Sound Beat

Living up to Ma Rainey’s version of a song is no small feat. But Wee Bea Booze did just that, so much so that it earned her the nickname “The See See Rider Blues Girl” after this 1943 recording. Ok, it’s not the most imaginative nickname, but the song reached number one on the “Harlem Hit Parade” charts. Bea would play guitar on her recordings and on stage; pretty rare for a female at the time.

The song has been recorded by scores of other performers you might have heard of…Elvis, Ray Charles, Janis Joplin and the Who, to name a few.

Valentine’s Day is the one day of the year where even the most restrained of suitors demonstrate their affection, wearing their hearts on their sleeves, if you will. Hey, where does that saying come from, I wonder? (Excellent segue.) Some say it comes from medieval Valentine’s Day celebrations. A town’s young and available singles (sorry, maidens and bachelors) would draw names to select their Valentine, and would pin, or whatever the medieval equivalent of a pin was) to their sleeve, for all to see.

Think Hallmark invented the holiday? Blame Henry the VIII  who made it official in 1537, and the exchange of gifts began then. It’s the biggest day of the year for florists, accounting for about 1/3 of their annual business. And about 3% of Americans will buy Valentines gifts for…their pets. So… yeah.

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From high school proms to the hit parade…

You’re on the Sound Beat

You’re listening to the Merry Macs with Mairzy Doats, a Decca 78 from 1943. The group was made up of 3 brothers McMichael, and was formed with the lofty goal of…playing local high school dances.

The song would be the Merry Mac’s biggest hit, hitting number one in . It features Marjory Garland, the third in a line of female vocalists to sing with the group. She was a natural fit with the Macs…so much so that she became one after marrying band member Judd McMichael.

By Agronom (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

On July 19th 1966, a 50 year-old Frank Sinatra wed a (polite cough) 21 year-old Mia Farrow. It was Frank’s third wedding, and it would not be his last.  Shortly after the nuptials, Farrow reneged on an agreement to costar in the upcoming Sinatra flick “The Detective”. She had a conflict with a little film called “Rosemary’s Baby”. Sinatra’s response: he had Farrow served with divorce papers on the set.

Songwriting duo Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen created “Love and Marriage” for a musical based on Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town” in 1938. Sinatra sang it then, and in this recording, a Capitol 78 from 1956.

Johnny Mercer first made his way to New York with dreams of becoming an actor. But he’d catch on as a singer and songwriter, his first break coming during a “Youth of America” audition. Conductor Paul Whiteman picked Mercer to perform with his Orchestra on NBC radio.

Years later, Mercer, Glen Wallichs and Buddy DeSylva started up a little outfit called Liberty Records. In 1942, it would become Capitol, and Wallichs would become the first music promoter. It was his idea to send free demo records to stations. It became industry standard…not to mention the best part of working at a radio station.

You’ve been listening to the first Capitol Records Release, record 101-A. And as fate would have it, it’s none other than Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra.

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Arthur Sullivan was one of Britain’s most important composers, one half of a little theatrical team known as Gilbert and Sullivan. But in his own words: “I have composed much music since then, but have never written a second Lost Chord.”

Arthur Sullivan composed The Lost Chord in 1877, at the bedside of his dying brother. Sullivan was known for his partnership with W.S. Gilbert, of course, as well as hymns like “Onward Christian Soldier”. But The Lost Chord would remain his favorite, as well as one of his most enduring compositions. You’re listening to the sounds of the Mormon Tabernacle Organ, played by Edward Kimball in 1927.

The organ Mr. Kimball played isn’t in use anymore, but the “new” Salt Lake Tabernacle Organ, built in 1948, retained some of the old pipes. Good thing, as it’s made up of more than 11,000 pipes in 206 rows, known as “ranks”.

You’ve got to see this thing to believe it. And you can, right here.

You’re listening to Ralph Young and the Ray Charles Singers with The Legend of Wyatt Earp, a 1955 Decca 78. The mark of authenticity Earp brought to a film set in the 20’s must have been invaluable. Especially to the young actor who befriended him, fetching cups of coffee in exchange for firsthand tales of the West from one of its central figures. Marion Morrison credited his acting persona, down to his style of walk and trademark drawl to those interactions with Earp.

And if you don’t know Marion Morrison’s trademark drawl, well that’s because he changed his name to John Wayne for his first leading role in the 1930 Fox Studios film “The Big Trail”.

Image: A picture of a pistol left in Juneau, Alaska by Wyatt Earp, who was on his way to Nome, Alaska. It is on display at the Red Dog Saloon in Juneau. and the photograph is in the public domain.

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.

Chances are you read, or didn’t read, this one in high school. The frequently-anthologized poem arose from a contest between author Percy Bysshe Shelley and Horace Smith. Yep…an old-fashioned sonnet-off, to mark the British Museum’s 1818 acquisition of a statue of Ramesses II… aka Ozymandias. And, of course…just part of the statue.

Shelley’s poem won out, while Smith’s went the way of, well, Ramesses II. But decide for yourself by reading and/or listening right now at soundbeat.org.

Photo: The “Ozymandias Collossus”, Ramesseum, Luxor, Egypt, by Charlie Phillips, used under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0) license.

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/