We have quite deliberately focused throughout OFAM 2008 not on the sad, poignant songs of the Great Depression and World War II, not on the folk songs, protest songs or songs that recorded the social and political ills of the time, because we wanted to look at the period with different eyes and ears. We all know the truly wonderful, light-hearted, uplifting songs of the Great American Songbook and know--when we stop to think about it--that these songs were by and large written during some of the hardest times of our country's history. But very seldom do we put those great songs and those times together. Rather we are asked to think of The Great Depression pointedly in terms of a no less great but quite different set of songs arising both from within the popular music industry and from creative sources beyond it. This is okay to up to a point. What we have tried to demonstrate this summer's festival is that America's Greatest Generation, their times and their spirit, cannot and should not be remembered strictly as a series of WPA photos of weatherbeaten sharecroppers and desperate ex-businessmen selling apples viewed to the strains of Woody Guthrie or Harburg and Gorney's "Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?".
Yet while our "re-scoring" of The Great Depression and World War II has been a worthy experiment that has given us new insights both on the times and, indeed, on the American Songbook itself, we really can't ignore this parallel tradition altogether! So in our final matinee concert this summer, resident music historian Ian Whitcomb and friends pay tribute to this more serious side of American music during the period. Ian will take you on a different kind of musical journey...not on Woody Guthrie's train "bound for glory", not down Dorothy Fields' "Sunny Side of the Street". More down some of the dark alleys of the time, the sad street corners, the forgotten shadows...and, yet, the glimmers of hope.
| | Whistle And Blow Your Blues Away(1932)
- introduced in Bosko's Dog Race | J. Young (w), C. Lombardo (m) |
| | Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?(1932)
- introduced in Americana | Y. Harburg (w), J. Gorney (m) |
| | Pink Elephants(1932) | M. Dixon (w), H. Woods (m) |
| | There’s A Tear For Every Smile In Hollywood (1930)
- introduced in Showgirl In Hollywood | S. Stept (w/m) |
| | You Ought To See Sally On Sunday(1934) | M. Dixon (w), H. Woods (m) |
| | Cigarettes, Cigars!(1931)
- introduced in Ziegfeld Follies of 1931 | G. Mack (w), H. Revel (m) |
| | Rain(1934) | B. Hill (w), P. DeRose (m) |
| | Talking Dust Bowl(1937) | W. Guthrie (w/m) |
| | Big Rock Cany Mountain(1928) | H. McClintock (w/m) |
| | Pennies From Heaven(1936)
- introduced in Pennies From Heaven | J. Burke (w), A. Johnston (m) |
| | Happy Days Are Here Again(1929)
- introduced in Chasing Rainbows | J. Yellen (w), M. Ager (m) |
| | You Are My Sunshine(1940)
| J. Davis/C. Mitchell (w/m) |
| | Strange Fruit(1937) | A. Meeropol (w/m) |
| | God Bless America(1938) | I. Berlin (w/m) |
| | This Land Is Your Land(1940) | W. Guthrie (w/m) |
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| Featured composers, lyricists, creators |
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Milt Ager Irving Berlin Johnny Burke Jimmie Davis Peter DeRose Mort Dixon Jay Gorney Woody Guthrie Yip HarburgBilly Hill Arthur Johnston Carmen Lombardo Gordon Mack Harry McClintock Abel Meeropol Charles Mitchell Harry Revel Sam Stept Harry Woods Jack Yellen Joe Young |