HistoryMiami’s Analog Archives Party with DJ Le Spam Was Awesome (In Pictures)

The wailing soul of Miami rhythm&blues’er Davy Jones, the lightning fiddle of Ervin Rouse, the velvet toned piano of Sonny Thompson, and the Caribbean inflected doo wop of Johnny and Marsha filled the back room of Gramp’s in Wynwood with the sound of history, and the sounds of HistoryMiami.

With a tremendously enjoyable listening party made possible by DJ Andrew “Le Spam” Yeomanson and HenryStoneMusic, we can only hope that HistoryMiami repeats itself. The Analog Archives vol.1 party was an awesome success.

It all unfolded before the ears of a packed house; and thanks to the Knight Foundation grant Yeomanson received to enable it, the hitmaking instinct of Joe Stone to preserve his father’s catalog for future generations, and the crowd of rapt attendees, there’s more to come. Here’s how the party went.

DJ Le Spam converted 1950’s Henry Stone master tapes to pristine hi-fidelity digital audio with the love and care of a true audiophile. The recordings sound amazing.

Not only did he run the original tapes through a classic mono console to digitize, but he reconstructed over 100 original engineer tape edits by hand.

This process created a parallel dimension of scientific artistry where yesterday and today’s records met at the nexus of historical perspective, technological context, and cultural preservation.

Not only did Andrew bring new life to lost old music, he did it by walking through the original footsteps of the engineers who recorded the songs he’s saving.

The tapes offered a plethora of takes that were actually pressed as records, marketed, distributed, and sold around the world, as well as outtakes, alternate versions, studio chatter, and even an audition.

Throughout the listening, folks enjoyed drinks from the bar, snapped pics, shared casual conversation, listened attentively, and enjoyed the great variety of sounds presented.

DJ Le Spam gave brief notes between tracks, cracked jokes, and kept the crowd informed and enthused about the work he did, but also gave career notes on Henry Stone’s life as the top distributor and record man in Florida.

The crowd was hungry for knowledge about and proof of this great dude’s great works.

There were laughs and cheers, head nods, and foot taps, and the crackle of neurons firing to index freshly processed information was visceral.

The crowd was as varied as the music presented. Everyone from record business pros, to nightclub impresarios, archivists, DJ’s, record collectors, grant workers, event promoters, guitarists, filmmakers, and many more all came together to hear and learn about Henry Stone and the great many people he recorded and worked with.

They laughed, and smiled, and enjoyed themselves while listening to all of these great tunes:

GR15128 ROYAL BRENT ORCHESTRA – SUGAR BUN AUG 1953
GR15130 KEYS OF HEAVEN – LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE ON IKE AUG 1953
GR15131 KEYS OF HEAVEN – JESUS BEARS THE CROSS AUG 1953

GR15177 ERVIN ROUSE – UNDER THE DOUBLE EAGLE  OCT 1953
GR15178.1 ERVIN ROUSE JACKSON SCHOTTISCHE TAKE 1
GR15179 ERVIN ROUSE RUBBER DOLLY
GR15180 ERVIN ROUSE ARKANSAS TRAVELER
GR15181 ERVIN ROUSE VARSOUVIANA

GR15192 WILBERT HARRISON – GIN AND COCONUT MILK
GR15193 WILBERT HARRISON – YOU ASKED ME WHY 1953 (UNRELEASED)

GR15219 JIMMY THORPE – IT’S YOU I’M THINKING OF 1954
GR15255 JIMMY HARTLEY – DON’T DROP IT 1954
GR15256 JIMMY HARTLEY – COLD MOODS 1954

GR15276 JOHNNY AND MACK MONEY MONEY MONEY  DELUXE 78 6063
GR15277 JOHNNY AND MACK I WANT TO TELL YOU WHY ??
GR15274 JOHNNY AND MACK DON’T EVER CLOSE THE DOOR DELUXE 78 6063

C155 THE CHARMS – BOOM DIDDY BOOM BOOM 1/11/55 CIN
C109 CALVIN VAUGHN – TALK TO ME BABY 1955
C110 CALVIN VAUGHN – CHECK YOURSELF

C147 JOHNNY AND MARSHA – YOU WANT ME 1956
C157 JOHNNY AND MARSHA – AFTER SCHOOL DATE 1956
C189a SONNY THOMPSON – JUKE JOINT PT2 JULY 1956

TRACEY PENDARVIS DEMO – PAINS OF LOVE
UNKNOWN #1 WHERE’S MY BABY
UNKNOWN #2 BLUES FOR MY BABY
VOCAL AUDITION FOR HENRY STONE

300 JIMMY VOYTEK – KITTEN  1958  SCOTT 1404
301 JIMMY VOYTEK SEARCHING

193 DAVEY JONES – PUT YOU HAND ON YOUR HEART  MARLIN 6063 1959/60
192 DAVEY JONES – LOVE  MARLIN 6063

It was a wonderful environment full of music from Chart Records, DeLuxe Records, Marlin Records, Rockin’ Records, and Glory Records….all prolific labels headed up by the incredible Henry Stone.

And as new information was presented, people researched it immediately on their phones, sometimes even going straight to digital music retailers to buy their own copies of these classics.

Good music. Good times.

There were blacklights, beer, and heavy bass. It was how all schools should be.

Gramps was a great venue.

Juan Maristany created the live video backdrop, which included valuable clues to the tapes’ origins, rife with original handwriting depicting artist names, as well as session notes, and a variety of historical ephemera that more clearly paint the picture of Miami in the 1950s.

A big shout out to the great Joe Stone, his lovely fiancée Vanessa, and Inez Stone, (Joe’s mom, Henry’s Wife).

The entire project was made possible by Joe discovering the tapes among Henry’s belongings, approaching HistoryMiami about creating the HenryStoneMusic archives, and working with Yeomanson to preserve these great recordings.

During a 20 minute intermission, guests were treated to a classic 50’s air tape from a central Florida radio DJ who wanted to prove to Henry Stone that he was playing the music he was being paid to promote.

To say there was a dizzying array of classic in the house would be an understatement.

To cap off the night, Joe Stone (who followed in his fathers footsteps and wrote, recorded, marketed, distributed, and created million selling records) gave a short speech about Henry’s life and career.

And he explained that the preservation of his father’s legacy through his many musical recordings is at the core of everything that HenryStoneMusic does today.

This was an amazing and historical event.

And 50 years from now people will look back on it in awe, thankful that in the year 2066, the music of 1950’s America is alive and well.

And maybe, just maybe

Stronger than ever.

Look out for more collaborations and events and experiences from HenryStoneMusic coming soon!