jim henson

Darn that Hugh Toob anyway, for yanking this silly old mash-up favorite...



Fortunately it can still be found elsewhere - - for now.
Enjoy it while you can, and beware of pop-ups...

Here's the second LP by Ira Ironstrings; The name was a pseudonym used on a string of albums recorded by bandleader / guitar innovator Alvino Rey.

In the earliest days of Warner Bros. Records, the label had something of an 'anything goes' attitude while they were establishing themselves.

Alvino Rey was brother-in-law to WB exec
Jim Conkling, and had the idea for recording campy, light-hearted (though not quite 'novelty') hi-fi Dixieland music.

The pseudonym was used because Rey was still under contract to Capitol Records, but the name and the mystery around it added to the fun.

Produced and arranged by Warren Barker, the quality of the music surpassed many expectations.

As part of the label's initial round of releases, the first album ('Ira Ironstrings Plays for People with $3.98') sold surprisingly well.

From the LP
'Ira Ironstrings Plays:
With Matches'
(Warner Bros. Records, 1959),
Listen to:

Heartaches
Ivory Rag
Twelfth Street Rag
Johnson Rag
Guitar Boogie
Third Man Theme

(click for audio)

- - OR download the full album (12 tracks) in one 57.6 Mb zipfile.

Click here to read back cover liner notes and full track listing.

The following year, Warner Bros. Records signed The Everly Brothers and released two Grammy-winning stand-up comedy LPs
by Bob Newhart.

See also:
- A previous post; from 1946, the Alvino Rey and his orchestra's recording of 'Sepulveda'.

- Alvino Rey featured in a post at Visual Guidance, Ltd.

- Speaking of the early days of Warner Bros Records, the previously-posted
'Music To Read Stan Cornyn's Liner Notes By'.

- Thanks to The Space Age Pop Music Page for valuable info.

(click on image to enlarge in a new window)

Elegant composition in this 1930 magazine advertisement.
Simple but striking.

- - And not the first time that Horlicks had used the memorable
cow-as-billboard motif...

- example one (via)
- example two (via)

Horlicks malted milk powder is still popular in India and a few other parts of the world, but in the U.K. and the U.S. has mostly become a fond memory, a 'comfort food' relic of a bygone era.

In the 1870s, brothers William & James Horlick had emigrated from England and were manufacturing their milk drink as an artificial food for infants, and soon established a large factory in
Racine, Wisconsin.

By the early part of the 20th century, Horlicks (then spelled as Horlick's) was well-established internationally (including an early foothold in India), though in the U.S. it was outsold by its rival, Ovaltine.

Whether touted as a sleep-aid, a 'restorative', or nutrition supplement, Horlicks was used in interesting ways as an advertising sponsor over the years, associating itself at different times with radio programs like 'Lum and Abner' or in films with George Pal's animated Puppetoons or even by sending along crates of their product on a few polar expeditions.

More bits and pieces of Horlicks history (including the name standing in as a milder substitute for the British profanity 'bollocks') can be found via the Horlicks Wikipedia entry...