Getting to Know You

[W2DU]

Hi Carl,

Thanks for the tip on the Alvino Rey records on iTunes. I downloaded their installation files, but discovered it works only on XP and Vista. My OS is Windows 2000, so no good. I'm hoping to hear from Dan, who is transferring 78s to CDs.

Walt, W2DU

[NE4AM]

As much as I like the young pups like Kenny Wayne Shepherd, there is a youtube vid of him trying to duet with Etta Baker, the great fingerstyle blues artist.  At age 90, she is fluidly ripping through one of her pieces, and Kenny is fumbling slackjawed trying to keep up with her....

Look up the vids of Elizabeth Cotton as well. She and Etta are my heroes!

[AF9J]

THAT, sounds intruiging. Thanks for the info Dave.  BTW, I hope the flooding didn't cause to much damage to your house.

73,
Ellen - AF9J

[W1RKW]

Went to see Johnny A. last night.  What a guitar player this guy is.  He put on a great show.  What made it even better was the small and personal venue.  At the end of the show he talked with people.  Very personable.  If you get the chance go see him and his band play. 

Just booked to see Johnny A. at the Iron Horse in N. Hampton in July.

That's right, he's from your neck of the woods (Boston - pretty close to you), isn't he?  You're lucky.

73,
Ellen - AF9J 

[kf6pqt]

Ellen- You made a Johnny A fan out of me

Ditto... Wow, who IS this guy?

[W1DAN]

Hi Walt:

I have only a few 78's of Alvino Rey. My main problem is either finding the records or the transfers (of which I have far too many).

Feel free to bug me via PM to find them. Once I do I can probably send you MP3's or WMA's of them.

73,
Dan
W1DAN

[AF9J]

Ellen- You made a Johnny A fan out of me

Ditto... Wow, who IS this guy?

He's a hotshot jazz/fusion guitarist from Boston.  Try this Jason:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_A.

http://www.johnnya.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJ7amOCI6DI

73,
Ellen - AF9J

[W2DU]

Hi Dan, W1DAN,

Thanks for the offer, Dan, I'd love to have a copy of everything you have of Alvino Rey, especially since I used to play trumpet in his band. I'll take whatever format you have, and will pay you whatever you want for these precious gems. Just let me know what means you have in mind for the transfer.

You said to let you know via PM, but I don't know what PM is in this context, so I just replied via this medium.

I didn't see your post, but son Rick, W8KHK, alerted me to it today.

Walt, W2DU

PS--How about giving me your email address? Mine is walt@w2du.com.

[Ralph W3GL]

Hey Walt,

Do you actually check that email address ?

I sent a couple emails but nothing so just figured your spam filter was set a bit tight.

Take care there,

Ralph, W3GL,  ex W3AGC/W3NNK...
RCA Astro, Camden, Cherry Hill...

[Tom WA3KLR]

Walt,

I wonder if this name from the past rings a bell - Frank Littel, who was a transmitter engineer at RCA.

I was in the Engineering department of Narco Avionics from 1976 -1980.  Frank was there and had come from RCA.  One time he showed me photos of the video transmitter he designed for the probe that went to Mars? and deliberately crashed on the surface.

At Narco, Frank worked on solid-state DME pulse transmitters.  He was an interesting character to chat with, an astronomy buff.

[W4EWH]

I'm a musician, too, even though I'm not good. I play saxophone.

Shelby,

Please don't cut yourself down like that: you may be untrained, but that does not mean you are "not good". I've always regretted not studying and practicing my instrument harder when I was young, so I'll give you some free advice: every star you see on the stage started out just like you. Keep at it!

73,

Bill W1AC

[W2DU]

Hello Ralph, W3GL,

Sorry Ralph, I don't remember you by name, but I do recognize you from the face in your avatar.

When were you at RCA Astro? And in what department? Perhaps that will help me remember you.

And no, Ralph, I haven't received any emails from you. I get around 100 spam daily, but I always check the list to see what might be there that shouldn't be. Did you use my email as 'walt@w2du.com' ? How about giving it another try?

Walt

[Ralph W3GL]

Hello Walt,

Yes I used the "walt@w2du.com" and just 5 minutes ago resent the basic note once more, so check your traffic with a subject line of "Re: AMForm response" or something like that???

NO, NO, NO...  That pix here is NOT ME! I should have that top  cover!

Guess I better change that to one of me in my 30's or later...

Check your email, Walt.

Ralph, W3GL.

[w8khk]

Ralph, W3GL,  ex W3AGC/W3NNK...
RCA Astro, Camden, Cherry Hill...

Ralph, attached is a scan from March 1965 QST.  I did not see either of your prior calls listed, but I would suspect that you were aquainted with many of the hams pictured.....

[Ralph W3GL]

Hello Rick,

That photo was probably taken some time in 1964 and yes, I knew a few of those fellows...  Your dad had the prime location there on the end of the first row, ha...

At that time I was soaking up the sun in Hawaii when not flying out to any one of the many AFSS sites in the Pacific Command on staff visits, etc...I was stationed at Hq, Pac Region, Air Force Security Service.

My Astro adventure started a bit later...  I did visit Walts QTH one Saturday, as I remember, when he and, I think, one of you kids were repairing a blown trap on a TA 33 antenna he used.  As I recall that residence was on route 130 close to Hightstown, no?

Okay, have Walt check his email for the page I wrote and perhaps he will remember but it actually was a short term association while I was on the navies ""Nav Sat" project at the time. 

 RCA had me all over the place for several years after that...

Later,

Ralph, W3GL.

PS:Nah, you and your brothers are too old to have been there when I stopped by that Saturday... Must have been a couple B.S.A. members as Walt was trustee of K2BSA at the time.

[w8khk]

I did visit Walts QTH one Saturday, as I remember, when he and, I think, one of you kids were repairing a blown trap on a TA 33 antenna he used.  As I recall that residence was on route 130 close to Heightstown, no?

Hi Ralph,

Glad the photo brought back some memories.... 

Yes, we lived in Dayton, on Georges Road just off 130, just a bit north of Cranbury and Hightstown.  What a good memory you have!

Bill, W2WM, my older brother, and I were in the Air Force at that time.  He got the TA-33 while I was in Arizona.  You may be thinking of my younger brother, John, K4JRM, who was living there at the time.  Boy, you got some good duty with RCA, what with all the travel.

I spoke to Dad on the landline last night, he said he got your email, I think he replied.

[Ralph W3GL]

Hi Rick,

Yes, I received  an email from Walt...

Will be answering it shortly.

Thanks for your assist...

Oh, regarding that photo from QST, sure were a lot of guys in coat and tie!
That was the uniform of the day for the engineering staff.  The few youngsters sans tie and in lab coats (look at their calls, K and WA/WB prefixes) hopefully are still with us with 1 x 2 calls now days...

Ralph, W3GL.

[W1DAN]

Hi Walt:

I sent you ane mail to the address you posted and have not received a reply yet.

I found 3 Alvino Rey songs I did a few years ago. I went through the random 78's (about 200) I have not transferred and found two records by Rey that I had not transferred, so I cleaned, transferred them and restored the audio yesterday.

Can I send you wma files to your email address? I'd send one song per email.

73,
Dan
W1DAN

[W2JBL]

    Alvino Rey was an early musical influence on me. back in the early 60's when i was a J.N. i used to see him guest on Lawerence Welk (required viewing in my house). that sound kept my mind open to the idea of playing jazz on the Steel until i finally built one about '74 or so.

    Walt- if you are still playing, Bob K1KBW and myself would love for you to sit in with us. we play a mix of boogie/jump blues, standards and oldies. we would love to have a good horn player jump in the mix. Bob handles keyboards, and i switch off between guitar and steel guitar and get into some good old sounds seldom heard today. we play in a little studio at Bob's place in Wallingford Ct.

[W2DU]

Hello Dan,

Sorry, Dan, I have not received any emails from you. Sometimes my spam filter doesn't work well, so I always check the hundred or so spams to make sure I don't miss a legitimate msg, but I found none from you there.

Will you please try again with the email address walt@w2du.com? I'd really appreciate having the Rey music.

Walt

[W1DAN]

Walt:

I just sent you 9 emails. The first was a test, then 8 emails with one cut each in WMA (Windows Media Audio) format.

Hope you get them and enjoy!

73,
Dan
W1DAN