“This album combines two of the most fascinating and incredible achievements of modern technology: stereophonic sound and the high-powered racing car.” (liner notes)

This was one in a handful of real-life-sounds LPs that the jazz label Riverside put out in the late 50s/early 60s. I’m still on the lookout for Coney Island in Stereo, the one non-automobile-oriented release.

Side 1

Technical Inspection (movement from right to left): “The process by which each car is authorized to compete. Brakes, tires, fluid leaks, general running condition, etc., are checked. At Sebring (which is run under rules of the F.I.A.), such other items as headlights, working top, seat size and windshield are also checked.”

Slow Corner (movement from left to right): “A 90 degree right-hand turn. From top speed, drivers shift down through the gears to second for this tight corner, then shift back up for the next long straight.”

Side 2

The Esses (movement from left to right): “The difficult and dangerous bends where the incredible Ferraris and Jags and Porsches slam through the gears, sliding from one side of the road to the other, tires screaming, and zoom away.”

The Straight (movement from left to right): “Here the cars emit the loudest noise of full acceleration as they pass through all the gears. Note the different shifting points of the different cars.”

Folkways is all about keeping ancient recordings like this one available and viable. Frutiful, even.

Rollerologists like me know that the group’s boingy cover of this Russ Ballard song appeared only on the US LP version of their Dedication album.

Chronically out of print Beau Brummels song – the B-side to their enchanting “Magic Hollow” A-side. This has got an airiness to it that suggests sweet oblivion and mind satisfaction within an enormous, bustling public building. The group was a trio at this point, just Sal Valentino, Ron Elliott, and Ron Meagher.