Robert W. Morgan, KHJ Los Angeles, February 22, 1969 12N-1PM (01:00:03)

. . .
it was hard to explain how a voice could be awful and good at the same time
. . .

[Description by Uncle Ricky from notes by contributor Don Kent]

This is Hour 25 of the First and Original History Of Rock And Roll, as broadcast by KHJ between Noon and 1PM on Saturday, February 22, 1969. Our host is Robert W. Morgan.

Beginning before Billboard magazine's Hot 100, the first hour of the "Rock" segment reaches back for classic R&B from 1952 into early 1955. Otherwise forgotten "radio archivist" Charles Hefty introduces Allan Freed. Also featured is the late Bert Convy, part of a group performing a song by legendary songwriting team Leiber & Stoller, and a montage presented as a tribute to the ubiquitous bass singers of the '50's.

This was the first "Rockumentary", produced by KHJ Program Director Ron Jacobs. Following the unprecedented success of this legendary broadcast, Jacobs left KHJ later that year. RKO made the show available to the other stations in their group, narrated by station-specific talent. When RKO was done with it, Drake-Chenault offered a re-recorded version in syndication three times between 1970 and 1982. An edited version (no jingle) of the last release, narrated by Bill Drake, was still in syndication as of 2006.

The morse code REELRADIO "copymark" included (three times) in this exhibit is a reminder that duplication and distribution for trade or sale is illegal and inappropriate. Do not copy, do not trade, do not sell.