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As recorded by Bob Pratt. November 1963
MCRFB Note: For our complete 60th. November 2023 presentation of Bob Pratt’s WWJ recordings from November 22, 23, 24, 25, 1963, view them all cataloged and recently archived [11-26-2023] HERE.
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November 22, 1963 started out like any other Friday in Detroit. I was a junior studying electrical engineering at Wayne State University and I awaited the arrival of my friend, Dany, that morning. It was his day to drive and we were soon on our way.
Bob Pratt
Our classes were mostly in the morning and we were ready to leave for our return trip home by early afternoon. But before we could leave, Dany had to make a stop at the engineering office to pick up some important papers from one of the professors. He parked in front of the engineering office and headed in. I waited in the car.
In those days, I was one of the on-air personalities with a DJ show once a week and occasionally a news broadcast on the campus “current carrier” AM station, WUBG. There had been talk among the station management about beginning some dramatic radio plays at some point, and although I wasn’t involved in that endeavor, I was curious about what was on the air while I waited. I tuned in to 620 AM and discovered a play in progress about the assassination of the president. Ah, the Abraham Lincoln story, I figured. It was being presented in a very dramatic and realistic style and I was hooked for a while.
But I began to sense that something was not quite right about the details and I decided to tune in something else. I switched over to WJR to catch some music and quickly realized that this was not about our 16th president, but was a live news report about our 35th president, John F. Kennedy. I was stunned to learn he had been critically shot and might not survive. It was the biggest shock I had ever received in my young life.
Dany returned a few minutes later and we headed toward my home in silence, except for the somber reports from the radio. I turned on the TV when I arrived home and my mother and I remained glued to the set until my dad arrived home from work.
I had a quarter track stereo tape deck back then, a Viking model 88 that allowed two stereo tracks or up to four mono tracks to be recorded on the two sides of a tape. My dad suggested that I get upstairs and start recording from the radio as quickly as possible. I grabbed an empty tape, loaded it up and tuned into WWJ-FM. They were broadcasting a network news feed from NBC radio at that time.
We had a quick dinner and my dad had another stroke of genius. “Keep recording as long as you can and I’ll go out and buy several 2400 Ft reels of tape. We should be able to go for several days.” he said. And so we did.
Over the next few days we recorded as much as we could, day and night, from WWJ-FM, WJR-FM and WJBK-FM. There were reports from around the world, across the nation and around our town of the capture of the assassin, the death of the president, the funeral, and comments from world leaders, local dignitaries and neighbors down the street.
We followed the capture of Lee Harvey Oswald by the police and his assassination by Jack Ruby. We cried at the TV scenes of the first lady and the president’s children who stood stunned by the events and his loss. Although the pomp and circumstance were over in a few days, the memories of those times will never leave me.
After the events were finally over, I packed the tapes away for safe keeping. There were about 16 hours of sound all together. I never listened to them until a few months ago when my friend, Jim Feliciano, mentioned that he was always interested and still study aspects into the Kennedy assassination controversy (beginning in November 1973) and wondered if by chance I had any actual recordings of Detroit radio from those four days in November 1963.
I pulled out the box and examined the tapes. They looked to be in good shape. I spot checked a couple and found that indeed the recordings were well preserved. I offered to make copies for him.
I planned to let each track run for the full hour into my computer and convert each to an mp3 file for storage. But they were so captivating that I listened to almost every one during the recording process. It was a truly somber experience, and with all the international comments, it made me realize how loved and respected the United States and our people were in those days.
The tapes also showed how we as a nation stuck together almost as one big family. I long for those simpler days and wonder if we will ever be able to restore the cohesiveness and compassion we had back then.
As President John Kennedy famously said a long time ago, his Boston-accented voice still resonates with me today — I can hear it now — “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”
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A special ‘THANK YOU’ to Bob Pratt of Farmington Hills, Michigan, for sharing his personal thoughts and reflections, his recollections and memories from November 1963 – exclusively – as was previously posted here on this website.
Motor City Radio Flashbacks featured Bob Pratt’s historic recordings, having covered those four tragic days on Detroit radio — as they was recorded in their entirety in November 1963.
The reeled recordings were presented and digitally formatted — in mp3 format — on this website last November 2018 covering those four tragic days. (See and click on the link below).
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A MCRFB UPDATE
This year will mark 60 years having passed since the tragic events in Dallas, November 1963.
In observation, Motor City Radio Flashbacks will again feature a more expanded audio and photographic presentation (totaling 48 images), while showcasing the Bob Pratt recordings in their entirety — spanning across four days — beginning 1:30 p.m. EST, Wednesday, November 22, 2023.
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WWJ-FM – NBC NEWS (A) — 02 00 PM – 03 46 PM — NOVEMBER 22, 1963 [Bob Pratt]
WWJ-FM – NBC NEWS (B) — 06 20 PM – 08 55 PM — NOVEMBER 22, 1963 [Bob Pratt]
WWJ-FM – NBC NEWS (C) — 08 56 PM – 11 36 PM — NOVEMBER 22, 1963 [Bob Pratt]
WJBK-FM – RADIO 1500 – 01 00 PM — 01 31 PM — NOVEMBER 23, 1963 [Bob Pratt]
WWJ-AM – NBC NEWS (A) — 07 30 AM – 10 00 AM — NOVEMBER 23, 1963 [Bob Pratt]
WWJ-AM – NBC NEWS (B) — 10 00 AM – 12 00 PM — NOVEMBER 23, 1963 [Bob Pratt]
WWJ-FM – NBC NEWS (A) 12 28 PM — 03 02 PM NOVEMBER 24, 1963 [Bob Pratt]
WWJ-FM – NBC NEWS (B) 03 03 PM — 06 00 PM NOVEMBER 24, 1963 [Bob Pratt]
WWJ-FM – NBC NEWS [Raw Feed] — OSWALD SHOOTING (11 21 AM — 11 42 AM) NOVEMBER 24, 1963
WWJ-FM – NBC NEWS (A) — 11 16 AM — 01 15 PM — JFK Funeral Coverage — NOVEMBER 25, 1963 [Bob Pratt]
WWJ-FM – NBC NEWS (B) — 01 16 PM — 03 43 PM — JFK Funeral Coverage — NOVEMBER 25, 1963 [Bob Pratt]
WJR-FM-WWJ-FM – Jack Ruby Death Reports – JANUARY 3, 1967 [Bob Pratt]
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Note: All recordings times denote Detroit local time, Eastern Standard Time.
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Kennedy Tapes – Hour 01 (Nov 22) Robert Pratt Collection
Kennedy Tapes – Hour 02 (Nov 22) Robert Pratt Collection
Kennedy Tapes – Hour 03 (Nov 22) Robert Pratt Collection
Kennedy Tapes – Hour 04 (Nov 22) Robert Pratt Collection
Kennedy Tapes – Hour 05 (Nov 22) Robert Pratt Collection
Kennedy Tapes – Hour 06 (Nov 23) Robert Pratt Collection
Kennedy Tapes – Hour 07 (Nov 24) Robert Pratt Collection
Kennedy Tapes – Hour 08 (Nov 24) Robert Pratt Collection
Kennedy Tapes – Hour 09 (Nov 24) Robert Pratt Collection
Kennedy Tapes – Hour 10 (Nov 24) Robert Pratt Collection
Kennedy Tapes – Hour 11 (Nov 24) Robert Pratt Collection
Kennedy Tapes – Hour 12 (Nov 24) Robert Pratt Collection
Kennedy Tapes – Hour 13 (Nov 24) Robert Pratt Collection
Kennedy Tapes – Hour 14 (Nov 25) Robert Pratt Collection
Kennedy Tapes – Hour 15 (Nov 25) Robert Pratt Collection
Kennedy Tapes – Hour 16 (Jan 3, 1967) Ruby Death – Robert Pratt Collection
Kennedy Tapes – Hour 01 – WWJ Report – John Hultman – (Nov 22) Bob Pratt Collection
Kennedy Tapes – Hour 05 – WWJ Report – Don Perrie – (Nov 22) Bob Pratt Collection
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In November 2018, in commemoration of the 55th Anniversary of President Kennedy’s assassination, Motor City Radio Flashback featured a comprehensive and extensive Detroit NBC Radio coverage of those four dark days — November 22-23-24-25 1963 — as was reported on WWJ WWJ-FM.
Bob Pratt also donated a recording into this collection, featuring a news segment from WJBK WJBK-FM radio from Saturday, November 23, 1963. The WJBK broadcast was featured in our special presentation on November 23, 2018.
DETROIT RADIO 1963 JFK ASSASSINATION COVERAGE
ADDITIONAL DETROIT RADIO JFK ASSASSINATION COVERAGE
ADDED! November 22, 2019
WWJ Detroit JFK assassination (local) coverage can be heard HERE and HERE
ADDED! January 4, 2019
Detroit WJR/WWJ Jack Ruby Death Reports can be heard HERE
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Wow. This is great. Your dad presciences will be cherished by future researchers. Thank you.