Lullaby and Good Night

I freely admit this, I sing my children to sleep.  This is no mere attempt to placate them, it’s an attempt to keep the chain going – sort of a musical heredity if you will.  I didn’t ask for this sick, twisted brain that collects music and musical information nobody within twenty years’ of either side of my 45 knows.  I really didn’t.  But I do feel the need to pass it on to my kids.

The twins are at this great age, too, where nothing I can sing to them is uncool, and they want to sing along (OK, that’s counter-productive to the goal but – still – really neat all the same).  The baby – well he bops along to just about everything.  You pretty cannot go musically wrong with a two year old.

I like to be diverse.  Tonight, for example, I gave them four songs:  What Happened to the Manx Cat’s Tail (a Florrie Forde English Music Hall tune), Bali Hai from South Pacific, Exactly Like You, and Stay Awake from Mary Poppins.  I usually start with the English Music Hall or something upbeat, then work my way down in tempo.  High engines become low engines, and – if I’m really luck – at least one of them is sound asleep before I’m done.

Back in my room, with my wife next to me, I can sigh deeply and – no matter what happened during the day, or how naughty somebody has managed to be, know that it’s great to be the dad.

Current events soundtracks:

In honor of the first tropical storm of the year to hit Florida – Claudette – here’s, well, Claudette Peters singing, Go Claudette.  And, no, I don’t expect to do this for every single named storm this year.

This weekend marks Independence Day in India.

Soundtracks for this date in history:

In 1760, Frederick the Great defeated the Austrians at Leignitz.  When not at war, which was only some of the time, Frederick was a very competent composer.  This is his Hohenfriedberger March, as interpreted by the Swedish Army Band.  You’ll also find it on the soundtrack of the epic Stanley Kubrick movie Barry Lyndon, which also features incredibly beautiful music by The Chieftains and composer Sean O’Riada.

The Wizard of Oz premiered on this date in 1939.  From a musical standpoint, the songs really are that good – and would be even if the film hadn’t developed the staying power that it has today.  Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg wrote great stuff, and but I want to focus on Arlen, who spent his life as a pop song and musical composer.  The overture or opening credits sets the mood for this film so very well.  In fact, if you think about what you remember of the movie, the incidental music stands out almost as well as Over the Rainbow.  Think about it, and you’ll see what I mean.

The Beatles play the first stadium concert in history, to 60,000 screaming fans at Shea Stadium in New York.  Predictably, the New York Mets cannot draw more than 1/6 the crowd, but they have a kick-ass theme song.  Pay attention Met fans – this is baseball theme song.  Now, maybe, somebody will comment on my blog.  Probably from Queens.

The summer of love heated up in 1969 at Woodstock.  And the national supply of hallucinagenic drugs dropped drastically for the next week and a half.

Birthday Soundtracks:

Napoleon Bonaparte (1769).  So here’s a kicker piece of trivia:  Beethoven actually dedicated the composition of his Eroica Symphony (#3) to Napoleon.  Then, after Napoleon turned out to be a non-liberator, he rescinded it.  Then he wrote Wellington’s Victory celebrating Napoleon’s defeat.  Thank you, Ludwig, and good night.

Edna Ferber (1885).  She was the author of Showboat, which became a landmark musical in the development of the American musical theatre. Musical theatre was so incredibly different before it, that when Jerome Kern submitted the score to the producers, it contained an 8-minute song called “Misery,” but the producers were scared to death of any song and dance that lasted 8 minutes, so they made Kern cut it out.  Here’s Dame Kiri Te Kanawa with Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man, from Showboat.

Leon Theremin (1896).   Theremin invented the first electronic instrument, and – honestly – I think science fiction movie producers all over the world rejoiced.  Here he is playing his invention.  And here it is in practical use in the opening to The Day the Earth Stood Still, by Bernard Hermann.

Hugo Winterhalter (1909).  How many of you have had your cavities filled to this?

Oscar Peterson (1925).  Good God, he was great!  Here is Peterson and his trio doing Lush Life.  Magnificent!  And I have never seen a clip of Peterson where he is not truly enjoying himself.

Shirley Kwan (1966).  Her very lush, dramatic and stylized hits epitomize modern pop in Hong Kong.

More notes on notes tomorrow.

Are You Going to Washington County Fair?

Apologies to Simon and Garfunkle.

Today was a day of family, a day of suburban surreality.  Like tens of thousands of Rhode Islanders will this weekend, we visited the Washington County Fair.  Our third annual pilgrimage came under the umbrella of good weather (not even the threat of a shower), and so I took a vacation day, we loaded the twins and the baby into the minivan, and headed off at about noon.

I knew that this was going to be an odd day the minute the SUV zoomed passed us in the left lane, featuring a pair of hands pasting a piece of lined paper to the window that read (thickly drawn in ball point ink), “give us boobz.”

The fairgrounds are about 20 minutes down the highway from our home, which sits on a suburban street, in a suburban neighborhood, in a suburban town, in a mostly suburban state.  Yet, once a year, Rhode Island manages to muster enough “country” to provide us suburbanites with tractor pulls, livestock, kitchy crafts, antique farm equipment, live country music, old-fashioned carnival rides and even tons of food-on-a-stick.  Of course, this is Rhode Island, so these delicacies mix in with clam “chowdah,”  johnny cakes, Italian sausage and Del’s lemonade.

We arrived in the middle of the day, so it wasn’t too crowded.  The kids rode the rides.  They ate sugar.  Then they had some more sugar.  We all danced to the country music.  We looked at chickens, cows, sheep, rabbits and – then – pigs.  Huge pink pigs, some with ribbons, and that’s when my youngest looked at one of the pink ones and said, “Daddy, Wilbur.”  Oh, my!  “Fine swine, wish he was mine…”

The second was a run-in with the Calliope.  This calliope is on a boat on the water,  but the sound is just about the same.  All in all, everybody had a grand time, and these suburbanites – at least – are already looking toward next year’s fair with anticipation!

Current Events Soundtracks:

This week Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was on a trip to Africa, probably the longest trip there ever made by an official of the US government.  She has dealt with important issues, war and peace, trade agreements, oil, womens’ rights, but the media here seems a bit more concerned about her demeanor in answering questions – in short this kind of politics.

Happy Independence Day to Pakistan.

Soundtracks for this day in history:

In 1888, Thomas Edison introduced the phonograph in London with a press conference featuring a recording of The Lost Chord, by Sir Arthur Sullivan.  Here it is.  It is quite hard to hear, but don’t let that diminish the historical significance of what you’re hearing.  You Tube amazes me.

The first beauty contest was held in Folkstone, England in 1908.  This recording by John Steele is perfect, although made 11 years later.

In 1935, the US Congress created Social Security.  Almost 75 years later, people are still fighting about it.  Our tenor, by the way, is the legendary John McCormack.  Enjoy1

Japan surrendered to the US, ending the war in the Pacific on this date in 1945.

1956 marked the premiere of the movie Bus Stop, featuring Marilyn Monroe.

Birthday Soundtracks:

William Hutchison (1586) one of the original colonists to settle Rhode Island.  Happy Birthday, Bill.

Doc Holliday (1851), one of those who fought at the OK Corral.

Comedienne and singer Alice Ghostley (1926), who made her splash in The New Faces of 1952.  Here she is singing The Boston Beguine.

Singer and musician David Crosby (1941), part of the group Crosby, Stills and Nash.  Icons of the folk rock movement, I think their best work is Suite Judy Blue Eyes.  Here they are singing it during Live Aid in the 1980’s.

Steve Martin (1945) is one of the funniest people on the planet.  Let’s just say this was his moment.

James Horner (1953) is right up there with John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith and John Barry as one of the great film score composers of this generation.  His titles include Titanic, Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan, Enemy at the Gate, Cocoon, The Pelican Brief and (my favorite) Willow.  It’s lush, exciting, dramatic, and pensive, and turns an OK movie into a great ride.

Sarah Brightman (1960), a soprano who has led an interesting career including performances in classic operas and broadway musicals.  Here she is with Andrea Bocelli singing their hit, Time to Say Goodbye.

Passing Anniversary Soundtracks

William Croft (1727) English Baroque composer.  Here is his Sonata in G.  Note the use of the recorder, which was a feature in English classical composition through the baroque and classical periods, long after it had passed out of fashion on the European continent.

Bertholdt Brecht (1956), German author and lyricist, who wrote with Kurt Weill in 1920’s Germany.  Here is Lotte Lenya in 1930 singing from The 3 Penny Opera.

Bruno Kirby (2006), a wonderful character actor who is probably best known as Billy Crystal’s best friend in the film When Harry Met Sally.  You made a woman meow?  Bruno, this is for you.

More notes on notes tomorrow.