National Network for Equitable Library Service

Volume 1 of Chuck-Wagon Jamboree! To western fans, he will always be best known as Festus Haggen, the cantankerous sidekick of Sheriff Matt Dillon on the television series "Gunsmoke." But even die-hard fans of Dodge City may not realize that, in the years just after World War II, actor Ken Curtis was a singing cowboy -- the star of his own western movie series and a musical radio favorite to boot.

Volume 2 of Chuck-Wagon Jamboree! To western fans, he will always be best known as Festus Haggen, the cantankerous sidekick of Sheriff Matt Dillon on the television series "Gunsmoke." But even die-hard fans of Dodge City may not realize that, in the years just after World War II, actor Ken Curtis was a singing cowboy -- the star of his own western movie series and a musical radio favorite to boot.

Volume 1 of the Cocoanut Grove Ambassadors! When those who celebrate Hollywood's Golden Age reflect back on the halcyon days of the early 1930s, one particular nightspot comes immediately to mind: the Cocoanut Grove at Los Angeles' Ambassador Hotel. This lavishly appointed club, part of the 23-acre Ambassador resort, was decorated in Moroccan style, featured full-sized palm trees, and spotlighted smooth musical entertainment provided by a series of popular dance orchestras.

Volume 2 of the Cocoanut Grove Ambassadors! When those who celebrate Hollywood's Golden Age reflect back on the halcyon days of the early 1930s, one particular nightspot comes immediately to mind: the Cocoanut Grove at Los Angeles' Ambassador Hotel. This lavishly appointed club, part of the 23-acre Ambassador resort, was decorated in Moroccan style, featured full-sized palm trees, and spotlighted smooth musical entertainment provided by a series of popular dance orchestras.

As a little girl, Teresa Carreño loved to let her hands dance across the beautiful keys of the piano. If she felt sad, music cheered her up, and when she was happy, the piano helped her share that joy. Soon she was writing her own songs and performing in grand cathedrals. Then a revolution in Venezuela forced her family to flee to the United States. Teresa felt lonely in this unfamiliar place, where few of the people she met spoke Spanish. Worst of all, there was fighting in her new home, too-the Civil War.

Far more than just a piano playing bandleader, Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (1899-1974) was and still remains a powerfully influential figure in the world of music. Whether it was in jazz, popular song, big bands, or modern classical-form compositions, Ellington's orchestras always led the way, featuring innovative arrangements, talented vocalists and solo performers, and the sheer showmanship of their handsome and charismatic leader.

In 2002, acclaimed journalist Randall Sullivan's groundbreaking book LAbyrinth ignited a firestorm with its startling disclosures about corruption in the LAPD. It told the story of Russell Poole, a highly decorated LAPD detective, who uncovered a cabal of "gangsta cops" tied to Marion "Suge" Knight's notorious rap label, Death Row Records, and allegedly to the murders of Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G. Over twenty years later, no one has been held accountable for their killings. Now, Dead Wrong tells the story of the last sixteen years in the B.I.G.

An entertainment legend, Al Jolson was and remains a towering figure of the musical theatre. Jolson took over the venerable "Kraft Music Hall" in 1947 - a series he had headlined briefly in the early 1930s. This classic program was a masterpiece of careful planning and careful understanding of how to package a performer like Jolson to his best advantage. This collection features thirty Kraft Music Hall programs, all newly restored to the highest audio quality using equipment that was not available when the first collection was produced.

In the 1930s, radio was still a new form of entertainment, bringing news, sports, comedy, and drama into millions of depression-era homes throughout the country. Despite the economic conditions, Americans were still in desperate need of entertainment - and radio was there to give it to them, free, with just a flick of the switch and a turn of the dial.

The music of a generation, preserved for generations yet to come. It's the Big Bands, live and on the air, presented in this exciting Radio Archives collection. Dance music "remotes" from ballrooms, hotels, and nightspots were a regular feature of late-night radio programming. Originally aired live, these broadcasts preserve the music of the era with a fresh spontaneity that explodes past the confines of the more familiar (and often abridged) studio recordings of the time.