13/07/2026
"1969 was a golden year in Dayton. You could feel it in the air, and you could certainly hear it in her voice."
Before the grief, before the silence, there was light.
I was going through the mid-section of Earl Crestline’s basement archive when I found this tape reel box. Unlike the water-damaged boxes from the 70s, this one from 1969 was preserved in a dry, wooden cabinet. On the back, Earl had slipped a small polaroid photo of Vivian LaRue and her husband, Tommy, laughing outside a diner on Sixth Street.
This recording, "Before the Letter Came," is a time capsule of that exact summer.
Vivian’s voice here is lush, soaring, and filled with an unmistakable warmth. Backed by the heavy, sweet horn arrangements of The Meridian Boys, she wasn't singing about loss yet. She was singing to the man holding the camera. It’s a pure, uptempo piece of Midwestern sweet soul that makes you want to drive with the windows down.
But looking at the polaroid now, knowing what lay ahead in late 1971... the sweetness of this song carries a quiet weight.
Put your headphones on. Let’s go back to Dayton, 1969.
🎧 Link to the full session is in the comments below!
