I was born in Maryland and spent my first thirty years living there, first in the Appalachian Mountains, then on the Eastern Shore, and later in suburban Washington. After a year in South Carolina, I moved to Georgia in 1977. I soon met another park ranger who worked in Florida. She was a wonderful woman who became my best friend. then my wife, and soon the mother of our three children. I spent over eleven years working in the historic city of Savannah, Georgia, and on the moss-draped sea islands nearby before moving to Atlanta.. In 2007, I retired from the National Park Service and a career dedicated to preserving and interpreting resources and themes in the cultural and natural history of the United States. It was a most rewarding experience. Today, I enjoy living in the rolling hills and woods of the Appalachian Piedmont east of Atlanta.
On November 22, 1963, C. S. Lewis, Aldous Huxley, and John F. Kennedy died in the span of seventy minutes. It is common knowledge that Kennedy died on this day but his death and funeral will forever overshadow the passing of two internationally famous and influential personalities of the 20th century. Although they could hardly come from three more distinct and disparate perspectives, all three of them shared deep concerns about the future of the planet and its inhabitants.
Clive Staples (C. S.) Lewis was one of the last century's leading scholars, novelists, and Christian apologists. Most readers likely know his name, but many may not be familiar with the depth and breadth of his literary accomplishments. From my perspective, if you cannot enjoy a Lewis book you simply haven't read enough of his work. I was introduced to the author through a gift. My best friend gave me a copy of The Four Loves (1960) as medication for some perplexing developments in a relationship with Marti, the girl of my dreams at the time. Eventually, Marti moved on with a professor of English at UNC Chapel Hill. I was left with a life-long literary relationship with Lewis. I trust Marti found the stars in a life of happiness with the prof.
Although Lewis was far from reclusive, he appreciated his privacy. For that reason, we have few interviews and recordings of the man. Fortunately, we do have a portrayal that gives some insight into what made him a beloved writer:
Aldous Huxley shared the life of the mind with Lewis but little else outside of his English background and writing skills. A humanist and lifelong pacifist, Huxley was a prolific writer best known for his novels and essays. Among the novels is Brave New World, a dystopic world view written in 1931 as a parody of utopian novels popular earlier in the century. From a spiritual perspective he was an agnostic who maintained a strong interest in mysticism, universalism. and Vedanta. Later in his life, Huxley would be remembered for his experiments with hallucinogenic drugs and his accounts thereof including, The Door of Perception (1954) and Heaven and Hell (1956). Here he is in a 1958 television interview discussing threats to freedom in the United States:
Both Lewis and Huxley cast long intellectual shadows across the globe while Kennedy's thousand days left us with "a fleeting wisp of glory" that follows us to this day. A random day in November brought them together in death, each worthy of remembrance of who they were, what they did and, in one case, what they could have become.
November 18, marks the 115th anniversary of the birth of John Herndon Mercer (1909-1976). For fans of the Great American Songbook, this is a significant event. Mercer won four Academy Awards for Best Original Song and had another twelve nominations. Indeed he was quite a music master.
Born into wealth in Savannah, Mercer often recounted how his Aunt Hattie hummed to him in his crib and "he hummed right back at her." It was the beginning of a musical career that would produce more than 1500 published songs, a few thousand more unpublished songs and song fragments, scores of poems and prose pieces, an unfinished autobiography, and a major chapter in the history of American music in the twentieth century.
In Mercer's Savannah a rich Southern culture blended with that of a diverse and exciting port city. He spent his childhood fascinated by train and ship whistles, and the sounds and rhythms drifting from the black churches around town. He was thrilled by the chance to slip away from his mother's watchful eye and visit the black business district on West Broad Street - now MLK Boulevard - where he listened to race records. The family's summer home on the Vernon River, about ten miles south of town, immersed him in the natural world of Georgia's tidal creeks and salt marshes. By his teen years, he loved hearing the dance and jazz bands every summer at the famous Tybrisa Pavilion on nearby Tybee Island. He also began writing songs and skits for his student productions at Woodberry Forest School in Virginia.
When the family business failed in the late '20s, any hope of returning to Woodberry or attending college dimmed. He grew bored at home and shipped off to New York to become a Broadway performer. The demand for singers was weak but he began tinkering with lyric writing when he wasn't singing or working odd jobs. Here is his first published song lyric:
Lyrics are meant to be heard but it's not always easy to appreciate them without the poetry on the page, especially when written by such a word genius:
Out of Breath (1930)
lyrics by Johnny Mercer music by Everette Miller
Mine's a hopeless case, But there's one saving grace, Anyone would feel as I do; Out of breath and scared to death of you. Love was first divined, Then explored and defined, Still the old sensation is new; Out of breath and scared to death of you. It takes all the strength that I can call to my command, To hold your hand. I would speak at length About the love that should be made, But I'm afraid. Hercules and such Never bothered me much, All you have to do is say "Boo!" Out of breath and scared to death of you.
Yes, it's pretty simple, comic stuff but it had flashes of wordplay and bouncy rhythm. It was perfect for the Garrick Gaieties revue of 1930.
One of the chorus girls left Johnny out of breath as well. Her name was Ginger Meehan and she was Bing Crosby's squeeze at the time. Eventually, Mercer won her over and they married in 1931 after Johnny secured a staff job writing lyrics. The following year, his persistent work paid off when he partnered with Hoagy Carmichael, already well-known for his sensational song, Stardust. After several months, the collaboration produced Lazybones, Mercer's first hit song. It was full of black dialect and all the stereotypical perceptions of the day.
By the time Lazybones became popular, the New York music industry was in full transition thanks, in part, to the rapidly growing film industry in California. Films needed songs and with his prospects cooling in New York, Mercer traveled to Hollywood where he met his old friend, Bing Crosby, who had already made the transition to the West. The early years were a challenge for Mercer, but things changed in 1936. That year, Crosby offered to sing one of Mercer's songs in the film, Rhythm on the Range. The film wasn't much. The song was a runaway hit:
I'm An Old Cowhand
words and music by Johnny Mercer
I'm and old cowhand From the Rio Grande, But my legs ain't bowed And my cheeks ain't tanned. I'm a cowboy who never saw a cow, Never roped a steer 'cause I don't know how, And I sure ain't fixin' to start in now. Yippy I O Ki Ay, Yippy I O Ki Ay.
. . .
And I learned to ride 'Fore I learned to stand, I'm a ridin' fool who is up to date, I know ev'ry trail in the Lone Star State, 'Cause I ride the range in a Ford V-Eight
. . .
And I come to town Just to hear the band, I know all the songs that the cowboys know, 'Bout the big corral where the doagies go, 'Cause I learned them all on the radio.
. . .
Where the West is wild 'Round the borderland, Where the buffalo roam around the Zoo, And the Indians make you a rug or two, And the old Bar X is a Bar B Q. Yippy I O Ki Ay, Yippy I O Ki Ay.
I think Mercer came into perfect form with this one. With a little help from his pal, Crosby, his name became associated with songwriting among Hollywood's shakers and makers. In these early years, he struggled through a few flop movies, but he learned the ins and outs of Hollywood, and continued writing poetry to music. Mercer went on to great fame after I'm An Old Cowhand. Movies, records, and radio brought his folksy, common sense, "free and easy, that's my style" personality into homes across America and made him a beloved next door neighbor.
Mercer could be serious with a lyric, but he was equally capable of making us laugh at ourselves and our circumstances. Hooray for Hollywood is an outstanding example. I'd say almost every American can hum the title line but it's the rest of the lyric that really sparkles. Here's the song as it appeared in Busby Berkeley's 1937 blockbuster film hit, Hollywood Hotel. If you don't want to miss any words, the original lyric is below.
Hooray For Hollywood
words by Johnny Mercer music by Richard A. Whiting
Hooray for Hollywood! That screwy bally hooey Hollywood, Where any office boy or young mechanic Can be a panic, With just a good looking pan, And any bar maid Can be a star maid, If she dances with or without a fan,
Hooray for Hollywood! Where you're terrific if you are even good, Where anyone at all from Shirley Temple To Aimee Semple Is equally understood, Go out and try your luck, You might be Donald Duck! Hooray for Hollywood!
Hooray for Hollywood! That phoney super Coney Hollywood, They come from Chilicothes and Paducahs With their bazookas To get their names up in lights, All armed with photos from local rotos, With their hair in ribbons and legs in tights,
Hooray for Hollywood! You may be homely in your neighborhood, But if you think that you can be an actor, See Mister Factor, He'd make a monkey look good. Within a half an hour, You'll look like Tyrone Power! Hooray for Hollywood!
Over three decades Mercer wrote the lyrics to hundreds of songs, collaborating with the country's top music writers, including Harold Arlen, Bernie Hannigan, Hoagy Carmichael, Harry Warren, Gene DePaul, Henry Mancini, Jerome Kern, Rube Bloom, and Matty Malneck.
In 1971, Mercer appeared in what he called a "parlor evening" performance as part of the 92nd Street Y's Lyrics and Lyricists Series. At the end of the program, Mercer delivered an unforgettable medley of his "bread and butter" songs. I'd say most songwriters and performers would be pleased to have five songs in such a list. Mercer had twenty-nine. Regardless of your age and interest in popular music, you may be surprised at how many of these songs you recognize today:
Lazybones (1933), music by Hoagy Carmichael
Goody, Goody (1936), music by Marty Malneck
Too Marvelous For Words (1937), music by Richard A. Whiting
Jeepers Creepers (1938), music by Harry Warren
Satin Doll (1958), written with Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn
You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby (1938), music by Harry Warren
That Old Black Magic (1943), music by Harold Arlen
Accentuate the Positive (1944) music by Harold Arlen
Fools Rush In (1940), music by Rube Bloom
I Remember You (1942), music by Victor Schertzinger
Day In - Day Out (1939), music by Rube Bloom
Dearly Beloved (1942), music by Jerome Kern
Come Rain or Come Shine (1946), music by Harold Arlen
Tangerine (1942), music by Victor Schertzinger
Hooray For Hollywood (1938), music by Richard A. Whiting
Laura (1945), music by David Raksin
Dream (1944), words and music by Johnny Mercer
On the Atcheson, Topeka and the Santa Fe (1946, Academy Award for Best Music, Original Song, music by Harry Warren
Something's Gotta Give (1954), words and music by Johnny Mercer
One For My Baby (1943), music by Harold Arlen
In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening (1951), Academy Award for Best Music, Original Song, music by Hoagy Carmichael
Skylark (1941), music by Hoagy Carmichael
Autumn Leaves (1950), music by Joseph Kosma
I Wanna Be Around (1962), words and music by Johnny Mercer and Sadie Vimmerstedt
Blues in the Night (1941), music by Harold Arlen
Charade (1963), music by Henry Mancini
Summer Wind (1965), music by Henry Mayer
Moon River (1961), Academy Award for Best Music, Original Song, music by Henry Mancini
Days of Wine and Roses (1962), Academy Award for Best Music, Original Song, music by Henry Mancini
That's plenty of "bread and butter" on one man's plate, but we need to keep in mind that he had seven more songs nominated for an Academy Award that never made it into the medley. What a talent.
If you're curious to learn even more about Mercer, your minimal immersion requires three books, one website, and one audio disk.
THE BOOKS:
A good starting point is, Johnny Mercer: The Life, Times and Song Lyrics of Our Huckleberry Friend. It was collected and edited by television producer Bob Bach and Ginger Mercer, Johnny's widow. There's nothing scholarly about it. It is simply a nostalgic look at Mercer's career through photos, letters, notes, sheet music covers, lyrics, and tributes. Photos are always worth their thousand words, and the book gives readers the chance to study the lyrics to almost 100 Mercer songs. One highlight is the publication of the texts of four Christmas greeting cards. In two of them, Johnny worked his lyrical magic using all the surnames on his card list. The book concludes with incomplete lists of his published songs and motion picture contributions.
Philip Furia takes a more scholarly approach to Mercer in his book, Skylark: The Life and Times of Johnny Mercer. This book is a well-balanced treatment of a life characterized by great success as well as trouble and torment. It is well known that Mercer could be not only a gentleman and generous friend when sober, but also a vicious drunk who frequently sent roses to his victims the day after his verbal assaults. But Furia is at his best analyzing the process of songwriting, devoting many pages to a single song, and detailing the origin and evolution of the lyric. If you want to skip the nostalgia and go straight to reading a very good biography, Furia has written your book.
Gene Lees was a music biographer, lyricist and jazz historian who was a personal friend of Mercer's beginning around 1950. He brings more of a Hollywood insider perspective to the Mercer story, and does so with an entertaining, informal style. If this is what you look for in a biography, then Portrait of Johnny: The Life and Times of John Herndon Merceris your book. The book doesn't have Furia's tight organization, but it is full of personal recollections and opinions from scores of close friends and associates. The high point for me is the author's extensive use of direct quotes from Mercer's unpublished autobiography. On the other hand, Lees gives his readers almost too much detail on Ginger Mercer as the terror in her family's life. Some readers may say the book is more of a layman's psychological analysis than a true biography. Regardless, it provides a nice balance to Furia's book in spite of the duplication.
This exhaustively researched 2013 biography by Georgia State University professor, Glenn Askew adds much to the Mercer story, builds upon the previous popular biographies, and places Mercer firmly in the context of American music and its impact throughout the world. Askew's thesis that Mercer brought blues, jazz, and Southern-themed music, first, to the attention of American audiences and, second, throughout the world with his founding of Capitol Records, is soundly defended. His ninety pages of notes provide even more information in addition to valuable documentation and context.
THE WEBSITE:
If you want to use the Internet as a source of information on Johnny Mercer, there is no better site than the Johnny Mercer Foundation. The home page may look a bit complex, but don't let that fool you. The links open windows to hundreds of pages of information and media.
THE AUDIO CD:
You can find scores of audio CDs featuring the songwriting and singing talent of Johnny Mercer. For me there is one essential CD and an "honorable mention." The essential is An Evening With Johnny Mercer, the 92nd Street Y Lyrics and Lyricists program Mercer did in 1971. I think it's a great hour to spend with the man and his music.
The "honorable mention" is Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Johnny Mercer Songbook. Fitzgerald's brilliant eight-album Songbook Series was recorded between 1956 and 1964, at the height of her vocal quality. The Mercer tribute is included here because of her near-perfect diction - you do want to hear the words - the fact that Mercer was the only lyricist honored in the Songbook Series.
I have provided you with some details about Mercer's life, his contribution to American popular music, and best of all, several examples of his words and music. In addition, for those interested in learning more about him, I listed several sources in a variety of formats. There's plenty more to know. For example, you'll find that Mercer was both the source of the idea and a founding member of Capitol Records. You'll also read that he was extraordinarily generous. And you'll also find out that almost throughout his life, the fame and fortune came at great personal cost. That seems to be the rule. Still, Mercer's gap-toothed smile and performance talent brought a wealth of entertainment to millions of Americans during his active years beginning in the mid 1930s.
Almost two generations have passed since Mercer's death in 1976. He may be gone, but that mountain of music and the ideas he left behind are very much alive and well. Mercer stays with Great American Songbook and jazz enthusiasts through the singers and organizations that keep his music and legacy alive. Here is a list of past and present singers
THE SINGERS:
Margaret Whiting (Long associated with Mercer as a performer and family friend, she was a most significant individual promoter of Mercer's music late in her life.)
Blossom Dearie (close associate of Mercer in his last years who kept his memory and music very much alive until her death in 2009)
That just about covers my Mercer birthday tribute this year. I want to end with three favorite Mercer lyrics that have become embedded in our culture as great American songs and jazz standards over their sixty years. They are:
Midnight Sun
Lionel Hampton and Sonny Burke wrote Midnight Sun in 1954 as an instrumental and had a big hit with it. The story goes that Mercer heard the tune on the freeway heading to his office. By the time he got there, he had the lyric. Ella Fitzgerald has "owned" this song for fifty years.
Your lips were like a red and ruby chalice warmer than the summer night The clouds were like an alabaster palace rising to a snowy height Each star its own aurora borealis suddenly you held me tight I could see the midnight sun....
Early Autumn
Early Autumn was composed in 1949 by Ralph Burns and Woody Herman.
When an early autumn walks the land and chills the breeze And touches with her hand the summer trees, Perhaps you'll understand what memories I own. There's a dance pavilion in the rain all shuttered down, A winding lane all russet brown A frosty window pane shows me a town grown lonely....
Laura
In 1944, the film, Laura, appeared with a theme song composed by David Raskin. The next year Mercer added the haunting lyrics.
Laura is the face in the misty lights, Footsteps that you hear down the hall. The laugh that floats on a summer night That you can never quite recall.
And you see Laura on the train that is passing through, Those eyes how familiar they seem. She gave your very first kiss to you That was Laura but she's only a dream....
If you do pick up a book or check out a website, you'll find that Mercer was quite a diverse personality. As a lyricist, composer, performer, businessman, and philanthropist, he shaped much of the American popular music industry for forty years, beginning in the mid 1930s. You'll also find that, almost throughout his life, the fame and fortune came at great personal cost. That seems to be the rule. Still, Mercer's gap-toothed smile and performance talent brought pleasure to millions of Americans during the mid-century. He's still with us in so many ways.
So happy birthday, Johnny. You're just about too marvelous for words.
References: Books by Bach and Mercer, Furia, and Lees; Johnny Mercer Foundation; Georgia State University Archives, and The Complete Lyrics of Johnny Mercer, by Kimball, Day. Kreuger and Davis.
Veterans Day began as Armistice Day, marking the end of World War I on "the eleventh day of the eleventh hour of the eleventh month" of 1918. This year marks the 105th anniversary of the end of the Great War. The Armistice Treaty signed by the Allied forces and Germany remains an object lesson in peace as a fragile and often deceptive condition in a complex world.
Over time the holiday has evolved to honor the men and women who have defended the United States through service in the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard. Personally, I think of the sacrifices made by many friends who served in Vietnam and of all those who have served in the defense of the United States. In particular I think of family and the service of a great uncle in World War I and two uncles in World War II.
My Great Uncle George, standing on the left with his fire brigade in Jacksonville, Florida, served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army in World War I. To him, this day was Armistice Day. I was ten when he died and didn't know him well but much of what he was as a veteran is present in my house. His portrait hangs just off our foyer. The pocket Bible he carried is in a keepsake cabinet nearby along with his military issue binoculars and a silver-plated swagger stick - a gift from his unit - made from machine gun shells casings and the Seal of the U.S. Army. The last item is one he never saw but it summarized everything he did as a soldier. That item is the flag that covered his coffin. To my knowledge, it's still in the original triangle fold made the day he was buried over 60 years ago.
The other family veterans from the world war era I knew very well. Uncle Hollis, better known as "Red," and Uncle Charles, both served in the Pacific during World War II. In 1943-44, Red was assigned to Barber's Point Naval Air Station in Hawaii while his brother-in-law, Charles, served at Pearl Harbor. The facilities were a mere five miles apart but almost one year passed before they knew they were neighbors. On hearing the news, they resolved to meet for a photograph at the first opportunity. Here's that photo, taken at Waikiki with Red (l) and Charles (r) together at last.
Both returned safely to their Potomac Valley hometowns in western Maryland but a declining economy in the region forced them to relocate to better job opportunities. Red moved his family to Ohio where he had a very successful career with Goodyear. Charles took his family to Houston, Texas, and its booming oil industry and prospered in real estate management. Both are gone now, along with their wives, Edith and Dorothy. All four of them were fine examples of the Greatest Generation.
My personal bond with Veterans Day came early in life. From the time I could hold a paint brush with serious determination - probably 1951 - I did my part to honor veterans. In the weeks before Memorial Day, Dad and I went to the local cemetery to paint flag holders and install Old Glory on the graves of veterans who had been members of my dad's lodge. The lodge had a seventy year history in my small town and scores of holders were scattered at random on the landscape. My instructions were simple: armed with primary yellow, blue and red paint, I was to paint carefully, leave no spatters, paint EVERY marker. The worst offense, by far, was missing a marker but Dad made sure that never happened.
On Veterans Day proper, there was a brief morning service from atop a small memorial building. At its conclusion, the crowds descended from the hilltop cemetery to either watch or march in what seemed like an endless parade down Main Street. It was straight out of a Norman Rockwell illustration: flags, bands, fire trucks, politicians, the ladies' auxiliary, the soldiers. It was a most impressive event.
Today I look back on those memories and a career infused with military history from the Revolution through the War in Iraq. I'll never experience how military service shapes a person inside but I know the cost of freedom is not free. Every veteran has paid a price that enables us to enjoy life in this bountiful nation. I offer up to all of them my sincerest admiration and thanks on this day.
On this day in 1775 the Second Continental Congress established the Continental Marines in Philadelphia. The unit would later be designated the United States Marine Corps. The USMC has served in every American armed conflict. Today the Department of Defence maintains a force of about 200,000 active and reserve marines.
In this time of 24/7 new cycles, the geometrical growth of data, and a pace of life that gives one little time to look back to only yesterday it's far too easy to overlook this blink of an eye we call a lifetime. Take this day, November 9, as a good example. If we look at events that occurred on this date in the 20th century we find it is one of the most pivotal of those 36,504 days.
On November 9, 1938, the German paramilitary group known as the Sturmabteilung (SA) or Brownshirts raided the homes. businesses, and synagogues of Jews in Germany, Austria, and the Sudetenland. In addition, several thousand Jewish men were arrested and sent to camps. We remember this night as Kristallnacht or the Night of Broken Glass. It is considered the first night of the Holocaust pogrom that resulted in the extermination of 6 million Jews at the hands of the Nazi (National Socialist) Party in Germany.
Fasanenstrasse Synagogue, Berlin, burned on Kristallnacht
Fifty-one years later on November 9 the East German Communist Party politburo announced that permanent emigration by East Germans would be allowed at any border crossing including those in Berlin. Hours later the Berlin Wall which had divided the city for 28 years was essentially dissolved. It was the beginning of a reunification after nearly 50 years of partition during the Cold War between the free and communist worlds. In the end the events in Berlin on November 9 marked the end of the Iron Curtain that had divided Europe since 1945 and the beginning of the end of communism in over a dozen nations in eastern Europe.
People on the wall near Brandenburg Gate, November 9, 1989
Both of these days have great consequences for us. One brings great sadness at knowing evil walks among us. The other brings great joy knowing that good can overcome evil. Both remind us that freedom isn't free. Sometimes it's affordable; sometimes it is beyond our reach. I suppose the great lesson for this day is awareness, of keeping watch. We have been told for a few thousand years we have a choice to either remember history or relive its errors.
We are indeed living history on this very day looking back thirteen montha to October 7 and the largest number of Jews murdered on a single day since the end of the Holocaust 78 years ago. Many of the ancestors of the Islamofascists who carried out this attack on Israel were likely indoctrinated by the National Socialists in Germany during the 1930s. The evil of antisemitism they learned flourishes to this very day. Remember it well.
If the American Revolution hadn't killed the celebration of Guy Fawkes Day on this side of the Atlantic, OSHA certainly would have done it in by now. Brits still celebrate this day in 1605 when an attempt by the Gunpowder Plot to blow up the House of Lords and King James I was foiled with the arrest of Guy Fawkes who had been assigned to guard the explosives. Most Americans probably know the man and the day from the film, V for Vendetta, and the following poem:
The Fifth of November
Remember, remember!
The fifth of November,
The Gunpowder treason and plot;
I know of no reason
Why the Gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot!
Guy Fawkes and his companions
Did the scheme contrive,
To blow the King and Parliament
All up alive.
Threescore barrels, laid below,
To prove old England's overthrow.
But, by God's providence, him they catch,
With a dark lantern, lighting a match!
A stick and a stake
For King James's sake!
If you won't give me one,
I'll take two,
The better for me,
And the worse for you.
A rope, a rope, to hang the Pope,
A penn'orth of cheese to choke him,
A pint of beer to wash it down,
And a jolly good fire to burn him.
Holloa, boys! holloa, boys! make the bells ring!
Holloa, boys! holloa boys! God save the King!
Hip, hip, hooor-r-r-ray!
Guy Fawkes Day celebration at Windsor Castle in 1776
Much of the religious bitterness has passed and Guy Fawkes Day is no longer an official holiday. Still, it's a fine opportunity to celebrate by lighting bonfires, marching in vast torch light parades or igniting fireworks just as celebrants did days after Fawkes's arrest.
It's a man's holiday when the sun sets and it's time for the FIRE.
I have a feeling this is reminiscent of Independence Day celebrations across the United States about a century ago. Frankly, I'd love to see it happen again. You can never have too many explosions and torches.
Sources
Photos and Illustrations: Fawkes illustration, Ainsworth, William Harrison. Guy Fawkes, or The Gunpowder Treason, 1840; George Cruikshank [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Gram Parsons spent his brief musical life searching for what he called "cosmic American music," a sound emerging out of gospel, R&B, country and rock traditions. He was born on this day in 1946 into a wealthy Florida family, a circumstance that encouraged both his exploration of music and the drug abuse that killed him in 1973 (September 17). Parsons performed with The Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers before attempting a rocky solo career that went nowhere until he met a young singer in Washington, D.C. Her name was Emmylou Harris. Parsons soon partnered with Harris and they went on to produce some of the finest sounds from the early fusion days of country and folk-rock. With his passing, one of American music's greatest inventors was stilled, but others, including Emmylou, would use his inventions and adapt them over the next forty years into the country rock music we know today.
Here is some music to help you understand the history. The first recording is a Gram Parsons-Bob Buchanan song that appeared on The Byrds album, Sweetheart of the Rodeo, released in 1968. It was both a Parsons concept and groundbreaking for the band by going deep into classic country and introducing Parsons to a rock audience.
Here's a Parsons-Chris Hillman song, dating from 1969 and the days of The Flying Burrito Brothers. Parsons can be identified by his signature marijuana leaf Nudie suit.
And here is Parsons with Emmylou Harris performing their song, In the Hour of Darkness, from the album, Grievous Angel, released four months after his death.
With barely a decade of musical composition and performance behind him Gram Parsons made a profound impression on American popular music that has evolved over the fifty years since his death. And we expect to continue hearing that influence for a long, long time.
With Halloween behind us the holiday party triad of Christmas, New Year's, and Twelfth Night will be upon us quickly and it's never too early to think about a menu. If you think about serving a punch and want something really special this post is for you. Long-time readers know one of my favorite preparations for these occasions is Savannah's very own concoction known as Chatham Artillery Punch. In 1977, I was introduced to it at the Lion's Den in the DeSoto Hilton - now the DeSoto Hotel - in Savannah. If you assemble your batch this week it should be perfect for sharing on December 4 when artillerymen honor Saint Barbara, their patron saint. In the weeks following Saint Barbara"s Day the punch mellows into an even more delicious and potent beverage.
Chatham Artillery Punch is a drink to be enjoyed responsibly in an appropriate setting. Keep in mind the longer it ferments, the more powerful, deceptive and tasty it becomes. If made this week, by Christmas it should be legendary. There is a point - say after two months - at which it can be used as a lightly fruited rumtopf perfect for topping ice cream or bundt. I suspect however that using it in Old Savannah as something other than a beverage would be a sacrilege.
In the past I've posted a recipe for 50 servings but this year it's reduced by half for two reasons. First, it's an expensive endeavor, and, second, a small cup can be enjoyed for a long time. The origin of today's recipe is lost to history but the assemblage of scattered notes over the decades - like the spirits themselves - produces a deliciously potent punch. A Georgia National Guard newsletter noted that a pair of soldier's socks, the stockings of a soldier's wife, and sand from Iraq were added to the punch in 2006. We're not going that far. On the other hand I will say that quality ingredients make a quality product.
Chatham Artillery Punch
Yield: 25 servings
1 quart strong green tea (soak about 1/4 pound of tea for a day, then strain)
Juice 5 lemons
10 ounces brown sugar
1 quart Catawba wine (a muscadine wine may be easier to find and works as well)
1 quart Santa Cruz rum (use Virgin Islands style rum, light or dark)
1 pint brandy
1 pint dry gin (I like the flavorings in Bombay Sapphire)
1 pint rye whiskey (Bulleit 95 Rye Small Batch is a perfect choice)
1.5 pints Queen Anne cherries
1.5 pints pineapple chunks
1.5 quarts champagne
To prepare, sterilize a crock or similar vessel. Mix the tea and lemon juice, then dissolve the brown sugar and gently stir in all the alcohol except the champagne. Add the cherries and pineapple chunks carefully. Cover the crock tightly and sit aside in a cool, dark place for at least one week - a month is better. Careful sampling is permitted to insure the fermentation process is working as planned. To serve, pour the mixture carefully over a block of ice, add the champagne, stir gently, and serve immediately. IMPORTANT: Never refrigerate to cool ahead of serving or serve with ice cubes.
Enjoy!
Distinctive Unit Insignia of the Chatham Artillery
The Chatham Artillery survives today as Battery B, 1st How. Battalion, 118th Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 48th Armored Division Artillery, Georgia National Guard. The regiment traces its roots to 1751 and the 118th Field Artillery, Georgia Militia. Their latest deployment was to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in 2009.
Regardless of what's in your cup on the evening of December 4, remember the men and women of the Chatham Artillery at their annual banquet in Savannah. Raise your cup to their nearly 250 years of service and remember their motto: "He does not know how to give up."
The remembrance of the departed faithful is an old custom in the Christian church. Here is some commentary on this day taken from the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod website:
The Commemoration of All Saints has been observed by Christians since at least the 4th century after Christ, although not always on November 1. Christians then as now desire to follow the encouragement of the writer to the Hebrews: "Remember your leaders who spoke the Word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith" (Heb 13:7).
The original purpose of remembering the saints and martyrs was blurred during the medieval ages, as saints became the objects of prayers and petitions for merit before God. Pointing to Christ as the only source of forgiveness, Luther cleansed the church of this abuse of the saints. Lutherans did not remove All Saints Day from the church calendar, however.
Luther posted his 95 Theses on the Wittenberg church door on October 31, 1517 precisely because he wanted the document to be seen by the throngs that would services on November 1, All Saints Day. Lutherans eventually chose October 31 as the day on which to remember Luther's legacy to the church, and All Saints Day in the Lutheran Church has forever after been overshadowed by Reformation services.
There is no more suitable hymn for the day than Ralph Vaughan Williams's setting - Sine Nomine - for the processional hymn, For All the Saints, written by William Walsham How.
Most versions omit several verses that I believe are most relevant to our time. They are:
For the Apostles’ glorious company,
Who bearing forth the Cross o’er land and sea,
Shook all the mighty world, we sing to Thee:
Alleluia, Alleluia!
For the Evangelists, by whose blest word,
Like fourfold streams, the garden of the Lord,
Is fair and fruitful, be Thy Name adored.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
For Martyrs, who with rapture kindled eye,
Saw the bright crown descending from the sky,
And seeing, grasped it, Thee we glorify.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
O may Thy soldiers, faithful, true and bold,
Fight as the saints who nobly fought of old,
And win with them the victor’s crown of gold.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
And when the strife is fierce, the warfare long,
Steals on the ear the distant triumph song,
And hearts are brave, again, and arms are strong.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
Allerheilegen (All Saints) Johann Koenig, 1599
May you have a blessed All Saints Day as you remember both the faithful who have attained their everlasting glory in the light of Jesus and those who look forward to the light to come.
Sources
Text:wels.org For All the Saints entry, en.wikipedia.org
It's here!. An evening that promises to bring lots of fun to kids, and those who remember being kids, has finally arrived. Have a safe and happy Halloween and don't eat too much candy before the trick or treaters get to it!.
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mister Toad, a Walt Disney film classic was released in 1949. The Ichabod adventure appeared again in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, a 1955 production for the television series, Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color. I turned nine years old in 1955, still the perfect age for the big event. By that year, our gang on Wood Street had already been veterans at looking out for the Headless Horseman and his fiery pumpkin on Halloween. In western Maryland the night was always an adventure with freezing winds, sometimes rain, and even heavy snow showers that roared off Lake Erie about 140 miles to the northwest. Those Halloweens were unforgettable rites of passage for us.
Hallowe'en
by Joel Benton (1832-1911)
Pixie, kobold, elf, and sprite
All are on their rounds to-night,—
In the wan moon’s silver ray
Thrives their helter-skelter play.
Fond of cellar, barn, or stack
True unto the almanac,
They present to credulous eyes
Strange hobgoblin mysteries.
Cabbage-stumps—straws wet with dew—
Apple-skins, and chestnuts too,
And a mirror for some lass
Show what wonders come to pass.
Doors they move, and gates they hide
Mischiefs that on moonbeams ride
Are their deeds,—and, by their spells,
Love records its oracles.
Don’t we all, of long ago
By the ruddy fireplace glow,
In the kitchen and the hall,
Those queer, coof-like pranks recall?
Every shadows were they then—
But to-night they come again;
Were we once more but sixteen
Precious would be Hallowe’en.
Paul Smith worked for Walt Disney Productions for over thirty years beginning in 1930. In 1939 he won an Academy Award for his collaborative work on music for the film, Pinocchio. In following years he had seven additional Academy Award nominations for work on films, including Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, Song of the South, and Three Caballeros. In all, Smith provided arrangements and scores for more than eighty animated and theatrical film projects for the Disney company. I was ten years old when this cartoon appeared and just beyond the peak of my trick or treating days. It's now a classic in the Disney archive and one I've enjoyed for over 65 years. It's never aged and still makes me laugh.
On this day in 1517, Martin Luther posted ninety-five theses on the door of All Saints Church in Wittenburg, Germany. He could no longer tolerate what he thought were errors within the Catholic church, including the collection of increasingly commercialized indulgences said to reduce the punishment of sinners seeking salvation. Today, Protestants commemorate this event every October 31 as Reformation Day. Luther chose this day, All Hallows Eve, because he knew the church would be filled with influential people within and outside the church as they gathered for a vigil in preparation for All Saints Day on November 1 and on the festival day itself. Luther's action became the tipping point for reformation within the Christian church.
Luther As An Augustinian Monk Lucas Cranack the Elder, 16th century
Eight years later, Johann Sebastian Bach, the musical voice of the Reformation in the Baroque period, wrote the following cantata for Reformation Day 1725:
Gott der Her ist Sonn und Schild
1. Chorus
God the Lord is sun and shield. The Lord gives grace and honor, He will allow no good to be lacking from the righteous.
2. Aria A
God is our sun and shield! Therefore this goodness shall be praised by our grateful heart, which He protects like His little flock. For He will protect us from now on, although the enemy sharpens his arrows and a vicious hound already barks.
3. Chorale
Now let everyone thank God with hearts, mouths, and hands, Who does great things for us and to all ends, Who has done for us from our mother's wombs and childhood on many uncountable good things and does so still today.
4. Recitative B
Praise God, we know the right way to blessedness; for, Jesus, You have revealed it to us through Your word, therefore Your name shall be praised for all time. Since, however, many yet at this time must labor under a foreign yoke out of blindness, ah! then have mercy also on them graciously, so that they recognize the right way and simply call You their Intercessor.
5. Aria (Duet) S B
God, ah God, abandon Your own ones never again! Let Your word shine brightly for us; although harshly against us the enemy rages, yet our mouths shall praise You.
6. Chorale
Uphold us in the truth, grant eternal freedom, to praise Your name through Jesus Christ. Amen.
Martin Luther Seminary, Mequon, Wisconsin
We can only imagine the exhilaration Luther had on posting his objections. He placed his worldly apprehensions in the hands of Jesus, continued to call for reform within the Catholic Church, and eventually developed a new vision of faith all the while professing he ramained a Catholic. Luther wrote a number of hymns based on scripture during his last three decades. A Mighty Fortress Is Our God (Ein feste Berg ist unser Gott) is perhaps the best known.
Unless I am convicted by Scripture and plain reason-I do not accept the authority of popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other-my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand, I cannot do otherwise. God help me. Amen.
Luther, the Diet of Worms, April 18, 1521
Sources:
Photos and Illustrations: Conrad Schmitt Studios, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
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