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The Cisco Kid, Volume 2
Liner notes written by Ivan G. Shreve, Jr.

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"Here's adventure! Here's romance! Here's the famous Robin Hood of the Old West..."

One of old-time radio's most popular juvenile adventure programs, "The Cisco Kid" received the appellation of "the Robin Hood of the Old West" from a 1907 short story, "The Caballero's Way," written by one of the masters of the short story form, William Sydney Porter - better recognized by his nom de plume, O. Henry. In the manner of the famed bandit of Sherwood Forest, Cisco robbed from the rich and gave to the poor; a dark-skinned, hard-drinking and hard-loving white man who passed himself off as a Latino and who possessed a particularly nasty violent streak. To the casual observer, such a character might seem inappropriate as a Western hero -- but with the release of "In Old Arizona" by the Fox Movie Corporation in 1929, in which star Warner Baxter copped an Oscar for his portrayal of the Kid, and many B-westerns after (played variously by Cesar Romero, Gilbert Roland and Duncan Renaldo) Cisco was on his way to entertaining children of all ages.

A long stint in the comic strips and in comic books soon followed and, on October 2, 1942, "The Cisco Kid" made his radio debut over the New York-based Mutual Network, starring famed "Superman" announcer Jackson Beck as Cisco and Louis Sorin (the poor soul on the receiving end of Groucho Marx's barbs in "Animal Crackers") as Cisco's sidekick Pancho. By this time, Cisco's violent outlaw tendencies had been noticeably whitewashed -- in fact, many of the show's stories featured the two men posing as bad men in order to trap the real criminals. All that remained of Cisco's sordid past was briefly mentioned in the show's opening, described by OTR historian John Dunning as "pure radio":

PANCHO: Ceesco, the sheriff...he ees getting closer!

CISCO: This way, Pancho...vamenos!

By borrowing the Lone Ranger formula of 'everybody thinks they're outlaws but they're really the good guys', "The Cisco Kid" became a hit over New York's WOR and, in 1946, moved West - literally - where it was heard regionally three times a week on the Mutual-Don Lee Network. Beck and Sorin were replaced by the two men who remain best remembered for the Cisco/Pancho roles: Jack Mather and Harry Lang. A year later, Mather and Lang were working for the Cincinnati, Ohio-based Frederic W. Ziv Company, where they remained gainfully employed, via pre-recorded syndication, well into the 1950s.

In early 1953, actor Harry Lang fell ill, and his character was written out of the show (Pancho, listeners were told, had come down with measles, mumps and chicken pox) to be replaced by a glittering array of cousins and uncles from Pancho's apparently massive family tree. One of these individuals was cousin Porfirio, who can be heard in the first three broadcasts in this set played by famed voice man and comic actor Mel Blanc, recycling his 'Pedro' voice from "The Judy Canova Show." Lang eventually returned to the show in an episode appropriately called "Pancho's Return" but, sadly, his tenure was brief - the actor succumbed to a heart attack in August 1953. Blanc was then pressed into service to play the part of Cisco's sidekick until the series came to an end in 1956.

Since the 1947-1956 syndicated ZIV series was pre-recorded and widely distributed, a great many of Cisco and Pancho's adventures have been in the hands of collectors for years -- with the majority of the available programs dating from earlier entries in the series. Recently, however, a large collection of beautiful discs was discovered in Des Moines, Iowa -- uncirculated and largely unplayed 16" vinyl transcription recordings, carefully preserved by a local advertising agency. These programs have, for the most part, been unheard since the 1950s and most have never been available to collectors. They constitute a real "find" for radio enthusiasts everywhere.

In addition to their rarity, a unique feature of these restored broadcasts is the reintegration of regional commercials, voiced by well-known announcer Marvin Miller. The bakers of Butter-nut Bread had sponsored the series on a number of midwestern radio stations and the program recordings were accompanied by separate discs containing literally hundreds of episode-specific commercials. As presented in this set, the commercials have been edited back into the programs -- allowing you to hear them just as they originally were aired in the early 1950s.

Here is the complete content of this new and uncirculated ten-CD set:

Dynamite At Rye Creek (#589)
An "insult" directed at Katie Wallace by sheep rancher Johnson Vale ignites a war between Vale and her cattle rancher father - egged on by Wallace's unscrupulous foreman.
1953 - 30:00 - ZIV Syndication, sponsored by Butter-nut Bread
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Robber of the Rio Grande (#590)
Corrupt lawyer Dykes Marlin presents the Fenton's, an elderly couple, with an illegitimate writ of eviction. The Fenton's are unaware that it's all part of Marlin's plot to grab valuable land in Santa Rita, Texas.
1953 - 30:00 - ZIV Syndication, sponsored by Butter-nut Bread
http://www.radioarchives.org/scans/21392A.jpg

Caravan of Danger (#591)
Outlaws Frank Rowan and Mort Schweiger form an unholy alliance with the diabolical Ali Ben Hassan in a scheme to murder camel drivers employed by U.S. Army and steal the silver being hauled by the "ships of the desert."
1953 - 30:00 - ZIV Syndication, sponsored by Butter-nut Bread
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The Burning of the Jail (#592)
Mad dog killer Jocko Lemming rides into the town of Wilcox determined to spring three of his men from Marshal Tom Murphy's jail. When Murphy is wounded by the outlaw, his wife asks for help from Cisco and Pancho's Uncle Jose in bringing Lemming to justice.
1953 - 30:00 - ZIV Syndication, sponsored by Butter-nut Bread
http://www.radioarchives.org/scans/21394A.jpg

Raiders Roundup (#593)
Cisco and Uncle Jose are accused of kidnapping the daughter of Jed Parker, the leader of a group of vigilantes. But it's actually the dirty work of a band of desperadoes headed up by Hunk Rawlins and Lariat Grimley.
1953 - 30:00 - ZIV Syndication, sponsored by Butter-nut Bread
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Colorado River Desperadoes (#594)
Cisco and Uncle Jose run afoul of a pair of swindlers named Hutch Wilkins and "Shanghai" Gorman who, along with a crooked marshal, are planning to con Dodie Winterbergen out of her sternwheeler, The Mojave.
1953 - 30:00 - ZIV Syndication, sponsored by Butter-nut Bread
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The Frightened Witness (#595)
Young Sam Connor witnesses the shooting death of his uncle Steve at the hand of bandit Nate Madden -- a man who was once sent to prison as a result of the elder Connor's eyewitness testimony. Cisco and Uncle Jose are enlisted to protect Sam when a lackadaisical sheriff refuses to believe Sam's story.
1953 - 30:00 - ZIV Syndication, sponsored by Butter-nut Bread
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Dart of Death (#596)
Kermit Ackley and his African pygmy sidekick Tagani insist on maintaining control of an area that has been decreed the site of Yellowstone National Park. Tagani is a useful fellow to have around, as he's mighty handy with a pygmy blowgun that shoots poisoned darts at anyone standing in his way.
1953 - 30:00 - ZIV Syndication, sponsored by Butter-nut Bread
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Fight at Devil's Canyon (#597)
Cattle rustlers Hatcher Hollis and Donnie Burton shoot down Fred King, an engineer supervising the construction of a railroad line over Devil's Canyon. In turn, King's daughter Phyllis accuses Cisco and Uncle Jose of committing her father's murder.
1953 - 30:00 - ZIV Syndication, sponsored by Butter-nut Bread
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Cashiel Raynor's Revenge (#598)
A seriously disturbed sheepherder named Cashiel Raynor kills his rival, Tim Colton, and wounds Colton's faithful sheepdog Rex. Cisco and Uncle Jose just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time when a suspicious sheriff is convinced they look good for the crime.
1953 - 30:00 - ZIV Syndication, sponsored by Butter-nut Bread
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Uncle Cipriano's Mule (#599)
Stagecoach line owner Bowman Kelton decides there's no room for the competition posed by a rival transportation company run by Albert Shaw. When Kelton is wounded by a pair of disloyal employees, Shaw is fingered as the suspect in the shooting.
1953 - 30:00 - ZIV Syndication, sponsored by Butter-nut Bread
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Lochinvar Jones (#600)
Sir Walter Scott's famous poem "Lochinvar" provides the inspiration for the tale of Ellen Netherby, a young woman being forced into a loveless marriage by her guardian/uncle, who hopes to gain possession of the ranch she's due to inherit.
1953 - 30:00 - ZIV Syndication, sponsored by Butter-nut Bread
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Boomerang Vengeance (#601)
A corrupt banker named Parr holds a grudge against the father of young Ted Bennett, and arranges for the man's recently purchased mustangs to be stolen and re-branded. In trying to assist Bennett, Cisco and Uncle Cipriano find themselves framed for bank robbery.
1953 - 30:00 - ZIV Syndication, sponsored by Butter-nut Bread
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Stage to Silver City (#602)
Have Cisco and Uncle Cipriano taken to stealing gold shipments from stagecoaches? It would seem so -- but, in reality, the two men are only posing as outlaws in order to infiltrate a gang of bandits headed up by Cord McClure.
1953 - 30:00 - ZIV Syndication, sponsored by Butter-nut Bread
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The Scavengers (#603)
A pair of outlaws who prey on wagon trains headed west are intent on swiping a map to a California gold mine from siblings Phil and Muriel Hastings. Cisco and Uncle Cipriano manage to fend off their first attack, but the bandits have plans to destroy the wagon as our heroes help the siblings ford a flood-engorged river.
1953 - 30:00 - ZIV Syndication, sponsored by Butter-nut Bread
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Pancho's Return (#604)
After a bout with measles, mumps and chicken pox, Cisco's faithful sidekick Pancho returns in time for a tale about two outlaws, Slick and Howie, who are planning to crash a fundraising party and steal the money being collected for a new schoolhouse.
1953 - 30:00 - ZIV Syndication, sponsored by Butter-nut Bread
http://www.radioarchives.org/scans/21406A.jpg

Double Frame-Up (#605)
Several years back, Buck Moffat framed a man named Joe Armand for murder with the help of some fake I.O.U.'s. Armand's since been pardoned and Moffat, now a prosperous merchant, plans to use his temporary appointment as town sheriff to kill him before Armand metes out his revenge.
1953 - 30:00 - ZIV Syndication, sponsored by Butter-nut Bread
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Link Colby's Mine (#606)
Sent to prison by Cisco, rustler/petty thief Link Colby plans to start a new life after his release with the help of a gold mine he discovered just before being sent up. His former partners-in-crime, however, are determined to get their slice of the pie.
1953 - 30:00 - ZIV Syndication, sponsored by Butter-nut Bread
http://www.radioarchives.org/scans/21408A.jpg

Point of Honor (#607)
At the Hangtown mining camp, Williard Molton is killed by Rory Dykes and Max Dominic for his gold. Molton's partner, Zeb Nickerson, has been framed by the two men and is in danger of being hanged by the miners' court - but he gets a temporary reprieve from Cisco and Pancho, who bring news of an illness that has befallen his son.
1953 - 30:00 - ZIV Syndication, sponsored by Butter-nut Bread
http://www.radioarchives.org/scans/21409A.jpg

The Little Train Robbery (#608)
Fiery Irish colleen Amanda McCovey runs a logging camp and serves as the engineer for the camp's train. When her sidekick Maureen McCarthy spurns the advances of a lout named Kevin Muldoon, Muldoon swears revenge on the two women and their friends Cisco and Pancho.
1953 - 30:00 - ZIV Syndication, sponsored by Butter-nut Bread
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