June 1959 to June 1960 was the last year that 78 rpm records were commercially produced in America.
For a long time record collectors thought Fire records 1008, “Fannie Mae” b/w “Lost In A Dream” by Buster Brown, was the last American 78 record. Since then several even later 78s have been unearthed. But this is still a great rock and roll (actually blues) song released in November 1959 and considered a 1960 hit.
July 1959 saw the release of Duke 308, which was “Hold Me Tight” b/w “Count The Stars” by Ted Taylor. This was an up-to-date, modern-sounding sound in the fledgling soul music field.
Lightnin Hopkins’s “I’m Achin'” backed with “Let’s Move” was originally recorded in 1954, but not released until September 1959 on Herald Records. That same year Herald also released an album of Lightnin’s 1954 sessions titled, “Lightnin’ and the Blues.” The label had been releasing songs from the sessions over a five year period. There would only be one more after this one, and it was in January 1960. Wouldn’t it be cool if that one was on 78, too?
In June 1959 Argo records released their issue #5338 – You’re On My Mind b/w My Life is a Mystery by “swamp pop” artist Rod Bernard. This was the follow up to his early 1959 hit “This Should Go On Forever.”
Aidan M. was kind enough to share these photos of the October 1959 record “Let Them Talk” b/w “Right There” by Little Willie John. This is the latest King 78 that I am aware of. Thanks Aidan!
Well, this is the first post I’ve made in a long time. I just became aware of this May 1960 gospel record, Vee-Jay 887, by the Highway Q Cs – “Jesus I’m Waiting” b/w “We’re Working Hard.”
A reader contributed these images for us to enjoy. It’s an April 1960 issue on Checker 951 titled “Crawdad” backed with “Walkin’ and Talkin'” by the great Bo Diddley. I’m not used to seeing the font used on Bo Diddley’s name on Checker.
Ruth “Miss Rhythm” Brown’s “Jack O’ Diamonds” was on the pop chart in June 1959. Released on Atlantic 2026, the flip side was “I Can’t Hear A Word You Say.”
Well, that’s it. That’s all of the mid-1959 to mid-1960 78s I have for now. If more late 78s are unearthed in the future, or if anyone has any more to contribute, I will try to add them in the future. Thanks for viewing.
From July 1959 here is Little Walter’s “Everything Gonna Be Alright” backed with “Back Track” on Checker 930. Again here is Checker trying to use up their different styles of labels at the end of 78 production.
In 1958 Billboard published a circle graph showing the “Share of Dollar Sales” of the music industry for the week ending March 8, 1958. 78s were 3.3%, EPs were 3.7%, 45s were 38.2%, 33 1/3 LPs were 53.9%, and 0.9% “other.”
An article in Billboard from 1959 stated, “The 78 market dropped sharply from 4,500,000 in 1957 to under 500,000 last year.”
“Back In The U.S.A.” by Chuck Berry on Chess 1729 was issued in June 1959, and was a minor Top 40 hit for Berry. The “B” side was “Memphis, Tennessee.” I once was a proud owner of this 78.
