Pete George...Jazz on Records

Of all the experiences I had at the radio ranch two miles north of Mattoon, I guess that engineering the Jazz on Records show on Sunday afternoon was probably one of the coolest things I had to do.

Pete George was the ultimate insider and collector of Jazz music. He knew the stuff backwards and forwards...he had been to every festival and knew the players in the industry. Pete would bring his case full of 33 1/3's on Sundays and the "Mattoon Country Jamboree" would be put on hold to play the likes of John Coltraine, Thelonius Monk, Dizzy Gillespe and many other greats from the genre.

Let me give you a little geography for those who aren't familiar with the layout of the "Giant".

The AM and FM board operators sat facing each other separated by potted control boards and plexiglass. If you were operating the AM board...two turntables would be to your left along with a view of the AM transmitter above the rack of carts which sat above the turntables. Behind you in the AM studio was the long deck containing several reel to reel players and various patch boards. Sitting in the AM chair and looking to your right you would see the remote AM studio with a single microphone suspended over a table containing at least 3 ash trays. This is where many magical moments occurred at WLBH including the illustrious Trading Post program and it is also where Pete George hosted the Jazz on Records program.

As the AM-1170 board operator, your job description for that time-slot was pretty straightforward. You would walk from the AM to the AM remote studio and Mr. George would hand you a record very carefully and tell you which cut to cue up. You would then walk back into the AM studio and cue up said cut....when it was time...you would crank up the Intro for the show and open Pete's mic...then he would give a rather lengthy and always entertaining description of the cut you were about to hear. This almost always included every musician that played on the track. Then he would give you the nod...or a pointing finger and you would let the music play. Then you would repeat the process...always carefully handling the albums as you entered the studio. Ahhh...the memories.

Oh...one more little thing. SMOKE SMOKE SMOKE. Pete George was a great guy with great stories and man did he know his stuff when it came to jazz...but one of the hazards of the job was dealing with the massive amount of cigarette smoke that emitted from those ash trays during the show. He was a friendly man and would usually have conversation from time to time when you were picking up or dropping off the records. I don't know what brand of cigs' it was but they were especially pungent. I guess that smoking is required to be a part of the jazz scene and Pete was certainly true to that persona.

In retrospect, it is a great memory and, again, one of the more pleasurable duties that I had a chance to experience at WLBH. I know many of you had the chance to do the same and I would love to hear a little more about your experiences.

Thanks again for checking in on the site and spreading the word.

God bless.