Musical Diversion

Blow the Wind Southerly

noreply@blogger.com (James M. Thomas) — Mon, 22 Oct 2018 03:04:00 +0000

The lilting folk song Blaw the Wind Southerly (now Blow the Wind Southerly) is an old bagpipe tune from the Northumbrian region in the south of Scotland. The tune was recorded by Laura Alexandrine Smith in The Music of the Waters (1888).

Many versions of the lyrics have developed over the decades. Most tell the story of a woman desperately hoping for the safe return of her love from across the sea. The lyric below was noted by Smith in The Music of the Waters (1888).

Blaw the wind southerly, southerly, southerly,
Blaw the wind southerly, south or south-west;
My lad's at the bar, at the bar, at the bar,
My lad's at the bar whom I love best.

Smith notes that sometimes the last two lines of this song are varied as follows:

Blaw the lad ti' the bar, ti' the bar, ti' the bar,
Blaw the lad ti' the bar that I love best.

The lyric below was noted by William Cole, et al., in Folk Songs of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales (1969).

Blow the wind Southerly, Southerly, Southerly,
Blow the wind South o'er the bonnie blue sea.
Blow the wind Southerly, Southerly, Southerly
Blow bonnie breeze, my true lover to me.

They told me last night there were ships in the offing
And I hurried down to the deep rolling sea.
But my eye could not see it wherever might be it,
The bark that is bearing my lover to me.

Happy Anniversary, Compact Discs!

noreply@blogger.com (James M. Thomas) — Fri, 02 Mar 2018 13:42:00 +0000

On March 2, 1983, compact discs and players were first available in the US. Shown, a Sony Compact Disc, scanned by Arun Kulshreshtha. This image is made available by the author under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic license.

On March 2, 1983, compact discs and players were released for the first time in the United States and other markets. Prior to this date, CDs and players were only available in Japan.

For those of you who don't recall, or weren't around, the compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony and released in 1982. The format was originally developed to store and play only sound recordings but was later adapted for storage of data (CD-ROM). Several other formats were further derived from these, including write-once audio and data storage (CD-R), rewritable media (CD-RW), Video Compact Disc (VCD), Super Video Compact Disc (SVCD), Photo CD, PictureCD, CD-i, and Enhanced Music CD. The first commercially available Audio CD player, the Sony CDP-101, was released October 1982 in Japan.

Standard CDs have a diameter of 120 millimetres (4.7 in) and can hold up to about 80 minutes of uncompressed audio or about 700 MiB of data. The Mini CD has various diameters ranging from 60 to 80 millimetres (2.4 to 3.1 in); they are sometimes used for CD singles, storing up to 24 minutes of audio, or delivering device drivers.

At the time of its introduction in 1982, a CD could store much more data than a personal computer hard drive, which would typically hold 10 MB. By 2010, hard drives commonly offered as much storage space as a thousand CDs, while their prices had plummeted to commodity level. In 2004, worldwide sales of audio CDs, CD-ROMs and CD-Rs reached about 30 billion discs. By 2007, 200 billion CDs had been sold worldwide.

Beginning in the early 2000s CDs were increasingly replaced by other forms of digital storage and distribution, with the result that by 2010 the number of audio CDs being sold in the U.S. had dropped about 50% from their peak; however, they remained one of the primary distribution methods for the music industry. Then, in 2014, revenues from digital music services matched those from physical format sales for the first time.

To learn more about compact discs, check out these sites.

This History of the CD - Philips

History of the Compact Disc - Low End Mac

-

Tommy Tune (born 1939)

noreply@blogger.com (James M. Thomas) — Wed, 28 Feb 2018 10:00:00 +0000

Tommy Tune in 1977.

February 28 marks the birthday of Thomas James "Tommy" Tune. Born February 28, 1939, Tune is an American actor, dancer, singer, theatre director, producer, and choreographer. Over the course of his career, he has won ten Tony Awards and the National Medal of Arts.

In 1965, Tune made his Broadway debut as a performer in the musical Baker Street. His first Broadway directing and choreography credits were for the original production of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas in 1978. His direction of Nine The Musical in 1982, which also won the Tony for Best Musical garnered him his first Tony for direction of a musical. He has gone on to direct and/or choreograph eight Broadway musicals. He directed a new musical titled Turn of the Century, which premiered at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago on September 19, 2008 and closed on November 2, 2008.

Off-Broadway, Tune has directed The Club and Cloud Nine. Tune toured the United States in the Sherman Brothers musical Busker Alley in 1994–1995, and in the stage adaptation of the film Dr. Dolittle in 2006.

Tune is the only person to win Tony Awards in the same categories (Best Choreography and Best Direction of a Musical) in consecutive years (1990 and 1991), and the first to win in four categories. He has won ten Tony Awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015.

On television, Tune was a recurring guest star and assistant choreographer from 1969–70 on The Dean Martin Show and its summer replacement series, Dean Martin Presents The Golddiggers. He also briefly appeared on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood in 1988.

Tune appeared in a 1975 TV special titled Welcome to the "World" along with Lucie Arnaz and Lyle Waggoner to promote the opening of Space Mountain at Walt Disney World.

Tune's film credits include Ambrose in Hello, Dolly! (1969), and The Boy Friend with Twiggy (1971). Tune released his first record album, Slow Dancin', in 1997 on the RCA label, featuring a collection of his favorite romantic ballads.

In 1999, he made his Las Vegas debut as the star of EFX at the MGM Grand Las Vegas.

Tune staged an elaborate musical entitled Paparazzi for the Holland America Line cruise ship the Oosterdam in 2003. He works often with The Manhattan Rhythm Kings, for example touring in a Big Band revue entitled Song and Dance Man and White Tie and Tails (2002).

Tune performed in his musical revue, Steps in Time: A Broadway Biography in Song and Dance, in Boston in April 2008 and continuing in various venues from Bethesda, Maryland in January 2009 to California in February 2009.

The Tommy Tune Awards, presented annually by Theatre Under The Stars (TUTS) honor excellence in high school musical theatre in Houston. The current home of the Tommy Tune Awards is the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts in Houston, Texas.

In 2013, he appeared as Argyle Austero in the revived fourth season of Arrested Development on Netflix.

In 2015, he made a return to the New York stage as a featured performer in City Center's staged concert Encores!. He was featured in two numbers in Lady, Be Good!; his first act number was the Gershwin standard "Fascinatin' Rhythm."

To learn more about Tune's life and career, click on these links.

IMDB

Internet Broadway Database

-

Nanette Fabray (1920–2018)

noreply@blogger.com (James M. Thomas) — Tue, 27 Feb 2018 13:40:00 +0000

Nanette Fabray, October 27, 1920 – February 22, 2018. Fabray as she appeared in 1963. No specific date or copyright information available.

Nanette Fabray, American actress, singer and dancer, passed away February 22, 2018 at her home in Palos Verdes, California. She was 97.

Born Ruby Bernadette Nanette Fabares, she began her career performing in vaudeville as a child and became a musical theatre actress during the 1940s and 1950s, winning a Tony Award in 1949 for her performance in Love Life. In the mid-1950s, she served as Sid Caesar's comedic partner on Caesar's Hour, for which she won three Emmy Awards, as well as co-starring with Fred Astaire in the film musical The Band Wagon. From 1979 to 1984, she appeared as Katherine Romano on the TV series One Day at a Time.

Fabray overcame a significant hearing impairment and was a long-time advocate for the rights of the deaf and hard-of-hearing. Her honors for representing the handicapped included the President's Distinguished Service Award and the Eleanor Roosevelt Humanitarian Award.

Fabray's first husband, David Tebet, was a vice president of NBC. Her second husband was screenwriter Ranald MacDougall, who's writing credits include Mildred Pierce and Cleopatra and who, in the early 1970s, served as president of the Writers Guild of America. The couple was married from 1957 until his death in 1973. They had one child: Jamie MacDougall. Fabray was the aunt of singer/actress Shelley Fabares. Her niece's 1984 wedding to actor Mike Farrell was at her home. Fabray was associated with Ronald Reagan's campaign for the governorship of California in 1966.

Nanette Fabray has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She was awarded the President's Distinguished Service Award and the Eleanor Roosevelt Humanitarian Award for her long efforts on behalf of the hearing impaired.

To learn more about Fabray's life and career, click on these links.

IMDB

Internet Broadway Database

-

Near the Cross

noreply@blogger.com (James M. Thomas) — Tue, 28 Jan 2014 12:00:00 +0000

Fanny J. Crosby (1820-1915) was the author of over 8,500 gospel songs. Though blind at 6 weeks of age, Crosby began writing at age 6. She later became a teacher at the New York School for the Blind, where she was a student. A friend of several presidents, Crosby became one of the most important advocates for the cause of the blind in the United States.

Crosby’s writing career flowered at the New York School for the Blind, where she received acclaim as a poet. Then, on November 20, 1850 at Thirtieth Street Methodist Church, Crosby went forward to the altar and accepted Jesus Christ as her Savior. The congregation was singing Isaac Watts’ hymn about the cross.

At the cross, at the cross where I first saw the light
And the burden of my heart rolled away
It was there by faith I received my sight
And now I am happy all the day
Shortly thereafter, Crosby began writing hymns, and many of her songs focused on the theme of the cross, such as “At the Cross, There’s Room”, “Blessed Cross”, “Room at the Cross”, “Save Me at the Cross”, and this hymn, “Near the Cross”. The hymn was composed after Cincinnati businessman William H. Doane gave Crosby a melody he had written—a practice that was not uncommon in their relationship. Listening to the melody, Crosby felt it said, “Jesus keep me near the cross,” and she promptly wrote the words. The hymn first appeared in the collection Bright Jewels for the Sunday School (1869), compiled by William B. Bradbury, Robert Lowry, Doane, W.F. Sherwin and Chester G. Allen.

Near the Cross
by Fanny J. Crosby, 1869

Jesus, keep me near the cross;
there a precious fountain,
free to all, a healing stream,
flows from Calvary's mountain.

Refrain:

In the cross, in the cross,
be my glory ever,
till my raptured soul shall find
rest beyond the river.

Near the cross, a trembling soul,
love and mercy found me;
there the bright and morning star
sheds its beams around me.

Near the cross! O Lamb of God,
bring its scenes before me;
help me walk from day to day
with its shadow o'er me.

Near the cross I'll watch and wait,
hoping, trusting ever,
till I reach the golden strand
just beyond the river.

Jerusalem

noreply@blogger.com (James M. Thomas) — Mon, 27 Jan 2014 12:00:00 +0000

"And did those feet in ancient time" is a short poem by William Blake from the preface to his epic Milton a Poem. The short poem was first printed ca. 1808. Today, it is best known as the anthem "Jerusalem", with music written by Sir Hubert Parry in 1916.

The poem was inspired by the apocryphal story that a young Jesus, accompanied by his uncle Joseph of Arimathea, a tin merchant, traveled to what is now England and visited Glastonbury during the unknown years of Jesus. The legend is linked to an idea in the Book of Revelation (3:12 and 21:2) describing the Second Coming, wherein Jesus establishes a new Jerusalem. The Christian Church in general, and the English Church in particular, has long used Jerusalem as a metaphor for Heaven, a place of universal love and peace.

In the most common interpretation of the poem, Blake implies that a visit by Jesus would briefly create heaven in England, in contrast to the "dark Satanic Mills" of the Industrial Revolution. Blake's poem asks four questions rather than asserting the historical truth of Christ's visit. Thus the poem merely implies that there may, or may not, have been a divine visit, when there was briefly heaven in England.

And did those feet in ancient time

William Blake, ca. 1808

And did those feet in ancient time.
Walk upon England's mountains green:
And was the holy Lamb of God,
On England's pleasant pastures seen!

And did the Countenance Divine,
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here,
Among these dark Satanic Mills?

Bring me my Bow of burning gold;
Bring me my Arrows of desire:
Bring me my Spear: O clouds unfold!
Bring me my Chariot of fire!

I will not cease from Mental Fight,
Nor shall my Sword sleep in my hand:
Till we have built Jerusalem,
In England's green & pleasant Land

Near the close of the 1981 film Chariots of Fire, “Jerusalem” is sung at the funeral for Harold Abrahams. The line from the poem "Bring me my Chariot of fire!" draws on the story of 2 Kings 2:11, where the Old Testament prophet Elijah is taken directly to heaven: "And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven." The phrase has become a byword for divine energy, and inspired the title of the 1981 film. The phrase "chariots of fire" refers to 2 Kings 6:16–18.

“Jerusalem” sung in the film Chariots of Fire (1981)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vxlX5wyEQs

Although the music was composed as a unison song, "Jerusalem" has been adopted by many churches and is frequently sung as an office or recessional hymn in English cathedrals, churches and chapels on St George’s Day. It is also sung in some churches on Jerusalem Sunday, a day set aside to celebrate the holy city, in Anglican churches throughout the world and even in some Episcopal churches in the United States.

However, some clergy in the Church of England have said that the song is not technically a hymn as it is not a prayer to God (which they claim hymns always are, though many counter-examples may be found in any hymnal). Consequently, it is not sung in some churches in England.

Despite this, it was sung as a hymn during the Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton in Westminster Abbey.

“Jerusalem” sung at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (Prince William and Catherine Middleton), Westminster Abbey, April 29, 2011. BBC Television.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rib95MMfwY

Parry's tune is so well liked that the song is sung not only in many schools, especially Public schools in Great Britain, and is also the hymn for several private schools in Australia, New Zealand, New England and Canada. "Jerusalem" was chosen as the opening hymn for the London Olympics 2012, although “God Save the Queen” was the anthem sung during the raising of the flag in salute to the Queen. Some attempts have also been made to increase its use elsewhere with other words. The Church of Scotland debated altering the words of the hymn to read “Albion” instead of England to make it more locally relevant. A widely published alternative hymn text for the tune is Carl P. Daw’s O day of peace that dimly shines of 1982.

Jimmy Van Heusen (1913–1990)

noreply@blogger.com (James M. Thomas) — Sun, 26 Jan 2014 12:00:00 +0000

January 26 is the birthday of James "Jimmy" Van Heusen (1913–1990), American composer. Van Heusen wrote songs for films, television and theater, and won an Emmy and four Academy Awards for Best Original Song.

Born Edward Chester Babcock in Syracuse, New York, he began writing music while at high school. He renamed himself at age 16, after the famous shirt makers, Phillips-Van Heusen, to use as his off-air name during local shows. His close friends called him "Chet."

Studying at Cazenovia Seminary and Syracuse University, Van Heusen became friends with Jerry Arlen, the younger brother of Harold Arlen. With the elder Arlen's help, Van Heusen wrote songs for the Cotton Club revue, including "Harlem Hospitality."

Van Heusen then became a staff pianist for some of the Tin Pan Alley publishers, and wrote "It's the Dreamer in Me" (1938) with lyrics by Jimmy Dorsey.

Collaborating with lyricist Eddie DeLange, on songs such as "Heaven Can Wait", "So Help Me", and "Darn That Dream", Van Heusen work became more prolific, writing over 60 songs in 1940 alone. It was in 1940 that Van Heusen teamed up with the lyricist Johnny Burke.

Burke and Van Heusen moved to Hollywood writing for stage musicals and films throughout the 1940s and early 1950s, winning an Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Swinging on a Star" (1944). Their songs were also featured in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1949).

Van Heusen was also a pilot of some accomplishment; he worked, using his birth name, as a part-time test pilot for Lockheed Corporation in World War II.

Van Heusen then teamed up with lyricist Sammy Cahn. Their three Academy Awards for Best Song were won for "All the Way" (1957) from The Joker Is Wild, "High Hopes" (1959) from A Hole in the Head, and "Call Me Irresponsible" (1963) from Papa's Delicate Condition. Their songs were also featured in Ocean's Eleven (1960) and Robin and the 7 Hoods (1964), which featured the Oscar-nominated "My Kind of Town."

Cahn and Van Heusen also wrote "Love and Marriage" (1955), "To Love and Be Loved", "Come Fly with Me", "Only the Lonely", and "Come Dance with Me" with many of their compositions being the title songs for Frank Sinatra's albums of the late 1950s.

Van Heusen wrote the music for five Broadway musicals: Swingin' the Dream (1939); Nellie Bly (1946), Carnival in Flanders (1953), Skyscraper (1965), and Walking Happy (1966). While Van Heusen did not achieve nearly the success on Broadway that he did in Hollywood, at least three songs from Van Heusen musicals can legitimately be considered standards - "Darn That Dream" from Swingin' the Dream; "Here's that Rainy Day" from Carnival in Flanders and "I Only Miss Her When I Think of Her" from Skyscraper. Van Heusen became an inductee of the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1971.

He composed over 800 plus songs of which 50 songs became standards. Van Heusen songs are featured in over two hundred and twenty films.

Roy Black (1943-1991)

noreply@blogger.com (James M. Thomas) — Sat, 25 Jan 2014 12:00:00 +0000

January 25 is the birthday of Roy Black (1943-1991), German schlager singer and actor, who appeared in several musical comedies and starred in the 1989 TV series, Ein Schloß am Wörthersee.

Born Gerhard Höllerich in Bobingen, Bavarian Swabia, Germany, Black attended the gymnasium in Augsburg and, aged 20, founded the rock and roll band Roy Black and His Cannons. His stage name derived from his black hair and his idol, Roy Orbison.

Roy Black and His Cannons achieved some local fame and were offered a recording contract with Polydor Records. However, his record producer Hans Bertram decided on a solo career for Black, and a switch to romantic songs for his protégé, a decision which soon led to nationwide fame. In 1966, his single "Ganz in Weiß"—a romantic song about marrying in white—sold in excess of one million copies by the end of 1967. His 1969 song "Dein schönstes Geschenk", sold one million copies by May 1970, having spent nine weeks at number one in the German chart.

From 1967, Black also took on roles in several musical comedy films, for example in the 1969 movie Hilfe, ich liebe Zwillinge (Help, I Love Twins) opposite Uschi Glas.

In 1974, Black announced his engagement to model Silke Vagts (1945–2002), and the couple got married in Munich the same year. In 1976 their son Torsten was born. They divorced in 1985.

Isidore "Tuts" Washington (1907–1984)

noreply@blogger.com (James M. Thomas) — Fri, 24 Jan 2014 12:00:00 +0000

January 24 is the birthday of Isidore "Tuts" Washington (1907–1984), American Louisiana blues pianist. Washington exemplified the New Orleans rhythm and blues style, also made famous by musicians such as Professor Longhair.

Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, Washington taught himself piano at age 10, and studied with New Orleans jazz pianist Joseph Louis "Red" Cayou. In the 1920s and 1930s, Washington was a leading player for New Orleans dance and Dixieland bands. His unique style of play blended elements of ragtime, jazz, blues, and boogie-woogie.

After World War II, Washington joined the band of singer/guitarist Smiley Lewis; they released several well-known songs on Imperial Records including "Tee-Nah-Nah," "The Bells Are Ringing" and "Dirty People." He then moved to St. Louis to play with Tab Smith. He returned to New Orleans in the 1960s, continuing to appear at restaurants in the French Quarter, clubs such as Tipitina's, and at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. For years, Washington had a regular gig playing piano at a bar in the Pontchartrain Hotel. Although he avoided recording for most of his career, Washington released the solo piano album New Orleans Piano Professor on Rounder Records in 1983. In 1998, Night Train International Records released a live recording by Washington, Live at Tipitina's '78.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

noreply@blogger.com (James M. Thomas) — Thu, 23 Jan 2014 12:00:00 +0000

On January 23, 1986, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted its first members: Little Richard, Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, Fats Domino, the Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Elvis Presley.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation was created on April 20, 1983, by Atlantic Records founder and chairman Ahmet Ertegun. He assembled a team that included attorney Suzan Evans, Rolling Stone magazine editor and publisher Jann S. Wenner, attorney Allen Grubman and record executives Seymour Stein, Bob Krasnow and Noreen Woods. The Foundation began inducting artists in 1986, but the Hall of Fame still had no home. The search committee considered several cities, including Memphis (home of Sun Studios and Stax Records), Detroit (home of Motown Records), Cincinnati (home of King Records), New York City, and Cleveland.

Cleveland lobbied for the museum, citing that WJW disc jockey Alan Freed both coined the term "rock and roll" and heavily promoted the new genre—and that Cleveland was the location of Freed's Moondog Coronation Ball, the first major rock and roll concert. In addition, Cleveland cited radio station WMMS, which played a key role in breaking several major acts in the U.S. during the 1970s and 80s, including David Bowie, who began his first U.S. tour in the city, Bruce Springsteen, Roxy Music, and Rush among many others. Cleveland was also one of the premier tour stops for most rock bands.

Civic leaders in Cleveland pledged $65 million in public money to fund the construction. A petition drive was signed by 600,000 fans favoring Cleveland over Memphis, and Cleveland ranked first in a 1986 USA Today poll asking where the Hall of Fame should be located. On May 5, 1986, the Hall of Fame Foundation chose Cleveland as the permanent home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.

Cleveland may also have been chosen as the organization's site because the city offered the best financial package. As The Plain Dealer music critic Michael Norman noted, "It was $65 million... Cleveland wanted it here and put up the money." Co-founder Jann Wenner later said, "One of the small sad things is we didn't do it in New York in the first place," but then added, "I am absolutely delighted that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is in Cleveland."

During early discussions on where to build the Hall of Fame and Museum, the Foundation's board considered the Cuyahoga River. Ultimately, the chosen location was in downtown Cleveland by Lake Erie, just east of Cleveland Browns Stadium and the Great Lakes Science Center.

At one point in the planning phase when a financing gap existed, planners proposed locating the Rock Hall in the then-vacant May Company Building, but finally decided to commission architect I. M. Pei to design a new building. Initial CEO Dr. Larry Thompson facilitated I. M. Pei in designs for the site. Pei came up with the idea of a tower with a glass pyramid protruding from it. The museum tower was initially planned to stand 200 ft (61 m) high, but had to be cut down to 162 ft (49 m) due to its proximity to Burke Lakefront Airport. The building's base is approximately 150,000 square feet (14,000 m2). The groundbreaking ceremony took place on June 7, 1993. Pete Townshend, Chuck Berry, Billy Joel, Sam Phillips, Ruth Brown, Sam Moore of Sam and Dave, Carl Gardner of the Coasters and Dave Pirner of Soul Asylum all appeared at the groundbreaking.

The museum dedicated on September 1, 1995, with the ribbon being cut by an ensemble that included Yoko Ono and Little Richard, among others, before a crowd of more than 10,000 people. The following night an all-star concert was held at the stadium. It featured Chuck Berry, Bob Dylan, Al Green, Jerry Lee Lewis, Aretha Franklin, Bruce Springsteen, Iggy Pop, John Fogerty, John Mellencamp and many others.

In addition to the Hall of Fame inductees, the museum documents the entire history of rock and roll, regardless of induction status. Hall of Fame inductees are honored in a special exhibit located in a wing that juts out over Lake Erie.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way, influenced the music industry through the genre of rock music. The museum is part of the city's redeveloped North Coast Harbor.

Henri Dutilleux (1916–2013)

noreply@blogger.com (James M. Thomas) — Wed, 22 Jan 2014 12:00:00 +0000

January 22 is the birthday of Henri Dutilleux (1916–2013), French composer active mainly in the second half of the 20th century. His work, which garnered international acclaim, followed in the tradition of Maurice Ravel, Claude Debussy, and Albert Roussel, but in an idiosyncratic style.

Born in Angers, Maine-et-Loire, some of Dutilleux's notable compositions include a piano sonata, two symphonies, the cello concerto Tout un monde lointain (A whole distant world), the violin concerto L'arbre des songes (The tree of dreams) and the string quartet Ainsi la nuit (Thus the night). Some of these are regarded as masterpieces of 20th-century classical music. Works were commissioned from him by such major artists as Charles Munch, George Szell, Mstislav Rostropovich, the Juilliard String Quartet, Isaac Stern, Paul Sacher, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Simon Rattle, Renée Fleming and Seiji Ozawa.

Writing in the New York Times, Paul Griffiths said: "Mr. Dutilleux’s position in French music was proudly solitary. Between Olivier Messiaen and Pierre Boulez in age, he was little affected by either, though he took an interest in their work. .. But his voice, marked by sensuously handled harmony and color, was his own."

Dutilleux was awarded several major prizes throughout his career, notably the Grand Prix de Rome (1938), UNESCO's International Rostrum of Composers (1955), the Grand-Croix de la Légion d'honneur (2004), the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize (2005), the Gold Medal of the Royal Philharmonic Society (2008) and the Kravis Prize (2011).

In addition to his activities as a composer, he worked as the Head of Music Production for Radio France for 18 years. He also taught at the École Normale de Musique de Paris, at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique and was twice composer in residence at the Tanglewood Music Center in Lenox and Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

Teatro Filarmonico Fire

noreply@blogger.com (James M. Thomas) — Tue, 21 Jan 2014 12:00:00 +0000

On January 21, 1749, the Teatro Filarmonico (Verona Philhamonic Theatre) was destroyed by fire. The Teatro Filarmonico is the main opera theater in Verona, Italy, and is one of the leading Opera Houses in Europe.

Verona needed an opera house, so it was decided in the early 18th century to build a theatre worthy and large. Work began in 1716 and lasted 13 years. Finally, inauguration was on the evening of January 6, 1732, with the pastoral drama La Fida Ninfa by Antonio Vivaldi, a libretto by Scipio Maffei. The opera season became famous, and the performances led society events. But on January 21, 1749, fire eventually spread in the theatre. Rebuilt, the theater was re-dedicated in 1754 with the opera Lucio Vero by Neapolitan composer Davide Perez. The opera had a limited success. Corsican in the 18th century, during the French invasion, a long series of celebrations were held in the theater, such as the Cantata per la Santa Alleanza ("Cantata for the Holy Alliance") of Gioachino Rossini. The theater hosted international singers, and among its repertoire appear the most famous works of Italian and foreign melodrama.

Later on the tragic night of February 23, 1945, the theater collapsed under the Anglo-American bombing. The Academy Philharmonic announced that it would try to rebuild the theatre exactly as it had been before. The proceedings lasted a long time: the theatre was inaugurated again in 1975, with the opera Falstaff by Antonio Salieri.

The theatre still hosts in the winter season works, ballets and concerts. The operatic repertoire is one of the most famous for Italian operas and international (La sonnambula, The Barber of Seville, Tosca ...) and the works of non-repertoire (A day of the kingdom, Manon Lescaut of Auber, Loreley of Catalani ...).

Slim Whitman (1923-2013)

noreply@blogger.com (James M. Thomas) — Mon, 20 Jan 2014 12:00:00 +0000

January 20 is the birthday of Slim Whitman (1923-2013), American country music and western music singer songwriter and instrumentalist. Whitman was known for his yodeling abilities and his smooth high three octave range falsetto.

He was born in Tampa, Florida as Ottis Dewey Whitman, Jr. Although once known as Americas Favorite Folk Singer, Whitman was consistently more popular throughout Europe, and in particular the United Kingdom, than in his native America, especially with his covers of pop standards, film songs, love songs, folk tunes and melodic gospel hymns. Whitman's 1955 hit single "Rose Marie" held the Guinness World Record for the longest time at number one on the UK Singles Chart for 36 years until Bryan Adams broke the record in 1991 and was listed in British Hit Singles & Albums. In the US Whitman's "Indian Love Call" (1952) and "Secret Love" (1953) both reached number two on the Billboard country chart. Whitman had a string of hits from the mid-1960s and into the 1970s and became known to a new generation of fans through television direct marketing in the 1980s. Throughout the 1990s and into the 21st century, Whitman continued to tour extensively around the world and release new material, Whitman garnered a new generation of fans when his music was featured in the 1996 film Mars Attacks!, where every time an old lady (played by Sylvia Sidney) and her resourceful grandson (Lukas Haas) plays Whitman's music, the heads of the invading aliens explode. Whitman's last album, Twilight on the Trail, produced by his son Byron Whitman was a cover of western standards including the Gene Autry single Back in the Saddle Again and was released in 2010.

By Whitman's on account, he sold in excess of 120 million records during this career. For his contribution to the recording industry, Slim Whitman was given the accolade of a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1709 Vine Street. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum's Walkway of Stars in 1968.

Il trovatore

noreply@blogger.com (James M. Thomas) — Sun, 19 Jan 2014 12:00:00 +0000

On January 19, 1853, the opera Il trovatore, by Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901), had its premiere performance at the Teatro Apollo in Rome. Il trovatore (The Troubadour) is an opera in four acts and is based on an libretto largely written by Salvadore Cammarano (1801-1852). It is based on the play El Trovador (1836) by Antonio García Gutiérrez (1813-1884). It was Gutiérrez's most successful play, one which Verdi scholar Julian Budden describes as "a high flown, sprawling melodrama flamboyantly defiant of the Aristotilian unities, packed with all manner of fantastic and bizarre incident.”

At the opera’s premiere, it "began a victorious march throughout the operatic world” a success due to Verdi's work over the previous three years. It began with his January 1850 approach to Cammarano with the idea of Il trovatore. There followed, slowly and with interruptions, the preparation of the libretto, first by Cammarano until his death in mid-1852 and then with the young librettist Leone Emanuele Bardare, which gave the composer the opportunity to propose significant revisions, which were accomplished under his direction. These revisions are seen largely in the expansion of the role of Leonora.

For Verdi, the three years were filled with operatic activity because work on this opera did not proceed while the composer wrote and premiered Rigoletto in Venice in March 1851 and also while his personal affairs limited his activities. Then, in May 1851, an additional commission was offered by the Venice company after Rigoletto's success there. Then another came from Paris while he was visiting that city from late 1851 and into March 1852. Therefore, even before the libretto for Il trovatore was ever completed, before the music was written, and before the opera premiered, Verdi had a total of four different operatic projects underway and in various stages of development.

Today, in its Italian version, Trovatore is given very frequently and is a staple of the standard operatic repertoire.

1944 Esquire Jazz Concert at the Met

noreply@blogger.com (James M. Thomas) — Sat, 18 Jan 2014 12:00:00 +0000

On January 18, 1944, the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City hosted a jazz concert for the first time. The performers included Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, Lionel Hampton, Artie Shaw, Roy Eldridge and Jack Teagarden.

Located on Broadway at Lincoln Square in the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, the Metropolitan Opera House is part of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the theater opened in 1966. The Metropolitan Opera House is the home of the Metropolitan Opera Company (the "Met"), which was founded in 1880. Prior to the opening of the Lincoln Center, Metropolitan Opera House was located at Broadway and 39th St.

Esquire Magazine, like Metronome and Downbeat, popularized itself and jazz music by conducting reader's polls in order to designate certain musicians as being "on top." Eventually, Esquire recast its version of the contest as a Critic's Poll. Using a point system to award highest honors, Esquire's judges selected established artists representing swing, the established form of jazz. On January 18, 1944, 19 of the performers who had been assigned the greatest number of points gathered at the Metropolitan Opera House (then at Broadway and 39th St.) for an "All-American" concert jam of remarkable dimensions. Admission was paid in the form of war bonds, and established popularity was considered crucial in order to draw sufficient crowds. This event served to perforate an artificial, elitist barrier, for were it not for the bond drive, it is said, the Met would never have opened its doors to jazz in 1944.

The evening included performances by Louis Armstrong (trumpet, vocals), Benny Goodman (clarinet), Lionel Hampton (vibraphone), Artie Shaw (clarinet), Roy Eldridge (trumpet), Jack Teagarden (trombone, vocals), Oscar Pettiford (bass), Barney Bigard (clarinet), Sidney Catlett (drums), Al Casey (guitar), Art Tatum (piano), Teddy Wilson (piano), Coleman Hawkins (tenor saxophone), Billie Holiday (vocals), Mildred Bailey (vocals), Red Norvo (xylophone), and others. Some of the music was recorded on acetates for use by the Armed Forces and portions of the evening's entertainment were broadcast over the airwaves.

Eartha Kitt (1927–2008)

noreply@blogger.com (James M. Thomas) — Fri, 17 Jan 2014 12:00:00 +0000

January 17 is the birthday of Eartha Kitt (1927–2008), American singer, actress, dancer and cabaret star. Eartha was perhaps best known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 hit recordings of "C'est Si Bon" and the enduring Christmas novelty smash "Santa Baby". Orson Welles once called her the "most exciting woman in the world". She took over the role of Catwoman for the third and final season of the 1960s Batman television series, replacing Julie Newmar, who was unavailable due to other commitments. She also voiced Yzma on Disney's The Emperor's New Groove and its television spinoff, The Emperor's New School, earning five Emmy Awards in the process, the last shortly before her death.

She was born Eartha Mae Keith, on a cotton plantation in North, a small town in Orangeburg County near Columbia, South Carolina. Eartha's mother was of Cherokee and African-American descent. Though it remains unconfirmed, it has been widely reported that her father was of German descent.

Eartha was raised by Anna Mae Riley, an African-American woman whom she believed to be her mother. When Eartha was 8, Anna Mae went to live with a black man, but he refused to accept Eartha because of her relatively pale complexion, so the girl lived with another family until Riley's death. She was then sent to live in New York City with Mamie Kitt, who she learned was her biological mother. Eartha had no knowledge of her father, except that his surname was Kitt and that he was supposedly a son of the owner of the farm where she had been born. Newspaper obituaries state that her white father was "a poor cotton farmer".

In an August 2013 biography, British journalist John Williams claimed that Eartha's father was a white man, a local doctor named Daniel Sturkie. However, Eartha's daughter, Kitt Shapiro, has questioned the authenticity of this claim.

Eartha began her career as a member of the Katherine Dunham Company in 1943 and remained a member of the troupe until 1948. A talented singer with a distinctive voice, Eartha recorded the hits "Let's Do It"; "Champagne Taste"; "C'est si bon" (which Stan Freberg famously burlesqued); "Just an Old Fashioned Girl"; "Monotonous"; "Je cherche un homme"; "Love for Sale"; "I'd Rather Be Burned as a Witch"; "Katibim" (a Turkish melody) ; "Mink, Schmink"; "Under the Bridges of Paris"; and her most recognizable hit, "Santa Baby", which was released in 1953. Eartha's unique style was enhanced as she became fluent in the French language during her years performing in Europe. Her English-speaking performances always seemed to be enriched by a soft French feel. She spoke four languages and sang in seven, which she effortlessly demonstrated in many of the live recordings of her cabaret performances.

In 1950, Orson Welles gave Eartha her first starring role, as Helen of Troy in his staging of Dr. Faustus. A few years later, she was cast in the revue New Faces of 1952, introducing "Monotonous" and "Bal, Petit Bal", two songs with which she is still identified. In 1954, 20th Century Fox filmed a version of the revue, titled New Faces, in which she performed "Monotonous", "Uska Dara", and "C'est Si Bon". Though it is often alleged that Welles and Eartha had an affair during her 1957 run in Shinbone Alley, Eartha categorically denied this in a June 2001 interview with George Wayne of Vanity Fair. Her other films in the 1950s included Mark of the Hawk (1957), St. Louis Blues (1958) and Anna Lucasta (1959).

Throughout the rest of the 1950s and early 1960s, Eartha recorded; worked in film, television, and nightclubs; and returned to the Broadway stage, in Mrs. Patterson (during the 1954–1955 season), Shinbone Alley (in 1957), and the short-lived Jolly's Progress (in 1959). In 1964, Eartha helped open the Circle Star Theater in San Carlos, California.

In the late 1960s, the television series Batman featured her as Catwoman after Julie Newmar left the role.

In 1968, during the administration of US President Lyndon B. Johnson, Eartha encountered a substantial professional setback after she made anti-war statements during a White House luncheon. Her remarks reportedly caused Mrs. Johnson to burst into tears and led to a derailment in Eartha's career. The public reaction to Eartha's statements was extreme, both pro and con. Publicly ostracized in the US, she devoted her energies to performances in Europe and Asia. It is said that Eartha's career in the US was ended following her comments about the Vietnam war, after which she was branded "a sadistic nymphomaniac" by the CIA.

Eartha returned to New York in a triumphant turn in the Broadway spectacle Timbuktu! (a version of the perennial Kismet set in Africa) in 1978. In the musical, one song gives a "recipe" for mahoun, a preparation of cannabis, in which her sultry purring rendition of the refrain "constantly stirring with a long wooden spoon" was distinctive.

In 1978, Eartha did the voice-over in a TV commercial for the album Aja by the rock group Steely Dan. She wrote three autobiographies — Thursday's Child (1956), Alone with Me (1976) and I'm Still Here: Confessions of a Sex Kitten (1989).

In 1984, Eartha returned to the music charts with a disco song, "Where Is My Man", the first certified gold record of her career. "Where Is My Man" reached the Top 40 on the UK Singles Chart, where it peaked at No. 36; The song also made the Top 10 on the US Billboard dance chart, where it reached No. 7. The single was followed by the album I Love Men on the Record Shack label. Eartha found new audiences in nightclubs across the UK and the US, including a whole new generation of gay male fans, and she responded by frequently giving benefit performances in support of HIV/AIDS organizations. Eartha appeared with Jimmy James and George Burns at a fundraiser in 1990 produced by Scott Sherman, Agent from The Atlantic Entertainment Group. It was arranged that James would impersonate Eartha and then Eartha would walk out to take the microphone. This was met with a standing ovation. Her 1989 follow-up hit "Cha-Cha Heels" (featuring Bronski Beat), which was originally intended to be recorded by Divine, received a positive response from UK dance clubs and reached No. 32 in the charts in that country.

In 1991, Eartha returned to the screen in the Jim Varney children's Halloween movie Ernest Scared Stupid as Old Lady Hackmore. In 1992, Eartha had a supporting role as Lady Eloise in the film Boomerang starring Eddie Murphy. In the late 1990s, she appeared as the Wicked Witch of the West in the North American national touring company of The Wizard of Oz. 1995 saw Eartha appear as herself in an episode of The Nanny, where she performed a song in French and flirted with Maxwell Sheffield (Charles Shaughnessy). In November 1996, she appeared on an episode of Celebrity Jeopardy!. In 2000, Eartha again returned to Broadway in the short-lived run of Michael John LaChiusa's The Wild Party opposite Mandy Patinkin and Toni Collette. Beginning in late 2000, she starred as the Fairy Godmother in the US national tour of Cinderella alongside Deborah Gibson and then Jamie-Lynn Sigler. In 2003, she replaced Chita Rivera in Nine. She reprised her role as the Fairy Godmother at a special engagement of Cinderella, which took place at Lincoln Center during the holiday season of 2004.

One of Eartha's more unusual roles was as Kaa the python in a 1994 BBC Radio adaptation of The Jungle Book. She also lent her distinctive voice to the role of Yzma in Disney's The Emperor's New Groove, for which she won her first Annie Award, and returned to the role in the straight-to-video sequel Kronk's New Groove and the spin-off TV series The Emperor's New School, for which she won two Emmy Awards and two more Annie Awards (both in 2007–08) for Voice Acting in an Animated Television Production. She had a voiceover as the voice of Queen Vexus on the animated TV series My Life as a Teenage Robot.

In her later years, Eartha made annual appearances in the New York Manhattan cabaret scene at venues such as the Ballroom and the Café Carlyle.

Eartha was also a guest star in The Simpsons episode "Once Upon a Time in Springfield", where she was depicted as one of Krusty's past marriages.

From October to early December 2006, Eartha co-starred in the Off-Broadway musical Mimi le Duck. She also appeared in the 2007 independent film And Then Came Love opposite Vanessa Williams.

Eartha was the spokesperson for MAC Cosmetics' Smoke Signals collection in August 2007. She re-recorded "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" for the occasion, was showcased on the MAC website, and the song was played at all MAC locations carrying the collection for the month.

Eartha Kitt won awards for her film, television and stage work, and in 1960, the Hollywood Walk of Fame honored her with a star, which can be found on 6656 Hollywood Boulevard.

Hello, Dolly!

noreply@blogger.com (James M. Thomas) — Thu, 16 Jan 2014 12:00:00 +0000

On January 16, 1964, the musical Hello, Dolly! opened on Broadway and ran for a total of 2,844 performances. Produced by David Merrick, with lyrics and music by Jerry Herman and a book by Michael Stewart, the musical was based on Thornton Wilder's 1938 farce The Merchant of Yonkers, which Wilder revised and retitled The Matchmaker in 1955.

Hello, Dolly! won a record 10 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, a record held for 35 years. The show album Hello, Dolly! An Original Cast Recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002. The show has become one of the most enduring musical theatre hits, enjoying three Broadway revivals and international success. It was also made into a 1969 film that was nominated for seven Academy Awards.

The plot of Hello, Dolly! originated in an 1835 English play, A Day Well Spent by John Oxenford, which Johann Nestroy adapted into the farce Einen Jux will er sich machen. Wilder adapted Nestroy's play into his 1938 farcical play, The Merchant of Yonkers, a flop, which he revised and retitled The Matchmaker in 1955, expanding the role of Dolly, played by Ruth Gordon. The Matchmaker became a hit and was much revived and made into a 1958 film of the same name starring Shirley Booth. The story of a meddlesome widow who strives to bring romance to several couples and herself in a big city restaurant also features prominently in the 1891 hit musical A Trip to Chinatown.

The role of Dolly Levi in the musical was originally written for Ethel Merman, but Merman turned it down, as did Mary Martin (although each eventually played it). Merrick then auditioned Nancy Walker. Eventually, he hired Carol Channing, who then created in Dolly her signature role. Director Gower Champion was not the producer's first choice, as Hal Prince and others (among them Jerome Robbins and Joe Layton) all turned down the job of directing the musical.

Hello, Dolly! had rocky out-of-town tryouts in Detroit and Washington, D.C. After receiving the reviews, the creators made major changes to the script and score, including the addition of the song, "Before the Parade Passes By". The show was originally entitled Dolly, A Damned Exasperating Woman and Call on Dolly but Merrick changed the title immediately upon hearing Louis Armstrong's version of "Hello, Dolly". The show became one of the most iconic Broadway shows of its era, the latter half of the 1960s, running for 2,844 performances, and was for a time the longest-running musical in Broadway history. During that decade, ten "blockbuster" musicals played over 1,000 performances and three played over 2,000, helping to redefine "success" for the Broadway musical genre.

Gene Krupa (1909-1973)

noreply@blogger.com (James M. Thomas) — Wed, 15 Jan 2014 12:00:00 +0000

January 15 is the birthday of Gene Krupa (1909-1973), American jazz and big band drummer, actor and composer, known for his highly energetic and flamboyant style.

Eugene Bertram "Gene" Krupa was born in Chicago, the youngest of Anna (née Oslowski) and Bartłomiej Krupa's nine children. Krupa's father, Bartłomiej, was an immigrant from Poland, and his mother, Anna, was also of Polish descent. His parents had groomed Gene to be a Roman Catholic priest. But Krupa later decided it was not his vocation. He studied with Sanford A. Moeller and began playing drums professionally in the mid-1920s with bands in Wisconsin. He broke into the Chicago scene in 1927, when he was picked by MCA to become a member of "Thelma Terry and Her Playboys," the first notable American Jazz band (except all-girl bands) to be led by a female musician. The Playboys were the house band at The Golden Pumpkin nightclub in Chicago and also toured extensively throughout the eastern and central United States.

Krupa made his first recordings in 1927, with a band under the leadership of banjoist Eddie Condon and Red McKenzie: along with other recordings beginning in 1927 by musicians known in the "Chicago" scene such as Bix Beiderbecke, these sides are examples of "Chicago Style" jazz. The numbers recorded at that session were: "China Boy", "Sugar", "Nobody's Sweetheart" and "Liza". The McKenzie-Condon sides are also notable for being some early examples of the use of a full drum kit on recordings. Krupa's big influences during this time were Tubby Hall and Zutty Singleton. The drummer who probably had the greatest influence on Gene in this period was Baby Dodds, whose use of press rolls was highly reflected in Gene's playing.

Krupa also appeared on six recordings made by the Thelma Terry band in 1928. In 1934 he joined Benny Goodman's band, where his featured drum work made him a national celebrity. His tom-tom interludes on their hit "Sing, Sing, Sing" were the first extended drum solos to be recorded commercially. Krupa made a cameo appearance in the 1941 film, Ball of Fire, in which he and his band performed an extended version of the hit "Drum Boogie", sung by Barbara Stanwyck, which he had composed with trumpeter Roy Eldridge.

As the 1940s ended, large orchestras fell by the wayside. Krupa gradually cut down the size of the band in the late 1940s, and from 1951 on led a trio or quartet, often featuring the multi-instrumentalist Eddie Shu on tenor sax, clarinet and harmonica. He appeared regularly with the Jazz At the Philharmonic shows. Along with Ball of Fire, he made a cameo appearance in the 1946 screen classic The Best Years Of Our Lives. His athletic drumming style, timing methods and cymbal technique evolved during this decade to fit in with changed fashions and tastes, but he never quite adjusted to the Be-Bop period.

In 1954, Krupa returned to Hollywood to appear in such films as The Glenn Miller Story and The Benny Goodman Story. In 1959, the movie biography, The Gene Krupa Story, was released; Sal Mineo portrayed Krupa, and the film had a cameo appearance by Red Nichols.

During the 1950s, Krupa often appeared at the Metropole, near Times Square in Manhattan. He continued to perform in famous clubs in the 1960s including the legendary Show Boat Lounge in suburban Maryland (which burned to the ground in the race riots of 1968). Increasingly troubled by back pain, he retired in the late 1960s and opened a music school. One of his pupils was KISS drummer Peter Criss, while Jerry Nolan from The New York Dolls was another.

Krupa occasionally played in public in the early 1970s until shortly before his death. One such late appearance occurred in 1972 at a jazz concert series sponsored by the New School in New York. Krupa appeared onstage with other well-known musicians including trumpeter Harry James and the younger jazz star-saxophonist Gerry Mulligan. A presumption was that the 500 or so audience members were drawn by Mulligan’s contemporary appeal. Nevertheless, when, during the second tune, Krupa took a 16 bar break, the room essentially exploded, the crowd leaping to its feet creating a deafening roar of unanimous affection; in effect, he remained a seminal performer up to his death, even while playing for a huge audience perhaps half his age.

Norman Granz recruited Krupa and fellow drummer Buddy Rich for his Jazz at The Philharmonic concerts. It was suggested that the two perform a 'drum battle' at the Carnegie Hall concert in September 1952, which was recorded and later issued on vinyl (a CD edition called The Drum Battle at JATP appeared courtesy of Verve in 1999).

Further drum battles took place at subsequent JATP concerts; the two drummers also faced off in a number of television broadcasts and other venues. During the 1950s he often appeared at the Metropole in these drum battles with Rich, near Times Square in Manhattan, and often played similar duets with drummer Cozy Cole.

Krupa and Rich recorded two studio albums together: Krupa and Rich (Verve, 1955) and Burnin' Beat (Verve, 1962).

In the 1930s, Krupa prominently featured Slingerland drums. At Krupa's urging, Slingerland developed tom-toms with tuneable top and bottom heads, which immediately became important elements of virtually every drummer's setup. Krupa developed and popularized many of the cymbal techniques that became standards. His collaboration with Armand Zildjian of the Avedis Zildjian Company developed the modern hi-hat cymbals and standardized the names and uses of the ride cymbal, the crash cymbal, the splash cymbal, the pang cymbal and the swish cymbal. One of his drum sets, a Slingerland inscribed with Benny Goodman's and Krupa's initials, is preserved at the Smithsonian museum in Washington, D.C.

The 1937 recording of Louis Prima's "Sing, Sing, Sing (With a Swing)" by Benny Goodman and His Orchestra featuring Gene Krupa on drums was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1982.

In 1978, Krupa became the first drummer inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame.

Aloha from Hawaii

noreply@blogger.com (James M. Thomas) — Tue, 14 Jan 2014 11:50:00 +0000

On January 14, 1973, Elvis Presley`s concert Aloha from Hawaii was broadcast live via satellite. The concert took place at the Honolulu International Center (HIC) in Honolulu (now known as the Neal S. Blaisdell Center) and aired in over 40 countries across Asia and Europe (who received the telecast the next day, also in primetime). Despite the satellite innovation, the United States did not air the concert until April 4, 1973 (because the concert took place the same day as Super Bowl VII). Viewing figures have been estimated at over 1 billion viewers worldwide, although it has been debated whether these figures are accurate. The show was the most expensive entertainment special at the time, costing $2.5 million.

On July 8, 1972, inspired by a recent visit made by U.S. President Richard Nixon to China a few months earlier, Presley's manager, Colonel Tom Parker, announced that there would be a worldwide satellite broadcast from Hawaii to allow the whole world the chance to see a Presley concert. Parker initially estimated the concert would take place in either October or November 1972, but this date was changed to early 1973 after MGM showed concern about it clashing with the release of their documentary film Elvis on Tour. As the show had already been planned prior to this upset, the original shows, now set for November, would still go ahead but without being filmed.

Parker held another press conference on September 4, 1972, in Las Vegas to confirm that the concert, now titled Aloha From Hawaii, would be broadcast on January 14, 1973. Aloha From Hawaii was the first live satellite concert to be with a single performer. Two weeks after the Las Vegas press conference Parker received a letter from Honolulu Advertiser columnist Eddie Sherman. Sherman had read in news accounts that there was to be no charge for admittance to the concerts, instead a donation for charity was required. He suggested to Parker that, as Presley had recorded and was still performing the song "I'll Remember You" written by Kui Lee, the donations could go to the Kui Lee Cancer Fund that had been set up following the death of the songwriter in 1966. Seeing the chance to publicize Presley's charitable nature once again, Parker eagerly agreed.

Presley performed three shows over November 17 and 18 in Honolulu, the dates originally planned for the satellite broadcast, and gave a press conference on November 20 to promote the satellite special. He also announced officially that it would now be in aid of the Kui Lee Cancer Fund.

Presley arrived in Hawaii again on January 9, a day after his 38th birthday, to begin rehearsals. He had lost twenty-five pounds for the show and was confident after news that his record sales were increasing and Elvis on Tour had been nominated for a Golden Globe. Rehearsals were held at the Hilton Hawaiian Village while the main set was being constructed. Although there were several technical problems, the rehearsals were an overall success.

Presley taped a January 12 rehearsal concert as a fail-safe in case anything went wrong with the satellite during the January 14 broadcast – however, nothing went wrong. For both shows, Presley was dressed in a white "American Eagle" jumpsuit designed by Bill Belew. The broadcast was directed by Marty Pasetta, who was then in charge of directing the Oscar ceremonies.

Audience tickets for the January 14 concert and its January 12 pre-broadcast rehearsal show carried no price. Each audience member was asked to pay whatever he or she could afford. The performance and concert merchandise sales raised $75,000 for the Kui Lee Cancer Fund in Hawaii.

Elvis Presley Enterprises give the figure that between 1 billion and 1.5 billion people watched the broadcast live, but this is a highly unlikely number. The total population of the countries receiving the broadcast was only 1.3 billion. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Michael Jackson's Super Bowl XXVII halftime holds the record for the largest TV audience for a performance, with 133.4 million viewers.

The 1968 Folsom Prison Concert

noreply@blogger.com (James M. Thomas) — Mon, 13 Jan 2014 11:50:00 +0000

On January 13, 1968, Johnny Cash (1932-2003) performed and recorded a live concert at Folsom State Prison. Folsom is a California State Prison located in the city of Folsom, California, 20 mi (32 km) northeast from the state capital of Sacramento. Opened in 1880, Folsom is the second-oldest prison in the state of California after San Quentin.

American singer-songwriter Johnny Cash felt great compassion for prisoners. He began performing concerts at various prisons starting in the late 1950s. His first prison concert was held on January 1, 1958, at San Quentin State Prison. These performances led to a pair of highly successful live albums, Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison (1968) and Johnny Cash at San Quentin (1969).

The Folsom Prison record was introduced by a rendition of Cash's classic "Folsom Prison Blues", while the San Quentin record included the crossover hit single "A Boy Named Sue", a Shel Silverstein-penned novelty song that reached No. 1 on the country charts and No. 2 on the U.S. Top Ten pop charts. The AM versions of the latter contained a couple of profanities which were edited out. The modern CD versions are unedited and uncensored and thus also longer than the original vinyl albums, though they still retain the audience reaction overdubs of the originals.

In addition to his performances at U.S. prisons, Cash also performed at the Österåker Prison in Sweden in 1972. The live album På Österåker ("At Österåker") was released in 1973. "San Quentin" was recorded with Cash replacing "San Quentin" with "Österåker", which was greatly appreciated by the inmates.

Ray Price (1926-2013)

noreply@blogger.com (James M. Thomas) — Sun, 12 Jan 2014 11:50:00 +0000

January 12 is the birthday of Ray Price (1926-2013), American country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist. His wide ranging baritone has often been praised as among the best male voices of country music. Some of his well-known recordings include "Release Me", "Crazy Arms", "Heartaches by the Number", "For the Good Times", "Night Life", and "You're the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me". He was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1996 and—even into his late 80s—continued to record and tour.

Noble Ray Price was born in Perryville, Texas. He served with the U.S. Marines from 1944-1946, and began singing for radio station KRBC in Abilene, Texas during 1948. Price joined the Big D Jamboree in Dallas in 1949. He relocated to Nashville in the early 1950s, rooming for a brief time with Hank Williams. When Williams died, Price managed his band, the Drifting Cowboys, and had minor success. He was the first artist to have a success with the song "Release Me" (1954), a top five popular music hit for Engelbert Humperdinck in 1967.

In 1953, Price formed his band, the Cherokee Cowboys. Among its members during the late 1950s and early 1960s were; Roger Miller, Willie Nelson, Darrell McCall, Van Howard, Johnny Paycheck and Johnny Bush, Buddy Emmons, Pete Wade, Jan Kurtis, Shorty Lavender and Buddy Spicher. Miller wrote one of Price's classics in 1958, "Invitation to the Blues", and sang harmony on the recording. Additionally, Nelson composed the Ray Price song "Night Life".

Price became one of the stalwarts of 1950s honky tonk music, with hit songs such as "Talk To Your Heart" (1952) and "Release Me". He later developed the famous "Ray Price Shuffle," a 4/4 arrangement of honky tonk music with a walking bass line, which can be heard on "Crazy Arms" (1956) and many of his other recordings from the late 1950s.

During the 1960s, Ray experimented increasingly with the so-called Nashville sound, singing slow ballads and utilizing lush arrangements of strings and backing singers. Examples include his 1967 rendition of "Danny Boy", and "For the Good Times" in 1970 which was Price's first country music chart No. 1 hit since "The Same Old Me" in 1959. Written by Kris Kristofferson, the song also scored No. 11 on the popular music chart and featured a mellower Price backed by sophisticated musical sounds, quite in contrast to the honky tonk sounds Price had pioneered two decades before. Price had three more No. 1 country music successes during the 1970s: "I Won't Mention It Again", "She's Got To Be A Saint", and "You're the Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me." His final top ten hit was "Diamonds In The Stars" in early 1982. Price continued to have songs on the country music chart through 1989. Later, he sang gospel music and recorded such songs as "Amazing Grace", "What A Friend We Have In Jesus", "Farther Along" and "Rock of Ages."

In 2006, Price was living near Mount Pleasant, Texas and still performing in concerts throughout the country. In 2009, Price made two performances for the Fox News show Huckabee. The first was with the Cherokee Cowboys and host Mike Huckabee, and he performed "Crazy Arms" and "Heartaches By The Number". Weeks later he performed with the Cherokee Cowboys and Willie Nelson (again with Huckabee playing bass guitar). This time they performed duets of "Faded Love" and "Crazy."

Price worked on his latest album, Last of the Breed, with fellow country music singers Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard. This album was released on March 20, 2007 by the company Lost Highway Records. The two-disc set features 20 country classics as well as a pair of new compositions. The trio toured the U.S. from March 9 until March 25 starting in Arizona and finishing in Illinois. This was Price's third album with Nelson and first album with Haggard. After the tour, Haggard remarked, "I told Willie when it was over, 'That old man gave us a goddamn singing lesson.' He really did. He just sang so good. He sat there with the mic against his chest. And me and Willie are all over the microphone trying to find it, and he found it."

On November 6, 2012, Ray Price confirmed that he was fighting pancreatic cancer. Price retained a positive outlook and hoped to play as many as a hundred concert dates in 2013.

Although in February 2013 the cancer appeared to be in remission, Price was hospitalized in May 2013 with severe dehydration. Price died at his home in Mt. Pleasant, Texas, on December 16, 2013.

Jody Payne (1936-2013)

noreply@blogger.com (James M. Thomas) — Sat, 11 Jan 2014 11:50:00 +0000

January 11 is the birthday of Jody Payne (1936-2013), American country musician and singer. Payne is best known as a longtime guitarist in Willie Nelson's band, The Family.

He was born James L. Payne in Garrard County, Kentucky. He and his sister, Imogene Payne (born 1934), sang together when they were five and six years old. He sang and played the mandolin for Imogene’s first year graduation and that was the beginning of his music career. His next performance was when he was about 10 or 11, The two sang with their father on a radio show on WHIR in Danville.

In 1951, Payne went on the road, playing bluegrass music with Charlie Monroe for a time. After he returned home, the family moved to Cincinnati, Ohio. Payne was drafted into the Army in 1958 and served two years. He was discharged in 1960 and, in the spring of 1961, went to Detroit, Michigan and started playing at the West Fort Tavern. Payne then toured with Merle Haggard. Payne also was on recordings with Hank Snow, Tanya Tucker and Leon Russell.

Payne first met Willie Nelson in about 1962 in Detroit. Nelson was playing bass with Ray Price. Payne started working with Nelson in November 1973 and retired from his band in 2008.

Payne and country singer Sammi Smith married, but later divorced. They had one son, musician/singer/actor Waylon Payne (born 1972). He and his second wife, Vicki, were married in 1980 and lived in Stapleton, Alabama. They had a son, Austin Payne (born 1981). Payne remained active as a musician until his death. The final recording Payne played on was the 2012 Dallas Moore Band live album, Hank To Thank: Live at Historic Herzog Studio.

Payne appeared in television and film including: Monk, Songwriter, Soundstage, Farm Aid '86, '97 and The Tenth Anniversary Concert, Austin City Limits, and Honeysuckle Rose.

Jim Croce (1943-1973)

noreply@blogger.com (James M. Thomas) — Fri, 10 Jan 2014 11:50:00 +0000

January 10 is the birthday of Jim Croce (1943-1973), American singer-songwriter. Between 1966 and 1973, Croce released five studio albums and 11 singles. His singles "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" and "Time in a Bottle" were both number one hits on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.

James Joseph Croce was born in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to James Albert and Flora Mary (Babucci) Croce, Italian Americans. At five, he learned to play his first song on the accordion, "Lady of Spain."

After graduating from Upper Darby High School in 1960, Croce studied at Malvern Preparatory School for a year, and then Villanova University. Croce majored in psychology, minored in German, and graduated in 1965 with a Bachelor degree. Croce was a member of the Villanova Singers and the Villanova Spires. When the Spires performed off-campus or made recordings, they were known as The Coventry Lads. Croce was also a student disc jockey at WKVU (now WXVU). The Coventry Lads were chosen for a foreign exchange tour, in which they performed in Africa, Middle East, and Yugoslavia.

Croce released his first album, Facets, in 1966, with 500 copies pressed. The album had been financed with a $500 wedding gift from Croce's parents, who hoped the album would fail and their son would return to college. However, the album proved a success, with every copy being sold.

From the mid-1960s to early 1970s, Croce performed in a duet with this future wife, Ingrid. His set list covered several genres, including blues, country, rock and roll, and folk.

Croce married Ingrid in 1966. He enlisted in the Army National Guard that same year to avoid being drafted and deployed to Vietnam.

In 1968, at the encouragement of record producer Tommy West, the Croces move to New York City. There the couple recorded their first album with Capitol Records, Jim & Ingrid Croce. During the next two years, they drove more than 300,000 miles, playing small clubs and concerts on the college concert circuit promoting their album.

Becoming disillusioned by the music business and New York City, they sold all but one guitar, to pay the rent, and returned to Pennsylvania, settling in an old farm in Lyndell. Croce got a job driving trucks and doing construction work, while continuing to write songs, often about the characters he would meet at the local bars and truck stops and his experiences at work. The couple returned to Philadelphia, where Croce eventually got a job at a Philadelphia R&B AM radio station.

In 1970, Croce met the classically trained pianist-guitarist and singer-songwriter Maury Muehleisen from Trenton, New Jersey. Salviuolo brought the Croce and Muehleisen duo together at the production office of Tommy West and Terry Cashman in New York City. Initially, Croce backed Muehleisen on guitar at his gigs but in time their roles reversed, with Muehleisen adding lead guitar to Croce's music.

In 1972, Croce signed to a three-record deal with ABC Records and released two albums, You Don't Mess Around with Jim and Life and Times. The singles "You Don't Mess Around with Jim", "Operator (That's Not the Way It Feels)", and "Time in a Bottle" (written for his then-unborn son, A. J. Croce) all received airplay. Croce's biggest single, "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown", hit No. 1 on the American charts in July 1973. That year, the Croces relocated to San Diego, California.

As his career picked up, Croce began touring the United States with Muehleisen, performing live, including in large coffee houses, on college campuses, and at folk festivals. However, Croce's financial situation was still dire. The record company had fronted him the money to record the album, and much of the money the album earned went back to pay the advance. In February 1973, Croce and Muehleisen traveled to Europe to promote the album, visiting London, Paris, and Amsterdam, and getting positive reviews. Croce also began appearing on television, including on Don Kirshner's Rock Concert and The Midnight Special, which he co-hosted. In July 1973, Croce and Muehleisen again visited London and performed on The Old Grey Whistle Test. Croce finished recording the album I Got a Name one week before his death. During his tours, Croce grew increasingly homesick, and decided to take a break from music and settle down with his wife and infant son after his Life and Times tour was completed. In a letter to his wife which arrived after his death, Croce stated his intention to quit music and stick to writing short stories and movie scripts as a career, and withdraw from public life.

On Thursday, September 20, 1973, during Croce's Life and Times tour and the day before his ABC single "I Got a Name" was released, Croce, Muehleisen, and four others were killed when the chartered Beechcraft E18S he was traveling in crashed while taking off from the Natchitoches Regional Airport in Natchitoches, Louisiana. Others who died in the crash were charter pilot Robert N. Elliott, comedian George Stevens, manager and booking agent Kenneth D. Cortose, and road manager Dennis Rast. Croce had just completed a concert at Northwestern State University's Prather Coliseum in Natchitoches and was flying to Sherman, Texas, for a concert at Austin College. The plane crashed an hour after the end of the concert. The NTSB later determined that the crash was caused by pilot error.

The album I Got a Name was released on December 1, 1973. The posthumous release included three hits: "Workin' at the Car Wash Blues", "I'll Have to Say I Love You in a Song", and the title song, which had been used as the theme to the film The Last American Hero which was released two months prior to his death. The album reached No. 2 and "I'll Have to Say I Love You in a Song" reached No. 9 on the singles chart.

Cassie LaRue Gaines (1948-1977)

noreply@blogger.com (James M. Thomas) — Thu, 09 Jan 2014 11:50:00 +0000

January 9 is the birthday of Cassie LaRue Gaines (1948-1977), American singer, best known for her work with Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd.

In the mid-1970s, the Senecca, Missouri-born Gaines was invited by Deborah Jo "JoJo" Billingsley and Ronnie Van Zant to become a backup singer for Lynyrd Skynyrd, a band she had not heard of at the time. To enlighten her, Billingsley lent Gaines a copy of the band's first two albums: (Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd) and Second Helping. In late 1975, Cassie, JoJo, and Leslie Hawkins became The Honkettes, a female gospel vocal trio for Skynyrd.

When Lynyrd Skynyrd was in need of a guitar player to replace the departed Ed King, Gaines recommended her younger brother, Steve, who joined the band soon after.

On October 20, 1977, a plane carrying the band between shows from Greenville, South Carolina, to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, crashed outside of Gillsburg, Mississippi. The crash killed Ronnie Van Zant, Steve and Cassie Gaines, assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, as well as pilot Walter McCreary and co-pilot William Gray.

Cassie and Steve Gaines were buried in Orange Park, Florida. The two are the subject of the 2001 song "Cassie's Brother" by alt-country band Drive-By Truckers.

On February 15, 1979, Steve's and Cassie's mother, also named Cassie LaRue Gaines, was killed in an automobile accident near the cemetery where Steve and Cassie are buried. She was buried near her children.

Ariodante by George Frideric Handel

noreply@blogger.com (James M. Thomas) — Wed, 08 Jan 2014 11:50:00 +0000

January 8, 1734 marked the premiere performance of George Frideric Handel's Ariodante at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Ariodante (HWV 33) is an opera seria in three acts. The anonymous Italian libretto was based on a work by Antonio Salvi, which in turn was adapted from Canti 5 and 6 of Ludovico Ariosto's Orlando Furioso. Each act contains opportunities for dance, originally composed for dancer Marie Sallé and her company.

The opera was first performed in the Covent Garden Theatre, London, on January 8, 1735. Ariodante opened Handel's first season at Covent Garden and successfully competed against the rival Opera of the Nobility, supported by the Prince of Wales. Handel had the tacit and financial support of the King and Queen and, more vocally, of the Princess Royal. The opera received 11 performances during its premiere season at Covent Garden.

Like Handel's other works in the opera seria genre, Ariodante, despite its initial success, fell into oblivion for more than two hundred years. An edition of the score was published in the early 1960s, from the Hallische Händel-Ausgabe. In the 1970s, the work began to be revived, and has come to be considered one of Handel's finest operas. On March 29, 1971 the Handel Society of New York performed the American premiere of the work in a concert version with mezzo-soprano Sophia Steffan in the title role and Judith Raskin as Ginevra.