78 rpm

Many years ago, a small collection of 78 rpm records was passed down to me. When I received the records, not only did I not know the artists, I did not even have a phonograph. Now, after a few years of studying the various American musical idioms of the last century, I am finally able to appreciate these old records that sat gathering dust for forty years or more. After being cleaned with soap and water and dried with a microfiber towel, the music of a bygone time is being enjoyed again.

Considering that the old shellac records are now between sixty and eighty years old, one would think that they would have monetary value. But the truth is that the average 78 rpm record retails at about five buckaroos. One of the old sides that I have been listening to is "New Steel Guitar Rag" by Bill Boyd and the Cowboy Ramblers. Bill Boyd was a native of Fannin County, and he even recorded with the father of country music, Jimmie Rodgers. Some of the members of his band were also simultaneously members of The Light Crust Doughboys. Back in the 1930s, Boyd used to appear on WRR, the oldest radio station in Texas. The station, incidentally, still exists to this day, though the programming is now 100% classical. Below is a link to Bill Boyd's "New Steel Guitar Rag," which was recorded in Dallas in 1937.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeh8nH5QSnI