78 RPM Shellac Records

Database of the 78 rpm records I own. As of January 2024, I have 116 distinct records from 1908-1955 across 21 labels. There approximately 70 acts represented (harder to count and identify than you'd think. I'm looking at you, Mainers and Morrises!)

• List view with images and blurbs

• Grid view for an alternate, sexy way of browsing records.

• Record terminology so you don't get confused

• Record labels and their designs through the years

• Formative firsts in music history

45 RPM Records

Wanting more recent records with bigger holes? You're seeking 45s.

MERCURY 6247 Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys (1950) No Mother Or Dad / Foggy Mountain Breakdown Foggy Mountain Breakdown, alongside the Stanley Brothers' Mountain Dew, drew me to bluegrass and transformed me into a banjo nerd. If you've heard three banjo songs in your life, chances are they're Dueling Banjos, the Ballad of Jed Clampett (the Beverly Hillbillies theme), and Foggy Mountain Breakdown (Theme from Bonnie and Clyde). Two out of those three were first recorded and released by Earl Scruggs. Foggy Mountain Breakdown, ubiquitous and famous, has a fascinating history: decades-long disputed composership, influence in one of country music's best-known rivalries, and an appearance in the movie that launched US cinema into a new age.

RICH-R-TONE 423 (1948) The Little Glass Of Wine / Little Maggie Rich-R-Tone was a one-man local hillbilly label run by colorful character Hobe Jenkins, who "ran the whole operation out of the back of his 1939 Oldsmobile" and sometimes weaseled bands into paying him to make their records. That Jenkins managed to root up local bands of every country variety, and that these records were distributed solely by one man in one car, make Rich-R-Tones valuable finds. THIS artifact is extra special: it was recorded by future bluegrass monuments, the Stanley Brothers, in their earliest years, with the song - "Little Glass of Wine" - which got them their ticket to larger labels and greater exposure.

BLUEBIRD B-7289 J. E. Mainer’s Mountaineers (1937) Don't Get Trouble In Your Mind / Kiss Me Cindy According to the wise sage Ronald McDonald, "I'm lovin' it." If you want me to scream like a kid in a playplace, THIS is the disc to pick. Ten years before bluegrass began, this record demonstrate markedly similar sounds: high-energy harmonies, blazing tempos, a three-fingered banjo roll taking lead, and an ensemble of fiddle, mandolin, banjo, and guitar. The music of Wade and J. E. Mainer, the Morris Brothers, and their interrelated bands during the 1930s directly impacted Bill Monroe, who was concurrently in the area working with his brother as the Monroe Brothers. Snuffy Jenkins, the banjo picker in this recording, was the first to be heard on radio with this banjo style and arguably the one who developed it; his sound influenced Don Reno and Earl Scruggs, the latter of whom joined Bill Monroe’s band in December 1945 as the final piece to mold bluegrass into a distinct genre.

ENTERPRISE RECORDS 501 Abbott and Costello (1947) Who's On First? The most iconic sketch of one of the most iconic comedy teams in US history! Abbott and Costello performed old burlesque routines. So, Abbott and Costello didn't invent this sketch, but they made it famous. They first performed their baseball routine on national radio on March 24, 1938. The duo's performance jumped to film with their movie debut One Night in the Tropics in 1940. As far as I can tell, my 1947 disc is the first time Who's on First? made it to commercial record. It interestingly came at a time when the partners were setting up the Lou Costello Jr. Youth Foundation (named in honor of Costello's deceased infant son, 1942-1943) - in fact, that serious topic is what is discussed on disc before they get into the comedy.

First Generation Bluegrass (approx. 1946-1958) produced three heavy hitters: Bill Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs, and the Stanley Brothers. However, a genre doesn't become a genre without imitation and growth. Bluegrass, bluegrass-adjacent, and bluegrass-influenced bands of all calibers popped up in the late 40s and early 50s. I've sought to snag singles from as many musicians in the genre's budding years as I can - honoring their legacy, their individuality, their contribution to making this a permanent American soundscape.

I'm defining 'bluegrass' in as broad of terms as I can. Bluegrass wasn't a delineated genre back then, obviously. It was simply how Bill Monroe's band sounded, a string band variation amongst the many stringband variations of country music. As such, you will hear bluegrass features of varying strength and 'purity' in the earliest groups. Some bands have received recognition. Others have been forgotten over time.

I've collected records from the Armstrong Twins and Patsy; the Colwell Brothers; Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper and the Clinch Mountain Clan; Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys; Shannon Grayson and His Golden Valley Boys; the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers; Bill Monroe and His Blue Grass Boys; Paul and Roy, the Tennessee River Boys; Don Reno, Red Smiley and the Tennessee Cutups; Carl Sauceman and the Green Valley Boys / and His Hillbilly Ramblers; the Stanley Brothers and the Clinch Mountain Boys; Carl Story and His Ramblin' Mountaineers; Tennessee Valley Boys; and Mac Wiseman.

• MAMIE SMITH OKEH 4113 That Thing Called Love / You Can't Keep A Good Man Down (1920)
  First African-American blues recording


• VICTOR 18956 Henry C. Gilliland, A. C. (Eck) Robertson (1922)
  First commercial country music record


• SAMANTHA BUMGARNER AND EVA DAVIS COLUMBIA 167-D Cindy In The Meadows / John Hardy (1924)
  First female country musicians recorded


• OKEH 40213 Roba Stanley - William Patterson (1925)
  Second female country musician recorded


• First country music records performed by a working string band (their entire catalogue)
• VICTOR 19434 Fiddlin' Powers and Family Ida Red / Old Joe Clark (1924)
• VICTOR 19448 Fiddlin' Powers and Family The Little Old Log Cabin In The Lane / Sour Wood Mountains (1924)
• VICTOR 19449 Fiddlin' Powers and Family Cripple Creek / Sugar In The Gourd (1924)
• VICTOR 19450 Fiddlin' Powers and Family Callahan's Reel / Patty On The Turnpike (1924)


• Bristol Sessions recordings: the "Big Bang" of modern country music
• ALFRED G. KARNES VICTOR 20840 I Am Bound For The Promised Land / Where We'll Never Grow Old (1927)
• WEST VIRGINIA COON HUNTERS VICTOR 20862 Greasy String / Your Blue Eyes Run Me Crazy (1927)
• JIMMIE RODGERS VICTOR 20864 Sleep Baby Sleep / The Soldier's Sweetheart (1927)
• CARTER FAMILY VICTOR 21074 Bury Me Under The Weeping Willow / Little Log Cabin By The Sea (1928)


• JIMMIE RODGERS VICTOR 20864 Sleep Baby Sleep / The Soldier's Sweetheart (1927)
  First recording and record by country music's first star soloist


• CARTER FAMILY VICTOR 21074 Bury Me Under The Weeping Willow / Little Log Cabin By The Sea (1928)
  First track cut by country music's first star band


• CAB CALLOWAY AND HIS ORCHESTRA BRUNSWICK 6074 Minnie The Moocher (The Ho De Ho Song) / Doin' The Rumba (1931)
  First jazz record to sell a million copies


• COON CREEK GIRLS VOCALION 00413 Coon Creek Girls (1938)
  First successful all-woman country band


• BILL MONROE AND HIS BLUE GRASS BOYS COLUMBIA 20595 Along About Daybreak / Heavy Traffic Ahead (1949)
  First track cut by the seminal bluegrass band