What happens
Jeff Lambert, a clarinet player in New Orleans, recalls his early efforts to form a Dixieland band. He recruits a hot cornet player, Memphis, after bailing him out of jail. Betty Lou Cobb arrives in town looking for work and becomes a singer at the Blackie Cafe, where the band gets a steady job. Jeff and his friends hope to win wider acceptance for their music and send records north to Chicago. Friction builds between Memphis and Jeff over Betty Lou, leading to a fight. The Screen Guild Players present this radio adaptation of the 1943 Paramount picture Birth of the Blues, starring Bing Crosby, Jenny Sims and Johnny Mercer. The broadcast aired on September 13, 1943.
New Orleans and Memphis in the early days of jazz, with later scenes in Chicago and Mississippi
Characters: Jeff Lambert, Betty Lou Cobb, Memphis, Blackie
Listen for: Jeff Lambert's narration of his early struggles to establish Dixieland jazz, and the songs performed by the band at the Blackie Cafe
Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.