"Radio Radio" Bob Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour - Vol 1 - disc 3

Four discs, 78, 77, 71, 75 minutes each approximately. The sound is overall very crisp and clean, with only a few tracks suffering from their recording era. The six page booklet gives a short synopsis of several lesser known artists in this collection, but has the feel of being put together without much thought or direction...
...The discs are snapped in, inside the tri-fold book-style cardboard holder. One panel has a number of b&w photos of some of the artists, and is a nice touch. All tracks are listed with title, artist, length, year of release, and are listed under the various themes of the radio format. Some of these themes (usually with two or three tracks each) are weather, coffee, summer ,laughter, fools, guns, telephones, devil, eyes, and so forth. The b&w photograph of Dylan on the cover is nice and I'm assuming alludes to his earlier days when this music influenced him, but its possible that its use is for purely merchandising purposes. Yes, this music is from Dylan's radio shows. And no, Dylan is not heard anywhere on this collection. But the vast array of musical genres / groups heard on these four packed discs makes up (almost) for the lack of Dylan's commentaries. While the focus of most complaints is the fact that Dylan's voice is not heard (which was by and large great), the music goes a long way in making up for it. Artists include Johnny Cash, Bob Wills, Otis Spann, Little Richard, Fats Waller, Sonny Burgess, Muddy Waters, and Louis Jordan, among many other well known artists. But its the unknowns that give this set its depth and feel for a certain era of American music. People like Curtis Gordon, Hurricane Harry, Mr. Sad Head, Tin Ear Tanner, The Charmer, and Little Miss Cornshucks, among others, all contribute some great music - music that you'll never hear on the radio. Many genres are heard here, such as pop, country, rockabilly, blues, r&b, etc., and most tracks are from the 50's,with a few from earlier decades.
The musical ground covered in this collection is truly a look at American music in many forms from an earlier period. This is music from a time when America was a different place, and music was strictly for entertainment, not to deliver any message, or to indulge any artist. This set is a treasure trove of, by and large, unheard music (with notable exceptions) by artists who at best were popular regionally, or nationally for a short time. This music will take the listener, with big ears, back to a time when music was simpler, unpretentious, and straight forward. Are all the tracks worth hearing over and over again? No. Every listener will have their favorites, and with open ears listeners will find a lot to like here.
This first volume (and the two volumes following it) are a great introduction to some great American music that has influenced not only Bob Dylan, but countless other artists. Anyone who has a liking for American roots music should give these sets a listen. With the help of these sets listeners can once again hear music that influenced Dylan and any number of other artists. (Amazon)

CD 3:
1. Great Long Pistol - Jerry Irby & His Texas Rangers 2. Don't Shoot Baby - Vernon Green & The Medallions 3. Skeletons In The Closet - Nat Gonella & His Georgians 4. Zombie Jamboree - The Charmer 5. Dancing To The Rhythm Of The Rock n Roll Band - Eddie Seacrest & The Rolling Rockets 6. I Can't Dance (I've Got Ants In My Pants - Roy Newman 7. Sleeping In The Ground - Sammy Myers 8. Rock Me To Sleep - Little Miss Cornshucks (Mildred Cummings) 9. Hamburger Hop - Johnny Hicks 10. I like Pie, I Like Cake - The Four Clefs 11. Them There Eyes - Billie Holiday 12. Teach Me Tonight - Dinah Washington 13. Good Night Cincinatti, Good Morning Tennessee - Shorty Long 14. Trucker From Tennessee - Link Davis 15. By The Light Of The Silvery Moon - Fats Waller 16. When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again - Cliffie Stone 17. I Got Four Big Bothers (To Look After To Me) - Maddox Brothers & Rose 18. Tea For Two - Joe Mooney Quartet 19. Far Away Christmas Blues - Little Esther & The Johnny Otis Orchestra 20. Mambo Santa Mambo - The Enchanters 21. Safronia B - Calvin Boze 22. Little Maggie - The Stanley Brothers 23. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes - Eddie Noack 24. Red Headed Woman - Sonny Burgess 25. Cleanhead Blues - Eddie 'Cleanhead' Vinson 26. When Yuba Plays The Rumba On The Tuba - Johnny Mercer 27. Crazy 'bout A Saxaphone - Buddy Johnson & His Orchestra 28. Wheel Of Fortune - Kay Starr
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