credits planned to have sequels that never were produced, alejandro Pérez Cervantes short story collection, Murania, is highly inspired on the aesthetic of Murania and the lost continent of Mu as depicted in the film. It received the 2006 Julio Torri national award for fiction in Mexico. The webseries The Sam Plenty Cavalcade of Action Show Plus Singing. was inspired by the serial, the UK Channel 4 show Exploitica lampooned the serial, adding comedic sound effects, thought bubbles and captions to each episode. Cliffhangers - The Secret Empire The Mound by H. P, the Phantom Empire, by Gary Johnson Serial Robots, The Phantom Empire NY Times Review, The Phantom Empire Review of the 1986 version on DVD Watch and Download the Entire Serial
29.
Republic Pictures
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Republic Pictures Corporation was an American motion picture production-distribution corporation in operation from 1935 through 1959, based in Los Angeles, California. It had studio facilities in Studio City and a ranch in Encino. It was best known for specializing in Westerns, movie serials, Republic Pictures was also notable for developing the careers of John Wayne, Gene Autry, and Roy Rogers. It was also responsible for the financing and distributing of several John Ford-directed films during the 1940s and early 1950s and one Shakespeare film, Macbeth, created in 1935 by Herbert J. In the depths of the Great Depression of the 1930s, Yates laboratory was servicing many studios, in 1935 Yates saw a chance to become a studio head himself. Six established Poverty Row companies were all in debt to Yates lab and he prevailed upon these studios to merge under his leadership. Yates new company, Republic Pictures Corporation, was established as an enterprise focused on low-budget product. The largest of Republics components was Monogram Pictures, run by producers Trem Carr and W. Ray Johnston, mascot also had just discovered Gene Autry and signed him to a contract as a singing cowboy star. Larry Darmours Majestic Pictures had developed a following, with big-name stars, Republic took its original Liberty Bell logo from M. H. Hoffmans Liberty Pictures. Chesterfield Pictures and Invincible Pictures, two companies under the same ownership, were skilled in producing low-budget melodramas and mysteries. In exchange for merging, the principals were promised independence in their productions under the Republic aegis, after he had learned the basics of film production and distribution from his partners, Yates began asserting more and more authority over their film departments, and dissension arose in the ranks. Republic also acquired Brunswick Records to record their singing cowboys Gene Autry and Roy Rogers, in its early years Republic was itself sometimes labelled a poverty row company, as its primary products were B movies and serials. Republic, however, showed more interest in, and provided larger budgets to, these films than many of the studios were doing. The heart of the company was its westerns, and its many western-film leads, among them John Wayne, Gene Autry, Rex Allen and Roy Rogers, became recognizable stars at Republic. However, by the mid-1940s, Yates was producing better-quality pictures, even mounting big-budget fare like The Quiet Man, Sands of Iwo Jima, Johnny Guitar and The Maverick Queen. Another distinguishing aspect of the studio was Yates avoidance of any subject matter. In 1947, Republic incorporated animation into its Gene Autry feature film Sioux City Sue and it turned out well enough for the studio to dabble in animated cartoons. Cartoons in 1946, Bob Clampett approached Republic and wound up directing a single cartoon, Its a Grand Old Nag, Republic management, however, had second thoughts owing to dwindling profits, and discontinued the series
30.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
31.
Sunset Carson
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Sunset Carson was an American B-western star of the 1940s. Born Winifred Maurice Harrison on November 12,1920, at Gracemont, Oklahoma, to Maurice Greely Harrison and he moved to Plainview, Texas as a child. Carson became a rodeo rider in his youth. For a time he worked in a western show owned by cowboy actor Tom Mix. In 1940 he traveled to South America, where he competed in rodeos for two years, after his return to the U. S. he played small parts in the 1943 film Stage Door Canteen, and the 1944 film Janie, both having him billed as Michael Harrison. Catching the attention of Republic Pictures executive Lou Grey, he was signed to a contract and given his own series of B-westerns, within two years, Carson was on the top-10 list of money makers for western stars. He was given a horse named Cactus, and starred in a string of semi-successful western genre films, in 1944 he starred in Bordertown Trail, Code of the Prairie, and Firebrands of Arizona opposite Smiley Burnette. 1945 was by far the peak of his career, with his first film of year being Sheriff of Cimarron. He followed that up with Sante Fe Saddlemates, Bells of Rosarita, Oregon Trail, Bandits of the Badlands, Rough Riders of Cheyenne, in 1946, Carson began the year strong, starring in Days of Buffalo Bill and Alias Billy the Kid. He followed those with The El Paso Kid, Red River Renegades, however, by the end of 1946, Carson and Republic Pictures were having disputes. He claimed the disputes were over his contract, at any rate, by the years end he and Republic Pictures had parted company. He would never again achieve any success as an actor. In 1948 he starred with another company in Fighting Mustang, Deadline, then in 1949 he starred in Rio Grande, and in 1950 he starred as the main character for the last time, in Battling Marshal. By the following year, his career was all but over as an actor of the day. For the next years he obtained small bit parts. He played the role in a B-movie titled The Marshal of Windy Hollow in 1972, a film that costarred a host of old time actors, including Ken Maynard, Tex Ritter. He then had a bit part in the movie Seabo in 1978 and he toured for five years with Tommy Scotts Country Music Circus. In the early 1980s, Carson hosted ″Six-Gun Heroes″, a South Carolina Educational TV show presenting classic B Westerns which still airs on many PBS affiliates across the US and his last known role was in the first episode of the television series Simon & Simon, in 1985
32.
Charles Starrett
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Charles Robert Starrett was an American actor best known for his starring role in the Durango Kid western series. When he retired he held the record for starring in the string of feature films. Starrett was born in Athol, Massachusetts, where his grandfather had built a prosperous tool works and he attended Worcester Academy, then graduated from Dartmouth College. A graduate of Worcester Academy in 1922, Starrett went on to study at Dartmouth College, while on the Dartmouth football team he was hired to play a football extra in the film The Quarterback. Bitten by the bug, Starrett played minor roles in films. In 1928, he was a member of the Walker Company and he played the romantic lead in Fast and Loose, which also featured Miriam Hopkins, Carole Lombard, and Frank Morgan. He also starred in the Canadian production The Viking, filmed on location in Newfoundland, after that he was very active for the next two years but his roles were unremarkable. He was featured in Our Betters, Murder on the Campus. and in his most charming role as a doctor named Orion in Along Came Love. Offscreen, he helped organize the Screen Actors Guild, in 1935 Columbia Pictures wanted to replace its incumbent western star Tim McCoy with a younger actor. Starrett heard about this and interviewed with Columbia producers, Starrett ultimately signed four contracts with Columbia, becoming the studios number-one cowboy star. He cast an appealing figure with his stature, strong jawline, confident voice. Starretts first western film was Gallant Defender, Starrett hadnt planned on making an entire career out of westerns, and agreed to make them for two years, with the understanding that his bosses would then cast him in plainclothes roles. When they didnt, he walked out on his contract after the two years, meanwhile, theater exhibitors around the world were attracting big crowds with Charles Starrett westerns, so Columbia gave him a new contract with the actor insisting on appearing in a non-western. He finally got his chance—once—in 1937, for the musical comedy Start Cheering. In a curious reflection of his own situation, Starrett played a movie hero who wanted to do something different with his life. But Starretts success in westerns established him firmly in outdoor fare, for the rest of his career he made Columbia westerns exclusively. The musical westerns of Gene Autry inspired every Hollywood studio to have its cowboy personalities use their musical talents—but not Charles Starrett and he could carry a tune but left the songs to professional vocalists. Columbia solved the problem by hiring a singing group to support Starrett
33.
Columbia Pictures
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The studio was founded in 1918 as Cohn-Brandt-Cohn Film Sales by brothers Jack and Harry Cohn and Jacks best friend Joe Brandt, released its first feature film in August 1922. It adopted the Columbia Pictures name in 1924, and went public two years later and its name is derived from Columbia, a national personification of the United States, which is used as the studios logo. In its early years, it was a player in Hollywood. With Capra and others, Columbia became one of the homes of the screwball comedy. In the 1930s, Columbias major contract stars were Jean Arthur, in the 1940s, Rita Hayworth became the studios premier star and propelled their fortunes into the late 1950s. Rosalind Russell, Glenn Ford, and William Holden also became major stars at the studio, in 1982, the studio was purchased by The Coca-Cola Company, and launched TriStar Pictures as a joint venture with HBO and CBS. Five years later, Coca-Cola spun off Columbia, which was sold to Tri-Star, after a brief period of independence with Coca-Cola maintaining a financial interest, the combined studio was acquired by Sony in 1989. It is one of the film studios in the world. It was one of the so-called Little Three among the eight major film studios of Hollywoods Golden Age, Brandt was president of CBC Film Sales, handling sales, marketing and distribution from New York along with Jack Cohn, while Harry Cohn ran production in Hollywood. The studios early productions were short subjects, Screen Snapshots, the Hall Room Boys. The start-up CBC leased space in a Poverty Row studio on Hollywoods famously low-rent Gower Street, among Hollywoods elite, the studios small-time reputation led some to joke that CBC stood for Corned Beef and Cabbage. Brandt eventually tired of dealing with the Cohn brothers, and sold his stake to Harry Cohn. In an effort to improve its image, the Cohn brothers renamed the company Columbia Pictures Corporation on January 10,1924, Cohn remained head of production as well, thus concentrating enormous power in his hands. He would run Columbia for the next 34 years, the second-longest tenure of any studio chief, even in an industry rife with nepotism, Columbia was particularly notorious for having a number of Harry and Jacks relatives in high positions. Humorist Robert Benchley called it the Pine Tree Studio, because it has so many Cohns, Columbias product line consisted mostly of moderately budgeted features and short subjects including comedies, sports films, various serials, and cartoons. Columbia gradually moved into the production of higher-budget fare, eventually joining the tier of Hollywood studios along with United Artists. Like United Artists and Universal, Columbia was an integrated company. It controlled production and distribution, it did not own any theaters, helping Columbias climb was the arrival of an ambitious director, Frank Capra
34.
Jock Mahoney
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Jock Mahoney was an American actor and stuntman. Born Jacques Joseph OMahoney, he was credited variously as Jock Mahoney and he starred in two western television series, The Range Rider and Yancy Derringer. He played Tarzan in two films and was associated in various capacities with several other Tarzan productions. He was a stepfather of the actress Sally Field, scientist Richard Field, Dr. Carl Botefuhr, artist Angela Russell and author, Mahoney was born in Chicago, Illinois, but reared in Davenport, Iowa. He was of French and Irish descent. He entered the University of Iowa in Iowa City but dropped out to enlist in the United States Marine Corps when World War II began and he served as a pilot, flight instructor and war correspondent. After his discharge from the Marine Corps he moved to Los Angeles, California, however, he soon became a movie stuntman doubling for Gregory Peck, Errol Flynn and John Wayne. That man was Mahoney, who demanded and received $1,000 for the dangerous stunt, most of Mahoneys films of the late 1940s and early 1950s were produced by Columbia Pictures. Like many a Columbia contract player, Mahoney worked in the studios two-reel comedies, beginning in 1947, writer-director Edward Bernds cast Mahoney in slapstick comedies starring The Three Stooges. Mahoney had large speaking roles in films, and often played his scenes for laughs. In the Western satire Punchy Cowpunchers, Mahoney, striking a pose, would suddenly get clumsy. Beginning in 1950, Columbia management noticed Mahoneys acting skills and gave him starring roles in adventure serials and he was originally billed as Jacques OMahoney, then Jock OMahoney. He succeeded stuntman Ted Mapes as the double for Charles Starrett in Columbias Durango Kid western series, the Durango Kid often wore a mask covering much of his face, which enabled Mahoney to replace Starrett in the action scenes. Mahoneys daring stunts made it seem that the older Starrett grew, Mahoney contributed so much to this series that he was awarded featured billing and major supporting roles as well, first as villains and then as sympathetic characters. By 1952 Columbia was billing him as Jack Mahoney, when Charles Starretts contract ran out in the spring of 1952, Columbia decided to replace him with Mahoney, opposite Starretts sidekick Smiley Burnette. The first film was completed but never released, Columbia abandoned the series in June 1952, cowboy star Gene Autry, then working at Columbia, hired Mahoney to star in a television series. Autrys Flying A Productions filmed 79 half-hour episodes of the syndicated The Range Rider from 1951 to 1953, in 1959 there was a lost episode shown six years after the series ended. He was billed as Jack Mahoney, the character had no name other than Range Rider. His series co-star was Dick Jones, playing the role of Dick West, in the 1958 western film Money, Women and Guns, Mahoney played the starring role
35.
Willie Nelson
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Willie Hugh Nelson is an American musician, singer, songwriter, author, poet, actor, and activist. He was one of the figures of outlaw country, a subgenre of country music that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restrictions of the Nashville sound. Nelson has acted in over 30 films, co-authored several books, and has involved in activism for the use of biofuels. Born during the Great Depression, and raised by his grandparents, Nelson wrote his first song at age seven, during high school, he toured locally with the Bohemian Polka as their lead singer and guitar player. After graduating from school in 1950, he joined the Air Force but was later discharged due to back problems. After his return, Nelson attended Baylor University for two years but dropped out because he was succeeding in music, during this time, he worked as a disc jockey in Texas radio stations and a singer in Honky-tonks. Nelson moved to Vancouver, Washington, where he wrote Family Bible, in 1958, he moved to Houston, Texas after signing a contract with D Records. He sang at the Esquire Ballroom weekly and he worked as a disk jockey, during that time, he wrote songs that would become country standards, including Funny How Time Slips Away, Hello Walls, Pretty Paper, and Crazy. In 1960 he moved to Nashville, Tennessee, and later signed a contract with Pamper Music which allowed him to join Ray Prices band as a bassist. In 1962, he recorded his first album. And Then I Wrote, due to this success, Nelson signed in 1964 with RCA Victor and joined the Grand Ole Opry the following year. After mid-chart hits in the late 1960s and the early 1970s, Nelson retired in 1972 and moved to Austin, the ongoing music scene of Austin motivated Nelson to return from retirement, performing frequently at the Armadillo World Headquarters. In 1973, after signing with Atlantic Records, Nelson turned to country, including albums such as Shotgun Willie. In 1975, he switched to Columbia Records, where he recorded the acclaimed album. The same year, he recorded another outlaw country album, Wanted, the Outlaws, along with Waylon Jennings, Jessi Colter, and Tompall Glaser. In 1990, Nelsons assets were seized by the Internal Revenue Service, the difficulty of paying his outstanding debt was aggravated by weak investments he had made during the 1980s. In 1992, Nelson released The IRS Tapes, Wholl Buy My Memories, the profits of the double album—destined to the IRS—and the auction of Nelsons assets cleared his debt. During the 1990s and 2000s, Nelson continued touring extensively, reviews ranged from positive to mixed. He explored genres such as reggae, blues, jazz, Nelson made his first movie appearance in the 1979 film The Electric Horseman, followed by other appearances in movies and on television
36.
Riders in the Sky (band)
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Riders in the Sky is an American Western music and comedy group which began performing in 1977. Their style also appeals to children, and they are considered a childrens band. They have won two Grammy Awards and have written and performed music for motion pictures, including Woodys Roundup from Toy Story 2 and Pixars short film. The Riders first performed on November 11,1977 at Herr Harrys Franks and Steins in Nashville, for this first performance, the Riders consisted of Deputy Doug, Windy Bill Collins, and Fred LaBour. Happy with the reaction, the Riders performed for the second time at Herr Harrys the next evening. Between the second and third performances, the band didnt have a name, but that changed in December 1977. When LaBour saw the album, he immediately called Green and told him that Riders In The Sky should be the bands name, Green agreed and from their third performance on, they were officially billed as Riders In The Sky. In 1978, Bill Collins left the Riders shortly after Tumbleweed Tommy Goldsmith joined, shortly after Collins left, Woody Paul Chrisman also joined the band. In 1982, Doug Green wrote a letter to then Opry manager Hal Durham telling him the Riders would like to join, Durham responded and said western music was under-represented in the Opry, and it wouldnt conflict with the other materials and performances already in the Opry. On June 19,1982, the Riders were officially inducted into the Opry, prior to being inducted, the Riders had performed twenty six times on the Opry stage. In late 1982, the Riders were approached by Steve Arwood, Tumbleweed Theater premiered March 7,1983, the same day TNN began broadcasting and continued for five seasons overall, the last two consisting of repackaged skits and songs. In late 1983, the Riders made their Hollywood debut when the trio landed parts in Sweet Dreams, the Riders played The Jordanaires, although in the film they are never mentioned by name. The half-hour show was taped at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center in Nashville, the weekly show was canceled in 1995, but later came back as occasional specials beginning in 1998. In 1990, CBS approached the Riders to do a morning television show that would later be described as Pee-Wees Playhouse meets the wild west. Only airing for one due to low ratings and weekly schedule changes. Fred LaBour reflected on the show, saying Everything weve had a hand in writing had been a success, we didnt have a hand in that, the show premiered on September 14,1991 as Riders In The Sky. In 1998, Ash Brannon recommended to Disney and Pixar executives that Riders In The Sky be the performers of Woodys Round-Up for their upcoming film Toy Story 2, the album won the Grammy Award for Best Musical Album for Childrenat the Grammy Awards of 2001. After the success of the Woodys Round-Up album, the Riders were called back into Pixar in 2002 to do another album, except based on Pixars latest film
37.
Jimmy Wakely
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James Clarence Jimmy Wakely, was an American actor and country Western music vocalist, and one of the last singing cowboys. His duet singles with Margaret Whiting from 1949–51 produced a string of top seven hits, including 1949s number one hit on the US country charts and pop music charts, Slippin Around. Wakely owned two music publishing companies in later years and performed at the Grand Ole Opry until shortly before his death, James Clarence Wakeley was born in Howard County, Arkansas but his family moved to Rosedale, Oklahoma by 1920. As a teenager, he changed his surname to Wakely, dropping the second e, in 1937 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma he formed The Bell Boys, a country Western singing group named after their Bell Clothing sponsor. The group performed locally, made recordings, and did frequent radio broadcasts over Oklahoma Citys WKY. Johnny Bond, Dick Reinhart, Scotty Harrell and Jack Cheney were members of the Bell Boys, over time, Wakelys groups were known as The Jimmy Wakely Trio, Jimmy Wakely and His Saddle Pals, Jimmy Wakely Trio and James Wakely. During a tour through Oklahoma, Western movie star Gene Autry invited Wakely to come to California, Autry felt the group might be a good addition to his new Melody Ranch radio show which debuted on CBS in January 1940. The Wakely Trio joined the show in mid-1940 and he stayed for a couple of years, then left because of movie commitments and a recording contract with Decca Records that ran from 1941–1942 through 1947. Johnny Bond stayed with the show for most of its run, Wakely married Dora Inez Miser on Friday the 13th, December 13,1935. They had four children, Deanna, Carol, Linda and son Johnny and their marriage lasted until his death in 1982. In 1939, Wakely made his debut in a Roy Rogers Western. He was sometimes referred to as a low-budget Autry in films and his response was, Everybody reminds somebody of someone else until they are somebody. And I had rather be compared to Gene Autry than anyone else, through the grace of God and Gene Autry, I got a career. He appeared in 28 Westerns at Monogram between 1944 and 1949, Wakely also appeared in some non-Westerns, including Im from Arkansas in 1944, a showcase for country and hillbilly performers who bring their comedy, tunes and yodeling to Pitchfork, Arkansas. About 1941–1942, Decca gave Wakely a recording contract that ran until 1947, after leaving films, he continued to record, switching to the Capitol label. Though most of his songs were country Western, some crossed over to the pop charts, including collaborations with singer Margaret Whiting and Karen Chandler and he had a number one country hit with One Has My Name, a song originally released by Western singer Eddie Dean. Like other Western film stars of the era, Wakely had his own book series. DC Comics published 18 issues from Sept/Oct 1949–July/Aug 1952, billing him as HOLLYWOODS SENSATIONAL COWBOY STAR, in addition to Autrys Melody Ranch, Wakely had his own CBS Radio show and co-hosted other programs
38.
The Painted Stallion
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The Painted Stallion is a 1937 Republic movie serial. It was the sixth Republic serial of the sixty-six made by that company, Western serials such as this made up a third of the serials from Republic, a studio that was also heavily involved in making B-Western feature films at the time. This serial saw the debut of William Witney, who would become one of the star directors at Republic. It was not until Zorro Rides Again, later in 1937, Witney had been working as an editor on earlier serials but made the switch when another director became unable to work due to heavy drinking. A wagon train travelling from Independence, Missouri to Santa Fe means trouble for Alfredo Dupray and he plots to solve this by intercepting a trade agreement, to be negotiated by Clark Stuart on the wagon train, and disrupt Mexico–United States relations. Repeated attacks are thwarted, however, by the appearance of a mysterious Rider on a Painted Stallion who issues warnings with her whistling arrows, with her help Clark Stuart, along with historical characters, Kit Carson, Jim Bowie and Davy Crockett work to defeat Dupray. Eventually, they assist the arrival of the United States Cavalry and the treaty is signed, leaving Stuart, the serials production number was 421. The Painted Stallion was budgeted for $102,157 but went over budget by $7007, the final cost of production was $109,164. This made the serial the cheapest republic serial of 1937 and the fourth cheapest of all Republic serials, portions of the film were shot in the Coachella Valley, California. A 67-minute feature film version, created by editing the footage together, was released on 11 February 1938. It was one of fourteen feature films Republic made from their serials, in the early 1950s, The Painted Stallion was one of fourteen Republic serials edited into a television series. It was broadcast in six 26½-minute episodes, on December 27,2005, a Region 0 DVD of the serial was released by Alpha Video. Raymond Stedman describes Thyer as quiet yet impressive and William Nobles is noted for his camera work. Raoul Krausharrs musical score is a bridge between the synthetic fusions of earlier sound serials and the creative scorings of his successors at Republic, according to Cline, The Painted Stallion is an outstanding example of the Western Covered Wagon subgenre. Rider of the Stallion, Clark is knocked unconscious while fording a river in a wagon, the Death Leap, Escaping on horseback, Clark and the Rider are chased over a cliff into a lake. Avalanche, An explosion catches Clark in a landslide Volley of Death, thundering Wheels, Clark is in a burning wagon full of gunpowder as it falls over a cliff. Trail Treachery, Attempting to reign in a stagecoach, Clark falls under their hooves. The Whistling Arrow, Clark falls into a trapdoor, the Fatal Message, Clark and Kit are caught in a burning building
39.
Bing Crosby
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Harry Lillis Bing Crosby, Jr. was an American singer and actor. The first multimedia star, from 1931 to 1954 Crosby was a leader in sales, radio ratings. His early career coincided with technical recording innovations such as the microphone and this allowed him to develop a laid-back, intimate singing style that influenced many of the popular male singers who followed him, including Perry Como, Frank Sinatra, Dick Haymes, and Dean Martin. Also in 1948, the Music Digest estimated that Crosby recordings filled more than half of the 80,000 weekly hours allocated to recorded radio music, in 1963, Crosby received the first Grammy Global Achievement Award. He is one of only 33 people to have three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, in the categories of motion pictures, radio, Crosby influenced the development of the postwar recording industry. He became the first performer to pre-record his radio shows and master his commercial recordings onto magnetic tape. In addition to his work with early tape recording, he helped to finance the development of videotape, bought television stations, bred racehorses, Crosby died at the age of 74 on October 14,1977, from a sudden heart attack in Alcobendas, Spain. Crosby was born on May 2,1903 in Tacoma, Washington, in 1906, Crosbys family moved to Spokane, and in 1913, Crosbys father built a house at 508 E. Sharp Avenue. The house now sits on the campus of Crosbys alma mater Gonzaga University and he was the fourth of seven children, brothers Larry, Everett, Ted, and Bob, and two sisters, Catherine and Mary Rose. His parents were Harry Lowe Crosby, Sr. a bookkeeper, Crosbys mother was a second generation Irish-American. In 1910, seven-year-old Harry Crosby Jr. was forever renamed, the Sunday edition of the Spokesman-Review published a feature called The Bingville Bugle. Written by humorist Newton Newkirk, The Bingville Bugle was a parody of a hillbilly newsletter filled with gossipy tidbits, minstrel quips, creative spelling, and mock ads. A neighbor, 15-year-old Valentine Hobart, shared Crosbys enthusiasm for The Bugle, and noting Crosbys laugh, took a liking to him, eventually, the last vowel was dropped and the nickname stuck. Crosby later described Jolsons delivery as electric, Crosby graduated from Gonzaga High School in 1920 and enrolled at Gonzaga University. He attended Gonzaga for three years, but did not earn a bachelors degree, as a freshman, he played on the universitys baseball team. The university granted him a doctorate in 1937. In 1923, Crosby was invited to join a new band composed of school students a few years younger than himself. Al Rinker, Miles Rinker, James Heaton, Claire Pritchard and Robert Pritchard, along with drummer Crosby, formed the Musicaladers, the group performed on Spokane radio station KHQ, but disbanded after two years
40.
Ferlin Husky
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Ferlin Eugene Husky was an early American country music singer who was equally adept at the genres of traditional honky-tonk, ballads, spoken recitations, and rockabilly pop tunes. He had two dozen top-20 hits in the Billboard country charts between 1953 and 1975, his versatility and matinee-idol looks propelled a seven-decade entertainment career, in the 1950s and 1960s, Huskys hits included Gone and Wings of a Dove, each reaching number one on the country charts. He also created a comic outspoken hayseed character, Simon Crum, in 2010, Husky was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Ferlin bought his son, Danny, a car for his 16th birthday. His son was killed in a car accident that evening when he took his new car out to drive. Husky was born in Cantwell, Missouri and his mother named him Furland, but his name was misspelled on his birth certificate. Husky grew up on a farm near Flat River and attended school in Irondale and he learned guitar from an uncle. After dropping out of school, Husky moved to St. Louis. During World War II, Husky served in the United States Merchant Marine for five years and his Crum character evolved from stories he told at the time about a Missouri neighbor named Simon Crump. His website states that his ship participated in the D-Day invasion of Cherbourg, after the war, Husky continued to develop the Crum character while working as a disc jockey in Missouri and then Bakersfield, California, in the late 1940s. He began using the moniker Terry Preston at the suggestion of Smiley Burnette, as a honky-tonk singer, Husky signed with Capitol Records in 1953 under the guidance of Cliffie Stone, also the manager for Tennessee Ernie Ford. With Capitol Records, he returned to using his given name, a few singles failed before A Dear John Letter with Jean Shepard became a number-one hit. The followup was called Forgive Me John, in 1955, Husky had a solo hit with I Feel Better All Over /Little Tom. As Simon Crum, he signed a contract with Capitol Records and began releasing records. In the late 1950s, Husky had a string of hits. Gone was a success, also reaching number four on the pop music chart. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc, the songs popularity led to a stint as a summer replacement host in 1957 on CBS-TVs Arthur Godfreys Talent Scouts. He began acting, appearing on Kraft Television Theatre, and portraying himself in the 1957 film Mister Rock and he received sole top billing in a 1971 low-budget backcountry film
41.
Leon Russell
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Leon Russell was an American musician and songwriter who was involved with numerous bestselling pop music records over the course of his 60-year career. His genres included pop, rock, blues, country, bluegrass, standards, gospel and he was awarded six gold records. His collaborations rank as some of the most successful in music history and he recorded 33 albums and at least 430 songs. He wrote Delta Lady, recorded by Joe Cocker, and organized and performed with Cockers Mad Dogs and his A Song for You has been recorded by more than 200 artists, and his This Masquerade by more than 75. As a pianist, he played in his years on albums by the Beach Boys. On his first album, Leon Russell, in 1970, the musicians included Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, One of his biggest early fans, Elton John said Russell was a mentor and inspiration. They recorded their album The Union in 2010, which earned them a Grammy nomination, Russell produced and played in recording sessions for Bob Dylan, Frank Sinatra, Ike & Tina Turner, the Rolling Stones, and others. He wrote and recorded the hits Tight Rope and Lady Blue and he performed at the Concert for Bangladesh in 1971 along with Dylan and Eric Clapton. In 2011, he was inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame, Russell was born in Lawton, Oklahoma. He began playing the piano at the age of four and he attended Will Rogers High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Also at Will Rogers High School were Anita Bryant, who was two years older, and in the same 1959 class, David Gates, Russell and Gates played and recorded together as the Fencemen. Another student at Will Rogers at the time was Elvin Bishop, during this time Russell was already performing at Tulsa nightclubs. He took the name Leon from a friend who lent him a fake ID to get into clubs he was too young to perform in. After moving to Los Angeles in 1958, Russell became a session musician, by the late 1960s, he had diversified, becoming successful as an arranger and songwriter. By 1970, he had become a recording artist. After performing country music under the name Hank Wilson in the 1970s and 1980s, Russell re-emerged in 2010 when Elton John called on him to record the album that became The Union. The album, which included contributions from Brian Wilson and Neil Young, brought renewed popularity to Russell, Russell was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 14,2011. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in June 2011, according to his wife, Jan Bridges, Russell died quietly in his sleep at his suburban Nashville home on the morning of November 13,2016, at the age of 74
42.
Organ (music)
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In music, the organ is a keyboard instrument of one or more pipe divisions, each played with its own keyboard, played either with the hands on a keyboard or with the feet using pedals. The organ is an old musical instrument, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria. It was played throughout the Ancient Greek and Ancient Roman world, subsequently it re-emerged as a secular and recital instrument in the Classical music tradition. Pipe organs use air moving through pipes to produce sounds, since the 16th century, pipe organs have used various materials for pipes, which can vary widely in timbre and volume. The pipes are divided into ranks and controlled by the use of hand stops, although the keyboard is not expressive as on a piano and does not affect dynamics, some divisions may be enclosed in a swell box, allowing the dynamics to be controlled by shutters. Some organs are enclosed, meaning that all the divisions can be controlled by one set of shutters. Some special registers with free reed pipes are expressive and these instruments vary greatly in size, ranging from a cubic yard to a height reaching five floors, and are built in churches, synagogues, concert halls, and homes. Small organs are called positive or portative, increasingly hybrid organs are appearing in which pipes are augmented with electronic additions. Great economies of space and cost are possible especially when the lowest of the pipes can be replaced, non-piped organs include the reed organ or harmonium, which like the accordion and harmonica use air to excite free reeds. Electronic organs or digital organs, notably the Hammond organ, generate electronically produced sound through one or more loudspeakers, mechanical organs include the barrel organ, water organ, and Orchestrion. These are controlled by means such as pinned barrels or book music. Little barrel organs dispense with the hands of an organist and bigger organs are powered in most cases by a grinder or today by other means such as an electric motor. The pipe organ is the grandest musical instrument in size and scope, along with the clock, it was considered one of the most complex human-made mechanical creations before the Industrial Revolution. Pipe organs range in size from a short keyboard to huge instruments with over 10,000 pipes. A large modern organ typically has three or four keyboards with five each, and a two-and-a-half octave pedal board. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart called the organ the King of instruments, some of the biggest instruments have 64-foot pipes, and it sounds to an 8 Hz frequency fundamental tone. For instance, the Wanamaker organ, located in Philadelphia, USA, has sonic resources comparable with three simultaneous symphony orchestras, most organs in Europe, the Americas, and Australasia can be found in Christian churches. The introduction of organs is traditionally attributed to Pope Vitalian in the 7th century
