Music blog notes oddities in Gershwin era history
The Warner Brothers blog recounts origins of Yankee Doodle during the 1755 French and Indian War and recalls wartime song hits. It highlights Beguine and Night and Day as popular standards, mentions Otto Harbach’s Meet Miss April, and notes WWI songs Rose of No Man’s Land and Till We Meet Again. It also tells how Keep the Home Fires Burning drew words from Lena Gilbert Ford who died in a 1918 London air raid.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Warner Brothers
George Gershwin
Hudson
Albany
Shuckberg
Cromwell
Britain
C. Porter
Otto Harbach
No Man’s Land
Ivor Novello
Lena Guilbert Ford
Novello
Miss Ford
London
Elmira
N. Y
Postwar Wartime Discoveries For Civilians And War-Remnant Plans
Wartime chemists promise civilian benefits including shrink proof wool socks and self heating cocoa. New synthetic cloth can rebound like rubber but loses shape after 15 to 20 launderings. A Civilian Conservation Corps renewal aims to counter lumber shortages postwar. General Bayerlein’s remarks spark talk of tactical air war and broader postwar army plans. OWI weighs using Franco’s network to broadcast American stories asSpain’s UN status remains contested. Coffee price debate pits Brazil’s rising costs against OPA limits, with potential price hike to 18 cents a pound.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Brazil
Latin America
State Department
OPA
Postwar taxes and inflation warned in WNU piece
The piece argues high wages and prices must continue to support war bonds and debt, warning inflation will erode the dollar. It urges continued taxes, rationing, and wage controls, praises reduced government costs, and notes memorials will outlive granite monuments.
Critics decry Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue after Whiteman premiere
Lawrence Gilman of the New York Herald Tribune dismissed the Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue as lifeless and derivative after Paul Whiteman’s premiere, calling it the most ambitious piece on the program yet lacking melody and expression.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
N. Y. Herald Tribune
Lawrence Gilman
Paul Whiteman
Gershwin
Gershwin Tune Banned for Risque Lyrics
Network censors banned Nice Work If You Can Get It for risque lyrics. Love for Sale from New Yorkers faced similar trouble. Jimmy Walker unsuccessfully tried to secure radio airings.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Cole Porter
First Blues Song and The Paddock Opera Premieres
Isaac Goldberg cites a New York May 29 1769 blues performance as the first blues. A comic opera titled The Paddock premiered in a Gotham theatre, adapting a Charles Dibdin diversion first staged at Drury Lane London. Lewis Hallam portrayed a West Indian slave with a punchline about wishing the Lord were dead.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Isaac Goldberg
New York
Gotham
Charles Dibdin
Drury Lane
London
Lewis Hallam
Jolson Interpolates Swanee in Sinbad at Winter Garden
A Warner film scene shows Al Jolson inserting Gershwin's Swanee into Sinbad at the Winter Garden. Old-timers recall the first Broadway hearing of Swanee in the Capitol Theatre opener. Jolson later reused the device in his own show, as hit songs reshaped productions in past era theater.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Warner
al Jolson
Gershwin
Winter Garden
Herald Square Theatre
Paul Lincke
Glow Worm
Reginald de Koven
34Th St
General Grant Leads Regimental March Through Northern Town
General Grant and his regiment march through a northern town as crowds cheer. A junior officer asks who the people are and Grant replies the crowds are those who aren’t going.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Grant
Stripteaser Betty Rowland Injures Hip in Stage Mishap
Hollywood dancer Betty Rowland is hospitalized after a wall collision during a performance. She suffered a partial paralysis from the incident and received medical attention for recovery.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Betty Rowland
Hollywood
Hatch stalls anti-poll tax bill over charter issue
Senator Carl Hatch of New Mexico delays the anti-poll tax measure to avoid jeopardizing the San Francisco United Nations charter ratification. Forthright Fred Vinson faces a Surplus War Property board ruling on selling 11 billion dollars of government owned war plants by price rather than impact on business. Capt John Gingrich and Ed Rivers praised for 37 hours aboard the Franklin during its tow, keeping the ship stable as Jap suicide attacks mounted.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Carl Hatch
New Mexico
San Francisco
United Nations
DuPonts
General Motors
Ford
Franklin
John Gingrich
Pittsburgh
Ed Rivers
Leslie Gehres
Gingrich
Rivers
Also Mentioned on This Page
Civilian Conservation Corps
Bayerlein
Panzer Lehr
U. S
France
OWI
Rabat
Thurman Barnard
Spain
Wright A Ama E Een
Western Newspaper Union
Japan
Germany
United States
Truman
Hisenhower
Byrd
Merry
Joe Panza
Saratoga
Garden City
St. Albans Naval Hospital
Clinton P. Anderson
Wiley Rutledge
Department of Justice
Tom C. Clarke
Texas
Thurman Arnold
Robert E. Hannegan
Lewis B. Schwellenbach
Washington
Labor
Sherman Minton
Indiana
G.I
General
Army
Bruce Arnold
H. H. Arnold
Okinawa
Army Air Forces
834Th Aaa
Yank
Xemia Romanoff
Prince Andrew
Russia
St. Calhoun Ancrum
St. Phillips
Buckingham Palace Road
Ancrum
Dorothy Martin
Iron Mountain
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