HEAR HOW TO SKIN DIVE   -   Lloyd Bridges

YEAR:  1961
LABEL:  Carlton
TRACK LISTING:  Where To Start,  Snorkel Diving,  Scuba Equipment,  Diving Science,  Scuba Fundamentals,  Entering the Diving Area,  Underwater,  Underwater Hunting,  Sea Denizens
IMPRESSIONS:  Ah, the age of instructional records.  Obviously, our friend Lloyd Bridges is here owing to his then-current role on the hit TV series "SEA HUNT".  Lloyd sounds a little cranky here; perhaps he was told to try to sound "manly" while simultaneously friendly.  This is the kind of ridiculous direction that would make me cranky too.  However, I'm only guessing.  Lloyd only sounds a little bit cranky.  While I do have some mild interest in scuba diving, any such devotion is not necessary to get great enjoyment from listening to these vintage instructional records which include everything from "HOW TO USE TACT AND SKILL WHEN HANDLING PEOPLE", "HOW TO BE A VENTRILOQUIST" or "HOW TO C.B." (all of which I also have in my vaults, natch).  But here, it's a plus to have a recognizable and admittedly charismatic star like Lloyd Bridges talk about something which he is actually fairly familiar with.  This 38 minutes and change with Lloyd under da sea is a wonderful listen.
MY FAVOURITE TRACKS:  All of 'em.  There's no sense in breaking up the lesson.
FACT SHEET:  HEAR HOW TO SKIN DIVE is an instructional record featuring Lloyd Bridges.  Apparently there were only 500 copies pressed (which I'm not sure I believe) so it's a pretty rare record.  It was in the Carlton "Hear How" series of LPs of which sadly this is my only example residing in my vaults.  Ah, but someday . . . someday . . .