A very succinct memo...

TRAIN TO THE ZOO

This, the first record issued by the Children's Record Guild, is performed by the quartet of Pete Seeger, Lee Hays, Fred Hellerman, and Ronnie Gilbert before they were known as The Weavers.

FOLK SONGS FOR SINGING AND DANCING

A double disc reissue compilation of nonsense and humorous songs that Tom Glazer had previously recorded for YPR.

SEA SONGS

Just Pete and his banjo, singing some sea songs.

RISSELDY ROSSELDY

A group of nonsense songs by Betty Sanders. Her version of "Risseldy Rosseldy" is my favorite.

LET'S ALL JOIN IN

Some sing-along songs sung by Pete Seeger (back when he still went by Peter), tied together by Oscar Brand's script.

JAZZ BAND

From 1948, this might have been the first time that jazz was ever presented in the context of music appreciation -- certainly the first time on a children's record. And with the heavyweight lineup of Canada Lee, Kenneth Spencer, and Teddy Wilson's quintet, it has never been surpassed.

A-HUNTING WE WILL GO

Wonderful collection of English hunting songs sung by Tom Glazer, with small chorus. Great version of "The Keeper," with small orchestral backing. This is the record that turned me on to YPR.

THE FUNNIEST SONG IN THE WORLD

Groucho's first children's record, from 1949.

GOING WEST

No story, just Tom Glazer singing some less-than-obvious American folk songs. The first record ever issued by YPR in its elementary age bracket.

Charity Bailey MORE PLAYTIME SONGS

Unlike her records for Folkways, or her first two records for YPR, More Playtime Songs -- and its companion Singing in the Kitchen -- present Charity not as a classroom teacher, but rather as more of a pop singer, accompanied by the small orchestral arrangements of Henry Brant.

Oscar Brand's AMERICAN ALMANAC

One of a 12-part series of "American Almanac" records written by Oscar Brand. He narrated all of them, and performed on most of them.

YPR 1950 Central Park Concert

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"Awesome file of 1.2 million children"

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Here's some recently-discovered evidence regarding CRG's membership size. The figure of 1.2 million members is said to represent the total number who had joined since the club's inception (actually 1950—not 1951). If accurate, that's a minimum of 14,400,000 records sold, because each member was obligated to buy 12 records per year. But many members renewed their memberships one or more times, so the number of records sold is likely significantly higher than 14 million. (Again assuming the data given in this article is accurate.)

It is not clear if the 1.2 million figure refers only to primary CRG club (run by Stevenson's Greystone Corporation), or if it also includes the CRG franchise operated by Book of the Month Club.

In the book, I estimated annual record sales of "well over 2 million" by BOTH sources. But if the 1.2 million cited here refers only to Greystone's CRG, then the annual sales would actually be about double my original estimate.

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As for the 600,000 figure given for Music Treasures of the World, that is consistent with the 599,411 figure given by Milo Sutliff when he testified at a Congressional hearing earlier that year (1956).

"Funniest Song in the World"

The announcement in Billboard of YPR's Groucho Marx disc. I knew this was issued in 1949, but didn't know exactly when until I recently found this article. Horace Grenell's name is misspelled here, as usual. "Peter Gordon" is the collective pseudonym of Horace and his wife Judith Sidorsky, in this instance.

Margaret Sanger

I recently learned that Margaret Sanger, the famous advocate of birth control and founder of what became the Planned Parenthood organization, subscribed her grandchildren to the Young People's Record Club. Two letters from Sanger to the Club are contained in Sanger's archived papers.

American Young People's Theatre

YPR's theatre company. (Click to enlarge.)

CRG Western Union

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While touring South America in 1950, Walter Hendl became desperate for money, so Horace Grenell, courtesy of the Children's Record Guild, sent him a check via the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Legend has it that Hendl, a notorious ladies man, once had an affair with Eva Peron, the famous wife of the famous Argentine dictator. I wonder if that had anything to do with this. I hope so!

A page from Horace Grenell's FBI File

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I didn't receive Horace Grenell's 350-page FBI file until after my book was published. Unlike most FBI files, this one actually contains some interesting stuff. One thing that makes it different is that it is actually two separate files. There's the original file which was initiated in 1951, and then another file initiated in 1965 as part of a security clearance when Grenell was hired to do a recording job for the White House. So in addition to a new investigation, the 1965 file includes an historical review of the 1951 file.

To be continued...

Langston Hughes

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