Walt Whitman: Shedding Light Over The World

Today is the birthday of Walt Whitman (1819-1892), a free spirit easily acknowledged as a most extraordinary poet in our history. His life bridged the American experience from the early Romantic period in literature to the advent of hard realism as the end of the century approached. I'm not sure what presence he has these days in the public school systems across the country but baby boomers - born between 1946 and 1964 - had a full dose of his poetry beginning in elementary school. For more information on Whitman, including an extensive biography, visit the outstanding resources at the Walt Whitman Archive.

Whitman in 1887

Much of Whitman's poetry has been set to music. Sometimes the blend of music and existing poetry has limited success and authors often do not think favorably of such adaptations. I think Whitman would have approved especially with the music coming from a fellow impressionist, in this case Frederick Delius. This composition has been a personal favorite for forty years.

Miracles

Walt Whitman, originally published as Poem of Perfect Miracles in 1856, revised 1881

Why, who makes much of a miracle?
As to me I know of nothing else but miracles,
Whether I walk the streets of Manhattan,
Or dart my sight over the roofs of houses toward the sky,
Or wade with naked feet along the beach just in the edge of the water,
Or stand under trees in the woods,
Or talk by day with any one I love, or sleep in the bed at night with any one I love,
Or sit at table at dinner with the rest,
Or look at strangers opposite me riding in the car,
Or watch honey-bees busy around the hive of a summer aforenoon,
Or animals feeding in the fields,
Or birds, or the wonderfulness of insects in the air,
Or the wonderfulness of the sundown, or of stars shining so quiet and bright,
Or the exquisite delicate thin curve of the new moon in spring;
These with the rest, one and all, are to me miracles,
The whole referring, yet each distinct and in its place.

To me every hour of the light and dark is a miracle,
Every cubic inch of space is a miracle,
Every square yard of the surface of the earth is spread with the same,
Every foot of the interior swarms with the same.

To me the sea is a continual miracle,
The fishes that swim—the rocks—the motion of the waves—the ships with men in them,
What stranger miracles are there?

Sources

Photos and Illustrations:

public domain photo, George Collins Cox, restored by Adam Cuerden, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division

Text:

poem, thespectrum.com

Benny Goodman: Swing Time

In 1935 Benny Goodman and his band had a regular late-night gig on Saturdays on NBC's radio program, Let's Dance. Broadcast from New York, most of the local teens and twenty-somethings who enjoyed his music were fast asleep. On the other hand, it was perfect timing for young audiences on the West Coast. A labor strike brought the program to a sudden and unexpected end and put Goodman and his band out of work. Together they decided on a on a coast to coast tour. In the interior states, the tour was a disaster because people didn't care for "upbeat" jazz arranged for orchestra. The band was looking forward to the Palomar Ballroom in Los Angeles as the last stop and an end to the pain. When they arrived, thousands of young fans who had heard them on the radio were waiting to hear them in person. What was to be a welcome end to a disastrous tour turned into the beginning of the Swing era.

In the shadow of Bebop: Benny Goodman, 1946

Eighteen months later , the now famous Goodman Orchestra was invited to present a jazz review on January 16, 1938 in Carnegie Hall, a venue historically reserved for "high brow" music. Several members of the Duke Ellington and Count Basie orchestras and others joined on stage to perform a concert ranging from traditional to unconventional. No jazz bandleader had ever performed there. The concert was a sensation, reaffirming Goodman as the "King of Swing," and jazz as serious American music. In the eyes of many music critics and historians, this concert remains the single most important event in popular music history in the United States. Superlatives aside, the concert was a study in swing music history and jazz improvisation.

After several curtain calls at the end of the concert, Goodman announced to the screaming fans that an encore would follow. Sing, Sing, Sing was the last song in that set. It already was a popular piece for the band, but this performance lifted it to holy status in the swing jazz genre. Featured players: Gene Kruppa on drums, Babe Russin on saxophone, Harry James on trumpet, Goodman on clarinet, and Jess Stacy in a masterpiece of improvisation on piano.

Today we celebrate the birthday of the clarinetist and bandleader, Benny Goodman (1909 - 1986). You can read about him here in a biography prepared for the Jazz: A Film By Ken Burns PBS website. Mention "Palomar Ballroom" and "Carnegie Hall" in the same breath and any popular music historian will follow with "Benny Goodman." Both performances are landmarks in the history of swing and jazz.

Sources

Photos and Illustrations:

Photo: Library of Congress, William Gottlieb Collection

Text:
bennygoodman.com
Benny Goodman entry, wikipedia.org

Memorial Day 2018

On this day we honor men and women who have made the supreme sacrifice in service to their country. They gave their lives that we might live out our own in an experiment of community called the United States. Take some moments today and reflect on what these heroes have given you and your family.

Although there were many veterans in my family, none of them died during their military service. The family archive reflects this outcome: only one item, a circa 1908 postcard - in a collection of 800 cards - commemorates the day. The text reads as follows:

From the silence of sorrowful hours,

The desolate mourners go,

Lovingly laden with flowers,

Alike for the friend and the foe:

Under the sod and the dew,

Waiting the judgment day.

Under the roses the Blue,

Under the lilies the Gray.

Many of us grew up knowing this day as Decoration Day, but now it is best known as Memorial Day. Though both its date and scope have changed over time, its central meaning remains strong. At virtually every crossroad town from sea to sea, there will be old soldiers, flags, a speech or two, and prayers. These events will take place at memorial walls bearing the names of the honored dead. Invariably, the audiences will be small, but firmly dedicated to the idea that the nation will always remember the cost of freedom.

A Soldier's Burial

by General George S. Patton (1943)

Not midst the chanting of the Requiem Hymn,

Nor with the solemn ritual of prayer,

Neath misty shadows from the oriel glass,

And dreamy perfume of the incensed air

Was he interred;

But in the subtle stillness after fight,

And the half light between the night and the day,

We dragged his body all besmeared with mud,

And dropped it, clod-like, back into the clay.

Yet who shall say that he was not content,

Or missed the prayers, or drone of chanting choir,

He who had heard all day the Battle Hymn

Sung on all sides by a thousand throats of fire.

What painted glass can lovelier shadows cast,

Than those the evening sky shall ever shed,

While, mingled with their light, Red Battle's Sun

Completes in magic colors o'er our dead,

The flag for which they died.

Miss Peggy Lee: Reprising Smooth Perfection

Today is the birthday of singer, songwriter, and actress, Peggy Lee (1920-2002). While most singers chose to go loud she went rich, seductive, and stylish. Her method caught the eye and ear of bandleader Benny Goodman in 1941 and for the next five decades she wrapped songs in her personality, warmth, and intimacy for millions of fans.

Lee publicity portrait from 1950

With a sophisticated style cast into her roles as singer, lyricist, composer, and actor it's easy to see why Lee was always introduced to audiences as "Miss Peggy Lee." And it's no wonder that such an "in charge" personality could become the model for one of the most beloved characters in television history. That the character is none other than a Muppet may surprise you. It is a story of caricature, humor, reverence, and unexpected fame. Read about it here in this brief Smithsonian Magazine interview. 

Here is the song that made her famous:

And here is Lee in a 1957 performance that really captures the essence of her talent. Of course it always helps to have a Jerome Kern melody with a rich Nelson Riddle arrangement performed by the Riddle orchestra:

   

More than a decade after her death her recordings can be heard regularly on jazz and popular music stations and channels around the world. That's all there is!

Sources

Photos and Illustrations:
public domain publicity photo

Text:
Peggy Lee, wikipedia.org

Artie Shaw: Jazz Man With Many Faces

Today is the birthday of Arthur Arshawsky (1910-2004), the clarinetist, composer, band leader, and author better known as Artie Shaw.

To say that Shaw was complex and difficult would be an understatement. He was married eight times, greatly disliked fame, and resented the conflict between creativity and the music industry so much that he virtually abandoned music in the early 1950s. Perhaps his life illustrated a never ending search for perfection by a man who could have approached it in any number of fields. When he died in December 2004 at the age of 94, he was recognized as one of the century's finest jazz clarinetists and a principal force in the development of the fusion of jazz and classical music that would become known as "Third Stream Music." Technically, I think he was at the top. This 1936 recording of him performing his composition, Interlude in B Flat, provides the evidence:

Shaw's distaste with the music industry led him to eagerly pursue many other interests, especially writing. That facet of his life produced an autobiography, several novels and short stories, and an unfinished historical fiction trilogy on the jazz era. For a more thorough examination of even more facets in the life of this restless musical genius, visit this link at Swing Music Net for his obituary and this entry for his Wikipedia biography.

Frank Capra: "Don't Follow Trends, Start Them."

Frank Capra was born in Sicily on this day in 1897. You may know his name from it's association with the perennial Christmas film, It's A Wonderful Life (1946). In fact, Capra was one of the greatest names in 20th century Hollywood film making for his roles as writer, director, and producer. He was certainly old school and confined virtually all of his film making to black and white. I read recently where young people these days have little interest in watching films unless they are in color. That means a huge inventory of significant motion pictures may soon be neglected along with a major segment of the industry's history. It's unfortunate because shooting in black and white is an art with focus on story line - he was a master story teller - as well as the interplay of light, shadow, and texture. Color often limits or conflicts all of these elements. 

Capra portrait from the 1930's

Here's a small portion of what Capra produced in his black and white world: 

It Happened One Night (1934)

Mr. Deeds Goes To Town (1936)

Lost Horizon (1937)

You Can't Take It With You (1938)

Mr. Smith Goes To Washington (1939)

War Department Film Series (1942-45)

It's A Wonderful Life (1946)

Here Comes The Groom (1951)


Each of these films received Academy Award nominations and all but one - It's A Wonderful Life - received Oscars in one or more categories. When he died in 1991 the Los Angles Times published a thorough obituary  And here is a fine 1978 interview he made with the American Film Institute's American Film about his life and film making technique. 

Undoubtedly Capra leaves us a rich legacy in 20th century film entertainment. It's a legacy anyone can enjoy and there's a good chance we'll learn something about the human condition we share.

Sources

Photos and Illustrations:
portrait, public domain photo by Columbia Pictures, operarex.highwire.com

Text:

title quote, acceptance speech, American Film Institute Lifetime Achievement Award, 1982
wikipedia.org

A Mother's Day Tribute 2018

She was the fourth of seven children born to a farm couple whose deep lineage in the western Virginia mountains was lost to history well before 1800. They met in 1931 while my dad was selling tickets at a community dance and married in the fall of 1933. By that time she had worked in a silk mill and as an etcher and designer in a glass factory. Later, she worked throughout World War II as a quality control specialist in a massive synthetic fabric plant that provided most of the "silk" for American parachutes.

The engaged couple at her family's' farm (1933)

Modeling her brothers' gift from the Pacific (1944)

Mom and her "little darling" (1947)

With my arrival in 1946 she became a full time mother and homemaker, but still found time to enjoy her church family, reading, gardening, nature, frequent visits with her large family, many long weekend visits to nearby national parks, and vacations at the summer place on Pattersons Creek about 120 miles west of Washington. 

 Gettysburg National Military Park (1954)

Pattersons Creek Summer Place (1958) 

No Christmas like a home Christmas (1966)

Summer at home (1972)

She was taken from our family far too early in 1976 after a long and difficult illness. And over forty years later there's no question that I miss her.  I'm especially sorry she did not live to enjoy her daughter-in-law and three grandchildren. Still, I feel her goodness has been with Nancy and me helping to shape our family long after the kids have gone on to establish their own lives. Wouldn't have it any other way. She was a great mother, full of love, compassion, a wonderful sense of humor, and dedication to family and friends.

Wishing you a happy Mother's Day,Mom!

This is an edited version of a post from 2016

Fred Astaire: A Talent For The Ages

The great American entertainer, Fred Astaire, was born on this day in 1899 in Omaha, Nebraska. A dancer, actor, and singer, he was the definition of "class" in everything he did. To say he set high standards for performance and personal conduct would be an understatement. In fact, the word "perfection" is an appropriate descriptor and it's a word we don't see or hear from Hollywood types these days.

His skill as a dancer and actor was repeated demonstrated in what must have seemed like an endless stream of successful film and stage appearances that helped Americans through the Great Depression of the 1930's. In regard to singing, Astaire thought it was his weakest skill but he went on to e introduce movie fans to many songs that would form the core of what we know today as the Great American Songbook. Not only that, many music critics and historians today agree that Astaire was in fact an extraordinary singer who sought as much perfection in that genre as he did in dance. 

Astaire and Ginger Rogers in a publicity still from the film Top Hat

Some readers may be prone to ignore a post about a dancer who died a generation ago. Don't be one of them. Astaire's footwork--with and without a partner--will astound you. Here is a link to Astaire's Wikipedia entry for readers would like to learn more. If you simply want to enjoy the man - his partners, Rogers and Charisse, are tops - in action rather than read about him, here is a sample of his work:

Remembering The Cinematic Genius Of Orson Welles

Today marks the 103rd anniversary of the birth of Orson Welles. He has been missing from the world stage for over a generation now. The film and stage industries will always owe him immensely for what he brought to them and for the treatment his genius received at the hands of a Hollywood film cartel that resented outsiders.

Welles at 21

Welles was a remarkable entertainment talent as an actor, writer, director, producer and more. Before he was thirty, he had terrified the nation with his realistic Halloween night presentation of H.G. Wells's War of the Worlds (1938) and awed film audiences with Citizen Kane (1941). Welles was already a rather contentious artist when he achieved almost instant fame. Both elements helped label him as a difficult, if not reckless, personality and he never endeared himself to the Hollywood in-crowd. The consequence of "all that" was a limited number of noteworthy films and a long list of unfinished projects, and the question, "Whatever happened to Orson Welles?"

For a taste of Welles as writer, director, and co-star, here is the famous "mirror scene" from The Lady of Shanghai (1948). Film critic David Kehr has called the film "the weirdest great movie ever made."

And here from his 1958 film, Touch of Evil, is the classic "crane shot" that makes an appearance in every college film class.

Welles was a genius who foreshadowed the independent film movement we know today. He never worked "outside the box" because there never was a box to contain his imagination...  least until the studio suits got involved. 

Sources

Photos and Illustrations:
Welles portrait, Library of Congress (Carl Van Vechten, photographer, March 1, 1937)
Kehr Quotation: chicagoreader.com, review of The Lady of Shanghai

Cinco De Mayo Probably Isn't What You Think It is

Imagine millions of Mexicans celebrating this historic day from Cabo San Lucas to Cozumel. The dancing...the parades...the patriotic music...the parties and feasts into the night. Doesn't happen. That's right, my friends. Cinco de Mayo in Mexico is a regional celebration of the victory over France at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. Outside the capital city and state of Puebla, today is pretty much just another Saturday. For Mexicans, the big national celebration is September 16, Independence Day.

Depiction of the Battle of Puebla   Francisco P. Miranda, 1872

Cross the border into the United States and it's a very different story. What originated in 1862 as a local victory celebration by Mexican gold miners in northern California has spread across the United States as a celebration of Mexican heritage and culture. Like many American holidays, official and otherwise, Cinco de Mayo has grown in popularity in recent decades due to heavy commercial promotion. Greeting card, candy, and flower industries may drive Mother's Day. In the case of Cinco de Mayo the  primary force is the alcoholic beverage industry.

Whatever the reason for such popularity, it's a great time to experience and enjoy the rich heritage and culture of the people of Mexico and their contribution to the American experience. 

Kent State Shooting Remembered

Today is the 48th anniversary (1970) of the Kent State University massacre in Ohio. On that day four unarmed students were killed and nine others injured by members of the Ohio National Guard. Years of conflict over the nation's role in the Vietnam War had millions of Americans on edge. Days before the event President Richard Nixon referred to some campus protesters as "bums." In seconds, 67 shots fired into a crowd of defenseless students marked a turning point in national opinion and the beginning of the end of an already very unpopular war.

For three days prior to the massacre Kent State had been hit with violent demonstrations threatening both the campus and downtown commercial district. The Ohio National Guard had been on scene by the evening of May 2. From a city firehouse, Governor James Rhodes fueled the conflict by referring to the protesters as "brown shirts...the communist element... night riders... and the vigilantes."

May 4 began with university officials attempting to ban a campus protest that had been planned days earlier. The result was a loose gathering of around 2000 persons met by guardsmen armed with tear gas and fixed bayonets.  For reasons undetermined 67 shots were fired into a crowd of defenseless students, the average distance of those killed being 345 feet away. The event incited a strike involving millions of students, forced the closing of hundreds of universities and colleges across the nation, and marked a turning point in national opinion and the beginning of the end of an already very unpopular war.

A week after Kent State, police killed a student and a passerby at a demonstration at Jackson State College in Mississippi. An unquestionable sense of rebellion began to grip the nation. The Nixon administration was well aware of the situation and took steps to mitigate the danger and political erosion. One of those steps was the creation of the President's Commission on Campus Unrest- the Scranton Commission - in June 1970. The commission was tasked with reviewing the incident. After three months of work the commission concluded:

Even if the guardsmen faced danger, it was not a danger that called for lethal force. The 61 shots by 28 guardsmen certainly cannot be justified. Apparently, no order to fire was given, and there was inadequate fire control discipline on Blanket Hill. The Kent State tragedy must mark the last time that, as a matter of course, loaded rifles are issued to guardsmen confronting student demonstrators.

Location map from the Scranton Commission Report

In 2016 the seventeen acre site of the massacre was designated a National Historic Landmark by Sally Jewell, U.S. Secretary of the Interior.

Remembering Two Musical Icons Of The 20th Century

Two iconic American entertainers share May 3 as a birthday. 

Crosby publicity photo from the 1930's

Born in 1903, Bing Crosby used his baritone voice and recording technology to develop a personal singing style that made him the nation's top entertainer for a generation beginning in the mid-1930s. Young people probably know little if anything about Crosby. He died in 1977 but I think he sits at the pinnacle of the American entertainment industry in that era - along with Bob Hope - and is well worth exploring if you enjoy popular culture. The Crosby family has authorized a comprehensive site about The Crooner if readers want more information. For a small taste of his talent, here is Crosby singing to Grace Kelly in the 1956 film, High Society:

Our second birthday celebrant is Pete Seeger, an entertainer who has been described as the most successful communist in the United States. I'll let readers discover the politics for themselves and focus instead on Seeger as singer and songwriter. 

Entertaining at labor canteen opening, Washington, DC, February 1944

Seeger was born in 1919 into a musical family, took up the family's leftist politics, and made a name for himself as a "protest singer" in the 1940s. In 1950, he was a member of the folk group, The Weavers, and in the bow wave of a folk music revival in the U.S. It was short-lived, however, as the group was blacklisted in 1953 for suspected political reasons. A decade later Seeger found himself at the forefront of the 1960's folk revival embedded in antiwar activities and the Youth Revolution.  He continued singing and pursuing his social, political, and environmental activism around the world almost to the day he died at 94 in 2014. For more information and a host of links, here is his Wikipedia entry.

For a taste of Pete Seeger the performer, here he is singing lead and playing his banjo on the first recording (1949) of If I Had A Hammer, co-written with Lee Hays, also with The Weavers:

Although this video highlights Seeger, it does not do justice to the beautiful harmony The Weavers produced. Readers may want to explore the Internet for more of their recordings. Their 1981 reunion concert at Carnegie Hall is a particularly moving statement on the American music experience.



Sources

Photos and Illustrations:
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bing_Crosby_1930s.jpg
loc.gov/pictures/resource/fsa.8d41983/

A Celtic May Day

Today the Celtic world celebrates the festival day of Beltane. It is a cross-quarter day marking the beginning of summer in the ancient calendar.  In addition, it's one of two "turning" days of the year that are exactly six months apart. The corresponding day in the fall is Samhain, the festival marking the beginning of the dead season of winter. In preparation for the festival families would decorate their houses, farms, and livestock with greenery. Celebrations would begin on the evening of April 30 with the lighting of bonfires, dancing and feasting long into the night. On the day itself celebrants would gather to welcome the rising sun and select both the May Queen or earth goddess representing fertility and the May King or Green Man representing vegetation and growth. In a fertility rite local youth would perform a Maypole dance, then rejoin their families for more feasting.

May Pole Dance, Bascom Hill, Wisconsin, May 1, 1917 

Here in the United States these days there isn't much associated with the day except for the opportunity to buy something under the "May Day Sale" label. Even schools don't have much interest in May Day as a spring festival. That wasn't the case in my elementary school in the 1950's where the celebration was a day-long festival that attracted the attention of the entire community. I think the enthusiasm was fueled by the large majority of Irish, Welsh, Scots, and English ancestry only recently removed from the old countries. Regardless, the holiday was so important that I recall teachers having us outside some weeks early to practice the May Pole dance and its lattice work to perfection. I wonder how enthusiastic they would have been had they known we were practicing a fertility rite.

 Sources

Photos and Illustrations:

University of Wisconsin Digital Collections