Cluck Ol’ Hen
Another is this first or possibly second known recording of the classic fiddle tune Cluck Ol’ Hen from Fiddlin’ Powers. Simple and repetitive, but is has a bounce that I don’t hear in any other versions since. We’re fortunate this authentic Americana was preserved.
http://www.archive.org/details/FidilinPowers-CluckOldHen1925edison78RpmRecord
— recommended by John Littleton
Five Minutes To Live (1961)
This film is one of my favorites.
I’m a fan of Americana music, so this movie with Johnny Cash and Merle Travis is classic. Travis plays the music that Cash is pretending to play. Throw in Vic Tayback and Ron Howard pre-Opie as Johnny Cash’s hostage and well, does it get any better or weirder than that.
http://www.archive.org/details/Five_Minutes_To_Live.avi
— recommended by Jeff Kaplan
Goody Two Shoes
Ever wonder where the phrase “Goody Two Shoes” came from? Goody Two Shoes was first published in 1765. This 1888 edition is only twenty pages long with lots of illustrations; it’s a perfect read for anyone with a short attention span and/or curious about one of the footnotes of popular culture.
http://www.archive.org/details/goodytwoshoes00newyiala
— recommended by Marcus Lucero
What are your Archive favorites? Please suggest a link or two and a few words about why you appreciate your recommendation to:
bestof [at] archive.org
—David Glenn Rinehart
That fiddling clip is pretty interesting, but I’m kind of worried by the amount of destructive noise-removal that sounds like it’s been applied to it. I noticed it on a couple of other 78rpm records too, but not all of them. Does the Archive have a policy about this or does it just depend on what users submit? It seems like it would be better for archival purposes to preserve a high quality recording that includes the surface noise (actually, I think I would prefer to hear surface noise than the artefacts of bad noise-removal software, as well…)
Thanks for all the good work that you do.