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Sunday Down South

Featured "genteel Dixieana" with an evangelical effort, Bible verses were often recited between the musical numbers. Just the thing to listen to on the front porch with the smells of Sunday dinner wafting through the windows...

Sunday Down South

10 old time radio show recordings
(total playtime 4 hours, 3098 min)
available in the following formats:

1 MP3 CD
or
5 Audio CDs


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Play a sample episode from November 06, 1949:

"Nov 6, 1949 Broadcast"



... or click here to save the Mp3 file to your computer
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Text on OTRCAT.com ©2001-2024 OTRCAT INC All Rights Reserved. Reproduction is prohibited.

The warm summer sun is beating down. The kids have taken off their church shoes and are running barefoot on the lawn, but you know that the best place to be is in the quiet shade of the porch. There you can enjoy a cool breeze, smell a wonderful Sunday dinner cooking, and listen to the sweet sounds of Sunday Down South coming to you from WSM in Nashville.

Nashville, Tennessee, has been known as "Music City, USA" ever since Queen Victoria remarked after a group of performers from the city entertained her in 1874 that "These young people must surely come from a musical city". With over 700 churches and home to several Christian music companies, it is also known as "The Buckle on the Bible Belt". Probably the most widely recognized Nashville institution is "The Grand Ol' Opry", which has been broadcast from WSM since 1925.

The Opry represented a subtle division in Nashville society. For the first few decades of its broadcast, most of the "movers and shakers" of Nashville's social elite looked down their noses at people who enjoyed "hillbilly music", but as time went by people became more willing to admit that they enjoyed Country Music. The sound became so important that WSM almost lost their NBC affiliation over it. A portion of The Grand Ol' Opry had an important spot on the NBC Saturday night line-up, but the show was actually a several hour long affair. WSM locally preempted the rest of the NBC Saturday line-up so The Opry could be broadcast in its entirety. NBC was not happy, but WSM was important to the network.

Since NBC had a prohibition against recorded broadcasts until the middle of WWII, the network often turned to trusted regional affiliates for live content. One Friday afternoon in 1940, the call from Phil Carlin in New York came to the WSM studio, "Can you feed me a show Sunday afternoon?" WSM staffer Joe Stapp pulled together a few acts to create Sunday Down South. Rather than the rollicking hillbilly sounds popular on The Opry, Sunday Down South featured more traditional music with both secular and religious origins. Although it was a music program more than an evangelical effort, Bible verses were often recited between the numbers.

NBC bounced Sunday Down South between the noon, 3:30 and 4:30 pm time slots until 1942 when the Lion Oil Refinery of El Dorado, Arkansas, took sponsorship and settled at 5:00 pm Sunday afternoon. The program encapsulated a sound of "genteel Dixieana" through the 1940s and 50s, bringing listeners "a breath of magnolia and a ray of sunshine". 

Text on OTRCAT.com ©2001-2024 OTRCAT INC All Rights Reserved. Reproduction is prohibited.

These classic recordings are available in the following formats:

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  • MP3 CDs are delivered by mail. These archival quality MP3 CDs are playable in your computer and many MP3 player devices.



    10 recordings on 1 MP3 CD for just $5.00. Total playtime 4 hours, 3098 min
    10 recordings on 1 MP3 CD for just $5.00
    total playtime 4 hours, 3098 min
    Add MP3 CD Collection to Cart

    1. 10 shows – total playtime 4 hours, 51 minutes
    2. Sunday Down South 450311.mp3
    3. Sunday Down South 450415.mp3
    4. Sunday Down South 450617.mp3
    5. Sunday Down South 490731.mp3
    6. Sunday Down South 491106.mp3
    7. Sunday Down South 510204.mp3
    8. Sunday Down South 540328.mp3
    9. Sunday Down South 540425.mp3
    10. Sunday Down South 540725.mp3
    11. Sunday Down South 540822.mp3
  • MP3 downloads are available instantly after purchase!



    10 recordings on 1 MP3 Collection Download for just $5.00. Total playtime 4 hours, 3098 min
    10 recordings on 1 MP3 Collection Download for just $5.00
    133 MB – total playtime 4 hours, 51 min
    Add Instant Download Collection to Cart

    1. 10 shows – 133 MB – total playtime 4 hours, 51 minutes
    2. Sunday Down South 450311.mp3
    3. Sunday Down South 450415.mp3
    4. Sunday Down South 450617.mp3
    5. Sunday Down South 490731.mp3
    6. Sunday Down South 491106.mp3
    7. Sunday Down South 510204.mp3
    8. Sunday Down South 540328.mp3
    9. Sunday Down South 540425.mp3
    10. Sunday Down South 540725.mp3
    11. Sunday Down South 540822.mp3
  • Standard Audio CDs are delivered by mail on archival quality media with up to 60 minutes on each CD and play in all CD players



    10 recordings on 5 Audio CDs. Total playtime 4 hours, 51 min
    10 recordings on 5 Audio CDs
    total playtime 4 hours, 51 min

    Sunday Down South Disc A001

    1. Sunday Down South 450311
    2. Sunday Down South 450415

    Add Audio CD to Cart - $5.00
    Sunday Down South Disc A002

    1. Sunday Down South 450617
    2. Sunday Down South 490731

    Add Audio CD to Cart - $5.00
    Sunday Down South Disc A003

    1. Sunday Down South 491106
    2. Sunday Down South 510204

    Add Audio CD to Cart - $5.00
    Sunday Down South Disc A004

    1. Sunday Down South 540328
    2. Sunday Down South 540425

    Add Audio CD to Cart - $5.00
    Sunday Down South Disc A005

    1. Sunday Down South 540725
    2. Sunday Down South 540822

    Add Audio CD to Cart - $5.00

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