March 28
"My Word, You Do Look Queer," Written by Bert Lee and R.P. Weston, performed by Ernest Hastings
I chose this piece for the last Music Monday of March (and 1922 number one songs) because I found it so interesting. This is a comedic monologue, set to music. I had no idea that pieces like this were popular, though it certainly makes sense. It’s not like people only started enjoying comedians recently. I suppose it was just interesting to me to see a piece like this on the top 100 list for 1922. I remember during the 1990s a couple of monologue style pieces that became quite popular and were played on the radio. There was a Jeff Foxworthy one that I don’t remember too well, and then there was the famous (infamous?) piece, “Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen),” by Baz Luhrmann that came out in 1999. That piece was played ALL THE TIME, and as a member of the graduating class of 1999, it truly did feel like he was talking directly to us. I think many of us took all of the lyrics of that song to heart.
Anyway, this is a fun little piece about a man who has been ill and, having recovered, goes for a walk. But all the people he meets comment on how awful he looks (“My word, you do look queer!”), until he’s basically convinced that he truly is about to die. There is a happy ending, but I’ll let you listen and/or read the lyrics to discover it. The performer, Ernest Hastings, was an English singer, pianist, and composer, who was known for his comedic monologue performances. He toured in both England and Great Britain and became known as “England’s Greatest Entertainer at the Piano.” I guess I just sort of enjoy when something unexpected like this pops up in the top 100. Perhaps some of his other pieces for which he was popular between the 1910s and 1930s reached the top 100 in other years as well. At any rate, I did get a little chuckle out of this one, so give it a listen.
The piece:
Resources
About the piece: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Word,_You_Do_Look_Queer
About the performer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Hastings
Lyrics: https://www.monologues.co.uk/Stanley-Holloway/You-Do-Look-Queer.htm
Monday, March 28, 2022
Monday, March 21, 2022
Music Mondays: My Buddy, performed by Henry Burr
March 21
“My Buddy,” Music by Walter Donaldson, Lyrics by Gus Kahn, Performed by Henry Burr (1922)
I couldn’t actually find a lot of information about this particular song, but I still felt it was a good one to include in this series. The main reason I chose this song is that, even though it was published 4 years after the end of WWI, it became a popular song at gathering spots for veterans, like the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars. In other words, it became a sort of ballad for veterans who had lost friends in WWI. I felt it was important to include a song that arose from that incredibly important worldwide event that took place in the mid to late 1910s. There is also speculation that the song has homoerotic undertones, which I can see. It was most definitely a time when it would have been too scandalous for a song to be overtly about homosexuality, so something with more of a friendship tone to it would be a good cover. Of course, it’s also okay for men to just be friends and miss one another! It doesn’t always have to be about sex!
Henry Burr was a very popular recording artist of the time, a tenor of the operatic style. He was also a part of the Peerless Quartet, which had several top 100 hits during this era. Burr was the first to record this particular song, though it was also recorded by some other popular singers later. The song apparently also featured in an episode of Boardwalk Empire in 2012. Anyway, enough of the limited information I found on this song. Give it a listen, and consider the feeling of loss it portrays.
The song:
Resources:
Another blogger's thoughts on the song: https://patrickmurfin.blogspot.com/2020/05/my-buddymurfin-home-confinement-music.html
A few thoughts and the lyrics: https://heritageamerican.wordpress.com/2010/10/25/life-is-a-book-that-we-study/
About Henry Burr: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Burr
“My Buddy,” Music by Walter Donaldson, Lyrics by Gus Kahn, Performed by Henry Burr (1922)
I couldn’t actually find a lot of information about this particular song, but I still felt it was a good one to include in this series. The main reason I chose this song is that, even though it was published 4 years after the end of WWI, it became a popular song at gathering spots for veterans, like the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars. In other words, it became a sort of ballad for veterans who had lost friends in WWI. I felt it was important to include a song that arose from that incredibly important worldwide event that took place in the mid to late 1910s. There is also speculation that the song has homoerotic undertones, which I can see. It was most definitely a time when it would have been too scandalous for a song to be overtly about homosexuality, so something with more of a friendship tone to it would be a good cover. Of course, it’s also okay for men to just be friends and miss one another! It doesn’t always have to be about sex!
Henry Burr was a very popular recording artist of the time, a tenor of the operatic style. He was also a part of the Peerless Quartet, which had several top 100 hits during this era. Burr was the first to record this particular song, though it was also recorded by some other popular singers later. The song apparently also featured in an episode of Boardwalk Empire in 2012. Anyway, enough of the limited information I found on this song. Give it a listen, and consider the feeling of loss it portrays.
The song:
Resources:
Another blogger's thoughts on the song: https://patrickmurfin.blogspot.com/2020/05/my-buddymurfin-home-confinement-music.html
A few thoughts and the lyrics: https://heritageamerican.wordpress.com/2010/10/25/life-is-a-book-that-we-study/
About Henry Burr: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Burr
Thursday, March 17, 2022
Music Mondays: Lonesome Mama Blues, performed by Mamie Smith
March 14
“Lonesome Mama Blues,” Music by Billie Brown; Lyrics by Anna Welker Brown and E. Nickel; Performed by Mamie Smith (1922)
Though blues music had been around for quite some time at this point, a style of music called “urban blues” was becoming more popular in the 1920s, particularly in vaudeville. As I mentioned last week with Paul Whiteman, this urban blues style of music was a bit more accessible to the masses and was thus able to help move blues music into the mainstream. Mamie Smith was a popular vaudeville actress who became the first African-American woman to record a blues song in 1920. That song, “Crazy Blues,” became so incredibly popular that it launched her to stardom and made urban blues a household sound. That one recording showed record companies that black women had a sound and a presence that would sell, paving the way for more black women to share their vocal talents with the world.
Mamie Smith’s performance of “Lonesome Mama Blues” made it to #6 in the US charts in 1922. The song itself isn’t particularly special, aside from being from the heyday of Mamie Smith’s career and a good example of the urban blues genre. That’s not to say it’s not worth a listen - you can hear the roots of R&B music, and the song most definitely evokes a period of time that has been oft portrayed in film and television. To me, it’s interesting to hear the progression of popular music and how it influenced what would come. So give it a listen!
Also, if you're going to read one article about a person today, check out the USA Today article I link below. It's quite interesting.
The song:
Resources
About blues: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blues
About Mamie Smith: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mamie_Smith
https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2022/02/14/black-history-month-trailblazers-blues-icon-mamie-smith-paved-way/9305200002/
“Lonesome Mama Blues,” Music by Billie Brown; Lyrics by Anna Welker Brown and E. Nickel; Performed by Mamie Smith (1922)
Though blues music had been around for quite some time at this point, a style of music called “urban blues” was becoming more popular in the 1920s, particularly in vaudeville. As I mentioned last week with Paul Whiteman, this urban blues style of music was a bit more accessible to the masses and was thus able to help move blues music into the mainstream. Mamie Smith was a popular vaudeville actress who became the first African-American woman to record a blues song in 1920. That song, “Crazy Blues,” became so incredibly popular that it launched her to stardom and made urban blues a household sound. That one recording showed record companies that black women had a sound and a presence that would sell, paving the way for more black women to share their vocal talents with the world.
Mamie Smith’s performance of “Lonesome Mama Blues” made it to #6 in the US charts in 1922. The song itself isn’t particularly special, aside from being from the heyday of Mamie Smith’s career and a good example of the urban blues genre. That’s not to say it’s not worth a listen - you can hear the roots of R&B music, and the song most definitely evokes a period of time that has been oft portrayed in film and television. To me, it’s interesting to hear the progression of popular music and how it influenced what would come. So give it a listen!
Also, if you're going to read one article about a person today, check out the USA Today article I link below. It's quite interesting.
The song:
Resources
About blues: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blues
About Mamie Smith: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mamie_Smith
https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2022/02/14/black-history-month-trailblazers-blues-icon-mamie-smith-paved-way/9305200002/
Monday, March 7, 2022
Music Mondays: Hot Lips, performed by Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra
March 7
“Hot Lips,” Music and Lyrics by Henry Busse, Henry Lange, & Lou Davis
Recorded by Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra (1922)
Welcome to the 1920s! Some of the songs from this decade will actually be familiar to more of us than the older songs from the 1900s and 1910s. Many of us will have parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents who listened to these songs, or you may have heard some of them in popular movies and musicals. Jazz music is really taking off in this decade, so we’re starting to hear those sounds more and more in the popular music of the time.
This piece, also known as “He’s Got Hot Lips When He Plays Jazz,” is a foxtrot, a style of dance that was first introduced in the mid-1910s, and gained in popularity throughout the 1920s and into the 1930s. If you look at the top 100 list I’ve shared below, you’ll find quite a few of the songs on it are foxtrots. It was the most popular dance of the period, and the majority of records released over a nearly 30 year period included foxtrots.
I feel it’s also important to mention the performers of this particular piece. Paul Whiteman started his orchestra in the late 1910s, moving it to New York City to record for the Victor Talking Machine Company. During that time, his orchestra recorded so many immensely popular hits that the media began calling him “The King of Jazz.” Some feel that he does not deserve this title, as he took the roots of jazz, in African American cities and juke joints, and commercialized them, by formally orchestrating the compositions and removing many of the improvisational elements. However, it is likely this formalization of the pieces that helped boost their popularity. Additionally, he is the person who commissioned the famous composer George Gershwin to write the equally famous piece, “Rhapsody in Blue.” So Whiteman and his orchestra certainly had an important role to play in increasing the popularity of jazz in the 1920s and 1930s.
Now, you should kick back and enjoy “Hot Lips,” by Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra
Resources
Information about Paul Whiteman: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Whiteman
https://syncopatedtimes.com/paul-whiteman-and-his-orchestra/
“Hot Lips,” Music and Lyrics by Henry Busse, Henry Lange, & Lou Davis
Recorded by Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra (1922)
Welcome to the 1920s! Some of the songs from this decade will actually be familiar to more of us than the older songs from the 1900s and 1910s. Many of us will have parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents who listened to these songs, or you may have heard some of them in popular movies and musicals. Jazz music is really taking off in this decade, so we’re starting to hear those sounds more and more in the popular music of the time.
This piece, also known as “He’s Got Hot Lips When He Plays Jazz,” is a foxtrot, a style of dance that was first introduced in the mid-1910s, and gained in popularity throughout the 1920s and into the 1930s. If you look at the top 100 list I’ve shared below, you’ll find quite a few of the songs on it are foxtrots. It was the most popular dance of the period, and the majority of records released over a nearly 30 year period included foxtrots.
I feel it’s also important to mention the performers of this particular piece. Paul Whiteman started his orchestra in the late 1910s, moving it to New York City to record for the Victor Talking Machine Company. During that time, his orchestra recorded so many immensely popular hits that the media began calling him “The King of Jazz.” Some feel that he does not deserve this title, as he took the roots of jazz, in African American cities and juke joints, and commercialized them, by formally orchestrating the compositions and removing many of the improvisational elements. However, it is likely this formalization of the pieces that helped boost their popularity. Additionally, he is the person who commissioned the famous composer George Gershwin to write the equally famous piece, “Rhapsody in Blue.” So Whiteman and his orchestra certainly had an important role to play in increasing the popularity of jazz in the 1920s and 1930s.
Now, you should kick back and enjoy “Hot Lips,” by Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra
Resources
Information about Paul Whiteman: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Whiteman
https://syncopatedtimes.com/paul-whiteman-and-his-orchestra/
Information about the foxtrot: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxtrot
Top 100 of 1922: https://playback.fm/charts/top-100-songs/1922
Top 100 of 1922: https://playback.fm/charts/top-100-songs/1922
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