Here’s a little track for everyone who wants “to be where the winds blow free” — Duluth.
The PDD Video Lab has joined this scratchy old 10-inch record with Duluth images circa the mid-to-late 1940s via Minnesota Reflections, the database of digitized materials from the Northeastern Minnesota Historical Collections and other cultural heritage organizations across Minnesota.
Al Trace and His New Orchestra hit #1 on the Billboard charts in the summer of 1948 with the song “You Call Everybody Darlin’.” There were two versions of the single, one on Regent Records and one on Sterling Records. The Sterling version featured “Duluth M-I-double-N” on the B side.
The Regent version of “You Call Everybody Darlin’,” catalog number 117, was by Al Trace and His New Orchestra. It first reached the Billboard charts on June 18, 1948, and charted for 22 weeks. The B-side track was “Linger Awhile.”
It was preceded in 1946 by the Al Trace and the Revelers version, Sterling catalog number 3023, which reached #21 in Billboard’s “Most Played in Juke Boxes” survey during a three-week chart run.
Bob Vincent is the vocalist on “Duluth M-I-double-N” and both versions of “You Call Everybody Darlin’.” Al Trace wrote “Duluth M-I-double-N,” and partnered with Sam Martin and Ben Trace to write “You Call Everybody Darlin’.”
Thanks to Walt Dizzo for finding and sharing this 78 RPM hunk of shellac. Below is the first attempt at a video, simply pointing a smartphone at the ol’ Magnavox.
