There was one reel that was jumbled and broken beyond fix, but we tried our best. We tried to match the broken pieces and splice the matching ends together, but parts were obviously missing.
But after some diligence, we fixed the broken reel!
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After all the repairs, we were anxious to see what was on the jumbled tape. Harrison said it he hoped it wasn't blank, for that would have been a tedious task wasted.
The first of the tape was singing and then came the voices. It was my grandpa talking and then a child singing. I am not sure who. Splice after splice went through and Uncle Timmy and Uncle Joe started singing. And then you can hear my great-grandmother, Nellie. The splices weren't noticeable since the reel to reel is magnetic. Then it cuts to a radio recording. The whole process was very time consuming because the speeds kept changing.
When Harrison began dubbing the other reels, tears came to my eyes as I heard my 14-year-old Aunt Pat singing songs. Aunt Geraldine and Uncle Johnny sang Old Rugged Cross and as it played, I hummed along. My grandpa sounded so young, and he had the same drawl in his voice that he has today.
The first recording is from Christmas Day, 1962. I also heard my great-grandparents, Joe and Willie Mae Eppolito, introduce themselves and say hello. I teared up again as I heard the Italian accent that my mom used to imitate when she would speak of her beloved grandparents.
The singing was the best part. There was one clip that I could not identify, but as Harrison and I listened, he said, "That person is a brillant singer--really good, actually."
I can just imagine how the family gathered and played the piano and sang old hymns together. Here is a clip from the reel: (pending)
Harrison walked out of the office and said, "Did you hear that? They said, 'Life is like a deck of cards. It's hearts when you're in love, diamonds when you're engaged, clubs when your married, and spades when you're dead and buried.'" He thought that was pretty clever.
The chatter of children in the background gave life to the recording and at one point, a child, not sure who, began to sing Duke of Earl, and soon after, another child yelled, "N-lover," but no one on the recording seemed phased, as this was a natural part of dealing with the segregation and integration of the time. Soon, another line emerged: Gotta have two black tires and two white walls on every car. This was surely a sign of the resistence to mix Black and white people in Stafford. Part of me was embarrassed to hear this, but another part of me can only try to understand how tense things were in the '60s. I will not be the one to judge.
Grandpa sang this at one point: "I want to tell you what I think of you, I want to let you know how I love you so. Hello brown eyes. Hello brown eyes. I don't know what old Mary thinks, I don't know. I don't know what old Mary thinks, I don't know."
Then it cuts to radio. The audio is all over the place, overmodulated and at different speeds. It is obvious that the recordings were taken at different times. At one point, Harrison said that it sounded like the kids were playing around with it. And there were parts where my grandfather sounded like a Dalek. (If you don't know what I mean, you need to watch Doctor Who.)
"Now, let's just have a small sermon today," Grandpa said. It is really interesting to listen to one of the nights during my mom's childhood, even though it was a hard one. Projects like these really make me appreciate the times I spend with my own family, and of course, Harrison...
We still have lots of work to do, but it will come together. As I find more jewels, I will share them with the world, don't worry!
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