"You are about to be entertained by some of the biggest names in show business. For the next hour and 30 minutes, this program will present, in person, such bright stars as…" The Big Show thrived off the celebrities that frequented the studio. Some of these stars included Fred Allen, Jimmy Durante, Eddie Cantor, Groucho Marx, Bob Hope, Rudy Vallee, Danny Kaye, Judy Garland, Tallulah Bankhead, Jose Ferrer, Ed Wynn, and Jane Powell. Most of this collection is composed from High Quality-Low Generation cassettes (indicated by "cs" at the end of each title). and has been over a year in the making. The file sizes and sound quality were not compromised for the sake of "squeezing" them into 1 or 2 cd's. Additionally, these shows were 1-1/2 hours in length.  Some of the greatest entertainment you'll ever experience from the Golden Days of Radio. Unfortunately, only the 1st season is known to have survived. For now, this is the only complete MP3 collection of this series. Eventually, I'm sure this collection will make it's rounds, be stripped down to fit on a single CD, and the quality will be lost, again. My collection will be here for you when that time comes.  Enjoy !

Additional Write-ups

You pretty much have to like Tallulah Bankhead if you want to like THE BIG SHOW. It's not to say that there is nothing but her. She is just the hostess of the series and they really do "fill your parlor with stars" (as their welcome song says), including people like Jimmy Durante, Ethel Merman, Bob Hope, Margaret O'Brien, Enzio Pinza, Fred Allen, Judy Garland and many, many others.

You see, besides the wonderful musical and comic performances of the guest stars, doing their usual material, there is a lot of banter with Miss Bankhead (who does perform herself, besides her hostess duties), which is enjoyable, definitely. She seems to allow quite a lot of joking about her standing as an actress, comparisons between her and Bette Davis, and her foghorn voice. She does appear to take herself less-than-seriously, which makes for great fun. Hearing people make fun of each other in a good-natured way just does not seem to exist so much today and it is quite fun, especially with colorful people like they get here.

Besides, where else can you hear Fanny Brice as Baby Snooks guest star on "You Bet Your Life," trading jokes with the real Groucho Marx, or a parody of THE JACK BENNY SHOW with no less than Miss Bankhead playing Rochester?!

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