Don Solomon, Oral History
Title
Don Solomon, Oral History
Description
Rev. Don Solomon (b.Feb 13, 1932, d. Dec 14, 2017); on Leroy Garrett (b. Nov 26, 1913, d. Jul 21, 1980). Don Solomon, gospel promoter, Sales Director for A.G. Gaston businesses, discusses his early gospel group and their manager, Leroy Garrett, who went on to found WEUP Huntsville, the first Black owned radio station in Alabama.
Creator
Don Solomon
Bob Friedman
Publisher
Birmingham Black Radio Museum
Date
January 22, 2010
Contributor
Lindsey Reynolds
Emily Bibb
Format
WAV
JPG
PDF
Language
English
Identifier
SolomonOH
Interviewer
Bob Friedman
Interviewee
Don Solomon
Transcription
Transcript of audio snippet:
Don Solomon: ....So we, we went down the street to WVOK...., was on the same…the Super Highway…and Leroy got us on the WVOK at 7 o’clock on Sunday morning and so we were doing our own thing . Eventually Leroy somehow in his continued efforts with WJLD was there when they began to hook up other radio… so WVOK also they had a radio program coming out of Smith and Gaston at one o’clock at 6th Ave Baptist Church. Leroy then became the engineer, first black engineer. He hooked up a studio downstairs over where he lived in the branch office of the Manhattan Dry Cleaners. On Sunday morning, our program came on, eventually the second group would come on,
Bob Friedman: Over the phone…
DS: No we went live to the studio. We went to WVOK and were followed by the Four Eagles, the next group to come on. They came on but they let them on. So they followed us. We were at WVOK. Eventually Leroy estasblished a studio downstairs where he could, he would be on with little groups with the WVOK. He became the engineer for WVOK Sunday morning sessions with all these quartets. They done latched on to VOK. All of them downstairs…he was called the Blue Goose.
BF: Who gave him that name?
DS: He gave himself that name. The Blue Goose. That’s what he called himself …the Blue Goose.
BF: And did he have the tape recording equipment down there?
DS: Tape recorder down there. Let me tell you about recorder. Leroy thought we oughtta been on recording, the Heavenly Four. so, he couldn’t’ get hooked up with the recording people who make recordings, he bought his own recorder.
Don Solomon: ....So we, we went down the street to WVOK...., was on the same…the Super Highway…and Leroy got us on the WVOK at 7 o’clock on Sunday morning and so we were doing our own thing . Eventually Leroy somehow in his continued efforts with WJLD was there when they began to hook up other radio… so WVOK also they had a radio program coming out of Smith and Gaston at one o’clock at 6th Ave Baptist Church. Leroy then became the engineer, first black engineer. He hooked up a studio downstairs over where he lived in the branch office of the Manhattan Dry Cleaners. On Sunday morning, our program came on, eventually the second group would come on,
Bob Friedman: Over the phone…
DS: No we went live to the studio. We went to WVOK and were followed by the Four Eagles, the next group to come on. They came on but they let them on. So they followed us. We were at WVOK. Eventually Leroy estasblished a studio downstairs where he could, he would be on with little groups with the WVOK. He became the engineer for WVOK Sunday morning sessions with all these quartets. They done latched on to VOK. All of them downstairs…he was called the Blue Goose.
BF: Who gave him that name?
DS: He gave himself that name. The Blue Goose. That’s what he called himself …the Blue Goose.
BF: And did he have the tape recording equipment down there?
DS: Tape recorder down there. Let me tell you about recorder. Leroy thought we oughtta been on recording, the Heavenly Four. so, he couldn’t’ get hooked up with the recording people who make recordings, he bought his own recorder.
Duration
Full interview: 18 minutes
Audio snippet: 2 minutes
Audio snippet: 2 minutes
Files
Collection
Citation
Don Solomon and Bob Friedman, “Don Solomon, Oral History,” The Birmingham Black Radio Museum, accessed October 8, 2024, https://thebbrm.org/item/13.
Item Relations
| This Item | dcterms:relation | Item: WENN Staff, Gaston Lounge |
| Item: Andrew Dawkins, 1994 Oral History | dcterms:relation | This Item |
| Item: Andrew Dawkins, 2012 Oral History | dcterms:relation | This Item |
| Item: Don Solomon, 2007 Oral History | dcterms:relation | This Item |
| Item: Don Solomon and Norman B. Wooding Jr., Oral History | dcterms:relation | This Item |
| Item: Heavenly Four Gospel Singers | dcterms:relation | This Item |
| Item: The Heavenly Four, Gospel Singers | dcterms:relation | This Item |
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