Transcription Mystery Disc #48

 This is a 78 rpm 8-Inch transcription disc, it starts at the outer edge and has two tracks on each side. each side having two-takes each of a song. I've included both takes of "Riding Down The Canyon" from what we can hypothetically call Side A.

"Riding Down The Canyon" is by Gene Autry and the other side is "Jimmy Crack Corn".  Jimmy Crack Corn is alternately titled "Blue tail fly" and it is virtually un-datable, going back to the 1840s. "Riding Down The Canyon" was first released in 1942 and has subsequently been covered by Roy Rogers, Marty Robbins, Bing Crosby and more recently, Willie Nelson. It appears in the soundtrack of a film by the same title which sported a version by Sons of the Pioneers. That flick came out in 1942.



This disc has no identifying markings of any kind. It's just a red Recordio in nice condition. I know the recording isn't' any of the above versions as it has no harmonies or accompaniment. That excludes by default essentially all known contemporary versions. Interesting in the production is that the singer has a lot of bass response. That's not my EQ job, I actually laid on a low pass filter and tweaked down the bass, it was too boomy. That tells me this was not recorded from the radio, nor dubbed. This was a singer "eating the mic" as we say in the studio. So this really is a transcription, and since it's from the same set of discs, I suspect it may be from a member of the Hayloft Hoedown and the station is therefore WFIL-AM.that would date the recording between 1944 and 1948. The artist sadly remains unknown.