No, not those kind of voices. I’m talking about listening to the ones my parents recorded when they were young and newly married seventy years ago. You, too, can hear them below.

On a recent visit home, my mother brought out a shoebox filled with cassette tapes. Many were recordings of the numerous community shows she, my father, and brother performed in for their church. Other tapes contained the songs they were learning. But the one that interested me the most was a recording of New Year’s Eve dated 1948.

My grandparents owned an interesting machine that created LP records. My father’s large family made numerous records when they got together.

Many years later, Mom used a tape recorder to capture the sounds on one record. The sound isn’t perfect but it is obvious she and my father were having a good time with friends. They sang and told jokes. Of course, my father was the biggest ham of all. You can hear his signature Woody Woodpecker laugh.

I had to get some of it down, so I used my iPhone to record snippets. I’ve included them here. I love the duet by my parents. My father is a scream with his comic speech.

My father, who died in 2016, loved to perform. Of course, his first obligation was to his family, so instead he worked most of his life doing bodywork on cars. But I recall him playing his guitar and singing for us kids. He liked to tell jokes, clean ones, of course.

I certainly enjoyed going back in time with Mom. And now I have a few recordings of it to share.

ABOUT THE PHOTO ABOVE: My parents with family on their wedding day. Mom’s maid of honor was a co-worker.