Exploring the Country & Western Columbia 7-inch LPs tomorrow on Back to the County 89.9FM

 Howdy Friends, Tomorrow is the second Wednesday of the month which means it is my turn once again to host Back to the Country on WORT 89.9 FM, Madison. Woot-woot! This week's show is all about some of the rarest post-war country music records--the 7-inch Columbia microgroove LP. These were the first singles pressed on vinyl instead of shellac (they pre-date RCA's 45 by a few months) and contain some of my very favorite bluegrass, western swing, southern gospel, honky-tonk, old-time, and cowboy tunes. Unfortunately, the 33 1/3 rpm 7-inch LP never really sold well and they were only made between January 1949 and February 1951 before Columbia decided to press just 78s and 45s. I've been hard at work this past month compiling and writing an annotated and lavishly illustrated discography about these fascinating experimental records, which is almost done (!), but in the meantime, allow me to play and sing for you some of my favorites! You can stream the show tomorrow from 9 AM-noon CST via wortfm.org or, if you're in southern Wisconsin, adjust your dial to 89.9 FM. Country Musically, Nate