Kat's Karavan (1961)

Show

 * Name
 * Kat's Karavan
 * Station
 * WRR
 * YYYY-MM-DD
 * 1961-??-??
 * Comments
 * This is Peel's first ever radio appearance.
 * The audio consists of the first 25 minutes of the show where host Bill "Hoss" Carroll introduces John Ravenscroft (Peel's real name) to talk to him about his blues record collection.
 * A small excerpt of this was broadcast on Radio Radio.
 * The audio I recieved mentioned the title coming from 1962, I have no idea whether that is true, as the audio does not give clues on the year, but according to Peel it was one year after he arrived in America during 1960.

Sessions

 * None

Tracklisting
(Theme tune to Kat's Karavan starts, which is Jimmy Reed's Odds And Ends)

(BC: 'We aren't gonna let the theme song play for you until a minute and five seconds tonight, because we have alot of very very good music and a very special guest I mentioned before because I borrowed some of his records and he has a very nice collection, John Ravenscroft, is that correct?')

(JR: 'That's right')

(BC: 'I always chew up your name and John is from England originally, although he's been in Dallas for a little while, just recently he's received his record collection shipped over to him and he has some fascinating records about who we invited to talk about, so I let him talk about the records and I just read the commercials. John, what are you going to open the show with tonight.')

(JR: 'I'm gonna start off with Lightnin' Hopkins doing Hello England, which is appropriate start to the show'.)

(BC: 'Alright and after Lightnin' single, we will discuss more about where these records came from and got a hold of them and how much they're appreciated in England. Right now, Lightnin' Hopkins and Hello England') (BC: 'Sam Lightnin' Hopkins with a number titled')
 * Sam 'Lightnin' Hopkins: Hello England (LP - The Rooster Crowed In England) 77

(JR: 'Hello England')

(BC: 'Hello England. Sam mentioned and was reporting 77, I like to take this moment here to mention this letter I received just Saturday from Larry Brown from San Antonio who was asking about the album Rooster Crowned In England and this is from that same album, you know the label is 77 Larry Brown, if you're listening from San Antonio. Can you tell us more about the 77 label and how you came to get it John')

(JR: 'Well yes There is a small record shop in London that caters for collectors of these sort of records and it is at 77 Charing Cross Road, which is the reason it has the name. And they just put out 99 copies of each record they make, because otherwise if they made it 100 it would make it a regular release and they would have to pay tax on it. Just 99 copies and it counts as a club release')

(BC: 'You were lucky to get one of the 99's')

(JR: 'Yes I had to pay regular, well in fact slightly over regular price without tax, so it would have been a club release, I mean the regular release, would have cost a lot')

(BC: 'Well I had notice from the notes on the album it was not recorded in England but was recorded in Houston, specifically for the London label'.)

(JR: 'Well that's right yes, Lightnin' Hopkins I don't think he's been to England, he hadn't been when I was at home in Christmas and I don't think likely he will go, because he doesn't like to leave Houston')

(BC: 'That's true. Are most of your albums which you brought along with us the club membership thing?)

(JR: 'Well no, a lot of them I got I was I went very deeply into debt when I was in the army in fact to pay for a lot of these ones that came across from France, with sleevenotes in French. And they were released in France. They may be released in England by now, I don’t know. I think there is very little chance of them being released over here, because they isn’t a big enough market for them. In Europe, they take this sort of thing very seriously and they go into the sort of cultural and ethnic background of blues music, which they don’t do over here really.')

(BC: 'I would mention that some of the older records that you have for instance the Boogie Woogie, those were taken from masters, they were recorded in this country and evidently the English people bought the masters and so the masters will no longer be available in this country.')

(JR: 'No, RCA and Columbia particularly have enormous catalogue, they could re-release you know everything which would be a great advantage. It wouldn't be worth their while doing it because there's so few people to buy the records'.)

(BC: 'Right I think there's a great up surge in blues in this country with the release of Lightnin' Hopkins is selling lot of albums over here. What have you got for us next?)

(JR: 'The next one we have is Backwater Blues by Huddie Ledbetter who is kind of difficult to fit in the blues programme in that, alot of it starts with folk music and some of it has slight hillbilly tendencies in a way, hillbilly influence in the thing but this is a blues one anyway...')

(BC: 'Backwater Blues... A lot of listeners will be probably familiar with it from at least Lonnie Johnson's recording that I play so much')


 * Leadbelly: Backwater Blues

(Ravenscroft and Carroll talks about the instrumental of the track and Sonny Boy Williamson)


 * Sonny Boy Williamson: Rub A Dub

(Carroll does a commercial advert and talks to Ravenscroft about the next record)


 * Montana Taylor: Detroit Rocks

(Carroll and Ravenscroft talk about Big Maceo)


 * Big Maceo: Big Road Blues (LP - Jazz Classics No. 22) RCA

(Audio cuts off at the end of the record)

File

 * Name
 * WRR - Kat's Karavan 1961
 * Length
 * 0:25:51
 * Other
 * Thanks to the American who originally recorded this back in the 60's
 * Available


 * Mediafire