My Dad
My Dad, Joe, was born and raised in Flushing, New York. After serving in the Army Corp of Engineers at the end of the Korean War, he ended up in Las Vegas. It was there that he spent his bachelor years and was also when he accrued the bulk of his record collection. He loved to dance, so much of his collection consisted of the Latin rhythms so popular in the Mid Century. He also bought many of the albums that would become the touch stones of what we today consider the Post Modern era of music.
He would have really enjoyed the fact that his old record collection has been unboxed and is now experiencing a new life and being appreciated all over again!
Your Host
I am your host, Nick Provenzano. I have lived in Northern California since the age of 3. I had always wanted to get involved in the podcasting community and when presented with my Dad's collection, I knew I had something worth sharing. You can often find me at one of the classic Bay Area Tiki Bars, planning my next trip to Palm Springs or Hawaii or rummaging through record collections searching for another gem. I've always had an interest in all things vintage and retro. Especially from the 40's through the Mid Century.
The Collection
I first encountered by Dad's record collection when we moved into our newly built family home in 1970. It was there that he had enough space to spread them out over 2 bookcase shelves. As a child, I would often flip through them, mainly to look at the cover art but they were rarely played. I was a kid, what did I know? 18 years later we moved to a new house and the records were just stored away. Years later, after my Dad passed, I eventually took possession of them. By this time I had only a vague recollection of what was in the collection and when I opened up the dusty boxes and gazed upon myriad of albums with my older and wiser eyes, I knew instantly that I had a treasure trove! I saw Herb Alpert's "Whipped Cream and Other Delights", Lalo Schifrin, Esquivel, Jack Jones, Johnny Cash and, naturally, a big collection of Tito Puente, Hugo Montenegro and other Latin Dance albums. The albums had been stored well and suffered no damage so on to the turntable they went! Even after several decades, they sounded fantastic! One of the greatest aspects of listening to these records were the little pops, ticks and, yes, even the scratches. These were the same imperfections my Dad heard when playing these very records back in the day. These "audio fingerprints" were unique to these particular records and no other record on the planet had the exact same pops and scratches. What you hear on the podcasts are direct recordings from the vinyl . You hear them the way my Dad heard them more than 50 years ago!
