2nd half MUSIC LOG for GROUP 2 (next QUIZ WILL COVER #9-15 for this group! Now THOSE are the selections in blue print!)
BACKGROUND OF TIN PAN ALLEY
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“Revival March,” 1876; John Philip Sousa.
This selection represents the era of professional bands in America, which began in the 1860s, gained a peak of momentum during the 1880s, and continued to thrive into the twentieth century. Sousa, one of the most famous wind band leaders, wrote this march early in his career. It belongs to a genre known as the “paraphrase march,” meaning that it adapts a well-known tune to the march style. In this case, Sousa used the familiar tune “In the Sweet Bye and Bye.” Bands were a popular attraction well into the 1920s; besides marches, their performances included operatic overtures and medleys, dance music, parlor music, and vocal and instrumental solos (Goldman, 1976). This recording was made by the Goldman Band during the 1970s.
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“Good Morning,” 1857; George F. Root (opening chorus from The Haymakers )
This selection is from an “operatic cantata” called The Haymakers, one of the earliest large-scale musical works composed by an American. The genre descends from ballad opera, a theatrical stage tradition brought to the U. S. from England and popular from the late 18th century. Along with musical theater, musical comedy, and the operetta (“light opera”), the operatic cantata may be considered an American response to the Italian operas also popular during the period.
Text: Good morning,
’Tis a bright summer morn and our harvest day,
With the first ruddy beam, away! away!
Every creature around us seems to say,
Good morning!
How pure, how sweet the earth, the air, the sky,
How darts from out the east the light,
How mount its rays on high,
From sleep we rise with life, and strength, and joy;
And quaff from bounteous nature’s cup,
A draught without alloy.
How pure, etc.
’Tis a bright summer morn and our harvest day,
With the first ruddy beam, away! away!
Every creature around us seems to say,
Good morning!
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“John Riley’s Always Dry,” 1885; David Braham and Ned Harrigan.
This musical theater tune represents a tradition of stereotyping ethnic/working class immigrants in musical theatre and vaudeville during the late 19th century (and continuing into the early 20th). This particular song pokes fun of the stereotypical Irish love of strong drink. German, Chinese, and Jewish immigrants of several nationalities also appeared in comical songs based on ethnic stereotypes.
Text: I have an old companion,
John Riley from Tralee;
In fair or cloudy weather,
John Riley’s seen with me.
His heart is like a mountain,
His honor ye can’t buy,
But elbow bending is his fault,
John Riley’s always dry.
Chorus: Bass’s ale by the pail
He would order Rosanna to go out and buy:
Dublin Stout, he would shout,
Keep drinking and never say die;
Whiskey prime, gin and wine,
He would hand down a bottle and merrily cry
“My Rose Ann, fill the can,
For honest John Riley’s dry.”
It’s ev’ry morning early
John Riley’s out of bed,
Sure never a feather bolster
Lies under Riley’s head;
It’s when the sun is rising,
(Chorus)
ETC.
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“Darktown Is Out Tonight,” 1898; Will Marion Cook.
This musical theater tune opened the musical Clorindy, the Origin of the Cakewalk, the first all African-American production to succeed on Broadway. The song may be unsettling from our perspective more than a century later. It refers to the fad for “coon songs,” a genre popular from the late 1890s-early 1900s featuring syncopated rhythms and use of the derogatory slang word. The first “coon song” was written by the African-American singer/composer Ernest Hogan, who also played the lead role in Cook’s production. Many other “coon songs” were also written by African-American composers. One useful way of understanding the phenomenon is that it serves as an example of “signifyin’,” as explored by literary critic Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (more on this in class).
Text: Hey dere, Sal,
Come on, gal,
Jine dis promenade;
Tek my ahm,
What’s de harm?
Needn’t be afraid!
Dar’s ole Dan—
Watch dat man
Comin’ down de line.
Dat ole coon
Hottah’n June
’Long in sweatin’ time.
Howdy do?
Hope dat you
’Joy yose’f immense!
Reckon Bess
Got dat dress
Off Miss Lucy’s fence.
Clear de paf!
Needn’t laf,
Dat’ll be all right!
White folks yo’
Got no sho’!
Dis huh’s Darktown night,
An’ there’ll be
Chorus:
Warm coons a-prancin’,
Swell coons a-dancin’,
Tough coons who’ll want to fight;
So bring ’long yo’ blazahs,
Fetch out yo’ razahs,
Darktown is out tonight!
(Repeat) ETC. . .
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“Ta-Ra-Ra-Boom-De-Ay.” 1892; Angelo A. Asher and Richard Morton
Popular protest songs around the turn of the century addressed topics ranging from temperance (both sides of the issue) to the unfair treatment of labor. This nonsense vaudeville song introduced by performer Lottie Collins might be interpreted as a not-so-subtle protest against Victorian mores and attitudes about the body. Collins accompanied here singing with a lusty, high-kicking dance (akin to the Can-Can). Upon her death in England in 1910 at the age of 42, a London writer “speculated that ‘the frenzied activity, the fierce energy, the complete abandon’ of her dancing brought on heart trouble” (William Brooks, liner notes).
Text: A smart and stylish girl you see,
Belle of good society;
Not too strict but rather free,
Yet as right as right can be!
Never forward, never bold,
Not too hot, and not too cold,
But the very thing, I’m told,
That in your arms you’d like to hold!
Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay (eight times)
ETC.
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“Solace,” 1909; Scott Joplin.
This example of classic ragtime is found on a recording made from rare piano rolls preserved from the early twentieth century. Scott Joplin, the African-American composer known as the “king of ragtime,” made the original rolls himself. Much of his influential repertoire of rags are introspective, even wistful, as is this example which uses a tango rhythm (testifying to a Latin American influence in ragtime). It is also one of the few pieces that Joplin marked with performance indications in Italian (specifically, the “ritard” notation at the end) (liner notes).
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“Fizz Water,” 1914; Eubie Blake.
This is an example of orchestral ragtime (“stride style”). Blake was born in Baltimore in 1883 and like so many ragtime artists received the bulk of his musical training in church and in local brothels; he also toured with a traveling medicine show, a minstrel show, and was a barroom piano player. “Orchestral ragtime” indicates the ragtime idiom being adapted from solo piano to a larger ensemble. “Stride style” refers to a particular Eastern manifestation that emphasized speed, virtuosity, and execution. Other shapers of stride style include pianists Willie “The Lion” Smith, James P. Johnson, and Luckey Roberts.
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“Hawkins Rag,” 1934; Gid Tanner and His Skillet Lickers.
This is an example of the ragtime idiom moved even further from its original context, this time adopted by a rural Anglo-American string band from Georgia (who first recorded in 1924). There were many similar examples of rural ragtime recorded by Southern string bands, both white and black, throughout the 1920s and 30s. This ensemble features a common line-up in such groups: fiddle, guitar, banjo, mandolin.
TIN PAN ALLEY
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“Alexander’s Ragtime Band,” 1911; Irving Berlin.
Berlin said this novelty song “is a song about ragtime, not a ragtime song” (liner notes). Berlin was one of the great composers of the golden era of Tin Pan Alley and this one reflects his admiration of ragtime. (He also includes other references: the bugle call recalls the nineteenth century, as do occasional musical references to Stephen Foster.)
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“They Didn’t Believe Me,” 1914; w. “M.E. Rourke” (Herbert Reynolds), m. Jerome Kern.
This tune was recorded in 1915 by Grace Kerns and Reed Miller, in a style reminiscent of the nineteenth century: rolled “r”s, use of head register, formal presentation (James R. Morris, liner notes). In contrast to Irving Berlin, who was not technically trained in music, Kern received extensive musical training and spent several years doing musical theater in England (Ibid.). He is one of the earliest of the Tin Pan Alley generation of composers with broad technical training.
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“April Showers, 1921”; w. Buddy DeSylva, m. Louis Silvers.
Born Asa Joelson in Russia in 1886, Al Jolson made his debut in 1911 as part of a vaudeville spectacle featuring music by Jerome Kern. Jolson, wearing blackface, seemed to spark a resurgence of interest in the minstrel stage practice. He was an immediate success with audiences because of his charisma and complete lack of inhibition. His declamatory singing treatment of a popular song (or Tin Pan Alley song) influenced many later singers, including Bing Crosby (Morris, liner notes).
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“Fascinating Rhythm,” 1926; w. Ira Gershwin, m. George Gershwin.
This tune was recorded in 1926 by Fred and Adele Astaire and represents the 1920s as an era of greater complexity of rhythm and structure in many Tin Pan Alley songs. It was introduced by the Astaires in a 1924 production of Lady, Be Good! It is also interesting to note that Fred’s voice seems to be exploring newer styles of singing, while Adele still adheres to a style more grounded in the nineteenth century (Morris, liner notes).
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“I Can’t Give You Anything But Love,”1928; w. Dorothy Fields, m. Jimmy McHugh.
Dorothy Fields had been originally employed by a publishing company to write topical songs; her original lyric read, “I can’t give you anything but love, Lindy,” in tribute to Charles Lindbergh (Morris, liner notes). The song was placed in a show, then dropped before appearing in Blackbirds of 1928 (a Broadway show with an African-American cast that included famous dancer Bill Robinson). It was well-known when Ethel Waters recorded it in 1932 with Duke Ellington and his Orchestra and its lyrics took on particular poignancy as the country struggled with the hardships of the Great Depression.
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“Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?” 1932; w. E. Y. Harburg, m. Jay Gorney.
This song was first performed in the 1932 Broadway revue New Americana (Morris, liner notes). Bing Crosby’s famous recording was done in the same year. It is one of the few Tin Pan Alley songs written during the Depression that addresses the reality of daily life during that difficult era. (Harburg, by the way, was the lyricist for The Wizard of Oz.)
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“What Is this Thing Called Love?” 1929; Cole Porter.
This song was first introduced in a 1929 English musical revue Wake Up and Dream (Morris, liner notes). This was Porter’s nod to the growing popularity of the blues idiom, as evidenced by the frequent use of the minor 3d interval. This version was recorded in 1956 by the great Ella Fitzgerald; many of the popular songs of Tin Pan Alley found a place in jazz repertoire, and jazz musicians have recorded some of the most effective interpretations of these songs.
[#1 is recorded from The Pride of America: The Golden Age of the American March, New World Records 266, 1976.]
[#2 is recorded from The Haymakers: An Operatic Cantata, Part the Second, Recorded Anthology of American Music, NWR 234, 1978.]
[#3-4 are from Don’t Give the Name a Bad Place: Types & Stereotypes in American Musical Theater, 1870-1900, New World Records 265, 1978.]
[#5 is recorded from The Hand That Holds the Bread: Progress and Protest in the Gilded Age/Songs from the Civil War to the Columbian Exposition, New World Records 267, 1978.]
[#6 is recorded from Scott Joplin “The Entertainer”: Classic Ragtime Piano Solos from Rare Piano Rolls, Biograph Records, Inc., 1974, BLP-1013Q.]
[#7 is recorded from Classic Rags & Ragtime Songs, CBS, Inc. 1975, P 12974.]
[#8 is recorded from Maple Leaf Rag: Ragtime in Rural America, New World Records 235, 1976.]
[#9-16 are recorded from American Popular Song: Six Decades of Songwriters and Singers, Smithsonian Collection of Recordings R 031 P7 17983 (in association with CBS Special Products), 1984.]