Audiophile Vinyl- Echoes of the Storm and "Crazy Quilt" (1956)

January 13, 2026

From the Back Cover

Audiophile record No. AP-20 on the “A” Side is a thunderstorm: on the “B” side, sawing, hammering, water dripping, drumming and a music box! Now, ordinarily, anyone in his right mind would not go very far to listen to a thunderstorm: but when a good recording of a good thunderstorm is played on good equipment, THAT is something worth hearing… Well, at least WE think so.

We frankly admit succumbing to a weakness of long standing in issuing this record. As one audio wife said, “Anyone who would play a thunderstorm record should see a psychiatrist at once– but anyone who would make such a record is beyond hope.” This was before she had heard it– after hearing it there was even less doubt in her mind. The sad part of it is that our psychiatrist owns one of these records and enjoys frightening his wife and small children with it. For years we have wanted to record a rip-roaring, red-blooded thunderstorm but never having been caught and psychoanalyzed, we find it difficult to understand this unorthodox yen in ourselves. Possibly the worst is yet to come.

Milwaukee had never been blessed with such a satisfactory thunderstorm as occurred “one evening in June.” It was sheer good fortune that we were able to set up our equipment quickly in a favorable recording location. Over one hour of the storm was recorded. This maze of material was subsequently condensed and edited in order to present it to you on disc. Most fortuitous was the arrival of a train right in the midst of everything– it sounds just as though it were coming right into the room.

This record presents a real challenge to audio equipment. Not only is the storm difficult for a pickup to follow, but the sound of the driving wind and rain affords an excellent opportunity to judge whether or not your equipment is modifying these sounds– something it certainly should not do. The storm’s termination is quite logically celebrated by voices of a few select leaping amphibians of the genus Rana, commonly known as frogs, accompanied by a very persistent cricket. Somehow frogs have always been one of our favorite weaknesses– there is nothing quite so fascinating as a good bullfrog solo. (Could this be another idiosyncrasy?) The frog dissertation was captured on a game preserve near Roanoke, Virginia, where we sat for hours beside a lily pond patiently (?) waiting until the frogs got acquainted with us and had sufficient confidence to commence their serenade.

The rotary saw sings brightly as does the hammer head when nails are driven into hard wood. Perhaps the most spectacular sound of all is the water running into an empty bucket–particularly the drip, drip, drip conclusion. The subtleties of various drums and cymbals provide interesting and useful material for judgement of the over-all audio system as do the brilliant music box selections concluding side B.

This record is just a lot of noise, but if you like this sort of thing here it is: you will have fun with it. And some people even like to listen to it!

Echoes of the Storm: 1956 SIDE A 0:00 - 12:19 Echoes of the Storm SIDE B 12:20 - 13:42 Rotary Saw 13:43 - 14:35 Hammer Driving Nails 14:36 - 16:47 Water Dripping Into Bucket 16:49 - 21:10 Drums 21:11 - 24:26 Music Box

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