A Leon Russel Bootleg

I recently found a Leon Russel bootleg cassette. Scribbled on the J-card it reads "Live in Los Angeles FM & TV concert." A second line of text dates the recording only to 1970. Am I a Leon Russel fan?  Well I wasn't until I heard this recording. The internet, being a place rich with both filth and folly, has a whole website about LP bootlegs from whence this question came. [SOURCE] 

The origin turns out to be the Homewood Session recorded at ABC's famous Vine Street Theatre, located at 1615 Vine St. Hollywood, CA. Originally it was the  home of The Don Lee / Mutual Radio Network. Built in 1948 today it's the oldest TV studio in Hollywood. Everything else from the golden era has been torn down. It was home to Los Angeles Channel 2, today that's KCBS-TV but it was first licensed as W6XAO on June 1931. Anyway that went up for sale in 1950 when Don Lee went belly up. [ SOURCE]  Today it's been renamed the Ricardo Montalban Theatre. (He was great in the Wrath of Kahn.)

Anyway Leon Russel's broadcast was on December 5th, 1970 on what was then KCET-TV Los Angeles.  Reportedly it was simulcast on KPPC-FM 106.7 in Pasadena, CA. You can actually watch the whole 58 minute TV broadcast on YouTube today [LINK] It's edited down from a 6-hour session tape.

Alan Baker, the show producer and even Leon Russel have claimed that it was one of the first stereo broadcast. This presents a conflict. American television was not stereo in 1970 or even in the 1980 when this was later rebroadcast. There had however been experimental stereo FM broadcasts earlier. The first true stereo FM broadcast was June 1st, 1961 on WGFM (now WRVE) in Schenectady, NY. So it's not impossible but it requires corroboration. It's worth noting that KPPC was also an early experimenter in quadraphonic broadcasting. Dennis Roger Reed was happy to do describe on the Folkworks website.

"They [KPPC] were the first true progressive "rock" station in Los Angeles, and the first station in Los Angeles to broadcast a stereo simulcast with a television program, providing the audio for a Leon Russell special on LA PBS station KCET. "

The book Superstar in a Masquerade by William Sargent makes a similar statement:

It was aired December 2 on TV station KCET (channel 28) in Los Angeles as the hour-long special "Session: Leon Russel and Friends." in color and, for the first time ever, simulcast in stereo, over radio station KPPC-FM (106.7). The program was presented again the next week, and again during Marsh and April 1971.

But that book was published in 2023 and what's it's source?  There are books today that cite this blog as a source and I'm notoriously unreliable. KPPC was no newcomer, they signed on December 25th, 1924. The calls originally referred to their original owner, the Pasadena Presbyterian Church. KLB was the first station in Pasedena, and there's some debate if KPPC was the 2nd or 3rd depending on if you believe KDYR ever actually broadcast. Pasadena had a population of about 57,000 at the time. Its a wild ride from that starting point and if you really want to dig into KPPC history I do recommend the book Riding on the Ether Express: A Memoir of 1960s Los Angeles, the Rise of KPPC-FM by Dave Pierce. 

This station is 99 years old as of this writing and has a long somewhat confusing history. Forget about KPPC-LP in San Antonio, they're Methodist not Presybterian. Let's start with 1240 KPPC-AM. Back in 1924 is was mostly religious programming.  It's worth noting that the Pasadena Presbyterian Church received the license to build KPPC from the FRC in 1925, but that's after the station had already broadcast the previous December 25th for a Christmas service. Today Santa would put you on the FCC naughty list for that. Thye started on 1310 kHz, and in 1927 began to share time with KELW-AM in Burbank. In 1928 they were moved to 1200 and had to share time with KFWC-AM in San Bernadino. In 1930 they moved to 1210 still sharing with KFWC. In 1936 they bumped up the power to 100 watts still generally a local service. Then came NARBA, under which they and KFXM both moved to 1240 in 1941. 

KPPC was really boxed in with a service that was degraded by it's successive moves. Their signal on 1240 was adjacent to KGFJ-AM on 1230 which operated at 1,000 watts and was only 10 miles away.  Under their share agreement KPPC could only broadcast Sunday nights from 6:00 PM to 12:00 Midnight, and Wednesdays from 7:00 PM to 11:00 PM, it was a mere 23 hours a week. KGFJ for their part had to drop power at night to 100 watts at night from 1947 to 1986 to protect KPPC. It was not a good deal for anyone. Douglas Broadcasting eventually bought the license and shut down KPPC in 1996 to eliminate interference with 1230 KYPA-AM. More here.

The situation was so bad that in 1962 KPPC started an FM station on 106.7. The FCC granted the permit in 1959 and it's worth the read. [SOURCE]  In the document, Edgar Pierce is listed as the "west coast director of a radio and television advertising form" and member of their "radio committee."They kept it vague for some reason but he was the Vice President of Wade Advertising. Ed had a 40-year career in television production, advertising and PR, and was a charter member of the Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters. He's worth googling. In 1967 when they sold the station, most sources refer to him as the General Manager or Station Manager.  He died in 2012. Before you guess it... yes, I do think that Edgar Pierce is also the father of the KPPC DJ Dave Pierce. Last I knew, David was the sales manager at Fox 15/TV in Lafayette, CA. (Again his book Riding on the Ether Express is highly recommended).

So Crosby-Avery Broadcasting buys KPPC AM /FM in 1967, and then in 1969 turns around and sells them both to the National Science Network (NSN) in 1969. NSN struggles to operate the station and in September of 1971, the founder of the NSN Ludwig Frohlich died. In October, Gm Douglas Cox fired the entire 27-person staff and shut off the transmitter, It was a whole event with the staff commandeering the station to broadcast the series of events. [SOURCE]  Frohlich's estate including KPPC AM/FM went to Ingrid and Thomas Burns. In 1973 the two stations part ways with the Burns selling the the FM stick to Burbank broadcasting. It was paired with the former 1500 KBBQ-AM and they became KROQ.

Back to that reliable source question... TV did not start broadcasting in stereo until 1984, so I think we can exclude KCET from this quest. Though ABC did broadcast the Lawrence Welk show in a quasi-stereo format in 1958 by broadcasting separate channels on their AM and TV audio channels that was on ABC affiliates in New York, Detroit, San Francisco, Chicago and Los Angeles.

Could KPPC have been broadcasting in stereo in 1970?  Yes it is possible. Clément Ader demonstrated the first two-channel audio system in Paris in 1881. Berthold Laufer for Franz Boaz accidently made stereo recordings on cylinders in 1901. [SOURCE]. Modern stereo broadcasting mostly originates with British engineer Alan Blumlein at EMI in the 1930s. The first stereo In 1962 the BBC began regular experimental radio broadcasts in stereo. [SOURCE]  The Beeb used a Zenith-GE multiplex system. When WGFM did it a year later they weren't even the only one that day. WEFM Chicago (now WUSN) also made an experimental broadcast that day, lagging only because of they are on central time. 

The Leon Russel Session/broadcast occurred between the Crosby sale and the mass firing by the National Science Network. It must have been a chaotic time at KPPC.  They advertised in Billboard that they were boosting the power to 50,000 watts and going stereo as early as 1967. But PD Tom Donahue and GM Milan Melvin were fired and the staff went on strike. Strike news coverage in 1968 report that the station "reversed it's position on going multiplex stereo". The boost to 50,000 watts didn't come until the Fall of 1970, but the stereo audio was delivered in 1968. We can confirm the infrastructure was there. But did they broadcast it in stereo or was a split-channel broadcast as ABC had done 20 years before?

My cassette is of a high enough audio quality I am certain that it was not recorded from the FM broadcast. A tape copy walked out the studio door, it was used to bootleg the vinyl, and my tape is a copy of that vinyl not the broadcast. The Bill Janovitz book Leon Russel: The Master of Space and Time's Journey Through Rock & Roll History does refer to the broadcast briefly:

"The first local screening was simulcast in stereo on KPPC FM, and the newspaper ad includes a helpful chart of how to position your speakers, Leon had resisted invitations to appear on television until he was assured control over every aspect of the production. Getting the right sound was paramount"

That newspaper ad, if it exists, is the proof that it broadcast on 106.7 KPPC-FM in stereo. KROQ will turn 100 next year, sadly Leon Russel died in 2016 and won't be there to see it. I hope they rebroadcast at least a little of the 1970 session. Supposedly there's another 5 hours of tape out there somewhere in the church basement archives, Leon and Furry Lewis rolling tape and getting their drink on.

Hank The Night Watchman

Here's another nice obscure character from the bowels of night radio. Hank the Night Watchman aired on both KFVD and KGFJ in the 1940s doing overnights. Lorenzo Wilson Milam described him as a story teller and his program as skirting "...the border between lurid and gross and hilarious. But always with a wit that made it impossible for those of us listening to complain." Even in 1941 it was being billed as the "longest request radio show on Earth." An 1943 issue of Billboard named Joseph Blazak as the "current"  Hank the Night-Watchman indicating that there may have been a previous one. (I believe that to be George Skinner.) Historian Ron Sayles puts Blazak's birth date at 04-12-1911 and his death at 12-04-1993.

A 1941 issue of the Catalina Islander Newspaper lists Hank the Night-Watchman as airing 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM on KFVD-AM. That's 8 straight hours, and it took 160 records to span that shift in between the chatter. According to Billboard, starting in 1943 Hank also had a 1-hour Sunday slot on 1020 KFVD-AM. It ran 3:30 PM to 4:30 PM. But the program was sponsored by the Victor Clothing Company and he was named at the bottom of many of their newspaper ads in the California Eagle Newspaper as early as 1941. But radio logs put him on starting at Midnight on 1230 KGFJ-AM, up to 8 hours a night, 7 days a week at least as early as 1942. 

The July 1944 issue [LINK] of Radio Life interviewed the Michigan-born Blazak, who then stated the show had been on air 3 year But again that he had only been "Anthony" for a third of that time. He had only been in radio for two years, and was only on KGFJ for nine months when Victor Clothing asked him to be its new host. In 1944 he bragged that every night he received between 300 and 400 telephone calls and his fan mail averaged 750 letters a week, except when he has a contest on, when it doubles.

The book Swingin' On The Ether Waves by Henry T. Sampson mentions the program in the same breath as Al Jarvis. It's an important benchmark. Jarvis was on KFWB from 1932 to 1960. He owned the night.  The book Long Tall Dexter by Stan Britt claims that Hank was preceded by Jack the Bellboy. There wasn't exactly a baton pass.

Jack the Bellboy was running 11:00 PM to 4:00 AM on KFVD prior to 1940. He may or may not have any connection to the "Jack the Bellboy" name being used on WJBK in Detroit starting in the late 1950s. (At WJBK several DJs used the name including the legendary Tom Clay.  In terms of there being a big overnight rhythm & blues show in LA, Hank succeeded Jack, but their tenures overlapped from about 1937 to 1940 and Al Jarvis lapped them both. They were all flipping hot jazz records.

In 1941 KFVD moved from 1000 to 1020 kHz. After 1943 Hank gets scarce.  The popularity of the program led to copycats. Sweet Dick Whittington as playing the part of the Night Watchman on 960 KROW-AM overnights. In 1943 Billboard reports that Bob Anderson at RKO signed Blazak for a multi-year deal, and the press on him dries up right after that.

**2022 Update added some details from Radio Life 1944

The Magnificent Montague

In 1974, Billboard published an article claiming that as of that year, the Magnificent Montague aka Nathaniel Montague, had worked at 80 radio stations. He was a radioman among radiomen. He brought his style and personality with him everywhere, for better or worse. His career began in 1949 by his own recounting which means for 25 years he was on an average of 3.2 radio stations per year. It seems impossible. It might not even be true. By his own recounting in for that 1974 article, that he couldn't remember all the dates and places. He went on to say:

"For years I never lived in any one city more than six months. I was the original rebel and I had to move around the country because I was always getting fired for moving my mouth... trying to bring in unions, and things like that...  That's why I consider myself a leisure time executive rather than a disc jockey."

 And that' swhat most of the press blubs say as well. In Ebony magazine they plainly state that KSAN fired Montague and described him as "uncontrollable." But in that same 1974 issue, IBS was taking out two full pages to advertise his shows syndication. He was huge.

He's used so many different names on air: Rodney Jones, Georgie Woods, Fat Daddy, Chatty Hatty, Charlie Brown, John Hardy, and it was on WWRL-AM where he became the Magnificent Montague.

In 1965 he was blamed for the riots in Watts. Mobs of rioters in the primarily black neighborhood chanted "burn baby burn," a signature line for Montague. He had used it in reference to "hot" records. The Los Angeles Times ran a front-page story explaining where the "hep" slogan came from. The mayor and the police chief pressured KGFJ to fire him. Instead they cut his hours and banned his catch phrase. Then they cut his hours a bit more. Then whittled him down to nothing. It was no problem to Montague. He just moved onto another city and another station. Supposedly that scene repeated more than 80 times. I read everything I could find and I came up about 60 stations short. If you can add one please do leave a comment.

WVOM-AM Brookline, MA 1949
WHAT-AM, Philadelphia 1952
KCOM-AM, Beaumont, TX 1953
KTLW-AM, Houston, TX 1953
KCOH-AM Houston, TX 1954
WGES-AM, Chicago, IL
WAAF-AM, Chicago 1955-1957
KSAY-AM San Francisco, CA ? (apocryphal)
KSAN-AM, San Francisco, CA 1957-1961
KGFJ-AM Los Angeles, CA 1958 -1959
KXLW-AM St. Louis, MO 1960 - 1961
WWRL-AM, New York , NY 1962
WVON-AM, Chicago, IL
WEEJ-AM (apocryphal)
KGFJ-AM, Los Angeles, CA 1965-1967
XERB-AM, Tijuana, MX 1968
KYNO-AM / KPHD-FM Fresno, CA 1971
XPRS-AM, Tijuana, MX 1972
KPLM-FM Palm Springs, CA 1990

In 2003, Montague published his autobiography through University of Illinois Press. Think of it as an early Christmas gift to yourself. History matters. You can read about it here.

AIRCHECK WEEK: Jim Randolph

"Big" Jim L. Randolph rose to fame in the 1950s and became an Los Angeles staple by the sixties. There are precious few airchecks of the man but they are worth finding.

He helped break the careers of R&B artists like Booker T & The MG, Larry Bright, and KoKo Taylor.He was the first African-American to attend the Oklahoma University School of Communications. He was a program director at KSAN in San Francisco, CA; and KLIF in Dallas, TX where he was also rated a Top 5 Lone star state DJ in October 1955. By 1969 he was booking talent for the Watts Summer festivals.

This clip is from KGFJ, in Los Angeles but he was also on WYNR, in Chicago, IL;  WERD in Atlanta others. More here. There was a "Big" Jim Randolph at KNOK in 1956, but I can't verify it's the same gentleman. An issue of Radio Daily-Television Daily lists him as replacing Dean McNeil in April of 1957, but gives the calls incorrectly as KNOX in  Dallas confusing the trail.

His obituary in Record World was brief and understated.

Jim Randolph, noted broadcasting executive, died Sunday, May 3, at his home in Los Angeles. Program Director of KGFJ (LA) and for the Tracey Broadcasting chain at the time of his death, Randolph had enjoyed success in several major markets as both air personality and executive. He achieved notable success in the Dallas, Fort Worth, Chicago and Los Angeles markets. A native of Oklahoma, "Big Jim" attended Morehouse College and the University of Oklahoma. Most recently he had guided KGFJ from "also-ran" to one of the four or five most important facilities in the Southern California market areas. Randolph is survived by his wife, Lillian, their six children, all of who reside in Los Angeles, and by his parents who live in Oklahoma City.

KGFJ was very progressive for it's day having an integrated staff. Their staff included other legends like Magnificent Montague, Johnny Magnus, Herman Griffith, Jim Wood, and Hunter Hancock. He died of a heart attack in 1970 at the age of 39.



 ***AUDIO EXPIRED***

*POST UPDATED 5/9/2020
*Anyone want to share a Jim Randolph aircheck?