Paul Whiteman

The Joe Hehn Memorial Collection

Paul Whiteman was composer and bandleader who became known as the “King of Jazz.” His orchestra was one of the most popular dance bands in the 1920s and 1930s. The band’s recordings were very successful. Whiteman’s notoriety was mainly in the 1920s and 1930s, but he was still popular and of such high reputation enough to attract sponsors to radio programs through the 1940s. It was Whiteman who gave Bing Crosby his start, and he also commissioned George Gershwin’s famous Rhapsody in Blue. * * * These recordings are part of the Joe Hehn Memorial Collection. Mr. Hehn (1931-2020) was a pioneering collector of radio recordings when the hobby emerged in the 1960s. Digitizing his collection of reel tapes and discs is the effort of a wide range of North American volunteers, and includes assistance of some international collectors. The groups supporting this effort with their funds, time, technology and skills are the Old Time Radio Researchers and a small group of transcription disc preservationists who refer to themselves as the "The Knights of the Turning Table."

This recording is part of the Old Time Radio collection.

Chapters