Sound Beat: Recent Episodes
Sound Beat
Store owner Morton Savada had a policy of never selling the last copy of a recording, which we collectors can identify with. Morton’s son Eli sai
“He was running a business, but he knew he had an important archive here and he had a responsibility to maintain it.”
After 30 years in business, and distinguishing itself as a landmark for collectors worldwide, Records Revisited closed. The archive his son spoke of, roughly 200,000 records, was boxed and shipped in 2008 to….Syracuse University. The gift ensures the collection’s preservation for future researchers. And…it plays a role in a certain radio show of which you may be aware…
You’re listening to Drum Boogie by Gene Krupa, an OKEH 78 from 1941, and one of the last ever played at Records Revisited.
“Shenandoah” or “Oh, Shenandoah” as it is sometimes referred to, is an early American folk song and sea shanty. Popular with sailors as early as the 1880s, the song is an ode to the Shenandoah River Valley, and its river. It’s a tributary of the Potomac, and runs through Virginia and West Virginia. The valley’s fertile lands made it a top-notch settling place, and, apparently, a swell spot for a folk tune. Now, according to which version of the song you’re listening to, the narrator is a Confederate soldier pining for home, a roving trader in love with an Indian chief’s daughter, or, well, someone else. For a more detailed look at the song check out our blog.
“A dark presence enters the ship. The ominous commander of the Imperial Forces, Darth Vader: tall and threatening in his flowing black cape, and a face forever masked by a foreboding metal breath screen. Darth Vader, who moves forever in a cloud of awesome evil.”
One of the best, (eh, worst?) baddies of all time.
You’re on the Sound Beat.
“Vader grips the rebel’s throat. “”If this is a councilor’s ship then where is the Ambassador?””
Would have been nice to play Vader’s theme, the famous Imperial March….
Thing is, John Williams hadn’t composed it yet. It first appeared, courtesy of the London Symphony Orchestra, in the original trilogy’s second film, the Empire Strikes Back. James Earl Jones famously voiced the character, and almost as famously wasn’t credited for the first two films. He’d claim at the time that his work was just “special effects”…something, I don’t know, VOICE ACTORS might disagree with. You’re listening to “The Story of Star Wars”, a 20th Century Fox LP from 1977.
Sound Beat is produced at the Belfer Audio Archive, Syracuse University Libraries.
Image courtesy of Roger Schultz, used under Creative Commons license.
When Princess Leia stashed a message for Obi Wan Kenobi in an R2 unit, that’s D2 of course, he abandoned ship for the desert planet of Tattoine. Traveling with fellow droid C3P0, they’d meet up with a character George Lucas almost named Luke Starkiller. And, after surviving an ambush, they’d meet the man Luke called Old Ben.
Check out more Star Wars episodes now at Soundbeat.org
Sound Beat is produced at the Belfer Audio Archive, Syracuse University Libraries.
I’m Brett Barry.
Image courtesy of Tim Simpson used under Creative Commons license.
You’re listening to the Story of Star Wars, a 20th Century Fox LP from 1977.
After meeting Han Solo and Chewbacca in Mos Eisley, Luke, Ben and the droids persuade the duo to bring them to Leia’s home planet of Alderaan…which has been destroyed. Awkward…especially when they’re tractor-beamed onto Vader’s ship…which has one other special guest.
Check out more Star Wars episodes now.
Sound Beat is produced at the Belfer Audio Archive, Syracuse University Libraries.
I’m Brett Barry.
Image courtesy of Johnny Silvercloud used under Creative Commons license.
You’re listening to the Story of Star Wars, a 20th Century Fox LP from 1977 and…
You’re on the Sound Beat.
Ah, the Force. A supernatural power that binds all entities throughout the universe. George Lucas would borrow the idea from many cultures: chi in traditional Chinese culture, mana in Hawaiian; in Hindu culture it’s “prana” the word translating directly as “life force”. And with the possible exception of light sabers, it’s just about the coolest part of the whole Star Wars universe.
Image courtesy of Thomas S., used under Creative Commons license.
Well, unless you’re in an ice cave on Hoth, you probably recognize this one. It’s “The Story of Star Wars” and…
You’re on the Sound Beat.
Fall in love with a movie nowadays, you can watch it pretty much whenever you want; ask any parent of a Frozen fan. WHEN-EV-ER. But for a rabid Star Wars fan in 1977, your options were limited. You went to the movies, or you bought this, a 20th Century Fox LP. It featured dialogue and sound effects from the film, and was narrated by Roscoe Lee Browne.
The record would go as gold as C-3PO.
Image created by Andrew Forgrave, used under Creative Commons license.
The song you hear ”Let Me Call You Sweetheart” by Bing Crosby with Georgie Stoll and His Orchestra was recorded in 1934 on the Decca label.
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“Let Me Call You Sweetheart“ was originally written by Leo Freidman and Beth Slater Whinston in 1910.
The song was a big hit for Author Clough in May 1911 and a #1 hit for Henry Burr and the Peerless Quartet in November 1911
And this version is still popular today. In fact “Let Me Call You Sweetheart” by Bing Crosby was #3 on Apple Music’s top 200 jazz songs in Bolivia on January 27 2019.
This episode was written by Ian Coe. Artwork by Omari Odom. Watch a video of their work at Let Me Call You Sweetheart — Sound Beat – Syracuse University Videos
You’re listening to the Jesters with a Decca recording from 1944. Railroads were the nation’s backbone at the time and schedules were of the utmost importance. The engineer set out an hour and a half behind schedule in the wee hours of April 30th 1900. He was determined to make up the time from Memphis to Canton, Mississippi and had just about done so a couple miles outside of Vaughan. But two trains were already taking up the passing tracks at the station, with cars left out on the main line. Jones, somewhat miraculously, slowed the train’s 75 mph speed to 35 at the time of collision. He was killed in the impact, his being the only fatality, and preventing many more.
Image: Casey Jones’ home at the time of his death. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License.
That riff can only mean one thing…you’re listening to Chuck Berry…and you’re on the Sound Beat. Okay, two things.
Hearing your daughter play classical music must be a tremendous joy for a parent…and perhaps a source of sheer torment for a sibling. Especially if said sibling is Chuck Berry, who reportedly wrote this song as a response to his sister monopolizing the family piano. He recorded it for Chess records in 1956. It’s the quintessential “us vs. them” song, a signal that the Beethovens and Tchaikovskys had been replaced by the Louis Jordans, Carl Perkins’ and Bo Diddleys. They’re all referenced, somewhat indirectly, in the song’s fourth verse.
If you missed the references, the “blue suede shoes” is a Carl Perkins nod, “Hey diddle-diddle” is a little Bo Diddley shout-out, and “Early in the mornin'”refers to the same-titled Louis Jordan song. Berry claimed that some of his most well-known riffs were inspired by those of Jordan’s guitarist Carl Hogan. Read more here.
And, of course, if you caught ‘em…good job.
The mythical Sirens have long been depicted as tantalizing, seductive, banes to the existence of accursed sailors, enchanted by their fatal song. The Greeks had them as winged maidens, but somewhere along the way, the meaning shifted: in most European languages, the word Siren translates as “mermaid”. You’re listening to the Green Brothers Novelty band with “Siren of the South Sea”.
If the smell of fresh-brewed coffee renders you helpless, you may have run into Melusina today. Starbucks has used the half-woman, half water-serpent’s likeness since 1971, based on a Norse woodcut. Why the nautical theme? Starbuck was the name of Captain Ahab’s first mate in Moby Dick.
The scene: a dimly lit jazz club. A lone spot light illuminates the musicians, plying their trade amidst billowing plumes of smoke. Cigarette smoke, you’d assume…unless you were Harry Anslinger. Anslinger was appointed the Commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics in 1937. Policy-wise: think…the McCarthy of marijuana. His target: International kingpins? Schoolyard pushers? No. “Musicians,” he told a senate committee in 1948 “and not good musicians, jazz musicians.” Jazz was exploding at the time, and there was an immediate backlash. He could’ve used a softer PR tactic…but, come on… the jazz songbook is full of lightly-veiled references to marijuana, from Stuff Smith’s “If You’re a Viper” to Louis Armstrong’s “Muggles”. And some songs…some songs made no attempt at pretense. You’ve been listening to Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker and others with 1945’s…“Groovin’ High.”
The first moving-picture machine in history, the kinetoscope, was developed by William Kennedy Dickson , while under the employ of Thomas Edison. One of the biggest problems with early films was the need for, and unavailability of, light. So when Edison built the Black Maria studio in 1893, he had it completely covered in tar paper, to attract light. Not only that, but the ceiling had a retractable window.And, because it was Edison, the whole building was constructed on a turntable that could pivot said retractable ceiling towards the best angle of light.
The first copyrighted film was not a comedy, a thriller, but a…ahem…bodily function. It was entitled “Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze”, and known commonly as “Fred Ott’s Sneeze”. Ott was another Edison employee, and his sneeze was arguably the most famous in film history…until Woody Allen’s. For more on the film industry’s early days, follow this link to a great breakdown at AMC.com.
Like Slim Gaillard said, “The Atomic Cocktail” is “the drink that you don’t pour”…until Las Vegas bartenders made it one.
You see, in 1951, the government announced Nevada would be home to new bombing test sites. There was, understandably, heightened tension in the area…but then, Vegas knows a thing or two about relieving tension. Hotels and bars embraced the plans and the Atomic Cocktail was born.
Want to make your own? (info courtesy of Esquire Magazine)
Just take:
- 1 1/2 ounces vodka
- 1 1/2 ounces brandy
- 1 teaspoon sherry
- 1 1/2 ounces Brut champagne
Stir the vodka, brandy, and sherry well with cracked ice, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass and add 1 1/2 to 2 ounces cold brut champagne. Garnish with plastic three-eyed fish from Simpsons playset. Note: If you use the sweeter Spanish brandy, opt for the drier Amontillado sherry. Conversely, if you use the (dry) cognac, choose the (sweet) Oloroso. We strive for balance in all stirs.
El Capitan is a selection from, and title of, Sousa’s first operetta. A political thriller set during the Spanish possession of Peru, it debuted in Boston in April 0f 1896.
This recording, though, was made by the London Concert Orchestra and recorded on a Lambert Cylinder. They’re the easy-on-the-eyes cylinders, coming in shades of pink, as well as purple, blue and black. And they’re also pretty rare…they were the first cylinders made of celluloid, making them much more durable than wax. But…the parallel technologies battle among early-20th century cylinder manufacturers was a fierce one.. Lambert would only produce their records from 1901 to 1905. For a more-detailed breakdown of the Cylinder Wars, check out our blog at soundbeat.org.
Lyricist Jack Yellen wrote Happy Days are Here Again with composer Milton Ager in 1929. Yellen was a registered Republican…which bears relevance in that the song would become not only Franklin Roosevelt’s 1932 campaign song, but the unofficial song of the Democratic Party for years to come. He probably still cashed those checks, though.
You’ve been listening to Leo Reisman and his Orchestra on a Victor 78 from 1929. The song was featured in the 1930 MGM film Chasing Rainbows, and the Recording Industry Association of America put it #47 on their “Songs of the Century” list in 2001.
This episode was co-written with Christina Reid, part of the Sound Beat Class Partnership.
Image: FDR with Anna Roosevelt Halsted and Eleanor Roosevelt during campaign at Warm Springs, Georgia enroute from his cottage to the station. October 24, 1932. Licensed under the terms of the cc-by-2.0.
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Intended to give voice to union workers during the progressive era, the song was written by Pete Seeger and Lee Hayes in 1949. The Hammer Song was the breakout hit for their musical group The Weavers and released on their label, Hootenanny Records, in March of 1950. The song paved way for their commercial success, leading to hits “Kisses Sweeter than Wine,” and “Wimoweh,”
The song’s original intent spoke well to the civil rights movement, and also helped to kickstart another group’s career. Peter, Paul and Mary’s 1962 version was their first big hit…their next was Puff the Magic Dragon.
This episode was co-written by Kelsey Francella, part of the Sound Beat Class Partnership.
Photo credit: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/Pete_Seeger_1986.jpg
Most kids take their piano lessons at school, or at a neighbor’s house. But Hazel Scott was always a bit above “chopsticks”.
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Hazel Scott was a child prodigy, playing by 3 and improvising on the keys by 5. She received formal training at none other than the Juilliard school of New York, where she won a classical music scholarship at age 8. She would blend her classical training with the smooth sounds of jazz, blues and popular songs, and was a Café Society star by the late 1930’s. It would become her signature sound: “swinging the classics.” Here she is with Rainy Night in G.
How did Billie Holiday take a dive for Scott?
When Billie heard word of an up and coming Hazel Scott, she decided to play hooky for the night, and let Hazel fill in for her at Cafe Society. Big shoes to fill, to say the least, but Hazel filled in admirably.
Man, remember this scene in the movie? No. You don’t. It was cut, and probably with good cause. It was originally conceived of as a way to get younger audiences interested in the film. The Jitterbug craze was sweeping the nation, and the scene had Dorothy and pals dancing wildly after being bitten by…well, a jitterbug. Buuuut, the film ran over time, and cuts had to be made. Yup, 5 weeks to rehearse and film, then…poof. It’s remained a popular inclusion for stage productions, and in 1995, a grainy home video of the original scene, shot by composer Harold Arlen was released.
But…they missed a spot. In the film, The Wicked Witch tells the flying monkeys that she “sent a little insect to take the fight out of” the fearsome foursome. It’s one of a couple of continuity errors in the film.
Wanna see more? Here’s a good list.
If you’re a Saturday Night Live fan you’ve probably seen the Lawrence Welk skit with Fred Armisen as the venerable bandleader. The skits feature the fictional Meryl Sisters of the Finger Lakes, but they’re a nod and a wink to The Lennon Sisters…um, of the Pacific Ocean. Los Angeles. The Lennons, Diane, Peggy, Kathy and Janet were really sisters. That is, they are sisters…and they’re still performing, though Diane and Peggy have retired, and younger sister Mimi has filled in. In 2001, they were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame.
So how do they feel about the SNL skits? “It just cracks everybody up,” said Janet. “It’s hard for us to believe we’re kind of an American institution.” It’s a refreshingly-tolerant reaction. If you haven’t seen the skits, well, let’s just say you would understand if they’d been received poorly.
But, judge for yourself.
Ivory Joe knew what it took to make a hit from past experience as radio program manager and founder of Ivory Records. In 1956 he would top the R&B charts with this song, which crossed over and hit twelfth on the pop charts. And when Sonny James hit number one with a country version in 1969, Ivory Joe followed suite, releasing an album entitled “I’ve Always Been Country”. Audiences and the country music elite believed him; he was invited to perform at the The Grand Ole Opry in the early seventies.
This episode was co-written by Syracuse University student Emelio Woodstock, part of the Sound Beat Class Partnership.
You’ve heard it before: sometimes it’s not what, but who you know.
Though he was certainly no slouch himself, Artie Shaw knew how to surround himself with the right people. Over his career, he signed both high-powered drummer Buddy Rich, and iconic songstress Billie Holiday. This made him the first bandleader to tour the South with a black lead singer. He sold more than 100 million records, and you’re listening to one of them. This is Dancing in the Dark from 1941.
He also surrounded himself with a bevy of leading ladies, marrying Lana Turner, Ava Gardner and six other wives over his lifetime. According to all accounts, including his own he was a “very difficult man”. Seems like it.
But he was also a multi-talented one; He studied advanced math, dabbled in “The Pictures”, and authored both fiction and non-fiction works.
There are about 1,000 twisters every year in the United States, and most of them, go figure, happen in an area known as Tornado Alley. It’s loosely defined as the area from Rocky Mountains to Appalachians. Why this region? It’s the meeting place for cold dry air from Canada and the Rockies, warm moist air from Mexico and hot dry air from the Sonoran Desert. Most tornadoes last about 10 minutes, but the longest one in history is thought to be the Tri-State Tornado of 1925, reported as lasting 31/2 hours. It was the deadliest tornado in American history, killing 700 people in Missouri, Illinois and Indiana. It travelled twice speed of an average twister, 60-70 mph, and…perhaps the most terrifying fact ever mentioned on Sound Beat, it didn’t have a funnel cloud. Translation…it was nearly invisible.
You’ve been listening to Kokomo Arnold with “Mean Old Twister”in a Decca recording from 1937. How did Prohibition help Arnold’s music career? Find out right now at soundbeat.org
Tomato, to-mah-to, potato-po-tah-to…no matter how you say it, you’re on the Sound Beat.
Most married couples admit to occasional, let’s say…differences of opinion. Seldom are those…again, just differences of opinion, as productive as Ira and Lenore Gershwin’s. Their opposing pronunciations of words like “tomato” and “potato” led to the hit song “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off,”. It’s a conversational tune written by Ira and his brother George.
You’re listening to the silk-smooth vocals of The Ink Spots, who recorded this song for Decca in 1937. Since then, the song has been sung by artists like Billie Holiday and performed as a duet by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong. Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers performed it, on rollerskates mind you, in the 1937 movie Shall We Dance.
This episode was co-written by Syracuse University student Jill Comoletti as part of the Sound Beat Class Partnership. Find out more about the Partnership at soundbeat.org.
This song, Since Henry Ford Apologized to Me, is a response to events surrounding Ford’s newspaper, the Dearborn Independent. One of the largest publications in the US in the 20’s, it printed many anti-semitic articles, “The International Jew” among them. That particular gem proffered that “International financiers are behind all war. They are what is called the international Jew: German Jews, French Jews, English Jews, American Jews.” Lawsuits stemming from such articles eventually lead to the paper’s demise. Ford would later issue a statement apologizing for claims.
Enter Billy Jones and Ernest Hare, the Happiness Boys, with a tongue-quite-in-cheek forgiveness. Sheet music for the song was, allegedly, the first to mention Hitler by name, though some hear it as “Edsel”. For our money, it kind of sounds like the names are blended together, but you decide.
Blind Willie Johnson’s “Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground” has fascinated blues lovers, and envious slide guitarists, since Columbia Records released it in 1927. But the biggest compliment to Johnson’s work came in 1977 when it was immortalized in a gold record and shot into space aboard the Voyager spacecraft.
“The Golden Record” complied by a team headed by Carl Sagan, represents life on earth with sounds like crickets chirping, a kiss, and 27 songs from different cultures. This song was included to express a timeless human pain: facing nightfall with nowhere to sleep. Today Johnson’s song, far beyond our solar system, is still ready to play for one very long, dark night.
This episode was co-written by Maggie Cregan, part of the Sound Beat Class Partnership. Photo: Voyager Golden Record, courtesy of Wikipedia.
You’re listening to “The Airplane” from an RCA Victor Youth Series 78 entitled “LET’S PLAY”. It was produced by Helen Myers in 1946.
The year before that, New York mayor Fiorello Laguardia left office. One of his biggest achievements, the development of the airport that would bear his name, came about as the result of, well, a bit of a hissy fit.
The mayor had been sold a ticket to “New York”, which was at the time serviced by Newark Airport. Indignant, he refused to step on to Jersey soil and demanded to be flown to Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, and held an impromptu press conference proclaiming New York City’s need for an airport. In short, it worked, and construction began in 1939.
Image: unknown author, courtesy of U.S. National Archives.
Aerial view of the tip of Manhattan, New York, United States ca. 1931. Note that the Cities Service Building (now known as the American International Building), which would become lower Manhattan’s tallest building in 1932, is only partially completed.
On this date in 1950, “You Bet Your Life” premiered on NBC. It had been a radio show for 3 years before its TV debut, and was hosted by Groucho. This tune, “Hooray For Captain Spaulding” served as his intro. It first appeared in the Marx Brothers stage show “Animal Crackers” in 1928, which made it to the silver screen in 1930.
The show featured two contestants who answered questions in different categories, and served as a vehicle for Marx’s ad libbing. Want to see a clip? You bet your life we’ve got it…click here.
“You Bet Your Life” featured many stars of tv, film and other walks of life. William Peter Blatty portrayed an Arabian Prince on the show, a disguise Groucho saw through. He’d use his winnings to take time off and write a little script he called “The Exorcist”. Phyllis Diller was “merely” a housewife before getting her big break on the show.
Arthur Godfrey was a 50’s tv and radio icon, an aviator, equestrian…but not such a great tour leader.
You’re on the Sound Beat
You’re listening to The 1000 Islands Song, a Columbia 78 recorded in 1947. The archipelago lies in the St. Lawrence River, on the US-Canadian border. There are actually about 1800 islands, each passing the stringent criteria of :A. being above water level year-round, B. Having an area greater than one square foot and C. bearing at least one living tree.
That island mentioned there, 793, is an actual one, belonging to…Arthur Godfrey. That’s right…it was gifted to him by Grant Mitchell of the 1000 Islands Admiralty in appreciation of the song. Check out more right here.
“BoldtCastle aerial” by Teresa Mitchell; levels adjustment by Howcheng. – Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
After the Battle of Gettysburg, a Gold Moulded cylinder recorded by the Edison Military Band in 1902.
The Battle of Gettysburg, fought from July 1 to July 3, 1863, is considered by many to be the most important engagement of the Civil War, when southern forces led by General Lee made a Northern invasion attempt. The Confederates defeat, coupled with the July 4th Fall of Vicksburg in Mississippi, helped turn the war’s bloody tide for good.
50 years later, veterans and supporters met at the battle site to commemorate the event. In fact, over 53,000 veterans showed, making it the largest ever Civil War veteran reunion. According to then Lieutenant Colonel A.E. Bradley, from the office of Chief Surgeon: “never before in the world’s history [had] so great a number of men so advanced in years been assembled under field conditions“.
Click for more on the Reunion of 1913.
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues was included on Harris’ Blue Kentucky Girl, a Warner Brothers LP. It was recorded in Nashville in 1979, with an award winning cast; that’s none other than Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt singing backup. Between the three of them that’s 32 Grammy awards… 8 for Dolly, 11 for Linda and 13 for EmmyLou. This album would win one of them for the Best Female Country Vocal Performance of 1980. Another came from a collaboration with the writer of this song, Rodney Crowell. The album “Old Yellow Moon” was named Best Americana Album in 2014.
Image credit: C. Kuhl / www.chriskuhl.com/music. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic license.
You’re listening to Yves Montand with A Paris, an Odeon record from 1949…
You’re on the sound Beat.
When you think of Paris, chances are The Eiffel Tower springs to mind. Which is precisely why early detractors, in a letter opposing the Tower’s construction, called it
“a giddy, ridiculous tower dominating Paris like a gigantic black smokestack, crushing under its barbaric bulk Notre Dame, the Tour Saint-Jacques, the Louvre, the Dome of les Invalides, the Arc de Triomphe,
And so on.
Bet they weren’t complaining when the tower relayed communications during the first World War, helping the Allies win the Battle of the Marne on Paris’ doorstep.
The Tower first opened to the public in 1889. Today the Tower has almost 7 million visitors per year making it the most-visited paid monument in the world. It’s open every day of the year, but during WWII, the Nazis found it closed.
Tower workers, given word of Hitler’s advance towards the city, cut the elevator cords. German soldiers were forced to scale the roughly 1,000 feet. See video.
Why did Governor Dewitt Clinton build a giant ditch across New York state? To get to the other side.
From the time the first shovel went into the ground in 1817, critics blasted the Erie Canal project, dubbing it Clinton’s Ditch. But it would go down in history as an engineering marvel. When finished, it stretched three hundred and sixty three miles across New York, from : (lyrics “Albany to Buffalo”)
This is Low Bridge! Everybody Down, sung by Edward Meeker in a wax cylinder recording from 1913.
The Canal forever changed shipping in the Northeast, cutting transportation costs a whopping ninety percent. It also helped open a steady trade route with the Midwest, turning a seed of a downstate port town into the Big Apple.
Mules like Old Sal were the early stars of the canal system, but steam powered barges rendered them obsolete by the end of the 19th century.
The American B-24 Bomber Lady Be Good departed a Libyan Air Base on a bombing raid in April 1943. She did so into a sandstorm, and disappeared for 15 years.
World War II raged, and then ended. Still, the whereabouts of the Lady Be Good remained unknown. It was thought the men had crashed into the Mediterranean, but in 1958 the nearly-intact bomber was found over 400 miles inland. Remains of 8 of the 9 crew members were found, some over a hundred miles north of the crash site. And, because everyone seemed to back then, they kept journals of their trek. To read excerpts, click to visit http://ladybegood.net, an excellent, and exhaustive site.
You’re listening to Marian Anderson with “Heav’n, Heav’n”, a Masterpiece 78 from 1943, and
You’re on the Sound Beat.
When Marian Anderson performed at Princeton University in 1937, she was one of the most famous singers in the world. None other than Arturo Toscanini, once told her she had a voice “heard once in a hundred years”. She was probably well-received by the crowd, but as an African American woman, she was also denied accommodation at a nearby hotel. Luckily, a gentleman in attendance offered her lodging for the night, and…probably some interesting conversation. His name: Albert Einstein.
The contralto and the physicist would remain lifelong friends. Anderson, as a matter of fact, stayed with Einstein just months before his death in 1955.
Read more here.
Photo: “Marian Anderson” by Carl Van Vechten – Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Van Vechten Collection, reproduction number LC-USZ62-42524.. Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
The brightness of the moon from Earth depends on where the moon is in its perpetual journey around the planet.
You’re on the Sound Beat.
It orbits Earth every 29.5 days, and during that time it’s lit from various angles by the sun. It’s at its brightest when it is 180 degrees away from the sun from our perspective (picture the sun, Earth and moon in a straight line). At that time, the full half of the moon’s surface facing the sun is illuminated and is visible from Earth. And that’s a full moon, friend. The moon absorbs much of the sun’s light, but about 7% is reflected towards the Earth. That’s why the moon appears to shine, or glow, if you will.
If you don’t know by now, you’ve been listening to the jazz standard Moon Glow. Art Tatum recorded version, Cab Calloway, Benny Goodman, Ethel Waters, Billie Holliday, Bing did one…you get the idea. But before all of that Joe Venuti and his Orchestra recorded it in 1933 for Columbia.
There’s a Little Baby Up In the Moon
You’re listening to There’s a Little Baby Up in the Moon by Irving Kaufman, an Edison Blue Amberol cylinder released in 1916 and
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Paredoilia is the tendency to reconcile vague shapes as something you’re familiar with, like seeing shapes in clouds and the craters of the moon: a little baby, a man…or a rabbit.
Shortly before Apollo 11’s historic landing, mission control in Houston had a little folkloric fun.
Houston: Among the large headlines concerning Apollo this morning, is one asking that you watch for a lovely girl with a big rabbit. An ancient legend says a beautiful Chinese girl called Chang-O has been living there for 4,000 years. It seems she was banished to the Moon because she stole the pill of immortality from her husband. You might also look for her companion, a large Chinese rabbit, who is easy to spot since he is always standing on his hind feet in the shade of a cinnamon tree. The name of the rabbit is not reported.
Michael Collins: Okay. We’ll keep a close eye out for the bunny girl
‘Chang’eNo. 3’) is an unmanned lunar exploration mission operated by the China National Space Administration. The spacecraft was named after Chang’e, the goddess of the Moon in Chinese mythology, and is a follow-up to the Chang’e 1 and Chang’e 2 lunar orbiters. The rover was named Yutu ( literally: ‘Jade Rabbit’) following an online poll, after the mythological rabbit that lives on the Moon as a pet of the Moon goddess.
Read more here.
When the Apollo 11 crew returned home they splashed down 900 miles southwest of Hawaii in the North Pacific Ocean. There was a remote possibility that they’d brought home some contaminants so they put on special Biological Isolation Garments, got any nasty space germs scrubbed off, and were hoisted aboard the USS Hornet aircraft carrier. There they were escorted to a Mobile Quarantine Facility where they would stay in quarantine for 3 weeks. NASA would employ this practice throughout the Apollo 14 mission, which proved the Moon was sterile. While in quarantine the men talked to their families, friends, even President Nixon. Believe it or not, they also had to fill out customs forms, declaring the roughly fifty pounds of moon rocks, dust and samples taken from the lunar surface.
You’ve been listening to Nani wale e ka mahina (a chant about the beauty of the moon at night) by Al Kealoha Perry and his Singing Surfriders.
Check out this amazing selection of photos of the Apollo 11 Mission from NASA. And here’s a link to that Customs form!
Brett Barry:
Mike Tirico has covered a diverse array of what the sports world offers, from Opens in both golf and tennis, soccer’s World Cup, NCAA and NBA basketball, to Monday Night Football. And he’s covered them as well as anyone, receiving National Sportscaster of the Year honors in 2010. Here the versatile broadcaster expounds on perhaps the most well-rounded athlete in Syracuse University history.
Mike Tirico:
If we didn’t have such concretely-documented proof of Jim Brown’s athletic prowess you might think it the stuff of legend. Put aside his dominant football career, one that extended into the NFL and its Hall of Fame. He also lettered in track, basketball and lacrosse, and was considered one of the greatest to ever play that sport. His statistics remain nearly-incomprehensible, such as the NCAA record 43 points he scored in a single football game…but the number he’s most known for among Syracuse fans is, of course, 44. He wasn’t the first to wear it, but he made it the mantel, carried later by such greats as Ernie Davis and Floyd Little.
You’ve been listening to the SU fight song, Down the Field, by the University Band and Robert Chenoweth, an RCA record from 1951.
Read about Brown’s sparring session with one of boxing’s greats right here.
Paul Robeson recorded “Joe Hill”, an anthem of the wrongly accused, in 1942.
Joe Hill was a Swedish immigrant, itinerant worker, songwriter and union activist. Many believe his involvement with the Industrialized Workers of the World led to his framing for murder in 1914 Utah. Evidence supporting Hill’s innocence elicited clemency efforts from the union, human rights advocate Helen Keller, and even then-President Woodrow Wilson.
But to no avail. Hill was executed by firing squad on November 19, 1915. Defiant to the end, his reported last word was…”Fire!”
Singer and actor Paul Robeson was well known for his own activist ties at home and abroad, particularly by Senator Joseph McCarthy. As with many artists of the time, he was blacklisted. His passport was revoked in 1950, all but ending his performing career.
In the early nineteen sixties, at the height of civil rights activism, a young protester asked Duke Ellington what he was doing for the Civil Rights movement. He said “I did my piece twenty years ago when I wrote Jump for Joy”.
“Jump For Joy” was an all black musical revue. It opened in Los Angeles in 1941. Ellington’s goal: to destroy stereotypical depictions of African-Americans in the theater. In his words, “There was no crying, no moaning, but entertaining, and with social demands as a potent spice.” Here he is with his Famous Orchestra, from 1941.
The revue ran for one hundred and twenty-two performances. Ellington later called it “…the hippest thing we ever did.”
Turns out both Charlie Chaplin and Orson Welles had something to do with “Jump for Joy”. In fact the production attracted attention from a list of notable creatives.
From Duke Ellington’s America by Harvey Cohen (University of Chicago Press):
“Newspaper readers also realized something unusual was brewing when they read about how both black and white celebrities collaborated on and financed Jump for Joy including Hollywood stars John Garfield and Mickey Rooney and the Broadway producer Sid Kuller. Charlie Chaplin and Orson Welles offered to direct. Harlem Renaissance poet Countee Cullen visited and Langston Hughes contributed a lyric for a song in the production.”
Today we examine Arthur Murray: Dance instructor, entrepreneur extraordinaire and…wedding crasher?
Arthur Murray taught millions of Americans to dance, through the chain of studios that bear his name nation-wide, and by his mail-order lessons. You’re listening to one of those, Arthur Murray teaches the Fox-Trot.
Turns out William Jennings Bryan had something to do with Murray’s success, as he jokingly said: “You know, I have a fine idea on how you can collect your money. Just teach ’em with the left foot and don’t tell ’em what to do with the right foot until they pay up!”
From this, Murray got the idea of teaching by paper-footprints….and the rest is mail-order history.
So how’d HE get so good? The old adage…practice, practice, practice. But he did his practicing at neighborhood weddings…whether he was invited or not.
You’re listening to Dame Nellie Melba’s Farewell speech, recorded at Covent Garden in 1926. And,
You’re on the Sound Beat
Andre Escoffier would’ve cleaned up on the late 1800’s version of Top Chef. The French chef extraordinaire was known for his creative haute cuisine, and for naming his dishes after stars that frequented his restaurants. There was no bigger operatic star of the time than Aussie-born Nellie Melba…that’s right, as in Melba toast and Peach melba. While performing the Wagnerian opera Lohengrin at Covent Garden, Melba invited Escoffier…he responded with a dish that mimicked a boat in the shape of a swan that appeared in the production. The dessert featured peaches over vanilla ice cream, in a dish served on a carved-ice swan, and called “Peche Cygne” or, “peach with a swan”. He’d later add a raspberry sauce…and Peach Melba was born..uh, hold the swan.
Image Credit: “Covent Garden Theatre 1827-28” by en:Thomas H. Shepherd (1792–1864), engraved by John Rolph (1799–1862) – Metropolitan improvements or London in the nineteenth century: being a series of views, of the new and most interesting objects in the British metropolis & its vicinity; from original drawings, with historical, topographical & critical illustrations by James Elmes. Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
Whew.
You’re listening to the Carter Family’s rendition of “Honey in the Rock”, a Coral Record from 1949, and you’re on the Sound Beat.
Frederick A. Graves originally wrote the song in 1895, but his version was a bit, well, heavy…A.P. Carter then rewrote it in 1937 to better fit the Carter Family’s repertoire. In short, he focused more on the “honey and the salvation” than the” blood and the sins”. Probably a good move, sales-wise.
The Carter Family recorded for over 30 years, helping to create and then redefine country music, and were inducted into its Hall of Fame in 1970.
This episode was co-written by Syracuse University Honors student Jack McCormack, part of the Sound Beat Class Partnership.
Learn how students are interacting with historic sound right now at Soundbeat.org
You’re listening to the Five Satins with In the Still of the Night, an Embassy 78 from 1956 and….
You’re on the Sound Beat
Nighttime is often the right time for thoughtful reflection. Especially when one is on guard duty in the Army. Such is the case with this song, written by Fred Parris while on active duty. He and the Satins recorded it in the basement of the St. Bernadette church in their hometown of New Haven, Connecticut. It was a big hit, but Parris didn’t get to celebrate long. He would be called back to active duty shortly after the release.
Just how big a hit was it? It’s the only song to have made the Billboard top 100 3 times…that’s the same artist with the same version. It debuted at #24 in 1956, was released again in 1960, reaching #81, and then a year later it reached #99.
It’s also talked about as the origins of doo-wop. Find out more right here.
(Photo taken at La Silla Observatory)
You’re listening to one of the most distinctive signature sounds in all of recorded music, and…
You’re on the Sound Beat.
That telltale whoop belongs to Sonny Terry, one of the most influential harmonica players of all time. Blind, but not from birth, Terry lost his sight one eye at a time, first in early childhood, and the second in his late teens. He recorded “Whoopin’ the Blues” with Brownie McGhee in 1947 for Capitol Records. The Terry/McGhee partnership was one of the most prolific and is one of the most revered in blues history.
Want to see them in action?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34FWANCq6_0
Photo credit: Ian Chadwick
Between them, Bing Crosby and Bob Hope dominated tv, records, radio and the driving range. But their film careers were made during the “Road” features. The 7 total films were released between 1940 and 1962, and also starred Dorothy Lamour. They were, more than anything else, conduits for ad-libbed lines and playful barbs Bing and Bob would sling at one another. Here they are with “Put It There, Pal” from “Road To Utopia” in 1946.
The films have drawn homage from musical group “They Might Be Giants”, TV show Family Guy,and, of course, the 80’s comedy classic “Spies Like Us”. What was so special about that connection? It’s all summed up right here:
You’re listening to Pearl Bailey from 1946 and you’re on the Sound Beat.
Pearl made her Broadway debut that year, performing “It’s a Woman’s Prerogative” in St. Louis Woman. Though audiences weren’t enamored of the play, her performance marked the beginning of a decades-long love affair between Bailey and the American public. That “special time together” included a Tony award for Hello, Dolly! and later pop-culture staples like “The Love Boat”, “The Muppet Show” and “Hollywood Squares”.
Ol’ softy President Richard M. Nixon made it all official in 1970 proclaiming Bailey “Ambassador of Love”. The position was rumored to pay 80,000 hugs annually with a guaranteed pension of half that amount. Nixon even accompanied Bailey on the piano. Turns out he was an amateur composer. Click here for video of Nixon’s Concerto No. 1…and some Truman jokes thrown in for good measure.
Holiday was born Eleanora Fagan, and nicknamed Lady Day. This 1946 recording of “Big Stuff” represents something of an anomaly in her career. It emerged only multiple, vigorous recording sessions. Her difficulties in the studio seemed to mirror those in her personal life, as Holiday was struggling with drug and alcohol abuse.
The song itself was composed by Leonard Bernstein for his 1944 ballet “Fancy Free”. Once Holliday’s version was released, it was featured in the opening scene, playing from a juxebox.
This episode was written in part by Syracuse University student Sarah Detweiler, as part of the Sound Beat Class Partnership project. To learn more about the Partnership, click here!
Alright, hope we didn’t over bill it. But I mean, it’s insurance, we had to liven it up somehow. The very first auto insurance policy was sold by Travelers Insurance to Dr. Truman Martin of Buffalo NY in February of 1898. It was very likely to protect his car from accidents involving horses. It’s perhaps impossible to relate the role horses played in daily life at the turn of the 20th century. All transportation seemed measured in equine terminology: you’ve got “iron horse”, the “horseless carriage” and, of course, “horsepower”. You’re listening to Smith and Harper with Insurance Policy Blues, a Melotone record from 1936.
For those who think we’re all fancy with our futuristic electric cars…they were making them in Buffalo in 1900. For more on The Buffalo, click here.
Rock historians attribute the term “Rock and Roll” to radio dj Allen Freed in 1951. And while he set a name to that combo of rhythm, blues, country, jazz that got Elvis wagging his hips around, he wasn’t the first to put the words together.
The origins of the term are nautical…17th-century sailors would describe ship’s movements as rocking and rolling.
The first recorded mention of the words “rock” and “roll” together? That would be the Edison Quartet, who also went by the Haydn Quartet when not recording with old Thomas Alva. Their 1904 recording of Camp Meeting Jubilee contain the lyrics “rocking and rolling in your arms”. Here they are on a brown wax cylinder recording from 1904.
Censorship has been a big issue in the U.S. since, well, before there was a U.S.
You’re on the Sound Beat.
The first song officially banned on our soil was “A Song Made Upon the Election of New Magistrates To the City”, written by John Peter Zenger, owner of the first printing press in the colonies. Seems King George didn’t appreciate the mocking of local officials.
Fast-forward a couple centuries and banned songs took on a… slightly different subject matter, earning some of them the title of “dirty blues”. You wouldn’t hear them on the radio, but certain enterprising jukebox owners would make stacks of nickels from the ribald tunes. This one was no exception: You’re listening to Fluffy Hunter and the Jesse Powell Orchestra with “The Walkin’ Blues”, a Federal record from 1953.
Sound Beat is produced at the Belfer Audio Archive, Syracuse University Libraries.
Image: Johannes Adam Simon Oertel. Pulling Down the Statue of King George III, N.Y C. ca. 1859. Oil on canvas. It is in the public domain, in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1923..
A little info from Wikipedia: Artist Johannes A. S. Oertel, working in the mid-nineteenth century, provides an imagined depiction of the destruction of George III’s statue in Bowling Green, the first victim of New Yorkers’ reaction to hearing news of the Declaration of Independence. Oertel places women, children and Native Americans among what eyewitnesses recorded as a rowdy crowd of soldiers and civilians. No true image of the statue itself survives. However, contemporary descriptions inform us that the King was sculpted in Roman garb, not the eighteenth-century royal dress shown in the painting.
For those who celebrate it, the big day is here. Many parents are bleary-eyed and sipping coffee while the kids riot in merry madness. But short as it was, your night was probably more restful than old Ebenezer Scrooge’s. Our gift to you: Scrooge’s Awakening, an Edison Blue Amberol cylinder released in 1914.
And for your stocking: listen to the whole thing right now, courtesy of the Belfer Cylinders Digital Connection.
Jim
Image: “Stave Four: The Last of the Spirits”, artist Fred Barnard, scanned by Philip V. Allingham” “Stave Four”
The story goes like this: Fats Waller, the great stride pianist, is playing in a club when he spots Art Tatum walk through the door. Waller stops, turns to the audience and announces: “I just play the piano, but God is in the house tonight.” Perhaps no pianist before or since has equaled Tatum’s technical and rhythmic mastery, harmonic imagination, and sheer ability to awe. Nearly blind since childhood, his trademark was the reworking of popular standards into solo showpieces. As was the case with his version of Cole Porter’s “Begin The Beguine”, recorded in 1940.
This episode was written in part by Syracuse University student Ryan Lu, as part of the Sound Beat Class Partnership project. To learn more about the program, visit soundbeat.org.
Carl Sandburg once called Ives “the mightiest ballad singer of this or any other century.” But his fellow performers might have described him with slightly different words. We’ve talked quite a bit on the show about careers that suffered during the McCarthy /blacklisting era. We haven’t talked about any that made it through unscathed. When the Senate called Ives to testify, he saved himself with the claim that he only fraternized with his fellow folk singers to stay working. Oh, and he pretty much named Pete Seeger a communist, resulting in his ban.
Years of bad blood passed. During the folk revival of the 60’s, Seeger and his “comrades” experienced career upswings, while Ives found himself on establishment’s side in decidedly anti-establishment times.
“Blue Tail Fly” was the last song Ives ever played in concert. And it was a duet… with Pete Seeger. The two reunited for a benefit concert in 1993.
Frederick Cook claimed to reach the North Pole in 1908, which would make him the first man to do so. And while some believed him, not enough did. You’re listening to a 1910 recording of….Robert F. Peary. History books credit him with the Pole’s discovery in 1909. So why the uncertainty?
The entire north polar region is sea, covered by floating ice, which, when you factor in wind and ocean currents, makes a permanent marking impossible.
While the honor currently belongs to Peary, experts are divided as to whether Cook, or neither, reached the pole. That’s right, some believe both expeditions were off base. Read more.
Niccolo Paganini was the Jim Morrison of his day. He partied, drove the ladies wild, and was even rumored to have dabbled in the occult.
Paganini was a violin virtuoso. He could play three octaves across four strings. Ask your local fiddler; that’s all but impossible.
Paganini’s seemingly supernatural talents made him a celebrity, but also inspired rumors that he’d made a pact with the devil. There’s another theory out there, and this one’s a bit more scientific. Some experts believe he had Marfan Syndrome. This connective tissue disorder can result in longer arms, longer fingers … and hyper flexible hands.
You’ve been listening to Paganini’s Caprice no. 24, recorded in 1920 by Jascha Heifetz, another great master of the instrument.
Sound Beat is produced at the Belfer Audio Archive, Syracuse University Library.
Yup there it is. You know that feeling you get whether you’re in church, or a meeting, or somewhere where you really shouldn’t be laughing? Where you just can’t…quite…stop?
The Okeh Laughing Record was recorded in Germany and released in 1923, and was an immediate seller, hitting the Billboard charts and reached number eight. It wasn’t listed as a foreign language record because, well, everyone understands laughter. And, it’s particularly unique in that the eh, performers, were not credited, making it the first and only anonymous record to ever chart.
Want to hear the whole thing?
Image: “Chatterbox”, used through Creative Commons license, Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0.
You’re listening to Peetie Wheatstraw on the keys, playing Crazy With the Blues from 1936. Wheatstraw left an indelible mark on the St. Louis blues scene. He was known for that trademark “woo woo boy”, and of course his rather laid-back policy towards proper word formation. In fact, fellow blues great Blind Teddy Darby once overheard an audience member yell out “Good God, why doesn’t that man yodel and be done with it?”
Wheatstraw billed himself as a bad dude, claiming association with the Dark Prince. He even named his records The Sheriff of Hell and The Devil’s Son in Law.
This live version of “25 Minutes to Go” is from Johnny Cash’s 1968 Columbia LP At Folsom Prison. The song gives a minute-by-minute description of a man awaiting the hangman’s noose.
Two thousand Folsom prisoners attended Cash’s famed performance at the prison a year earlier; however, Death Row residents were not allowed. On performing a song about an execution at a prison, Cash said, “I was trying to get things close to the bone.”
Who wrote the song that Cash used to accomplish this? None other than beloved children’s author Shel Silverstein, who also wrote the Cash classic “A Boy Named Sue.”
This episode was co-written by Syracuse University student Josh Daghir as part of the Sound Beat Class Partnership.
Image: “Folsom Prison, East Gate”. The image is in the public domain.
Richard Adler and Jerry Ross wrote the song “Whatever Lola Wants (Lola Gets)” for the 1955 Broadway musical Damn Yankees. RCA Victor released this recording that year, with Dinah Shore singing and Henri René conducting. Inspiration for the character in this Tony Award-winning production came from notorious dancer and actress Lola Montez.
Born in Ireland in 1820 or 1821 her birth name wouldn’t have rolled off the tongue as easily.
“Whatever Marie Dolores Eliza Rosanna Gilbert wants…” ,
From adulterous outcast to Spanish dancer, to Franz Liszt’s lover and eventually Bavarian countess, she certainly seemed to get what she wanted. Find more on Montez right here.
This episode was co-written by Syracuse University student Kate Capodanno, part of the Sound Beat Class Partnership.
William McKinley was as popular as presidents come, a saying that may need to be adjusted for inflation. On September 6th, 1901, Leon Czolgosz waited in line to meet the president at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo NY. He fired two shots into McKinley’s stomach, and while the president battled his wounds for more than a week, he finally succumbed to gangrene. Czolgosz’ trial began 10 days later. He’d be found guilty within hours, and in a morbid twist of fate, would be sentenced to death by electric chair. The major theme of the exposition that year had been…the dazzling power of electricity.
You’ve been listening to the Columbia Quartette, with a…Columbia cylinder from 1902.
A mother’s lament that perfectly encapsulated American anti-war sentiment.
You’re on the Sound Beat.
The Peerless Quartette recorded I Didn’t Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier in January of 1915. Alfred Bryan wrote the lyrics, and they drew a sharp line between those who supported the US entering the Great War and those who opposed. The opposition: pacifists and isolationists, natch, but also Protestant ministers, German Americans, and Irish Americans, who weren’t eager to support the British. Then there was the other side. Harry Truman, National Guard Captain at the time, didn’t love the tune; the place for women who opposed war, he said, was “in China—or by preference in a harem—and not in the United States.”
The sheet music sold to the tune of 700,000 copies in the first 6 months, making it one of the biggest hits of that year.
Check out more episodes now at soundbeat.org.
Sound Beat is produced at the Belfer Audio Archive, Syracuse University Libraries.
I’m Brett Barry.
Image: “British soldiers moving forward during the Battle of Broodseinde”, Photo by Ernest Brooks. It is in the public domain, as it was created by the United Kingdom Government and taken prior to 1 June 1957.
Legend has it this song came to Williams while with fiancé Billie Jean Horton. Just driving around, talking about standard fiancé stuff…like, his ex-wife.
You’re on the Sound Beat.
While telling his future bride about his former’s infidelities, he cried out that one day Audrey’s “Cheatin’ Heart” would pay. A hit was born, and, probably, so was a discussion re: whether or not he was really over his ex-wife.
MGM released the song in January 1953, just weeks after Hank’s death at age 29. In 2004 “Your Cheatin’ Heart” was named #1 in CMT’s list of the 40 Greatest “Done-Me Wrong Songs”.
This episode was co-written by Alexis Lisser, part of the Sound Beat Class Partnership. Find out more right now at soundbeat.org
Sound Beat is produced at the Belfer Audio Archive, Syracuse University Libraries.
Hughes Mearns wrote “Antigonish” in 1910. Composers Harold Adamson and Bernard Hanighen added the melody to the poem and crafted the song “The Little Man Who Wasn’t There” in 1939…and picked up songwriting credits for doing so. In July of that year, Glenn Miller, his orchestra, and Tex Beneke released this record on the Bluebird label.
The poem’s eerie lyrics have been used in films, tv, books and other songs, and were based on reports of a haunted house in Antigonish, Nova Scotia.
This episode was co-written by Hasmik Djoulakian (Joo-lock-ee-en), part of the Sound Beat Class Partnership.Photo credit: https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/142/356275548_063f0133fd_z.jpg?zz=1
It’s that age old tale of love and marriage…and money.
You’re listening to the Opening Overture of Franz Lehar’s 1910 operetta Der Graf von Luxemburg. We are often our own harshest critics; before it’s debut, Lehar called the piece ‘Sloppy work, completely useless.’ Despite his opinion, the play ran for 299 straight performances in its original run. The story tells of a bankrupt playboy count, approached by a Russian prince with a…semi-indecent proposal. He’ll pay the Count’s debts if the Count agrees to marry the object of his affection.
Alas, she is but a lowly opera singer, and beneath his marrying station.
The marriage would be a sham, (but, really, what marriage isn’t? Sorry…happy anniversary, honey.) Anyway, the move would make her royalty, a divorce would make her single, and the Prince would make her his wife.
How could it possibly go wrong? Find out right here.
This episode was written in part by Syracuse University student Craig Kober as part of the Sound Beat Class Partnership.
Considered one of the most influential saxophonists in history, Lester “Prez” Young succeeded Coleman Hawkins at the height of the swing era.
You’re on the Sound Beat
He’s backed by his quintet on the piece, as he plays over the standard 12 bar blues. But much like his famous predecessor’s breakthrough recordings, the song lacks a clear lead melody, giving way to improvisational piano, and, of course, that sax.
Young got his nickname from Billie Holiday. It was Young who gave Billie her famous “Lady Day” moniker. She returned the favor, dubbing him “Prez”… as in the president of all saxophonists. And you’ll get no argument from us.
This episode was written in part by Syracuse University student Brent Kelley, as part of the Sound Beat Class Partnership project. To learn more about the Partnership, click here!
Perry Bradford wrote Crazy Blues and the great Sophie Tucker was originally slated to record. When she was unable to make the session due to illness, Bradford convinced record execs to let jazz singer Mamie Smith fill in. Here she is on that OKEH label recording from 1920.
That last minute substitution would prove historic, marking the first time a black singer appeared on a blues record…one that sold over a million copies in just six months. Music historians credit the song’s success with opening the proverbial door for artists like Bessie Smith, Blind Lemon Jefferson and Ma Rainey, and, indeed, many, many more.
For more on the historic session,
Photo: “MamieSmith” by unknown. Original uploader was Emerson7 at en.wikipedia – Transferred from en.wikipedia; transferred to Commons by User:Darwinius using CommonsHelper.(Original text : This image has been downloaded at http://culan.org/main.htm). Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons – http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MamieSmith.png#mediaviewer/File:MamieSmith.png
Sholom Secunda was a songwriter, not a fisherman. But he could tell you all about the “one that got away.”
When Secunda sold a catchy Yiddish tune to a publisher in 1932, he did so for $30, or about $500 today. But when a-relatively-unknown trio of sisters released the song six years later, it went on to sell millions. Here are the Andrews Sisters in 1938 with “Bei Mir Bist Du Schon”
As you can hear, the only Yiddish that remained in the song was the title, though it was also printed as the German “Bei Mir Bist Du Schon”. But anyway you say it, it translates as “To Me, You Are Beautiful.” It put the Andrews Sisters on the map, and was the first gold record by a female vocal group.
And as for poor Sholom Secunda… Not all stories have happy endings...but this one does:
“Remarkably, Secunda was not bitter about losing out on more than $350,000 in royalties throughout the years. As he told The New York Times, ‘”It bothered everyone else more than it bothered me. I’ve been more interested in my symphonic music.”‘
Fortunately for Secunda, the story of his most popular composition has a happy ending. In 1961, the copyright on “Bei Mir Bist Du Schön” expired, reverting ownership to Secunda and Jacobs. They immediately signed a contract with Harms, Inc., the music publishing company that had acquired the rights from the Kammen brothers. This time Secunda negotiated for himself the full percentage of the composer’s royalties. Current copyright law holds that this will remain in effect until 75 years after his death.“
FROM www.dvrbs.com/swing/SholomSecunda-BeiMirBistDuSchoen.htm
Few today recognize the name Euday Bowman, yet during ragtime’s heyday Bowman’s 12th Street Rag was one of the most well recognized tunes around. He wrote the tune in 1897, and over the next half century, it made a lot of money for a lot of people…uh, Bowman not among them. Though “the Rag” was credited with reinvigorating ragtime, made famous by jazz legends like Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington, and featured in a Charlie Chaplin film, Bowman had sold the copyright in 1916 for a $100. It was a mistake he would regret the rest of his life, and, not to be overly dramatic, but it may have also killed him. In 1949, on a trip to New York to appeal for song royalties, he…caught pneumonia and died days later.
This episode was written in part by Andrew Troast, part of the Sound Beat Class Partnership.
When you think of early aviators, names like Wright, Earhart and Lindbergh probably spring to mind. But unless you’re a confessed aviaphile, names like Cole, Fitzmaurice and von Hünefeld probably do not.
You’re on the Sound Beat.
When the three made an emergency landing in Greeley Island, Canada in 1928, they’d completed the first transatlantic flight, from East to West, mind you. It’s a much more difficult trip in that direction due to dangerous headwinds. As a matter of fact, Charles Lindbergh hopped a ride aboard the USS Memphis on the way home from his famed New York to Paris jaunt.
You’re listening to “They Landed Over Here From Over There” recorded by Arthur Fields that same year (1928).
Headed on a flight yourself? Load up your personal listening device with our podcast, available at iTunes.
Sound Beat is produced at the Belfer Audio Archive, Syracuse University Libraries.
Do not adjust your radio. It’s actually supposed to sound like this.
You’re listening to Florence Foster Jenkins struggle her way through Lyadov’s The Musical Snuff Box. Jenkins was…just a bad singer. But she was also determined to be one. She ignored the early advice of her family and her husband…who would, incidentally, become her ex husband. (Maybe she sang in the shower?)
Critics said she lacked pitch and rhythm. Others said she flat out lacked ability. But Jenkins didn’t listen to any of ‘em. In her own words “People may say I can’t sing, but no one can ever say I didn’t sing.” Indeed. She won out though, establishing a cult following, and even selling out Carnegie Hall!
Waltzing Matilda is one of Oz’s best loved songs and a common refrain at national sporting events. Peter Dawson is another Aussie favorite; the bass-baritone’s recording career spanned half a century. A Matilda, in this case, is a bag or sack, and to “Waltz Matilda” is to travel the countryside, or the bush, with a bag in tow.
The song involves a hobo, a sheep, and the authorities, though you might have a hard time deciphering the language. If that’s the case, we’re happy to help you out. Click here for a different version by Rolf Harris which contains a bit of explanation, and accordion, for good measure.
For listeners of a certain age, a song about King Tutankhamen immediately brings Steve Martin to the mind’s theater. His “King Tut” mock-reprimanded the commercialization of the Treasures of Tutankhamen exhibit that toured from 1976 to ’79. But this one, “Old King Tut”, was recorded in 1923, the year AFTER the ancient Pharaoh’s tomb was found.
Howard Carter and company made the discovery at a time when many had abandoned the famous Valley of the Kings. Shortly after confirming the validity of their find, Carter sent a telegraph to the dig’s sponsor, Lord Carnarvon:
“At last have made wonderful discovery in Valley; a magnificent tomb with seals intact; re-covered same for your arrival; congratulations.”
But When Carnarvon arrived three weeks later, the team found that they’d not been the first visitors to the tomb:
“At first, their enthusiasm was somewhat dampened, for at the top left-hand corner of the blocking were signs of re-closure, suggesting that the tomb had been entered during antiquity. They began by clearing the descending corridor, which also showed signs of a robber’s efforts. By 4:00 pm on the afternoon of November 26th, the corridor was cleared and the team found a second door, again faced with plaster, stamped over with oval seals, and re-closed at the top left-hand corner. Not knowing what lay behind this doorway, Carter made a small hole in it and inserted a candle to test for foul gases. He then peered into the void beyond, reporting:
“At first I could see nothing, the hot air escaping from the chamber causing the candle flame to flicker, but presently, as my eyes grew accustomed to the light, details of the room within emerged slowly from the mist, strange animals, statues, and gold – everywhere the glint of gold”.”
Read more: http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/carnarvon.htm#ixzz47stLcRLWImage: Howard Carter in Tutankhamen’s tomb, photographed by Harry Burton, created in 1922. The image is in the public domain.
You’re listening to Anchors Aweigh by the United States Naval Academy Band, and…
You’re on the Sound Beat.
Spelling seldom makes for great radio, but “Aweigh” in this case is spelled “A-W-E-I-G-H”, and it means that the anchors have been raised, and the ship is ready for action. It also makes this the perfect fight song for the US Naval Academy.
The song was composed by Charles Zimmerman, the bandmaster of the Naval Academy Band, in 1905. It was first played publicly at the 1906 Army-Navy game, and spurred the team to a 10-0 victory, the first time they’d won the rivalry game in 6 years.
You’re listening to the very first recording of the song, made by Columbia in 1920.
Check out more college fight song info on our blog.
Photo info
This version of Partita Number 1 in B Flat Major was recorded by Walter Gieseking in 1950.
It’s perhaps ironic that Bach’s compositions are celebrated worldwide; in his entire life he never strayed more than 200 miles from his birthplace of Eisenstadt, Germany. But his influence has been felt all over the globe, and through every generation since. Bach translates literally as “brook”, but as Beethoven put it, “His name should not be brook, but Ocean.”
Johannes Sebastian der Ozean. Has a nice ring to it.
Want to hear some more classical-themed episodes? Go to soundbeat.org and type “classical” in the search bar.
Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five first recorded “Caldonia” in 1945. This recording is a rerelease from 1947, the year that Jordan and Moore divorced. Apparently, being sent to the hospital with stab wounds was Jordan’s idea of a dealbreaker. Though, there was one other deal to address: Jordan had listed Moore as the writer of “Caldonia”, enabling him to sidestep publisher agreements, and she retained the royalties after the divorce.
His thoughts on the arrangement: “She didn’t know nothin’ about no music at all. Her name is on this song and that song, and she’s still getting money.”
This episode was co-written by Syracuse University student Alicia Drummond as part of the Sound Beat Class Partnership.
Django Reinhardt was a pioneer of European jazz, and one of the most influential guitarists of all time. But we almost never heard a note.
In 1930 Reinhardt was an eighteen year-old gypsy living on the outskirts of Paris, playing jazz gigs while his wife made and sold paper flowers. One evening an overturned candle caught a flower and set their caravan ablaze. He was badly burned, and especially on his left hand. He emerged with full use of only two fingers. But, as you can hear…it didn’t slow him down. From 1942, this is The Quintet of the Hot Club of France, with “Belleville”.
How did guitar god Jimi Hendrix honor Django Reinhardt?
Hendrix named his group “Band of Gypsys” in Reinhardt’s honor.
Square dancing evolved from folk dances of several different countries. It provided early American settlers with welcomed socialization, a respite from the loneliness of the frontier. And it’s instantly recognizable when you hear the caller shout out directions, whether you’ve seen it on tv or do-si-doed yourself. This is the Blue Ridge Duo with an Arkansas Traveler Breakdown from 1925.
There are two subdivisions of the dance: traditional and Modern Western. Traditional square dances very region to region, but don’t bring your New England style to a Modern Western, or simply Western, square dance. And you’d best dress for success…most dances call for traditional square dance attire…black-bolo affairs, if you will.
Want to see the oddest square dancing video out there? Click here.
In the 1920s and 30s, boxing was one of the most popular sports in the country. It and other forms of entertainment provided cheerful moments of respite from the gloom the Depression cast over the nation. In the movies and on radio, the public clamored for heroes like Superman and the Lone Ranger. But in the boxing ring, James Braddock proved himself the real life equivalent. After some inopportune losses and injuries, his career floundered, until a winning streak put him in the ring with Max Baer, the Heavyweight Champion of the World on June 13, 1935. If you haven’t seen Ron Howard’s film…spoiler alert: He wins.
You’ve been listening to the Fontane Sisters with “The Cinderella Work Song”.
Want to see that championship bout? Click away.
You’re listening to “the Cajun national anthem”, sung and…fiddled…by Harry Choates on a Modern Music 78, and…
You’re on the Sound Beat.
Choates initially recorded “Jole Blon” (translated as “pretty blonde”) in 1946 for Gold Star records. It served as the B side, but when a Houston-area DJ played it instead of the A side, Basile Waltz, the rendition of the much-loved Cajun classic became a big hit. It was the first one for Gold Star records, and so big in fact that the recording was licensed to Modern Music for distribution.
In an all-too-common happening in the world of music, Choates didn’t see much of anything from the sales of the record. His payment, according to legend: 100 dollars and bottle of whiskey.
Photo: Wally Gobetz – A Harry Choates 78 from an exhibit at Barbara Jordan Terminal at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport https://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyg/8028244820/
All Shook Up was the top song of 1957, and Elvis Presley’s second biggest hit ever. He’s backed here by the Jordanaires, and he’s on guitar and percussion at the same time. That sound right there? That’s Elvis slapping on the back of his Martin D-28.
It’s believed manager Colonel Parker had something to do with getting the King a cowriting credit on this one. Popular belief cites Otis Blackwell as the true author, on a challenge from a friend who witnessed him shaking a bottle of Pepsi. Presley himself had this to say in an interview that year: “I’ve never even had an idea for a song. Just once, maybe. I went to bed one night, had quite a dream, and woke up all shook up. I phoned a pal and told him about it. By morning, he had a new song, ‘All Shook Up’.”
Image: Uncredited, Elvis performing live at the Mississippi-Alabama Fairgrounds in Tupelo, Mississippi, September 26, 1956. This work is in the public domain because it was published in the United States between 1923 and 1963 and although there may or may not have been a copyright notice, the copyright was not renewed**
You’re listening to Walter Huston recite the words of Walt Whitman in a Decca recording from 1947 and…
You’re on the Sound Beat.
Whitman published his famous elegy to Abraham Lincoln in “Sequel to Drum-Taps”, an 1865 pamphlet containing 18 poems about the American Civil War as well as “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d”. Who said self-publishing doesn’t work?
If you are going to publish your work on your own, you’ve got to have artistic and editorial vision. Whitman kept revising the poem, even after publication, and even corrected newspaper editors for using earlier versions.
You’re listening to Edward M. Favor who recorded Mary and the Lamb to cylinder in 1892. But…it wasn’t the first recording of the poem…as a matter of fact, Edison himself used the first couplet as the first test recording on his phonograph invention, in 1877. The famous nursery rhyme was published in 1830, written by New Hampshire schoolteacher Sarah Hale. The inspiration reportedly came from a student who, you guessed it, regularly brought a pet lamb to her schoolhouse. And you thought students with cellphones were distracting.
Favor was, perhaps obviously, one of the first recording stars, and a popular vaudeville act. He was known for classics of the time like “Daisy Bell” and, ahem, “Who Threw the Overalls in Mrs. Murphy’s Chowder?”
Sarah Hal is perhaps the driving motivator behind our celebration of Thanksgiving. Check out more right here.
Sound Beat is produced at the Belfer Audio Archive, Syracuse University Library.
I’m Brett Barry.
Rocket 88 is one of many songs credited as the first in Rock and Roll history. It’s also one of the first to use guitar distortion…but, not on purpose.
The story goes like this…in 1951, as Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats made their way to the recording studio to record Rocket ’88, the guitar amp’s woofer was damaged. One band member claims it was dropped, while another faults moisture from heavy rain that day. The result: that slightly-fuzzy, just-plain-rock-and-rolly, sound that would be emulated to this day.
The Cats usually went by a different name: Ike Turner’s Rhythm Kings; That’s Ike on piano. The song was named for the fastest car on the road at the time, the Oldsmobile…Rocket 88. The car would dominate the NASCAR circuit in the 50’s.
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Ledbetter, better known as Leadbelly, was twice convicted: once for trying to kill a man, and once for following through with it. After the first, he wrote a song of appeal to the governor of Texas, Pat Neff. Neff, incidentally, had vowed never to grant a pardon as governor. He did though, in 1925, but he might not have bothered. Less than 5 years later, Ledbetter committed his second crime. And, somewhat unbelievably, received another pardon, this one from Governor O.K. Allen. Here he is with Gallis Pole from 1939.
In the song, a condemned woman pleads for her life, asking family and friends for bribes in order to escape hanging. There are many variations on the same theme…in some she escapes, and in some, the money never comes.
The tune got Led Zeppelin in a bit of hot water, as claims were made that the supergroup plagiarized Ledbetter on their version. While he is listed as the songwriter on some of his releases, it’s more accurately listed on others as “Traditional”. On Led Zeppelin III, this song is credited as “Traditional, arr. Page/Plant”. Page himself acknowledged both Leadbelly and Fred Gerlach as sources of inspiration. What do you think? Get the Led out right here.
You’re on the Sound Beat, listening to Act 2, Scene 4 of Euridice, based on the story of Orpheus and Euridice, from Ovid’s “Metamorphoses”. It is one of the first operas. Period. The genre’s origins came about as a result of the Florentine Camerata, an organization of Florence’s finest musicians, thinkers, etc, that met at Count Giovanni de Bardi’s salon. This was the work of Jacopo Peri (Ya-copo Pair- ee). first performed on October 6th 1600 in Florence. Peri himself played the role of Orpheus. Except they would have called it Or-feo. And they wouldn’t have said (English version) Eurydice.
You’re listening to Big Maceo, a pioneer of Chicago Blues, and you’re on the Sound Beat.
Big Maceo, also known as Maceo Merriweather, recorded Worried Life Blues in 1941. It was released by Bluebird Records. He’s accompanied by the legendary Tampa Red on guitar. As is often the case, this traditional song was inspired by an earlier one, Someday Baby Blues, by Sleepy John Estes in 1935. It’s got more of a country blues feel, as opposed to the Chicago Blues that Big Maceo was known for. His moderate-tempo eight-bar blues style helped transform the blues, moving towards that “Chicago urban” style, with a more sophisticated improvisation, using the piano as his main instrument.
This episode was co-written by Syracuse University student Jacqueline Attia as part of the Sound Beat Class Partnership.http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1d/Worried_Life_Blues_single_cover.jpg
You’re on the Sound Beat.
That singer you hear…what’s your mental image? An elderly woman? A young boy? How about… a 44 year old man? This recording represents the end of a very weird period in music’s long, weird history. Alessandro Moreschi was the last of the castrati, opera singers who had been (ahem) castrated before puberty. That’s one way around that awkward voice changing stage.
Here’s Moreschi with the Christian hymn “Laudamus Te”.
So…a castrati’s voice wouldn’t break, but had the force of fully developed lungs behind it. Castration was outlawed in Italy in 1870, and Moreschi was the only castrati to make solo sound recordings.
Time out for trivia: How many boys were castrated yearly at the height of castrati craze 40, 400, or 4,000?
You probably guessed it…4,000. Eww. Here’s a good site with more than you’d ever want to know on the topic.
You’re listening to: Jaudas’ Society Orchestra on an Edison Blue Amberol cylinder from 1919 and…
You’re on the Sound Beat.
The Girl Behind the Gun, from the musical comedy of the same name, was composed by Ivan Caryll.
The play opened at the New Amsterdam Theatre in New York on September 16, 1918. The book and lyrics were written by the popular team of PG Woodehouse and Guy Bolton. Wilda Bennett and Donald Brian starred.
It would close in February of 1919 and reopen later that year in London with a new title: “Kissing Time”. Sterling Holloway and Yvonne Arnaud led a star studded cast for 430 performances.
You can listen to the whole song and hundreds of other cylinders right now at the Belfer Cylinders Digital Connection.
Sound Beat is produced at the Special Collections Research Center at the Syracuse University Libraries.
Episode image: Scene from Kissing Time, printed in and scanned from “Kissing Time”, The Play Pictorial, May 1919, p. 82–95. This image is in the public domain in the United States because it was first published outside the United States prior to January 1, 1928.
This episode was written with Sound Beat intern Lincoln Marion.
“That’s the type of age that we live in. Bob Hope has described this age: it’s an age in which you might get a plane in Los Angeles, and by the time you take off develop hiccups, and you will “”hic”” in Los Angeles and “”hup”” in Washington D.C.
You’re listening to the “The Birth of a New Age” a Memo Records LP from 1956, and you’re on the Sound Beat.
You’re on the Sound Beat.
Daniel Sarmiento is curator, 20th century to present, at the Special Collections Research Center at the Syracuse University Libraries.
Hear more episodes featuring Birth of a New Age this week at Soundbeat.org
Sound Beat is produced at the Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries.
I’m Brett Barry.
“But you know there comes a time when people get tired. There comes a time when people get tired of being trampled over by the iron feet of oppression.”
You’re listening to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. addressing the National Negro Funeral Directors Association in August of 1956. When Dr. King addressed the group, he was president of the Montgomery Improvement Association, which guided the Montgomery bus boycott.
“And so these people in a state of tiredness decided to rise up in protest.”
“In this moment, black people are not asking for permission for anything.”
Jessica Terry-Eliott is a PhD candidate in History and Curatorial Assistant at the Special Collections Research Center at the Syracuse University Libraries.
“I’m not going to ask for humanity, I’m going to get it myself. You don’t have the right to deny me freedom. You don’t have the right to deny me humility. You don’t have the right to do any of those things. But I have all of the power to make sure that I can operate in society as a full citizen”
“The old world of colonialism and imperialism is passing away. The new world of justice and freedom being born.”
Hear more episodes featuring “The Birth of a New Age” this week at sound beat.org. Sound Beat is produced at the Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries.
Image used with permission of the Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries.
“The birth of a new age. The birth of a new age.”
You’re listening to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Addressing the National Negro Funeral Directors Association in August of 1956. You’re on the Sound Beat.
“Carlton Stevens was an engineer and not an audio engineer but as we understand it a metallurgical engineer. He kind of took it upon himself to say, to recognize, that this is going to be a speech worth recording.”
Daniel Sarmiento is Curator, 20th century to present, at the Special Collections Research Center at the Syracuse University Libraries.
“He enlisted a local artist Sterling Hykes to design the jacket, but also enlisted his wife, Carriebell, a librarian at the time, to read the biography on the jacket, and just an interesting story about how the record itself came into existence.”
“Wherever there is the emergence of the new there is the tragic recalcitrance of the old. So what we experience today the tensions which we witness in the world today are indicative of the fact that a new age is being born. And an old age is passing away.”
Hear more episodes featuring “The Birth of a New Age” this week at sound beat.org.
Sound beat is produced at the Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries.
You’re listening to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. addressing the National Negro Funeral Directors Association in August of 1956.
You’re on the Sound Beat.
When Dr. King addressed the group he was president of the Montgomery Improvement Association, which guided the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
“What the Montgomery Bus Boycott represents is a moment where there are real implications for the ways in which white supremacy operates. Not just in the south, but nationwide.”
Jessica Terry-Elliott is a Ph. D candidate in History at the Maxwell School and Curatorial Assistant at the Special Collections Research Center at the Syracuse University Libraries.
“We’re on the backdrop of World War II, we’ve entered into the Cold War. So in this global context if we’re really going to have the conversation about democracy versus the other thing, how can you sit here and deny democracy…to citizens?”
Hear more episodes featuring “The Birth of a New Age” this week at soundbeat.org
Sound Beat is produced at the Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries.
This image, entitled “Rosa Parks being fingerprinted by Deputy Sheriff D.H. Lackey after being arrested on February 22, 1956, during the Montgomery bus boycott“, is in the public domain in the United States because it was published in the United States between 1928 and 1977, inclusive, without a copyright notice.
“Come with me if you will, to the ruins of his home after a vicious bombing attack by midnight marauders.”
You’re listening to the voice of C.W. Lee as he prepares to introduce Dr. Martin Luther King. Jr.
“Hear him say: “”Put away your weapons, friends, and go home, and let there be no violence. Passive resistance will be our policy, and love will be our weapon.””
Lee introduced Dr. King to the National Negro Funeral Director’s Association in Cleveland Ohio on August 7th, 1956. Entitled “Birth of a New Age”, the speech was recorded and pressed in a small run, making this LP exceedingly rare.
“Hear him further say “”though my body be prostrate by an assassin’s bullet, the fight for justice and first class citizenship will continue.”” He is the embodiment of all of our ideals and leadership and the consummation of our hope. I have the honor to present to you Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. of Montgomery, Alabama.”
Hear more episodes featuring “The Birth of a New Age” this week here at soundbeat.org
Sound Beat is produced at the Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries.
Image credit Rowland Scherman – U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=46527326
This is “Stealin’ Stealin”, recorded by The Memphis Jug Band in 1928. It was one of the first recordings released by the Grateful Dead, on Scorpion records in June 1966. The band known for jamming, among other things, had their roots in jug band music. In fact, founding members Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir and Ron “Pig Pen” McKernan spent their pre-Dead days in a band called Mother McCree’s Uptown Jug Champions.
They’d move on to The Warlocks, but didn’t want to be accused of…stealin’. Two other bands at the time went by the same name. Ironically, the other two ditched the name as well…you know them by ZZ Top and The Velvet Underground.
So how’d they come up with the name Grateful Dead? From the website “The Straight Dope”:
The official story on the Grateful Dead, as related by Jerry Garcia in the book Playing in the Band, is as follows: “We were standing around in utter desperation at Phil [Lesh]’s house in Palo Alto [trying to think up a name for the band]. There was a huge dictionary, big monolithic thing, and I just opened it up. There in huge black letters was `The Grateful Dead.’ It … just cancelled my mind out.”
I’ll say — how often does the phrase “grateful dead” pop up in the average dictionary? But it turns out Garcia may not have hallucinated the whole thing after all. In the Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology and Legend, we find a page headed “GRATEFUL DEAD” in big type. Beneath this is an entry to the effect that the “grateful dead” is a motif figuring in many folktales.
Further investigation has turned up a rare volume of folklore entitled The Grateful Dead by G.H. Gerould (1908), lent to me by Straight Dope reader Charles Kroon. In it we find a typical grateful-dead story:
Graf Willekin von Montabour … learned that a beautiful and rich maiden had promised her hand to [whichever] knight should win a tourney she had established. Thereupon he set forth and came to the place announced for the combats. There he found lodging in the house of a man who would only receive him if he paid the debts of a dead man, whose body lay unburied in the dung of a horse-stall. Willekin was moved by this story and paid seventy marks, almost all his money, to ransom the corpse and give it suitable burial. He then had to borrow money from his host in order to indulge in his customary generosity. On the morning of the jousting he obtained from a stranger knight a fine horse on condition of dividing everything he won. He succeeded in [beating] all the other contestants, and so wedded the maiden. On the second night after the marriage the stranger entered his room and demanded a share in the marital rights. After offering instead to give all his possessions, the hero started from the room in tears, when the stranger called him back and explained that he was the ghost of the [presumably grateful] dead, then disappeared.”
Puts a different spin on “Sugar Magnolia,” I’ll tell you that.
In other Dead news, I learn that John Epler, a leading bug authority and loyal Straight Dope reader, has named a newly discovered species of chironomid midge after the Dead, namely Dicrotendipes thanatogratus. (Thanatos is Greek for death, gratus Latin for grateful.) Abrim with boyish enthusiasm, he sent the band a note, but can you believe it, the ingrates (oh, rich irony!) never bothered to reply! Maybe they were turned off by the gauche commingling of Latin and Greek. Or maybe they’re just too jaded. Whatever, when John names his second new bug, you can be sure I won’t forget the thank-you note.
Grateful Dead: Not ungrateful after allDear Cecil:
As John Epler may already know, the Dead are no more efficient than they have to be. The mail answerers are rummaging through the backlog in search of the Dicrotendipes thanatogratus note. Your column was the first anyone had heard about it, and it’s a nice flash.
For the record, naming the Dead took place at the house on High Street in Palo Alto on a November afternoon in 1965. The name was found in a regular Funk and Wagnalls dictionary, probably the 1956 edition.
Gerould’s book on the “grateful dead” legends is lovely. Stith Thompson also discusses them. [Typically the hero pays a dead man’s debts so his corpse can be buried. Later a stranger, who turns out to be the grateful dead man, joins the hero and offers his help, on condition that all winnings be equally divided.]
Is the grateful dead man tempting you? Are you making a moral decision? The flat hit you get from the words “grateful dead” can be enhanced by pondering what life situations the g.d. tales represent. When you listen to such tales you’re living on that level of symbolic transaction.
— Bill Legate, San Rafael, California
Two strums…two strums were all it took to make music history.
An electric pulse hits the listeners’ ears twice. Let’s hear it again: Few people at the time had heard the sound recorded. The year was 1938, and when trombonist and guitarist Eddie Durham recorded his arrangement of “Moten Swing” with the Kansas City Five, it was one of the first jazz recordings made with instrument.
But that wasn’t the end of Durham’s progressive ways.; He also organized one of the first all-female orchestras. And he invented the “non-pressure” technique; a way of playing the trombone without too much pressure on the lips, as to not leave behind a mark after playing.
This episode was written in part by Syracuse University students Seth Kluk-Barany and Meghan Mary Gibbs as part of the Sound Beat Class Partnership. For more on the SBCP, go to soundbeat.org right now.
Sound Beat is produced at the Belfer Audio Archive, Syracuse University Library.
I’m Brett Barry.
The banana may be the perfect food. A low calorie, fat-free natural antacid, it’s high in potassium, which reduces stress, and fiber…which…you know. In 1923, Frank Silver and Irving Cohn wrote Yes! We Have No Bananas reportedly inspired by a Brazilian banana shortage. You’re listening to Brazilian singer Almirante with “Nos Temos Bananas” recorded in 1938.
Others say it was written about a Greek grocer on Long Island, some point to the Windy City for the song’s origins. But the song’s title was used by painter Pavel Jerdanowitch for his critically-acclaimed 1924 painting. At least, that’s what the art community thought. It was all a hoax, propagated by the real painter to prove that the critics were all full of…uh, fiber.
It’s a great story of critical comeuppance. Read more here.
Ok, so we talk a lot about Cylinders on the show, and for those who have always been curious, but not curious enough to look it up, apparently…Before records were flat, they were cylindrical, and they were played on phonographs. Who can we thank for the invention? Good old Tom Edison, that’s who. And, look, we know it’s very “21st century” to mock the man for the Tesla feud, allegations of ruthless business dealings and, ahem, electrocuting that elephant…still, how’s that lightbulb thing working out for you?
The brown wax cylinder debuted in 1889. This recording, DeWolf Hopper’s “You Can Always Explain Things Away” was made the very next year.
Sound Beat is produced at Belfer Audio Archive, home to one of the largest cylinder collections on the planet. You can choose from over 1400 right now.
Most Atomic-era records seem to achieve, or at least attempt, a bit of humanistic fraternity…a “we’re all in this together” sort-of-vibe. Not so with this decidedly un-P.C. tune. It recounts the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, with mention of the “cruel old Japs” and naming the bomb “the answer to our fighting boy’s prayers.”
It was one of the earliest atomic-era records, recorded by Karl and Harty on December 4th, 1945.
The Everly Brothers released Bye Bye Love in 1957. It would propel Don and Phil Everly to music stardom. Not bad for a song they found in the proverbial junkpile. The song had been considered, and rejected, by 30 other performers before them. Maybe the Everlys had a thing for the underdog; A year earlier, when their first single with Columbia records flopped, the brothers had been promptly told “Bye Bye”.
They recorded this song with Cadence Records. It went all the way to number 2 on the Pop charts, planted firmly behind Elvis Presley’s “Let Me Be YourTeddy Bear”. It went to number 1 on the Country charts, though. Three decades later, In 1986, the Everlys were elected into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame.
The brothers have a “non-Elvis” Graceland connection. Don and Phil sang back-up on Paul Simon’s 1986 hit “Graceland”. Hear them in action right here.
Christian Friedrich Ludwig Buschmann was, perhaps, one of music’s great inventors…and, probably, one of 19th-century Germany’s worst neighbors.
This favorite folk song is All American, but railways themselves predate the country…by more than 2,000 years.
Few today recognize the name Euday Bowman, yet during ragtime’s heyday Bowman’s 12th Street Rag was one of the most well-known tunes around.
You might know Elvis’ version better, but Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller wrote the song for Big Mama Thornton.
What do bandleader Fred Waring, the polio vaccine and your favorite frozen drink have in common?
A little warm-up for St. Paddy's Day: Pete Seeger sings and picks a cheery-sounding tune about…workplace discrimination!
Those lyrics you hear, the “Never swat a fly, he may love another fly”…They’re cute, but they also hint at ideologies found in many world religions.
You’re listening to Jim Reeves with I Could Cry, an Abbott 45 from 1953, and…
Gentleman Jim Reeves had 51 top ten hits in a career cut short when a small plane he was piloting crashed in 1964. For your next Morbid Trivia Night: He was taught by the same man who taught Randy Hughes, Patsy Cline’s pilot, who of course had met the same fate a year earlier.
But Reeves’ records kept on coming. RCA Victor continued releasing unpublished songs, mixed with previously released tracks, and people kept buying them. Of those 51 top ten hits we mentioned, 19 came posthumously. And there was a Jim Reeves single on the charts every year from 1970 to 1984, nearly 2 decades after his death.
Beethoven initially considered Napoleon a kindred spirit; indeed, they were more or less the same age, grew up in modest households, and neither had to stoop to pass through doorways.
No matter what your line of work..it’s always good to have a back-up plan. Just ask James "Kokomo" Arnold.
Though he was son to a political activist and a penmanship expert, Len Spencer still knew how to have a little fun.
Vernon Dalhart, one of the founding fathers of country music, got his start in...New York City opera halls?
How do you know when you’ve pretty much nailed a song? Earning a nickname from it is usually a good indication
It’s ironic that celebrity marriages command such attention, when all seem to be made up of the same three key ingredients: Glitz, glamour and short life spans.
Arthur Sullivan was one of Britain’s most important composers, one half of a little theatrical team known as Gilbert and Sullivan.
Famed lawman Wyatt Earp has been the subject of nearly a dozen movies, but his role as on-set advisor for westerns would have a major impact on film history.
You’re listening to Johannes Brahms and the Banda de Estado Mayor de Mexico. That’s right, a Hungarian danza by a Mexican banda.
You're on the Sound Beat.
Brahms composed 21 danzas, basing them on Hungarian folk themes. Mostly…in fact, he thought this one, number 5, was based on a folk song, but that song turned out it to be an original composition by Béla Kéler.
You may have heard it in the Charlie Chaplin film “The Great Dictator”, in which Chaplin shaves a man to the tune. Brahms himself was cleanshaven until his mid-30’s. And, by the way, described as “Herculean”. Though A late-comer to the no-shave game, he ended up with a magnificent specimen towards the end.
Today, we take a closer look at Popeye: sailor man, spinach enthusiast and quite possibly the first superhero to grace the funny pages?
Instrumentation in the past century of recorded music has been dominated by guitars, drums, horns, and, more recently, keyboards and synthesizers. But some instruments have left their unique mark on the recording industry, distinguishing songs from the rest of the pack and in some cases, establishing inextricable connections between the ear and the mind.
For example, what does this song remind you of? Palm trees swaying in the breeze? Pristine waters, hula dancers, etc? That’s all thanks to the Hawaiian steel guitar. You’re listening to the Waikiki Hawaiian Orchestra with My Hawaiian Evenin’ Star, an Edison Blue Amberol cylinder released in 1926.
The easy, breezy sound translated into a big hit for Santo and Johnny Farina with their 1959 hit “Sleep Walk”, probably one of the most popular instrumental pop songs of all time.
Curiosity piqued? Check out more on the Hawaiian steel.
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/people/junnn/
The pioneers of Country music just sound Country, even by their first names. (Roy, Hank, Gene). Which is why Clarence Albert Pointdexter simply had to go.
So how do you get from Clarence to country?
Some call Dexter the father of honky tonk music, which can be a bit confusing without musical accompaniment. You see, there’s blues piano honky-tonk, a rollicking bridge between ragtime and boogie-woogie. But as you can hear, this is the other honky-tonk…another bridge, from Western Swing to what we now call “Country”.
(Pencil scribble effects courtesy of mckinneysounds via http://www.freesfx.co.uk/sfx/scribbles)
In 1936 Natalya Sats commissioned Sergei Prokofiev to compose a piece for Moscow’s Central Children’s Theatre. The goal: to introduce children to the principals of the symphony. Somewhat ironically, the Orchestra went unnamed in this 1938, 3-disc RCA Victor recording.
And while the initial reaction was lukewarm, Peter and the Wolf has introduced generations of youngsters, and probably some oldsters, to the various instruments of the symphony. More than one critic has viewed the piece as allegory for Soviet and world politics of the time. After all, it can’t be a mistake that the greatest Russian folk hero is…Peter the Great. For a reading of the Wolf as the Nazi threat, click through!
As far as boxing names go, there are lots of “Sugar Rays”, plenty of “Golden Boys”…but only one Cinderella Man.
Jay McShann gave birth to the “Kansas City Sound”, but this song has gone down in history as a beginning of another sort.
Jimmie Davis is regularly credited as creator of the classic “You Are My Sunshine”, heard here from 1941. But…if that’s true, then how did the Rice Brothers record it in 1939?
Jelly Roll Morton had a habit of making large claims, none larger than the prediction of his own death.
Who says bluesmen aren't poets? "Mr. Blues" himself with a nod to an early 20th century British modernist poet. And, a fair bit of double entendre.
The film Aleksandr Nevsky is a recounting of a 13th century prince’s rise to national hero-dom. But parallels to the storyline echoed through the USSR in the 1930’s.
You’re listening to the Jubilee Singers of Fisk University sing Peter on the Sea, from 1927,
Wicked author Gregory Maguire did much to elicit sympathy for the Wicked Witch of the West.
Before he broke most of baseball’s records, Babe Ruth made this one… or so Russell Hunting would have you believe.
“The Hunting Wolves”, an Edison cylinder recording made by Ernest Thompson Seton in 1920.
A man as prolific as Charles Trenet (850 songs published over a 60 year career) probably doesn’t rest much, even on the train.
You’re listening to Artie Wayne with Freddy Martin and His Orchestra and…
You’re on the Sound Beat.
While Howard Hughes’ aviation career is popularly associated with “The Spruce Goose”, the Hughes H-1 Racer set the landplane air-speed record in 1935, and it occupies a place in history that exists now, and may very well forever. Speaking of that, you’re listening to Now and Forever, from Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony. It was used in the 1943 film, “The Outlaw”, which Hughes produced.
As for particular place in history: when the H1 broke the record by travelling at 352 mph, it was the last civilian plane to break it.
As we know from Leonardo Dicaprio, and researchers, of course, Hughes was a man consumed with success. Upon crash-landing the H1 in its initial test run, he stepped from the downed plane and announced “We can fix her; she’ll go faster”.
You can’t help but admire the patriotism of a guy who lies about his age to get into the Navy. Especially if that age is 14!
There are a couple different definitions for a blue moon, both of them kind of rare, and neither of them have to do with color of any sort.
The moon has served as muse for countless numbers of poets, from the unnamed and unknown, to Shelley, Dickinson, and Kerouac. But only one of these had to worry about record label execs.
You’re on the Sound Beat.
You’re listening to Jack Kerouac reading his poem “The Moon Her Majesty”, on Dot Records' Poetry for the Beat Generation, with piano accompaniment by Steve Allen. The recording is significant in that it was released and then immediately recalled after a label exec heard the content and Kerouac’s, lets say, state of mind.
The recall letter came from Bernice Mason: “You will receive a Dot album titled “Poetry for the Beat Generation”. Dot has cancelled the release of the album for obvious reasons. Please do not review it on your publications. Thank you for your cooperation.”
130 copies are believed to have escaped the recall, and this is one of them.
Some believe Elvis liked Nashville’s RCA studio so much that…he never left. Presley recorded “I Was the One” as the b side to “Heartbreak Hotel”, his first RCA single, in 1956. It was later converted to a TV studio, but some claim Elvis never, well, left the building. Legend has it whenever Presley’s name was mentioned lights would blow out and unexplained noises would respond, sometimes over the pa system. The next time you see Elvis’s ghost, you can let everyone know. The King has his own iphone app, with a special built-in feature for logging Elvis sightings. That’s right....
The National Film Board of Canada honored Oscar Peterson with a short film, "Begone Dull Care", in 1949. It was directed by Norman McLaren and Evelyn Lambart. Using drawn-on-film animation, McLaren and Lambart paint and scratch directly onto film stock to create a visual representation of Oscar Peterson's jazz music.
Check it out here!
Who does the word “crooner” bring to mind? Sinatra, Bing, Buble? Well, if not for a terrible accident, Columbo might have headed that list.
You’re listening to the Palestrina Choir on a Victor 78 from 1927
And, you’re on the Sound Beat!
The choir is singing the Hymn to Apollo, one of the Homeric hymns: a collection of thirty-three anonymous ancient Greek hymns celebrating individual gods. It’s thought to have been written in 522 BC. Apollo is the son of Zeus, God of the Sun and light. His name was selected for NASA’s third spaceflight program by then manager Abe Silverstein because "Apollo riding his chariot across the Sun was appropriate to the grand scale of the proposed program."
Grand scale indeed, incorporating President John Kennedy’s stated goal of “"landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth". And though he would never see it, six Apollo missions would land astronauts on the Moon, with twelve men walking on the lunar surface. And every one of them returning home safely.
Charlie Chaplin would become the world’s biggest star, but the first emergence of the Little Tramp played second fiddle to…go-karts.
Where did you go in the 1930s when you wanted some of ground-breaking music that would become rock and roll? Sometimes…you just went to church.
Jack Owens was known as the Cruising Crooner, a name he earned by navigating the crowds…and paying special attention to the ladies
Merle Travis recorded the original 16 tons in 1946...though he did have a little help with its legacy.
It’s been said that farmers felt the stock market crash of 1929 less than most. For them, the Depression had already started years before.
Charles Lindbergh’s solo transatlantic flight made him a hero, garnered him presidential praise, and changed commercial flight forever.
This excerpt from Tom Sawyer, coming in the book’s second chapter shows Tom at his cunning, conniving best.
William James Basie got his start in Harlem, but he wasn’t “Count Basie” ‘til he got to Kansas City.
You’re listening to Nina Simone, the high priestess of soul. You’re on the Sound Beat. This song forbidden fruit is from the same titled album, released by Colpix in 1961. While it features the “call and response” found in styles such as gospel, jazz and the blues, Simone didn’t like to fit to define her music in that way. “Jazz is a white term to define black people. My music is black classical music.” Simone’s love for the music of Bach inspired her to become a classical pianist at a young age. We’re glad she made the switch. Check us...
History’s full of musicians claiming to have made deals with the devil. But only one claimed to have married into one.
That riff can only mean one thing…you’re listening to Chuck Berry…and you’re on the Sound Beat. Okay, two things.
The song you hear ”Let Me Call You Sweetheart” by Bing Crosby with Georgie Stoll and His Orchestra was recorded in 1934 on the Decca label.
You’re on the Sound Beat.
“Let Me Call You Sweetheart“ was originally written by Leo Freidman and Beth Slater Whinston in 1910.
The song was a big hit for Author Clough in May 1911 and a #1 hit for Henry Burr and the Peerless Quartet in November 1911
And this version is still popular today. In fact “Let Me Call You Sweetheart” by Bing Crosby was #3 on Apple Music’s top 200 jazz songs in Bolivia on January 27 2019.
This episode was written by Ian Coe. Artwork by Omari Odom. Watch a video of their work at Let Me Call You Sweetheart — Sound Beat - Syracuse University Videos
Arthur Godfrey was a 50’s tv and radio icon, an aviator, equestrian…but not such a great tour leader.
You’re on the Sound Beat
You’re listening to The 1000 Islands Song, a Columbia 78 recorded in 1947. The archipelago lies in the St. Lawrence River, on the US-Canadian border. There are actually about 1800 islands, each passing the stringent criteria of :A. being above water level year-round, B. Having an area greater than one square foot and C. bearing at least one living tree.
That island mentioned there, 793, is an actual one, belonging to…Arthur Godfrey. That’s right…it was gifted to him by Grant Mitchell of the 1000 Islands Admiralty in appreciation of the song. Check out more right here.
"BoldtCastle aerial" by Teresa Mitchell; levels adjustment by Howcheng. - Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
Il Travatore remains one of Guiseppe Verdi’s most popular operas, but it almost had a different name. Two, actually.
For the first quarter of the 20th century, the xylophone was a studio engineer’s darling.
Coleman Hawkins got it in him one day to stray from the jazz norm, and he opened the door for a new style of music.
Hawkins played tenor sax, which wasn’t really recognized as a jazz instrument until he helped make it one. Body and Soul, heard here from 1939, signaled a stylistic change in jazz; the improvisation throughout the song simply hadn’t been recorded in the genre. The end result? Bebop, a form of jazz dependent on improvisation and a snappy pace.
Hawkins directly influenced the greats that followed soon after. Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis would all play back up for Hawkins.
What extreme honor did the Library of Congress bestow on this recording?
In 2004, Body and Soul was entered into the LOC's National Recording Registry, for songs that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically important, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States."
Chances are you think of Houdini as the Father of Modern Magic…and you’re only one letter off.
The first copyrighted film was not a comedy, a thriller, but a…(ahem)...bodily function
Most kids take their piano lessons at school, or at a neighbor’s house. But Hazel Scott was always a bit above “chopsticks”.
Couples sway to the music, hand in hand, step matched for measured step. But we're not in Austria, or Vienna...we're in Ponce, Puerto Rico
Everyone knows John Philip Sousa for his marches. And, okay, so….yes, this is a march too, but so much more.
Perhaps the most popular song in American campaign history, and its very unlikely source.
Half a century after the Battle of Gettysburg, veterans from both sides gathered at the battle site to pay tribute to the fallen.
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues was included on Harris’ Blue Kentucky Girl, a Warner Brothers LP.
Jean de Brunhoff introduced Babar the Elephant to the world in1931…though some credit belongs to his wife and children.
Okay, so you probably know Sinatra’s version better. Frankie was even considered for Marlon’s Sky Masterson role, but studio execs wanted Brando’s box-office appeal front and center. As you can hear…well, he was no Sinatra. But he was aware of his own shortcomings… he even claimed that sound engineers fudged the results, dicing and splicing the recording to make him sound better. The only problem, he claimed: they left out the spots where he drew breath, giving the impression that the whole song was delivered with a single lungful. You decide: Apparently Sinatra and Brando had a…bit of a rivalry.
The dashing Rudolph Valentino certainly had the right look for silent films. The problem was, he had the right singing voice for them as well.
Dame Nellie Melba’s Farewell speech, recorded at Covent Garden in 1926. Plus...dessert!
Nighttime is often the right time for thoughtful reflection..especially when one is on guard duty in the Army.
You're listening to Pearl Bailey from 1946 and you're on the Sound Beat.
Pearl made her Broadway debut that year, performing "It's a Woman's Prerogative" in St. Louis Woman. Though audiences weren't enamored of the play, her performance marked the beginning of a decades-long love affair between Bailey and the American public. That "special time together" included a Tony award for Hello, Dolly! and later pop-culture staples like "The Love Boat", "The Muppet Show" and "Hollywood Squares".
Ol' softy President Richard M. Nixon made it all official in 1970 proclaiming Bailey "Ambassador of Love". The position was rumored to pay 80,000 hugs annually with a guaranteed pension of half that amount. Nixon even accompanied Bailey on the piano. Turns out he was an amateur composer. Click here for video of Nixon's Concerto No. 1...and some Truman jokes thrown in for good measure.
Here’s a succinct history lesson. “Istanbul was Constantinople. Now it’s Istanbul, not Constantinople.”
Tomato, to-mah-to, potato-po-tah-to...no matter how you say it, you’re on the Sound Beat.
Most married couples admit to occasional, let’s say…differences of opinion. Seldom are those…again, just differences of opinion, as productive as Ira and Lenore Gershwin’s. Their opposing pronunciations of words like “tomato” and “potato” led to the hit song “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off,”. It’s a conversational tune written by Ira and his brother George.
You’re listening to the silk-smooth vocals of The Ink Spots, who recorded this song for Decca in 1937. Since then, the song has been sung by artists like Billie Holiday and performed as a duet by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong. Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers performed it, on rollerskates mind you, in the 1937 movie Shall We Dance.
This episode was co-written by Syracuse University student Jill Comoletti as part of the Sound Beat Class Partnership. Find out more about the Partnership at soundbeat.org.
On today’s episode we’re talking electronic music…and the importance of a thorough resume.
You’re on the Sound Beat.
Miklos Rosza had long considered using electronic music in a film. He got his chance when director Alfred Hitchcock and producer David O. Selznick approached him about scoring 1945’s Spellbound. Wanting to add an atmospheric, contemplative air to the piece, he settled on the theremin.
Here’s a quote from Dr. Samuel Hoffmann.
I put down theremin on my card…without thinking much about it. When Miklos Rozsa thought of using a theremin in his score for Spellbound he called the union to see if any players were available. I was the only one listed at that time who could read music.
Before Rozsa’s call, Hoffmann was a practicing podiatrist in the Hollywood area. After the score won an Oscar, Hoffman and the theremin would feature in films like “The Day the Earth Stood Still”, “It Came from Outer Space” and more…see the whole list right now at soundbeat.org.
Sound Beat is produced at the Belfer Audio Archive, Syracuse University Libraries.
I’m Brett Barry.
Why did Governor Dewitt Clinton build a giant ditch across New York state? To get to the other side.
It was L. Frank Baum’s mother-in-law who encouraged him to write down the fanciful stories he told his kids. Seems he put a bit of himself into the tales, too.
In his hit “Caldonia,” Louis Jordan wasn’t singing about his wife Fleecie Moore’s “hard head”, but, you know, he could have been.
Robert Burns was also known as “the Ploughman Poet” and, in Scotland, simply, “The Bard”.
Alan Freed may have been the first to attribute "Rock and Roll" to a musical form, but he wasn't the first to use the words together.
Billie Holiday was known to record with ease, often needing only one take for her best studio recordings. This tune, however, was a whole different story.
What happens when the high-gloss worlds of archived sound and auto insurance collide? Hope you’ve got a policy for excitement.
How a little radio show from a little south pacific island chain became the largest in the world.
As a musician, Art Tatum was a true original – if a recording sounds like Tatum’s…it almost certainly IS Tatum’s.
Dave Alexander billed himself as Black Ivory King. You could say he was “better-known as”, but barely anything is known of the man at all.
Finding the North Pole is hard enough. The harsh terrain, subzero temperatures…oh, and the fact that the pole isn’t even located on land.
When Mary Godwin and Percy Bysshe Shelly met, in 1814, it was love at first sight. Which made his being married a bit awkward.
Legend has it this song came to Williams while with fiancé Billie Jean Horton. Just driving around, talking about standard fiancé stuff…like, his ex-wife.
This song, Since Henry Ford Apologized to Me, is a response to events surrounding Ford's newspaper, the Dearborn Independent. One of the largest publications in the US in the 20’s, it printed many anti-semitic articles, "The International Jew" among them. That particular gem proffered that “International financiers are behind all war. They are what is called the international Jew: German Jews, French Jews, English Jews, American Jews.” Lawsuits stemming from such articles eventually lead to the paper’s demise. Ford would later issue a statement apologizing for claims.
Enter Billy Jones and Ernest Hare, the Happiness Boys, with a tongue-quite-in-cheek forgiveness. Sheet music for the song was, allegedly, the first to mention Hitler by name, though some hear it as “Edsel”. For our money, it kind of sounds like the names are blended together, but you decide.
Sholom Secunda was a songwriter, not a fisherman. But he could tell you all about the “one that got away.”
Considered one of the most influential saxophonists in history, Lester “Prez” Young succeeded Coleman Hawkins at the height of the swing era.
For listeners of a certain age, a song about King Tutankhamen immediately brings Steve Martin to the mind’s theater. His “King Tut” mock-reprimanded the commercialization of the Treasures of Tutankhamen exhibit that toured from 1976 to ’79. But this one, “Old King Tut”, was recorded in 1923, the year AFTER the ancient Pharaoh’s tomb was found.
Howard Carter and company made the discovery at a time when many had abandoned the famous Valley of the Kings. Shortly after confirming the validity of their find, Carter sent a telegraph to the dig’s sponsor, Lord Carnarvon:
"At last have made wonderful discovery in Valley; a magnificent tomb with seals intact; re-covered same for your arrival; congratulations."
But When Carnarvon arrived three weeks later, the team found that they’d not been the first visitors to the tomb:
"At first, their enthusiasm was somewhat dampened, for at the top left-hand corner of the blocking were signs of re-closure, suggesting that the tomb had been entered during antiquity. They began by clearing the descending corridor, which also showed signs of a robber's efforts. By 4:00 pm on the afternoon of November 26th, the corridor was cleared and the team found a second door, again faced with plaster, stamped over with oval seals, and re-closed at the top left-hand corner. Not knowing what lay behind this doorway, Carter made a small hole in it and inserted a candle to test for foul gases. He then peered into the void beyond, reporting:
"At first I could see nothing, the hot air escaping from the chamber causing the candle flame to flicker, but presently, as my eyes grew accustomed to the light, details of the room within emerged slowly from the mist, strange animals, statues, and gold - everywhere the glint of gold"." Read more: http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/carnarvon.htm#ixzz47stLcRLW Image: Howard Carter in Tutankhamen's tomb, photographed by Harry Burton, created in 1922. The image is in the public domain.
When you think of early aviators, names like Wright, Earhart and Lindbergh probably spring to mind. But unless you're a confessed aviaphile, names like Cole, Fitzmaurice and von Hünefeld probably do not.
You're on the Sound Beat.
When the three made an emergency landing in Greeley Island, Canada in 1928, they'd completed the first transatlantic flight, from East to West, mind you. It's a much more difficult trip in that direction due to dangerous headwinds. As a matter of fact, Charles Lindbergh hopped a ride aboard the USS Memphis on the way home from his famed New York to Paris jaunt.
You're listening to "They Landed Over Here From Over There" recorded by Arthur Fields that same year (1928).
Headed on a flight yourself? Load up your personal listening device with our podcast, available at iTunes.
Sound Beat is produced at the Belfer Audio Archive, Syracuse University Libraries.
Cylinders served as much more than simple entertainment. This one aimed to capture, and perhaps ease, a nation’s sorrow.
It’s hard to imagine a jazzy Hit Parade favorite having once been a poem…and a super-creepy poem at that.
When Chick Webb first met Ella Fitzgerald in 1934, she was a shy, ungainly 16 year old girl...
Jack Hylton would become one of Britain’s foremost bandleaders, but got his start in barrooms…at the age of 8.
Perhaps no man is more qualified to sing a song of impending execution than the "Murderous Minstrel" himself, Huddie Ledbetter.
When you wanted a rare or even obscure 78, Records Revisited on West 33rd in New York was your place. Unless, that is, it was the last copy.
Wherever Bourke-White went, she seemed to train her photographer's eye to the major events of the middle of the 20th century.
In 1967, WSYR in Syracuse, NY issued the following message, an interruption to their scheduled broadcast.
Rossini’s Barber of Seville was the first Italian opera performed in the United States, but the first performance back home was met with boos and catcalls. (Literally…someone actually let a cat loose on the stage). All the animosity came from Barber of Seville fans…the first Barber of Seville opera, composed by Giovanni Paisiello. It predated Rossini’s by more than 30 years, and is considered Paisiello’s crowning achievement. You’ve been listening to Robert Merrill and the Metropolitan Opera chorus, recorded in 1958. There was even a third Barber of Seville opera in between those two versions, and all three were based...
Of the hundreds of thousands of Civil War deaths, perhaps none were more tragic than young Charlie King’s.
One of the first songs in rock and roll history, and maybe the first to use guitar distortion…but, not on purpose.
Whatever can explain the bikini’s popularity? I mean…It’s not rocket science…or, is it?
Yankee Stadium is commonly known as The House that Ruth Built, but in the 50’s, the same could be said of Atlantic Records.
You’re listening to Big Maceo, a pioneer of Chicago Blues, and you’re on the Sound Beat.
DeWolf Hopper was a favorite on the Vaudeville stage and starred in more than thirty Broadway musicals.
Hank Williams was well-known for his “heartbreak” songs, but this one’s just a bit different.
You’re listening to Anchors Aweigh by the United States Naval Academy Band, and…
You’re on the Sound Beat.
Spelling seldom makes for great radio, but “Aweigh” in this case is spelled “A-W-E-I-G-H”, and it means that the anchors have been raised, and the ship is ready for action. It also makes this the perfect fight song for the US Naval Academy.
The song was composed by Charles Zimmerman, the bandmaster of the Naval Academy Band, in 1905. It was first played publicly at the 1906 Army-Navy game, and spurred the team to a 10-0 victory, the first time they’d won the rivalry game in 6 years.
You’re listening to the very first recording of the song, made by Columbia in 1920.
Check out more college fight song info on our blog.
Photo info
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2-hTItnpuU
From Wikipedia:
Die MoorsoldatenWohin auch das Auge blicket. Moor und Heide nur ringsum. Vogelsang uns nicht erquicket. Eichen stehen kahl und krumm.Wir sind die Moorsoldatenund ziehen mit dem Spaten ins Moor.Wir sind die Moorsoldatenund ziehen mit dem Spaten ins Moor.Auf und nieder geh´n die Posten, keiner, keiner kann hindurch. Flucht wird nur das Leben kosten, vierfach ist umzäunt die Burg.
Wir sind die Moorsoldatenund ziehen mit dem Spaten ins Moor.Wir sind die Moorsoldatenund ziehen mit dem Spaten ins Moor.Doch für uns gibt es kein Klagen, ewig kann nicht Winter sein, einmal werden froh wir sagen: Heimat du bist wieder mein.
Dann zieh´n die Moorsoldatennicht mehr mit dem Spaten ins Moor.Dann zieh´n die Moorsoldatennicht mehr mit dem Spaten ins Moor Peat Bog SoldiersFar and wide as the eye can wander, Heath and bog are everywhere. Not a bird sings out to cheer us. Oaks are standing gaunt and bare.We are the peat bog soldiers,Marching with our spades to the moor.We are the peat bog soldiers,Marching with our spades to the moor.Up and down the guards are marching, No one, no one can get through. Flight would mean a sure death facing, Guns and barbed wire block our view.
We are the peat bog soldiers,Marching with our spades to the moor.We are the peat bog soldiers,Marching with our spades to the moor.But for us there is no complaining, Winter will in time be past. One day we shall rise rejoicing. Homeland, dear, you're mine at last.
No more the peat bog soldiersWill march with our spades to the moor.No more the peat bog soldiersWill march with our spades to the moor.
The full version For completeness, here is the full six-verse German version, together with a literal English translation.
Die MoorsoldatenWohin auch das Auge blicket. Moor und Heide nur ringsum. Vogelsang uns nicht erquicket. Eichen stehen kahl und krumm.Wir sind die Moorsoldatenund ziehen mit dem Spaten ins Moor.Wir sind die Moorsoldatenund ziehen mit dem Spaten ins Moor.Hier in dieser öden Heide ist das Lager aufgebaut, wo wir fern von jeder Freude hinter Stacheldraht verstaut.
Wir sind die Moorsoldaten etcMorgens ziehen die Kolonnen in das Moor zur Arbeit hin. Graben bei dem Brand der Sonne, doch zur Heimat steht der Sinn.
Wir sind die Moorsoldaten etcHeimwärts, heimwärts jeder sehnet, zu den Eltern, Weib und Kind. Manche Brust ein Seufzer dehnet, weil wir hier gefangen sind.
Wir sind die Moorsoldaten etcAuf und nieder geh´n die Posten, keiner, keiner kann hindurch. Flucht wird nur das Leben kosten, vierfach ist umzäunt die Burg.
Wir sind die Moorsoldaten etcDoch für uns gibt es kein Klagen, ewig kann nicht Winter sein, einmal werden froh wir sagen: Heimat du bist wieder mein.
Dann zieh´n die Moorsoldatennicht mehr mit dem Spaten ins Moor.Dann zieh´n die Moorsoldatennicht mehr mit dem Spaten ins Moor Literal translationWherever the eye watches Bog and heath all around No chirping of birds entertains us Oaks are standing bare and crookedWe are the bog soldiersAnd we are marching with our spade; into the bogWe are Bog soldiersAnd we are marching with our spade; into the bogHere inside this barren marshland the camp is built up, Where we are, far from any joy, stowed away behind barbed wire.
We are the bog soldiers etcIn the morning, all of us march towards our work. The we dig under the searing sun, But our mind yearns toward our home.
We are the bog soldiers etcHomeward, homeward everyone yearns to the parents, wife and children, some chests are widened by a sigh, because we are caught in here.
We are the bog soldiers etcUp and down the guards are walking Nobody, nobody can get through. Escape would only cost your life Four fences secure the castle.
We are the bog soldiers etcBut for us there is no complaining, It can't be an endless winter. One day we'll say happily: "Home! You are mine again!".
Then will the bog soldiersmarch no more with the spadesto the bog.
Barbecue is the best thing to happen to picnics since sliced bread…though if you want to get technical about it, you’d reverse the two.
February 3rd, 1959 will forever be known as the Day the Music Died. One account of the tragedy remained secret for years.
DISCLAIMER: Sound Beat, its producers and support staff do not, in any way, promote or condone the actions of 19th century Italian doctors or Opera House directors.
The history books are full of names of inventors who have, through struggle and determination, brought innovation to humankind. But what of those who make the ultimate sacrifice?
You’re listening to
You’re listening to Vaughn DeLeath with “Someday You’ll Say OK”, recorded in 1927 and… with “Someday You’ll Say OK”, recorded in 1927 and…
This song’s origins are debatable, much like the validity of…1920’s art critics? Ok, let’s see where this one’s going.
We’re going back, before tie-dye was even a thing, to the Grateful Roots: songs that influenced the Grateful Dead.
Who doesn’t appreciate a good old-fashioned sappy song now and again? Well, John Welch, for one.
“Guess I’ll Hang My Tears Out To Dry” was included in “Frankly Sentimental”, a four disc 78 set released by Columbia Records in 1949.
It’s Murder Ballad Week…You’re listening to the Story of the Knoxville Girl, by the Blue Sky Boys, and…
Perry Como was known for his crooning and his cardigan sweaters, both perfectly suitable for a Winter Wonderland.
Whether you’ve been planting tombstones in the front yard or planning on turning the lights off early, Halloween is here.
When the Apollo 11 crew returned home they splashed down 900 miles southwest of Hawaii in the North Pacific Ocean.
During their pioneering voyage Michael Collins made note of the “strange electronic-sounding music” Neil Armstrong played on cassette.
In total, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin stayed on the moon for about 22 hours, and got only about 2 hours outside the lunar lander. After that, it was all aboard for the trip back home.
Most anyone alive during the first lunar landing can tell you exactly where they were. For Dr. Story Musgrave it was a very special room in Houston.
50 years ago the Moon was the destination. Former NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe explains how, in the future, it could be just the jumping off point.
Paredoilia is the tendency to reconcile vague shapes as something you’re familiar with, like seeing shapes in clouds the craters of the moon: a little baby, a man…or a rabbit.
You’re listening to Marian Anderson with “Heav'n, Heav'n”, a Masterpiece 78 from 1943, and
You’re on the Sound Beat.
When Marian Anderson performed at Princeton University in 1937, she was one of the most famous singers in the world. None other than Arturo Toscanini, once told her she had a voice “heard once in a hundred years”. She was probably well-received by the crowd, but as an African American woman, she was also denied accommodation at a nearby hotel. Luckily, a gentleman in attendance offered her lodging for the night, and…probably some interesting conversation. His name: Albert Einstein.
The contralto and the physicist would remain lifelong friends. Anderson, as a matter of fact, stayed with Einstein just months before his death in 1955.
Read more here.
Photo: "Marian Anderson" by Carl Van Vechten - Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Van Vechten Collection, reproduction number LC-USZ62-42524.. Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
You can’t hear Auld Lang Syne and NOT think of New Years Eve. And you can think Guy Lombardo for that.
Josh White never served on a chain gang, but he had a whole other set of problems. Listen to the lyrics of this song from Josh White and His Carolinians in 1941. Arrested on Monday, tried on Tuesday, sentenced on Wednesday, and on Thursday he’s… (song lyrics “chain gang boun’”) White was persecuted as a suspected Communist during the McCarthy era. Not even his close friendship with Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, godparents to his son, could protect him. He was blacklisted at the height of his popularity. His career never recovered, but Josh White’s legacy lives on through his influence...
You’re listening to Ogden Nash read his poem: “Bankers Are Just Like Anybody Else, Except Richer”, and,
You’re on the Sound Beat.
What’s wrong with having a little fun in poetry? Ogden Nash was known for doing just that, which led to him having a little fun on tv, radio, and in collegiate lecture halls nationwide. Even the uninitiated will recognize some of his lines, no doubt: “If called by a panther/don’t anther” and “Candy/ is dandy/ but liquor/ is quicker”, to name a couple.
This 1943 Decca recording contained poems from his book “The Face is Familiar.” You can listen to the whole thing right here!
Photo: "Money" by 401 (K) 2012, made available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic.
Before Ram Jam made it a ‘70s anthem, Huddie Ledbetter recorded Black Betty, a Musicraft 78, in 1939.
Between 1939 and 1952 Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters recorded 46 times. Exactly half of those were major hit records.
Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians with a song about one of America’s favorite summer treats.
You’re listening to “On A Raft in the Middle of The Ocean” by Francis Faye, and you're on the Sound Beat!
Just what she always wanted: Walter Scanlan on an Edison Blue Amberol Cylinder from 1928.
You’re listening to “Oh, Boy!” by Buddy Holly and the Crickets, and a vocal group you may never have heard of…because they were left out of the credits.
In the nineteen-forties, American and German soldiers had little in common. Except the lyrics to this song.
Basil Fomeen was a composer, arranger, conductor and very nearly a one-man band. Born Wasily Fomin in Kharkoff, Russia, Basil Fomeen headed the…Basil Fomeen Orchestra. Here they are with 1928 Medley, Part 2 recorded in 1942. The Orchestra was a fixture at NY’s Savoy Plaza hotel and the Waldorf Astoria in the nineteen thirties, and performed with the USO during World War Two. Basil Fomeen is perhaps best known for his accordion arrangement of George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue”. He’s probably least known as the inventor of an instrument he called the ‘basiphon,’ a piano, harmonium, vibraphone, chimes, and cimbalom all...
At the outset, Big Rock Candy Mountain seems like a child’s dreamland. So…why all the cigarette trees?
Pete Seeger recorded his arrangement of “On Top of Old Smoky” with The Weavers in 1951, but the tune had been traveling the Appalachians and Ozarks for over a century. You’re on the Sound Beat.
The Weavers recorded the song for Decca Records and it reached #2 on Billboard that year. It’s classic Seeger, his characteristic songleading on display.
SONG CUE
Bing Crosby called Old Smoky “The big song of the year.” And it was no exaggeration: Burl Ives shared the Billboard list with the Weavers, reaching number 10 with the same song in the same year.
Of course, if you can listen to it and not think about spaghetti, sneezing and meatballs, more power to you.
This episode was co-written by Syracuse University student Dan Stack as part of the Sound Beat Class Partnership.
Not to be confused with Big Joe Turner, the "Joe Turner" in this song is actually Joe Turney.
You’re listening to a Victor recording of legendary Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne...
...and you’re on the Sound Beat.
This isn’t the famous “win one for the Gipper” speech, rather a re-creation of a pep talk Rockne would occasionally give his teams. He’d use whatever means necessary to rouse the Irish. Including, well, bending the truth a bit. Here’s former player Sleepy Jim Crowley on one such speech, during which the coach read a wire, (from “his son” who was “critically ill” in the hospital), that read “I want Daddy’s team to win”.
We won the 1922 Georgia Tech game for Billy….There was a big crowd to meet us at the station, and running around in front of everyone was 'sick' little Billy Rockne, looking healthy enough for a Pet Milk ad.
So, if you've never seen a Pet Milk ad...enjoy.
One of the most famous collegiate fight songs, and one of the most frequently mistaken titles.
You’re on the Sound Beat…with Anna Canoni, the granddaughter of Woody Guthrie.
Woody once said “If you use more than two chords you’re showing off”. But the simplicity of the music provides the perfect backdrop for Guthrie’s lyrics.
(Interview)
Many credit Woody with inventing the “Talkin’” format, with it’s free-formish, rambling melody. But Christopher Allan Bouchillon’s recording of “Talking Blues” was made 14 years earlier, in 1926.
Want to hear it?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPrnbGm7jas
You are listening to The Unknown Soldier's Grave, recorded in 1926 by Vernon Dalhart, and...
Most everyone knows the story of the pied piper…what you might not know is that the tale may be a true one.
We’re spoiled here at Sound Beat, listening to and learning about the very best recordings ever made. But as Syracuse University Libraries Cataloger Jennifer Vaughn tells us, sometimes great stories come out of the…not so great recordings.
Read the article right now.
Sound Beat is produced at the Belfer Audio Archive, Syracuse University Libraries.
I’m Brett Barry.
The number 13, black cats...this episode is best listened to while stomping on a mirror under a broken ladder.
Patrick Doyle's childhood home was filled with singing, and the effects would be long lasting. Here the composer reflects on the words of one of his father's favorites, Robert Burns.
He’s written scores for some of Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters, but Patrick Doyle initially struggled with calling himself a “composer”.
Famed film composer Patrick Doyle’s musical talent wasn’t always appreciated by those around him.
From a very young age, composer Patrick Doyle loved to make music…and, apparently, instrument modifications.
Film composer Patrick Doyle's earliest childhood memories sound, well, like something out of a movie.
“There's a dear little plant that grows in our Isle, 'twas Saint Patrick himself sure that set it.”
You’re listening to the Columbia Military Band with “Fight On”, recorded in 1939. Since that time “The Spirit of Troy” handles fighting duties.
The University of Southern California’s Marching band is one of the oldest and most accomplished in, well, marching band history. Christened “The Spirit of Troy” in reference to their Trojan mascot, they refer to themselves as “The Greatest Marching Band in the History of the Universe” (EVER). Hard to argue, though. They’re the only collegiate band to have two platinum records…
They’ve also played the Academy Awards 3 times, most recently in 2009. That year they backed Hugh Jackman and Beyonce at the Oscars, as well as Radiohead at the Grammys.
They even cheered on Forrest Gump in the film, posing as Alabama’s marching band.
Learn more about college football fight songs on our blog!
A true two for one: One of the most highly-regarded film soundtracks of all time, from one of the most highly-regarded films of all time.
You’re listening to George Cohan with “Life’s A Funny Proposition After All”, a recording from 1904. On HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, it’s Eddie Cantor, played by Stephen DeRosa, who sings the tune. His version of this song plays over the closing montage of Season One. We won’t ruin it for you if you’re still catching up, but …a regime change seems in the works. George M. Cohan wrote the popular WWI song, “Over There”, as well as “Give My Regards to Broadway”, and a true American classic. Which one? Find out right here.
The title “Aggie War Hymn” may sound a bit dramatic for a fight song. But it’s understandable when you consider the song was written on the banks of the Rhine after World War I by soldier and former student J.V. Wilson. Texas A&M was previously a military institution; indeed by 1918, 49% of graduates served in the military, more than any other school in the states. Accordingly, A&M doesn’t have an official fight song…they have a war hymn.
The song…er, hymn, makes much of the rivalry with the University of Texas Longhorns, buuuut, as the NCAA landscape has shifted dramatically in recent years, the Aggies find themselves in the SEC, leaving the Longhorns and the Big 12 behind. The move angered many, ending a rivalry begun in 1894, and renewed yearly since 1915.
Aggies in the stands seem to get just as much of a workout as those on the field.
Every year the town of Chittenango NY turns into a veritable Land of Oz, during Oz-Stravaganza.
When MGM executives looked to shorten The Wizard of Oz, they nearly cut this song from the film.
Sure zombies are all the rage right now, but they've been a part of literature since… well the beginning of literature itself.
Might this be the last time you hear Bing Crosby? Probably not, as we’re approaching Christmas…but some believe we’re approaching the End of the World.
What’s the most popular potted plant in the world? That would be Euphorbia pulcherrima, known to you and me as the poinsettia.
How did Zoltan Kodaly fully realize the importance of improving musical education in his native Hungary? When he overheard youngsters butchering its beloved folk songs.
Nevermind the saccharine-sweet and, sometimes just plain obnoxious skits; the Lawrence Welk Show ran nationally on ABC for nearly 28 years. Welk’s bandleading style and arrangement lead to the term “champagne music”, which is what he called his orchestra. Here they are with, ahem, If You Can't Get A Drum With A Boom, Boom, Boom. Get A Tuba With An Oom-pah-pah.
Welk’s famous accent actually embarrassed him in early years, prompting him to have someone else introduce musical numbers. But the public seemed to love the “and-a-one, and a-two”s and the like. It might have surprised said public that Welk was born in…South Dakota. Strasburg, actually, in a community of Germans from Russia, a name given to ethnic Germans who left the Russian Empire.
Want to see the very first pilot of the Lawrence Welk show? Go to Soundbeat.org right now.
Woody wrote this tune and his cousin Jack recorded it in 1945. It went to the top of the charts…a feat that a Woody Guthrie record never matched. But it’s Woody’s version, not Jack’s, that serves as Oklahoma’s state song.
Others have had success with Guthrie songs as well…
(Interview)
And, bet you weren’t thinking about Woody during “The Departed”…
(Interview)
They’ve been celebrating the Mardi Gras in New Orleans for over 200 years, but the celebration goes waaaay back.