Baby, How Can It Be?: Songs of Love, Lust and Contempt from the 1920s and 1930s

Three digital collections of rare 1920s–30s recordings that explore the many sides of love—desire, devotion, heartbreak, and scandal.

Curated from the 78 rpm record collection of John Heneghan, this anthology spans 66 tracks that shine a spotlight on the raw honesty of early American popular music. From playful double-entendres and ribald blues to tender ballads and bitter laments, these recordings showcase the full spectrum of romance and regret in the years between the World Wars. With liner notes by acclaimed writer Nick Tosches and illustrations by legendary cartoonist Robert Crumb, this set provides both historical context and visual flair.

What’s Included

• 66 remastered audio tracks from the 1920s and 1930s
• Liner notes by Nick Tosches
• Digital booklet with essays and track annotations

Praise & Reviews

"Heneghan and Ledbetter uncover the lasciviousness lurking beneath the decades' remembered propriety... Baby How Can It Be? plays as a travelogue... musically... so diverse and wide-ranging that these two decades come across as a period of intense innovation."

— Stephen M. Deusner, Pitchfork