Paul "E. X." Brown, Oral History
Title
Paul "E. X." Brown, Oral History
Description
A pioneer of early Black radio, Paul remembers WEDR Birmingham, WERD Atlanta, and his sports broadcasting.
Creator
Paul E. X. Brown
Bob Friedman
Publisher
Birmingham Black Radio Museum
Date
January 31, 1997
Contributor
Thomas Kulovitz
Emily Bibb
Format
.WAV
PDF
JPG
Language
English
Identifier
EXBrownOH
Interviewer
Bob Friedman
Interviewee
E. X. Brown
Transcription
Transcript of audio snippet:
Bob Friedman: I’m glad to hear that. Um, I had a piece of historical information I was trying to determine and I thought you might be of help here. Um, I know you started working at WEDR, right?
Paul 'EX' Brown: My work experience?
B: Your first radio work in Birmingham.
P: Oh no, no. WEDR was way down the list.
B: Really?
P: Yeah. My first radio job was at WJOB at Hammond, Indiana in 1941 or 42.
B: Wow. I remember WJOB when I lived in Gary.
P: Yep.
B: Mmhmm. And what was it a news job?
P: Huh?
B: What kind of work did you do for them?
P: I did a umm…I did a news program on Sunday morning. That’s how I got started and then I starting doing a uhh record program rhythm and blues every-every day.
B: On WJOB?
P: Right.
B: That far back, 1941 and 42, you were doing rhythm and blues?
P: Yes sir. It wasn’t called-it was called race then. It wasn’t called rhythm and blues.
B: Do you remember some of the artists that you would play on the air? What kind of…you know which…
P: Oh uhh…a girl named that was…went to…she’s dead now. Went to…changed from gospel to…changed from, well she was gospel and then changed to race…Cook Name was Cook, and umm and of course there was Lionel Hampton and umm inaudble was all very popular then.
B: Uh huh.
P: Yeah.
B: So it was jazz and swing too huh?
P: Yeah.
B: Mmhmm.
P: Yeah. We had everything race. You know.
Bob Friedman: I’m glad to hear that. Um, I had a piece of historical information I was trying to determine and I thought you might be of help here. Um, I know you started working at WEDR, right?
Paul 'EX' Brown: My work experience?
B: Your first radio work in Birmingham.
P: Oh no, no. WEDR was way down the list.
B: Really?
P: Yeah. My first radio job was at WJOB at Hammond, Indiana in 1941 or 42.
B: Wow. I remember WJOB when I lived in Gary.
P: Yep.
B: Mmhmm. And what was it a news job?
P: Huh?
B: What kind of work did you do for them?
P: I did a umm…I did a news program on Sunday morning. That’s how I got started and then I starting doing a uhh record program rhythm and blues every-every day.
B: On WJOB?
P: Right.
B: That far back, 1941 and 42, you were doing rhythm and blues?
P: Yes sir. It wasn’t called-it was called race then. It wasn’t called rhythm and blues.
B: Do you remember some of the artists that you would play on the air? What kind of…you know which…
P: Oh uhh…a girl named that was…went to…she’s dead now. Went to…changed from gospel to…changed from, well she was gospel and then changed to race…Cook Name was Cook, and umm and of course there was Lionel Hampton and umm inaudble was all very popular then.
B: Uh huh.
P: Yeah.
B: So it was jazz and swing too huh?
P: Yeah.
B: Mmhmm.
P: Yeah. We had everything race. You know.
Original Format
telephone interview, taped
Duration
Full interview: 15 minutes
Audio snippet: 2 minutes
Audio snippet: 2 minutes
Files
Collection
Citation
Paul E. X. Brown and Bob Friedman, “Paul "E. X." Brown, Oral History,” The Birmingham Black Radio Museum, accessed October 22, 2024, https://thebbrm.org/item/2.
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