Bill Savory, "CIA Spook"

Michael Hogan · August 21, 2010

The linked article is a fascinating read, particularly to those with an interest in Jazz and the history of recorded music.

According to his son, Bill Savory was a technological genius when it came to recorded sound and played an important part

in the history of 33 and 78 rpm records.

Excerpts:

For decades jazz cognoscenti have talked reverently of “the Savory Collection.” Recorded from radio broadcasts in the late 1930s

by an audio engineer named William Savory, it was known to include extended live performances by some of the most honored names

in jazz — but only a handful of people had ever heard even the smallest fraction of that music, adding to its mystique.....

....When he moved to suburban Washington, Mr. Savory took a job with a defense contractor, working, Mr. Desavouret said,

on electronic communications and surveillance devices designed to pick up audio and data signals. His son also said

his father told him that he was “a spook, connected with the C.I.A.,” an assertion he is inclined to believe because

“when I’d come for Thanksgiving, we’d go out with six retired C.I.A. guys,” and because, on retirement, his father

was given a memento calling him “the master of mysterious projects.”

Edited August 21, 2010 by Michael Hogan

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