COTR WESTERNS

Challenge of the Yukon

2007-11-09T03:53:00.000-08:00

Hashknife Hartley & Sleepy Stevens - Two episodes, Double Cross and Range War

2007-11-08T18:38:00.000-08:00

Hashknife Hartley & Sleepy Stevens - Two episodes, Double Cross and Range War from this rare Old Time Radio Western Series from around 1950 taken from the tales of western writer W. C. Tuttle. The stories are narrated by the author (W. C.Tuttle) himself. Very entertaining and exciting adventure/western stories.

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Death Valley Days

2007-11-05T19:57:00.000-08:00

A long-running American radio and television anthology about true stories of the old American West, particularly the Death Valley area. It was created in 1930 by Ruth Woodman and ran on radio until 1945. It ran from 1952 to 1975 as a syndicated television show. The 558 television stories, which had different actors, were introduced by a host. The longest-running was "The Old Ranger" from 1952-1965, played by Stanley Andrews when the series was produced by McGowan Productions, producer of the Sky King television series. Filmaster Productions Incorporated who produced the first several seasons of Gunsmoke for CBS Television took over production of the series in the mid 1960s.

Sam Bass	Download 7.1M
Burro Who Had No Name, the	Download 5.8M
Shoo Fly	Download 6.3M
Dear Teacher	Download 6.8M

Wild Bill Hickock

2007-11-05T14:59:00.001-08:00

Wild Bill Hickock 01

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Tom Mix Radio Show

2007-11-05T14:56:00.000-08:00

Aired September 25, 1933 from New York City with Artells "Art" Dickson starring in the lead and actor, Percy Hemus as "The Old Wrangler." Roland Martini was the original script writer. The radio show was a instant hit, the sales of Ralston cereal flourished. After two seasons the production was moved to Chicago and Jack Holden became the new voice of Tom Mix.

Tom Mix Show

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Tennessee Jed Sloane

2007-11-05T14:55:00.000-08:00

Aired in the mid 1940's Monday - Friday sponsored by Tip Top Bread. Johnny Thomas starred as Tennessee Jed Sloan and was later replaced by Don MacLaughlin. His faithful horse was named Smoky. These shows are very entertaining, however, they are rare and scarce.

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Tales of the Texas Rangers

2007-11-05T14:53:00.000-08:00

A western adventure old-time radio drama, premiered on July 8, 1950, on the US NBC radio network and remained on the air through September 14, 1952. Movie star Joel McCrea starred as Texas Ranger Jayce Pearson, who used the latest scientific techniques to identify the criminals and his faithful horse, Charcoal, to track them down. The shows were reenactments of actual Texas Ranger cases. The series was produced and directed by Stacy Keach, Sr., and was sponsored for part of its run by Wheaties. Captain Manuel T. "Lone Wolf" Gonzaullas, a Ranger for 30 years and who was said to have killed 31 men during his career, served as consultant for the series.

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Tales of the Diamond K

2007-11-05T14:48:00.000-08:00

There is not much information available about Tales of the Diamond K, despite extensive research done both on the internet and in the newspaper logs. It was a 15 minute syndicated show aimed at a juvenile audience and appeared to have been aired on a daily basis, during the mid 50's. Some sources indicate that as many as a thousand shows were produced, but there are only 39 known to be in existence. The series starred Ken Maynard as the host who introduced and told a different story each day. Most of the stories took place in the Old West.

Tales Of The Diamond K

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Old Time Radio Researchers Group Cerified Set

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Six Shooter, The

2007-11-05T14:47:00.000-08:00

A weekly old-time radio program in the USA. It was created by Frank Burt, who also wrote many of the episodes, and lasted only one season of 39 episodes on NBC (Sept. 20, 1953-June 24, 1954). Through March 21, 1954 it was broadcast Sundays at 8 p.m. Beginning April 1, 1954 through the final episode it was on Thursday at 8 p.m. James Stewart starred as Britt Poncet, a drifting cowboy in the final years of the wild west. Episodes ranged from straight western drama to whimsical comedy. A trademark of the show was Stewart's use of whispered narration during tense scenes that created a hightened sense of drama and relief when the situation was resolved. Some of the more prominent actors to perform on the program included Parley Baer, Virginia Gregg, Harry Bartell, Howard McNear, Jeanette Nolan, Dan O'Herlihy, Alan Reed, Marvin Miller and William Conrad. Some did multiple episodes playing different characters. Each episode opened with the announcer stating: The man in the saddle is angular and long-legged his skin is sun-dyed brown the gun in his holster is gray steel and rainbow mother-of-pearl, its handle unmarked. People call them both "the Six Shooter." The haunting theme music was "Highland Lament" by series composor Basil Adlam. The final broadcast "Myra Barker" provided a satisfying (if melancholy) finale to the series: Ponsett falls in love but eventually breaks the engagement, realizing that he could never settle down and would be placing her in perpetual dread of the day when his gun finally proves too slow. With sadness he rides off after telling Myra farewell and resumes his wanderings.

The Six Shooter

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Roy Rogers Show

2007-11-05T14:46:00.000-08:00

The Roy Rogers Show

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Sky King

2007-11-05T14:45:00.000-08:00

A 1940s and 1950s American radio and television adventure series featuring Arizona rancher and aircraft pilot Schuyler (or Skyler) "Sky" King. Although it had strong cowboy show elements, King always captured criminals and even spies as well as finding lost hikers using his plane. King's personal plane was called the Songbird. Though he changed from one plane to another over the course of the show, the later plane was not given a number but was simply known as Songbird. The radio show, based on a radio story by Roy Winsor, was the brainchild of Robert Morris Burtt and Wilfred Gibbs Moore, who also created Captain Midnight, first aired in 1946. Several actors played the part of Sky, including Earl Nightingale and John Reed King. Like many radio shows of the day there were many "premiums" offered to listeners. On November 2, 1947 in the episode titled "Mountain Detour" the Sky King Secret Signalscope was used. Listeners were advised to get their own for only 15 cents and the inner seal from a jar of Peter Pan Peanut Butter. The Signalscope included a glow-in-the-dark signaling device, whistle, magnifying glass and Sky King's private code. With the Signalscope you could also see around corners and trees! The radio show ran until 1954, being aired simultaneously with the television version.

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Romance Of The Ranchos

2007-11-05T14:44:00.000-08:00

Romance Of The Ranchos An excellent, fairly accurate and well done account of the early history of Southern California as obtained from the
sponsor's title records. Stars Frank Graham as "THE WANDERING VACARO".

Romance of the Ranchos

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Red Ryder

2007-11-05T14:43:00.000-08:00

Radio series began February 3, 1942, on the Blue Network, broadcast three times a week at 7:30pm Pacific time. When the Blue also acquired The Lone Ranger from the Mutual Broadcasting System, Mutual decided to compete by airing Red Ryder in the same time period. Thus, Red Ryder aired on the East Coast that year from May 20 to September 9 on Mutual. The series actually beat The Lone Ranger in the Hooper ratings, but the success was short-lived. When Red Ryder was sold to a regional sponsor, Langendorf Bread, it was no longer heard in the East after four months. Mutual and Langendorf continued the series on the West Coast Don Lee Network through the 1940s at 7:30pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, always with the familiar organ theme, "The Dying Cowboy" ("Oh, Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie"). Announcers on the show included Ben Alexander and Art Gilmore. The continuing characters of the comic strip were also found in the radio series, produced by Brad Brown with writer-director Paul Franklin and writer Albert Van Antwerp. Reed Hadley portrayed Red Ryder on radio from 1942 to 1944, followed by Carlton KaDell (1945) and Brooke Temple (1946-51). Arthur Q. Bryan had the role of Roland "Rawhie" Rolinson, and Red's sidekick Buckskin was played by Horace Murphy. Jim Mather provided Indian voices. Numerous actors played Little Beaver: Tommy Cook (1942 on), Franklin Bresee (1942-46, alternating with Cook), Henry Blair (1944-47), Johnny McGovern (1947-50) and Sammy Ogg (1950-51). During the same mid-1940s time frame, Henry Blair also portrayed Ricky Nelson on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. Although billed as "America's famous fighting cowboy," Red Ryder was notable because he usually did not kill his enemies but instead aimed for the hand to disarm them. Such sound effects were handled by James Dick, Monty Fraser and Bob Turnbull.

Red Ryder

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Luke Slaughter of Tombstone

2007-11-05T14:35:00.000-08:00

A very short series and aired only from February 23 through June 15, 1958, discontinued after only 16 broadcasts. Sam Buffington enacted the title role on Luke Slaughter of Tombstone, another of CBS's prestigious adult Westerns. The series was produced and directed by William N. Robson, one of radio's greatest dramatic directors and Robert Stanley producer was aired from February 23 through June 15, 1958. Buffington portrayed the hard-boiled cattleman with scripts overseen by Gunsmoke sound effects artist (and sometimes scriptwriter) Tom Hanley. Each program had an authoritative opening statement: "Slaughter's my name, Luke Slaughter. Cattle's my business. It's a tough business, it's a big business. I got a big stake in it. And there's no man west of the Rio Grande big enough to take it away from me." Junius Matthews was heard as Slaughter's sidekick, Wichita. I think the show was cut short to quick, because it is a very entertaing adult western show.

Luke Slaughter of Tombstone

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Lightning Jim

2007-11-05T14:33:00.000-08:00

- Only about 41 Lightning Jim broadcasts have been located. The program originated in the 1940s and was called The Adventures of Lightning Jim. At this time it was a West coast program. The program returned to the air in the 1950s and a total of 98 radio programs were produced.

Lightning Jim

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Hopalong Cassidy

2007-11-05T14:32:00.002-08:00

A western that was greater than The Roy Rogers Show or Gene Autry's Melody Ranch. Hoppy was a hero to one and all. He and his sidekick, California Carlson, roamed the Southwest in thrilling stories week after week. Almost every tale had a little mystery in it, and almost every story ended with Hoppy's boiserous laugh. Clarence Mulford, the author of the Hopalong Cassidy stores, created a hard-fisted, rough and tought cowboy. Nowhewre's near or liked the loveable Hoppy of the movies and radio series. He became a hero in black and on a white horse - a super hero of the West. He rescued damsels and cowboys in trouble, along with ranchers and bankers and railroad owners always against the bad guys - robbers, thieves, rustlers and the like. The radio series were a hard sell. And the owners could find no takers. When this series began it was offered to the various networks. They wanted nothing to do with it so the owners had to sell it in syndication. But, after a short time it became extremely successful that later on it was heard on the Mutual and CBS networks. The show ranked number 7 in the 1949 Nielsen ratings. The Mutual Broadcasting System began broadcasting a radio version of Hopalong Cassidy in January 1950; at the end of September, the show moved to CBS Radio, where it ran into 1952.

Hopalong Cassidy

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HAWK LARABEE

2007-11-05T14:32:00.001-08:00

First heard 07/12/46 as HAWK DURANGO, the program soon changed its name to HAWK LARABEE and starred Barton Yarborough as Hawk. Barney Phillips played the sidekick role, Sombre Jones. Barton Yarborough also played the sidekick to Elliott Lewis' role of Hawk Larabee in a different version of this program. Last heard 02/07/48. Barton Yarborough (October 2, 1900 – December 19, 1951) in Texas, was an American actor born in Texas, and died in Pasadena of a heart attack. He worked extensively in radio drama, and was probably best known for his roles as Doc Long on Carlton E. Morse's "I Love a Mystery" and Sergeant Ben Romero on Dragnet. His other work includes the role of "Skip Turner" in Adventures by Morse, also by Carlton E. Morse. In the 1940s, appeared in "Hawk Larabee" radio show with another future "Dragnet" co-star, Barney Phillips. Yarborough ended his career playing Sgt. Ben Romero in the first (1951) season of television's Dragnet.

Hawk Larabee

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Have Gun Will Travel

2007-11-05T14:30:00.001-08:00

A popular American Western television series that aired on CBS from 1957 through 1963. It was the #4 show in the Nielsen ratings in its first year, and #3 for the next three years.[citation needed] It was one of the few television shows to spawn a successful radio version. The radio series debuted on November 23, 1958. The show followed the adventures of Paladin, a gentleman-turned-gunfighter played by John Dehner on radio, who preferred to settle problems without violence, yet, when forced to fight, excelled. Paladin lived in the Carlton Hotel in San Francisco, where he dressed in semi-formal wear, ate gourmet food, and attended opera. In fact, many who initially met him mistook him for a dandy from the East. When working, he dressed in black, used calling cards and wore a holster which carried characteristic chess knight emblems, and carried a derringer under his belt. The knight symbol is of course in reference to his name — possibly a nickname or working name — and his occupation as a champion-for-hire. The theme song of the series refers to him as "a knight without armor." In addition, Paladin drew a parallel between his methods and the chess piece's movement: "It's a chess piece, the most versatile on the board. It can move in eight different directions, over obstacles, and it's always unexpected." Paladin was a former Army officer and a graduate of West Point. He was a polyglot, capable of speaking any foreign tongue required by the plot. He also had a thorough knowledge of ancient history and classical literature, and he exhibited a strong passion for legal principles and the rule of law.

Have Gun Will Travel

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Gunsmoke

2007-11-05T14:21:00.000-08:00

A long-running old-time radio and television Western drama program set in Dodge City, Kansas during the settlement of the American West. The radio show first aired on April 26, 1952 and ran until June 18, 1961 on the CBS radio network. The series starred William Conrad as Marshal Matt Dillon, Howard McNear as Doc Charles Adams, Georgia Ellis as Kitty Russell, and Parley Baer as Deputy Chester Proudfoot. Doc's first name and Chester's last name were changed for the television program. Gunsmoke was notable for its critically acclaimed cast and writing, and is commonly regarded as one of the finest old time radio shows. Some listeners have argued that the radio version of Gunsmoke was far more realistic than the television program. Episodes were aimed at adults, and featured some of the most explicit content of the day: there were violent crimes and scalpings, massacres and opium addicts. Miss Kitty's occupation as a prostitute was made far more obvious on the radio version than on television. Many episodes ended on a down-note, and villains often got away with their crimes.

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Download: The Story of Gunsmoke riRght click on each part and select "save target as" or "save link as" or click play button to listen. You will need a mp3 player like Windows Media Player or Win Amp to listen on your computer, or copy to your portable media player. Enjoy, it's great!

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76-04-24_Part 8.mp3

Green Valley Line

2007-11-05T14:18:00.000-08:00

From 1934(?) A Story of a small railroad line at the turn of the Century. Complete 26 episode storyline. Not Much is known about the origin of this show..

Green Valley Line

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Gene Autry

2007-11-05T14:17:00.000-08:00

Orvon Gene Autry (September 29, 1907 – October 2, 1998) was an American performer who gained fame as The Singing Cowboy on the radio, in movies and on television. An amateur talent with the guitar and voice led to his performing at local dances. After an encouraging chance encounter with Will Rogers, he began performing on local radio in 1928 as "Oklahoma's Yodeling Cowboy". He signed a recording deal with Columbia Records in 1931. He worked in Chicago, Illinois on the WLS (AM) radio show National Barn Dance for four years with his own show where he met singer/songwriter Smiley Burnette. In his early recording career Autry covered various genres, including a labor song, "The Death of Mother Jones" in 1931. But his first hit was in 1932 with That Silver-Haired Daddy of Mine, a duet with fellow railroad man, Jimmy Long. Autry also sang the classic hit "I'm Back in the Saddle Again". Autry has also sung many Christmas carols, including "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" and probably his biggest hit ever, "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer". Melody Ranch (also known as Gene Autry's Melody Ranch) tells stories of a singing cowboy who returns to his hometown to restore order when his former childhood enemies take over the town.

Frontier Gentleman

2007-11-05T14:16:00.000-08:00

A radio Western series heard on CBS from February 2 to November 16, 1958, initially heard Sunday afternoons at 2:30pm through March when it moved to 7pm. The program opened with a trumpet theme by Jerry Goldsmith and this introduction:

Herewith, an Englishman's account of life and death in the West. As a reporter for the London Times, he writes his colorful and unusual accounts. But as a man with a gun, he lives and becomes a part of the violent years in the new territories. Now, starring John Dehner, this is the story of J. B. Kendall, Frontier Gentleman...

Written and directed by Antony Ellis, it followed the adventures of journalist Kendall as he roamed the Western United States in search of stories for the Times. Along the way, he encountered various fictional drifters and outlaws in addition to well-known historical figures, such as Jesse James, Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickok. Music for the series was by Wilbur Hatch and Jerry Goldsmith, who also supplied the opening trumpet theme. The announcers were Dan Cubberly, Johnny Jacobs, Bud Sewell and John Wald. Supporting cast: Harry Bartell, Lawrence Dobkin, Virginia Gregg, Stacy Harris, Johnny Jacobs, Joseph Kearns, Jack Kruschen, Jack Moyles, Jeanette Nolan, Vic Perrin and Barney Phillips.

Frontier Gentleman

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Fort Laramie

2007-11-05T14:15:00.000-08:00

A radio Western series that aired Sundays on CBS from January 22 to October 28, 1956. Produced and directed by Norman Macdonnell, this Western drama depicted life at old Fort Laramie during the 19th Century. The 40 episodes starred Raymond Burr as Lee Quince, captain of the cavalry. One year later, Burr became a television star as Perry Mason. Supporting regulars included Vic Perrin as Sgt. Gorse, Harry Bartell as the slightly green Lt. Seiberts and Jack Moyles as Major Daggett. Heard on a more irregular basis were Howard McNear as Pliny the fort sutler, Sam Edwards as Trooper Harrison, and in a variety of roles, such actors as John Dehner, John McIntire, Virginia Gregg, James Nusser, Parley Baer and Barney Phillips. Amerigo Marino supplied the music.

Fort Laramie

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FRONTIER FIGHTERS

2007-11-05T14:13:00.000-08:00

A syndicated series that ran sometime during the 1930's. Each show dealt with some bit of history about the early West and ran for approximately 15 minute.

Old Time Radio Researchers Group Cerified Set

OTRR_Certified_Frontier_Fighters ZIP File (141 MB)

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Dr. Sixgun

2007-11-05T14:12:00.000-08:00

Dr. Sixgun
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Cisco Kid, The

2007-11-05T14:11:00.001-08:00

A popular film, radio, television and comic book series based on the fictional Western character created by O. Henry in his short story, "The Caballero's Way," published in 1907 in the collection Heart of the West. Films and television depicted the Cisco Kid as a heroic Mexican caballero, although in O. Henry's original story he was a non-Hispanic character and a cruel outlaw probably modelled on Billy the Kid. The Cisco Kid came to radio October 2, 1942, with Jackson Beck in the title role and Louis Sorin as Pancho. With Vicki Vola and Bryna Raeburn in supporting roles and Michael Rye announcing, this series continued on Mutual until 1945. It was followed by another Mutual series in 1946, starring Jack Mather and Harry Lang, who continued to head the cast in the syndicated radio series of more than 600 episodes from 1947 to 1956.

Cisco Kid, The

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Bobby Benson and the B-Bar-B Riders

2007-11-05T14:09:00.001-08:00

50 years ago one of the most listened to children's programs on was Bobby Benson and the B-Bar-B Riders. The show was heard from 1949 until 1955. Benson outlasted virtually every other kids' dramatic show including Superman, Green Hornet, Captain Midnight, Sky King, and Straight Arrow. The B-Bar-B ranch featured: Bobby Benson - "The Cowboy Kid," Tex, Windy Wales, Harka, and Irish. Don Knotts (who would later go on to TV and movie fame) was then in his mid-20s and was the voice of the old geezer, Windy Wales.

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Blair of the Mounties

2007-11-05T14:07:00.000-08:00

Blair of the Mounties
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All Star Western Theater

2007-11-05T12:56:00.000-08:00

All Star Western Theater

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