There were a many of saturday evenings I enjoyed out back beside the fire-pit listening to “Out O’ The Blue”. Page’s show should have gone national, it was that good! God Bless Page Wilson for all the years you shared your wonderful gift of music with your fans.
Page answered a letter I wrote him years ago and this logo was on the header. Wonder if he designed this?
Last Saturday evening we were having a dinner party for out of town guest and when I went to turn on the stereo for music it didn’t work. After locating a spare radio I tuned into 88.9 and we did enjoy Mountain Stage. My wife did say, I had wondered what happen to Page’s show but forgot until in the background I heard Mark Holmbergs report a couple of days later and was shocked. I really wish WCVE would rebroadcast his last show during this Super Moon but am prepared with forgotten tapes I have dug up. My wife mentions often when is my wall of Lps and cassettes going to the Salvation Army (not in my lifetime). I got to wonder about Page’s archive? I didn’t know Page well but we were the same age and lived through the analog to digital transformation. The curious thing about the new technology is they aren’t sure how long CD’s will hold their information but it’s a fact lp’s can last a long time and tape if you keep it wound up and away from magnets (speakers). I wrote something regarding radio last week before all these recent events hit the fan that I think is important and again we will miss our old friend that we welcomed into our home so many Saturday evenings on public broadcasting.
“I am really distressed and always mythed that stopping congressional funding for NPR is remotely considered. NPR is the only station I’ve really ever listened to besides indie radio. The fact we have a Party that promotes hate as its rally is sad also.
I usually refrain from politics here because I’m highly allergic to it. Congress and the rest operate pretty much the same as when in the 19th century handled Indian Affairs. The half-truths and nastiness of the campaigns reflect this. The threat of undermining our gateway to the arts, science, and history is a tragedy beyond belief. The networks have some great writers but are all controlled by money making formulas. Who would have believed watching autopsies every week would become Americas chief entertainment. If for some crazy reason our Public Broadcasting is damaged by shallow legislators , God help this countries intellect.”
O3, march 2011
I know I had a copy of one of the early Out O’ The Blue Revue newspapers but can’t find it?
O3 Archive 
Photos I scanned of Page’s first lp :
snapshot :
Otway, thanks for posting this. I had just seen it on Facebook. I wonder how he died. I hadn’t seen Page in years but had been on his mailing list awhile back and had recently heard of his injury last fall. What a loss. He was such a swell guy.
I had his record album from 1970something and the photo on the front was taken at The Grill. Sadly I let go of all of my records a long time ago when I got tired of packing and moving them so many times.
He’ll be missed.
In case you all haven’t seen this: http://www.wtvr.com/wtvr-the-life-of-page-wilson-20110315,0,7635415.story
Something I took for granted is now gone.I hadn’t heard he wasn’t well. Radio shows like his are rare and provided a sense of comfort that will be sorely missed.
“The Out O’ the Blue Radio Revue is a program that defies musical categorization. It is “theatre of the mind”, presenting a mixture of Purebred American Mongrel music for the mind’s ear and eye: folk, blues, bluegrass, country, Cajun/zydeco, rock & roll, Irish, and whatever else “feels good”. Formatted to blur and diminish accepted, expected musical and cultural labelizations, we offer a broad musical and emotional panorama of what Americans, in all their diversity, listen to and perform.”
PAGE WILSON
Way too young to go, and way too much pain at the end.
At Tim Timberlake’s request I let Page emcee the Elvin Bishop show I produced during the summer concert series decades ago, and I went to his Out o’the Blue taping when he interviewed Elvin. I truly respect what Page did for/with the Purebred American Mongrel Music theme. He was a standard bearer. As someone else noted, the local broadcast deserved nat’l distribution.
I saw him perform with the Revue last summer at the Pocahontas State Park amphitheatre. He sat during the performance, and walked on/off the stage with a cane – with great difficulty. I ignorantly assumed it was back trouble.
I guess like alot of people, I recorded his show when friends played or something I wanted to hear again. Sometimes on a boombox or if lucky on my Denon. I believe for a while I use to record it and play it back through the week in my truck. My guitar player friend from Dirtball has most of their DB in swamp shows I gave him on tape.
I would hope WCVE would rebroadcast his last show unless he was off his game. I’m embarrassed that I didn’t see this happening. His words and music were always there for me when I needed it. Recording on the computer sorta changed my radio habits and had gone back to just listening to the show when I was driving on Saturday night. I did find 2 cd’s of his 5th anniv. show (3-3-2001).
Hopefully there will be an archive somebody will start online that people can contribute their recordings to. Not sure what the copyright would be regarding this. It would be cool if Virginia Blue who we all wish sweet dreams to Saturday evening could be the beneficiary of this, if not financially, spiritually.