Peacock 1696

When I was a little kid, I had this record and it was practically my favorite record in the world.

Somewhere along the line -- maybe when I was in first or second grade -- it slipped from my possesion. I never saw another one of it. Over time, I forgot what it was called and who it was by; I could remember only what the label loooked like and that one side was titled something like "Whistle Stop" or "Stop Time."

When I was in high school, there was a dark and dusty record store in Northridge that had a lot of old 45s. I went in once and asked about my lost record, but in those days finding an obscure, twenty-five-year-old blues single based on a tiny amount of useful data -- "Do you have anything with a white Peacock label?" -- was pretty much a non-starter.

Last year, I went to the public library downtown and asked to look at their copy of Duke / Peacock Records: An Illustrated History With Discography, by Galen Gart and Roy C. Ames. It took several calls between the Arts & Music desk and the Reference retreivals department, and nearly an hour before they found the book.

Then I went down the entire discography, looking for any entries with the word "Whistle" in them. None. "Stop" -- none. Finally, I spotted it.

Ah yes. So close. No wonder my internet searches had come up empty. I wrote this all down on a little slip of paper, returned the book to the desk and thanked them, and went home.

These songs seem never to have made it to an LP collection, let alone a CD. Copies of the 45 have been on eBay since them, but they've been $20-30 each.

Last week I won an auction for one at $4.99, plus four dollars of shipping. Today it arrived in a huge box, packed in a hilarious amount of bubble wrap and cardboard stiffeners. The postman brought it to the door and knocked a bunch of times, like he knew I was home and wanted to give it to me personally so it wouldn't sit out in the sun.

I have not held one of these in my hands in over three and a half decades. I am so happy right now.

Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown (1924 - 2005) plays fiddle and, on the flip side, a little electric guitar as well.

Share and enjoy.

D.L. 21 June 2012

Update 21 October 2012: Obtained a second, cleaner copy of the single (only six bucks this time!) and from that made a new set of mp3s.