Burt C. Porter, born near Spokane, WA on June 10, 1916 (Bureau of the Census, 1920), started his own business in Seattle, WA selling electronics in the late 1940s. From notes found in his collection printed on the Burt C. Porter Co. letterhead, as well as from an audio reel of dictation, it was identified that he sold a variety of electronics, but mostly audio recording machines. His business spread from Seattle throughout the greater Pacific Northwest and into Canada. Not only was he selling to individual consumers, but he also worked on deals with larger companies, such as Boeing.While there are reels that reflect his work in the electronics industry, the majority of the collection is based on his hobby in amateur sound recording.
This is Burt C. Porter's personal collection of sound recordings on open reel. A majority of the recordings are dated in the early to mid-1950's. The collection includes recorded television and radio programming, as well as bootleg club recordings. Some of the more unique recordings include jazz artists in Seattle, Cecil Young Quartet and Ernestine Anderson. This collection consists of 128 reels onsite and about 80 reels off-site in a storage facility in Sandpoint. The reels off-site have deteriorated and will likely not be handled or transferred for safety reasons.
Due to preservation concerns, access to the original items is restricted. For access questions please contact the UW Libraries Media Center.
The Burt C. Porter Jazz and Sound Recordings were donated to the University of Washington Libraries in 2012 by a family member of Porter. The collection consists of over two hundred open audio reels, most of which were created in the 1950's.
Selections from this collection have been digitized, and are available through the
The audio reels were stored in original cases (cardboard) in a barn for a number of decades in western Washington until the time of the donation in 2012.
Portions or all of this collection may be subject to copyright restrictions.
Contains 17 1/4 inch sound reels
Cecil Young, Gerald Brashear, Jimmy Rodgers, Trafford Hubert. Race Horse; Black Magic; Small Hotel
Cecil Young, Gerald Brashear, Jimmy Rodgers, Trafford Hubert. I Can't Give You Anything But Love (Vocal-Cecil); September in the Rain; Johnson Rag
Strike Up The Band; I Got It Bad - Vocal; Symphony Kid
Savoy; You Are the Promised Breath of Spring; Fine and Dandy
House Rent Party Blues; Lester Leaps About
15" p/s- Full-Mono; Deep Purple-Piano Solo; Tennessee Waltz-Piano Solo; Gerald
Who Parked the Car; Back in Nagasaki
Sweet Georgia Bop; Penthouse Serenade
Nights and Day, Dawn and Dusk; Flying Home; Gone With the Wind
Cecil--Off To 'Frisco
15" Mono - Cecil Young/Ernestine; Sept Song; Camels are Coming; Ema Sumac-908 Club; Somebody Got To Go
M-15"; Cecil Young Quartette; Theme Song; Savoy; Piano Pastels; Norm Bobrow-Announce
Cecil Young Quartette; Formula X-9; Sweet Georgia Bop; Oooh Diga Gow; I'm In the Mood for Love
Cecil Young Quartette; Flying Home; Too Marvelous For Words; Who Parked the Car
Cecil Young Quartet; Going to Shanghai-3:47; I Get Ideas-3:12; Old Man River-3:20
Cecil Young Quartet; E Flat B Flat-3:20; Further Out X-1:53; Passing Fancy X-3:00; Get Out of Town-3:12
Cecil Young Quartette; Streamliner Club; Dancing In The Dark; Out Waltz; ?
Contains 15 1/4 inch sound reels
Santa Monica Beethoven Piano Concerts #2 1st Movement; Arthur Lange Conductor
Santa Monica; 1st Movement Mendelssohn Seventh Symphony; 2nd Movement (illegible)
RCA Sauter-Finnegan; 7 1/2" Recording Speed
Whitman College Choir; We Wish You a Merry CHristmas; I heard the Bells on Christmas Day; ?; Glorious in Excelcis Deo; The First Noel; While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks; ?; Jingle Bells; Silent Night; Bing Crosby; I Had a Dream; The Old Ox Road; Were You There--(Gonzaga Glee Club)
Frank Sinatra T.V. Show; Guest: Bing Crosby; Dean Martin; Mitzi Gaynor; Jimmie Durante; Music Direction by Nelson Riddle; Recorded on MDVICORDER
Dinah Washington-Carnegie Hall; Tell Me Why; Wheel of Fortune; Blues; Blow Top Blues; Time Out For Tears
John Kirby and his Orchestra; Charles Shivers-Trumpet; Buster Bailey-Clarinet; Russell Procofie-Alto Sax; Billy Kyle-Piano; John Kirby-Bass; O'Neil Spencer-Drums.; 1. Anitra's Dances-Serenade-Opus 5-Nocturne-Fronto Ceuler-(illegible)-Milumba-Double Fath-Blues Polyle-Beethoven RIffs On.; 2. Stanley Black and his Orchestra; Rhumba tamba-Linola-Chilena-Adioes etc.; 2. Joe Bushkin with Rhythm Acc.
Jones Jenne, Paul Weston; Kitten on the Keys; Finigus Carr; Nobles June; Paul Weston; If I KNew You Were Coming-Benny Strong; Does the Spearmint Lose Its Flavor-Benny Strong
Spaghetti Rag-Ray Anthony; Down the Lane-Stafford Mac Race; Maria from Bahia-Cherry Reyes; Open Door-Jo Stafford; Panama-Paul Weston
I. Mary Ann McCall; Paul Smith Quartet; II. Gerry Mulligan (PJLP-2); Lee Konitz; Dave Brubeck (3-5-alt but (illegible) on one side)
Jimmy Lyons-San Francisco; Bewitched-Mel Torme, Sax, Piano; Someone to Watch Over Me, Piano; Body and Soul, Sax; Sleepytime Gal; Piano, Sax, Trombone, Sax, Piano
Page Cavanaugh Trio; Dixieland Jazz Band
4TS-7-1/2"--Side I; 1. Gene Krupa/Buddy Rich-JAPT-1952
Practice Session
Dr King
Contains 9 1/4 inch sound reels
Alice Hall Quartette; A The A Train 2:30; B Jazz Me Blues 2:00; C Petite Watte 2:03; D Tennesses Schmaltz 2:57; E Perdido 2:37; F Where or When 2:55
Alice Hall Quartette; A Makin Whooppee 2:16; B Just You Just Me 2:17; C Polka 2:09; D Brazil 2:15; E Dream a Little Dream of Me 2:47; F How High the Moon 2:33
Alice Hall Quartette; A You Stepped Out of a Dream 2:17; B Big Noise From Winztka 4:43
McPartland #1; Sweet Georgia Brown; Jazztown Ball
McPartland; Embrace Me; When the Saintsl (Left channel very low vol.)
Woody Herman-Carnegie Hall; Perdido; Early Autumn; Bijou
Woody Herman-Carnegie Hall; Third Man Theme-Chubby Jackson; Drum Solo
Woody Herman; Sidney Bechet; Summertime; Royal Garden Blues
Contains 10 1/4 inch sound reels
Jazz at the Phil 1952; 15 IPS Full Track Mono; Oscar Peterson; Buddy De Franco; Ray Brown; Buddy Rich; Herb Ellis; Paper Moon; Summer Time*; Huckle Buck; Air Mail Special; Great!
Jazz at the Phil-1951; 15" p/s-Full-Mono; Fast Number; Solos by: Roy Eldridge; Dizzy Gilespie (great duet at end); Drum Solo-Buddy Rich; (Play only for real jazz listeners)
Ernestine Anderson; Fine and Dandy; So Long; Sunny Side of the Street
BN 11/51; Shearing-Ernestine Anderson; Sunny Side; Them Their Eyes; #112 Summertime; Them Their Eyes (x) up-tempo, better!; Lover Man
Ernestine-Stealing Time
Porter; Ernestine - Sweden; Yak; Les- "Harris in for Porter"
Band of America; 15"; M-80
#4; Ballad Session; Roy Eldridge-Body and Soul; Ben Webster-Tenderly; Bill Harris-Imagination; Flip Phillips-I'll Never be the Same; Oscar Peterson Trio (Roy Brown - Herb Ellis); Just One of Those Things; The Continental; Autumn in N.Y.; It's Almost Like Being in Love; ?Serenade?; Surry-Frin´ge-Fast-Fast-Fast
Spokane Symphony-15" p.p.s-S
Spokane Symphony
"Rachmaninoff-Piano Concerto" and "Moonlight in Vermont" are labelled in red as "ERASED"
"Tocata and Fugue in D"; Bach; Stokowsky Detroit Symphony
"Tchaikovsky 5th 1-Andante"; Stokowsky Detroit
Time 1:52 to 2:26 PM; Archibald Varey 2:06;(On Reel) Wagner; WOtan's Farewell; Magic Fire Music Part 1; Stokowsky Detroit
Tchaikovsky 5th; 4-Finale-Allegro Vivace; Stokowski Detroit
Stan Kenton-Blue Note; Rumba; Stardust; September Song
"Wild Jive"; "Artistry in Bolevo"; "Stella By Starlight"; Stan Kenton
"Laura"; Stan Kenton
Seattle Symphony; Director-Manuel Rosenthal; Symphony in G Major-George Bizet; 1. Allegro Vivo; 2. Adagio; Oboe Solo-Norman Benno
"Latin American Symphonette"; 3rd. Movement Tango (and illegible)
"Latin American Symphony" 1st Movement; 1st Movement "Rhumba"; 2nd Movement "Tango"
Pines of Rome
Labor
"Serenade for Harp and Strings"
"Conga"
"Romeo and Juliet"
Contains 29 1/4 inch sound reels
Contains 27 1/4 inch sound reels