Woody Guthrie Lost Bonneville Power Recordings Preservation

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Vinyl Archaeologist, Jul 20, 2017.

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  1. Vinyl Archaeologist

    Vinyl Archaeologist Forum Resident Thread Starter

    I have about 12 of what seem to be 78rpm direct to disc recordings of Woody Guthrie from his time in Portland. They are on "Presto" discs with 3 holes in them and some have taped on labels while other have the song titles carved in the dead wax. I'm curious to learn more about what i might have here if anyone has ideas?
     
  2. Arkay_East

    Arkay_East Forum Resident

    Location:
    ATX
    I think the Presto was a field recorder ...
     
  3. vudicus

    vudicus Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    Sounds interesting. Could you possibly upload some pics for us to drool over.
     
  4. Chemically altered

    Chemically altered Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ukraine in Spirit
    Hmm. Most of the Portland recordings were destroyed and survive (mostly) on rare acetates that were recorded in the basement of the Bonneville Power Authority. What exactly have you got?
     
  5. seed_drill

    seed_drill Senior Member

    Location:
    Tryon, NC, USA
    If you are lucky, you have a possible holy grail of great historical significance. If you are unlucky, you have a 1940s version of musical piracy. I.e. something the owner of the Presto machine dubbed off radio or another 78.

    I'd be careful with playback, as those disc aren't that durable.
     
  6. empirelvr

    empirelvr "That's *just* the way it IS!" - Paul Anka

    Location:
    Virginia, USA
    I would contact the Library Of Congress' American Folklife Center, myself.
     
  7. Arkay_East

    Arkay_East Forum Resident

    Location:
    ATX
    This is what I'm thinking. It's either an incredible find or a primitive version of a dub.
     
    Fullbug likes this.
  8. seed_drill

    seed_drill Senior Member

    Location:
    Tryon, NC, USA
    Reading up on the Presto, many radio stations used them for later broadcasts. Sort of like a BBC session. Chemically altered seems to be very knowledgeable about Woody's sessionography!
     
    Arkay_East likes this.
  9. Rfreeman

    Rfreeman Senior Member

    Location:
    Lawrenceville, NJ
    Even a dub off a radio could be very significant as lots of radio broadcasts were never officially recorded and/or were recorded but the recordings were not saved.

    Remember even as late as 65 the BBC was recording over the master tapes of the Beatles sessions to save on blank tape and storage expenses.

    Like 90% of the released Beatles BBC recordings were sourced from folks who recorded them at home.
     
    Last edited: Jul 20, 2017
  10. JamieC

    JamieC Senior Member

    Location:
    Detroit Mi USA
    Do NOT attempt to play! There is a possibility that these are actually property of the Library of Congress. When Woody wrote his songs under the BPA they all became the property of the people. See if your titles line up with the released tracks on Smithsonian Folkways. I have 19. What are the titles?
     
    Last edited: Jul 20, 2017
  11. Kevin55

    Kevin55 Forum Resident

    I would contact the Woody Guthrie Center and archives:

    Archives - Woody Guthrie Center
     
  12. Arkay_East

    Arkay_East Forum Resident

    Location:
    ATX
    Wow this is kind of exciting! :goodie:
     
    BeatlesBop and Jimmy B. like this.
  13. Vinyl Archaeologist

    Vinyl Archaeologist Forum Resident Thread Starter

    i'll post some photos when i get home from work the discs have 3 holes
     
  14. JamieC

    JamieC Senior Member

    Location:
    Detroit Mi USA
  15. JamieC

    JamieC Senior Member

    Location:
    Detroit Mi USA
    Looks like that?
     
    Chemically altered likes this.
  16. Vinyl Archaeologist

    Vinyl Archaeologist Forum Resident Thread Starter

    yep but with no orange label
     
  17. Vinyl Archaeologist

    Vinyl Archaeologist Forum Resident Thread Starter

    just black disks with either taped on labels or etched titles
     
    Chemically altered likes this.
  18. lightbulb

    lightbulb Not the Brightest of the Bunch

    Location:
    Smogville CA USA
    congratulations on the find!
    It's good that a music fan like you found these at the sale; hopefully with the right resources you'll be able to identify what these are.
    The other forum members' considerable knowledge and great recommendations make me proud to be here...
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 16, 2018
    Jarleboy, halfjapanese and gregorya like this.
  19. Confuseacat

    Confuseacat Forum Resident

    Location:
    Baltimore, MD
    Are you able to obtain the particulars around who the owner of the discs was? That may come in handy should the experts wish to track the provenance of the discs. Can you share the story of how you landed them? This is pretty exciting stuff!
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 16, 2018
    lightbulb and Chemically altered like this.
  20. Chemically altered

    Chemically altered Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ukraine in Spirit
    As others have said, do not play the discs because they will be destroyed as soon as they're played. Contact the Woody Guthrie Center ASAP. They will know what to do, and will not take advantage of you. Enjoy your marvelous find!
     
  21. DO NOT attempt to play these unless you have the correct equipment to play these. With each play, the lacquer discs wear a little and will be damaged beyond repair after only several plays.
    I would contact the Smithsonian and/or the Library of Congress and ask them what to do.
    Presto disc recorders were used by radio stations before and even after the introduction of magnetic recording tape. Many of the Presto recorders cut linearly, as they cut record lacquers today. Presto had some home recorders also. Presto discs were generic and could be used on any record cutting lathe.
     
    stefane and lightbulb like this.
  22. Vinyl Socks

    Vinyl Socks The Buzz Driver

    Location:
    DuBois, PA
    I haven't looked up any info about these Portland songs. I'm curious if they have ever been officially released?
    Also, are there any songs deemed to be "lost" from those sessions? Perhaps the OP has them in his possession?
     
  23. Bill Cormier

    Bill Cormier Forum Resident

    Location:
    Malta, New York
    I had a similar experience a few years ago, found a Hank Williams Audiodisc acetate in a thrift store. I called the Country Music Museum in Nashville and they had me play it over the phone for them.
    Unfortunately, they said it was a dub of a commercially released song, probably from a radio station. It would be exciting if this was NOT the case for the Guthrie discs however !
     
    Tommyboy likes this.
  24. Vinyl Archaeologist

    Vinyl Archaeologist Forum Resident Thread Starter

  25. Vinyl Archaeologist

    Vinyl Archaeologist Forum Resident Thread Starter

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