It's fun to stay at the

Y M C A!!

I have started my new day job at the local YMCA.  A little over a week into my new schedule, and so far have had only one mild freak out session (lots of change is scary, unless it's the kind of change you find at the bottom of your bag, and then you're all like "Hey I can do laundry now!").

I'm working in the aquatics department, which gives me lots of time to stand at the side of the pool watching gym members swim back and forth, back and forth, back and forth....which gives me some time to think about my favourite topics: music, science, and the Titanic vs. Iceberg screenplay I am writing (it's going to be a hit!).

In honor of this new mode of accumulating enough money to pay my rent, I thought I'd look into that ubiquitous song about the YMCA.  You know it, you've sang it, you've even probably done the accompanying dance moves; it's that Village People hit: Y.M.C.A. 

The tune was released in 1978, and from a quick glance at the lyrics, the song is about all the great things that the Young Men's Christian Association has to offer.  The author, Victor Willis, insists that though there are numerous double entendre in the song, it was not intended as a gay anthem.  In 1979, the YMCA actually sued the Village People for copyright infringement (and concern over marring their reputation).  The suit was dropped, though, after an increase in membership (behold the power of a catchy hook).

Now, get some exercise and spell out the letters with your arms like I know you've done before. 

Under Kentucky skies

When it comes to road trips, my road atlas and the term "unlimited mileage" on rental cars are my two best friends.  About five years ago, I started a tradition of making at least one big road trip over the summer months.  I save money all year for these trips and since starting this tradition, I've been to Kansas City, St. Louis, the Black Hills of South Dakota/Wyoming/Colorado, Milwaukee and other parts of Wisconsin, and most recently my "mini" road trip into Louisville, Kentucky. 

I will definitely tell you about some interesting things I picked up from the jazz workshop, but before I do, I'll explain the 'unlimited mileage' thing.  While driving around in places I've never been, I like to watch the road signs for interesting places that I might want to stop at.  Yesterday, I was driving the Kentucky Parkway (highway that crosses the north side of the state, between Louisville and Paducah).  The highway cuts through the bluffs and rolling hills, highlighting the beautiful countryside .  Nearing the exit for Beaver Dam and Hartford, I saw a sign for the home place of Bill Monroe.  You will remember that I wrote part of a recent post about Monroe while researching Kentucky musicians.  Well, how could I resist?!  Consulting my handy atlas, I saw that Hartford isn't too far away from the highway, so, thinking that it may be a quick detour off the road, I make the exit.  I drive through the town of Beaver Dam, then, mistakenly thinking that the house was in Hartford (the next town over), I hesitated before turning at the not-very-obviously-marked sign for Monroe's house.

I started to wonder why I was so bent on seeing this place.  But, the inner zombie pushed me forward.

I kept driving, along a road called "Blue Moon of Kentucky Highway."  Well, that sounds promising, I think to myself.  I continued driving, for what seemed like forever (but it always seems like a long time when you don't know where you are going), and just when I was starting to think that I misread the sign or somehow got onto the wrong road, I drive past a sign that says "Jerusalem Ridge."

At first, I kept driving past it, thinking that it was for something else...but I had been driving for at least the 6.3 miles that the previous sign had said, so I turned around for a better look.  No other warning sign (like the helpful "destination in 1 mile" sort of signs).  Just this one is all you get.  I entered the short drive.  I felt for a moment like I was intruding onto someone's land or private property.

There are friendly looking caution signs, telling you that you're in Monroe Country.  They were about the only thing keeping me from deciding that I was in the wrong place and needed to turn around and look for the 'real' spot.  If you decide to look for the place, you will use this entry road.  The road into the homestead is narrow, gravelly, and winding.  "Drive slow and keep right" the road signs tell me.  Will do.  Several blind curves later I see a couple of signs like this:

Follow the arrows.  That's what traveling is, isn't it?  To navigate highways you just need to follow arrows to stay on certain roads or pass onto different roads.  I follow the arrows.  To get to this sign, it took several hairpin turns and steep grades.  Drive slow and keep right.  I had seen only one other car up until this sign, and they were leaving.  I follow the arrows.

Finally, I arrived at the top of a hill that opened up into a clearing.  There is a house, a sign that says "Tour guide on duty", and no obvious parking lot.  I park at a spot that looks reasonable, and get out to take a look around.  I am struck by two things:  it's really hot and humid, and it's reeeeally quiet.  Scary quiet.  This place is far from the highway or any well-traveled roads, so it's silent.  No music, no cars.  It's been a while since I've been somewhere this quiet.

I first see one of these little huts:

 I later learn from the frail, elderly, but knowledgeable gentleman tour guide that there are several of these little huts around the property.  They are used during a music festival that takes place here in October.  He tells me that last year there were 15000 people on the grounds for the festival.  I try to imagine that many people driving up that curvy, narrow road. 

So, I made it.  I found it.   I'm in the spot where the inventor of Bluegrass music was born and grew up.

While reading this sign, I heard a funny sound and was startled by three adorable chickens, who apparently call this place home.

This is the house.  It looks nice, but inside there are pictures of the building before it was rescued from dilapidation.  Originally, there had been a log cabin standing here.  It was destroyed in a fire, and so this house was built over the same chimney post.  The Monroe family (parents and 8 children) lived here, and they were visited often by other musicians, including Uncle Pendleton Vandiver (Uncle Pen) who was a great musical influence on the whole family.  Everyone played something, or sang.  Bill played the mandolin because no one else in the family played it.

One half of the house.

Other half of the house.  What a great porch!  The other side has a similar porch.

 If you make the trip, be prepared for the driving conditions.  Watch carefully for the signs.  Pop some bluegrass music into the CD player. 

I know, it's not Texas.  But it was an official looking plaque...

Follow the arrows, drive slow, and keep right.

First Lady of Bass

Somehow, I keep circling around The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds album.  This isn't a bad thing, but it must be the Universe's way of telling me to do a proper research.  I will, Universe, I will!  Promise!  Just not yet.  Instead, I want to tell you about a bass player.  The bassist in mind is Carol Kaye.

Carol Kaye is responsible for the bass line on The Beach Boys' Wouldn't It Be Nice (First track from Pet Sounds.  See what I mean?).  You've probably heard her playing in lots of other songs too.  Spanning a 55 year career as a session musician, Kaye can be heard on recordings from The Beach Boys, Phil Spector, The Doors, Joe Cocker, Frank Sinatra, Quincy Jones, John Williams, and about a zillion others.  Also a guitar player, she can be heard on Ritchie Valens' La Bamba.

She's also a teacher.  In 1969, she wrote and published a bass method book: How to Play the Electric Bass.  Since 1949, she played and taught guitar professionally, and got into session work accidentally in 1957, with Sam Cooke recordings.  An impressive career, all in all.  The First Lady of bass continues to perform and teach.

AND THEY'RE OFF!!!

As loyal readers will know, I don't live anywhere near Kentucky.  I plan on road tripping into Louisville for a few days this summer to attend a jazz workshop, though (more on that later), and the more I research the place I'm visiting, the more I feel like I need to plan a longer trip in the future.  But Kentucky is on my mind for other reasons, too.  Namely, Derby Day!!

Derby Day is that day in spring when a bunch of horses, with sometimes outlandish names, run a 1.25 mile race with small-statured humans on their backs.  The race takes place at Churchill Downs in Louisville.  Tomorrow, I will be attending a fundraising function for the local symphony, that celebrates Derby Day.  While the Derby is mostly about the horses, Kentucky, big hats, mint juleps and roses, the musical theme of the event is Stephen Foster's My Old Kentucky Home. 

My Old Kentucky Home was written in 1921 (probably) for the 47th race.  As per the Kentucky Derby website:  "The Louisville Courier-Journal in its May 8, 1921, edition reported, "To the strains of 'My Old Kentucky Home,' Kentuckians gave vent their delight. For Kentucky triumphed in the Derby."  It is now traditionally sung before the big race, and is Kentucky's state song.  It was given state song status in 1928, and remained so until 1986, when Carl Hines, the lone black member of the Kentucky House of Representatives, felt that the song contained unacceptable racial connotations.  He was right, of course, and the term "darkies" was replaced with "people."  The song retains its state song status.

The song describes an idyllic day on a plantation and was a popular with minstrel shows and vaudevillians.

The sun shines bright in the old Kentucky home,

'Tis summer, the people are gay;

The corn top's ripe and the meadow's in the bloom

While the birds make music all the day .

Testing...1...2...3...

Back in the physics section of the music library.  (Why isn't there such a thing, BTW?)  We all listen to music in many ways.  Live is nearly always the best way, of course, but we also listen to recorded music.  To hear recorded music, we need speakers.  The last time you went to see a band at a bar or at a fair, or even just listened to a band set up outside of some guy's house, there was probably some sort of sound amplification system being used.

The sound waves are picked up from the instrument (or voice) via a microphone, which is, technically, a sort of reverse speaker that converts the sound wave into an electrical signal.  This signal can then be sent through amplifiers that literally makes the signal's size big enough to run through a speaker.  Inside of speakers are electromagnets, which are essentially metal coils that create a magnetic field when electricity is run through them.  This results in something that is a lot like a normal magnet except that by reversing the direction of the electrical current, it is possible to flip the poles of the electromagnet.  Why is this important? 

The electromagnet is placed in front of a normal (permanent) magnet.  Because the normal magnet's poles do not change, the electromagnet is alternately attracted and repelled by the normal magnet (think back to 4th grade science class where you learned about poles of magnets repelling and attracting each other.  Like poles repel, unlike poles attract.)  The electromagnetic coil is attached to a paper or plastic cone that is allowed to move.  When the signal is sent through this system, the coil reconverts the signal back into sound waves that are amplified by the cone.  The pulses of electricity lead to a rapid switching of poles, moving the cone.  On very large speakers, known as woofers, used for low frequencies (remember that low frequencies have large sound waves), you can actually see the cone move if you turn up the volume (amplitude).  Very cool!

Smaller cones are used for high frequencies.  These are known as tweeters, and though they may sometimes vary a bit in materials used, they operate in much the same way.  Quality, high-end speakers will have a combination of small, medium, and large cones, capable of transmitting high, middle, and low frequencies in order to achieve the best fidelity (most like the originally recorded impulse).

Happy happy!!

2011 is going away and 2012 will be here to stay (at least until the next full revolution around our Sun).  It is customary for those celebrating this common celestial occurrence to have a glass of champagne (or beverage of choice) and sing a tune called Auld Lang Syne at the turning of the clock.  You know the melody.  You hear it every New Year's Eve, if you stay up late enough, or if you've ever watched any TV program or movie that has any sort of plot centering around the changing of the years.

Auld Lang Syne, lyrically, is based on a poem written by Scotsman Robert Burns in 1788.  The melody is a traditional folk tune.  The words can very generally be translated as: "old long since" or "long, long ago."  Basically, the song rhetorically asks whether or not we should forget the past and reminds us to remember our good friendships.  Which reminds me of something:  You know the end of the movie It's A Wonderful Life, where the town turns out to help George Bailey in his time of need?  Well, everybody starts singing Auld Lang Syne, and inscribed in a copy of Tom Sawyer, from Clarence the Angel: No man is a failure who has friends.

The song is sung all over the world for many different events, but usually in a context of farewell or remembrance.

And there’s a hand my trusty friend !
And give us a hand o’ thine !
And we’ll take a right good-will draught,
for auld lang syne.

For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we'll take a cup of kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

Variation 3

Rock Around the Clock is a blues-based song, written in 1952.  It was written by Max C. Freedman and James E. Myers, and performed and made famous by Bill Haley and His Comets in 1954 and became the No. 1 single in the US and the UK.  The song can be heard at the theme music for the television program Happy Days, and the original Bill Haley recording is on the 1973 American Graffitti soundtrack.

For Elvis Presley, look up the post "Thankyaverymuuhhch."

Peter Pan is the title character from a series of novels and short stories written by the Scottish writer J. M. Barrie, the most well-known one, Peter and Wendy, published in 1911.  It was made into a musical in 1954.  The 1954 musical featured Mary Martin as Peter, and she reprised the role in the 1960 film version of the musical.  The music was written by Mark "Moose" Charlap, with additional music from Jule Styne, and lyrics by Carolyn Leigh (with additional lyrics from Betty Comden and Adolph Green).

Buddy Holly was an American rock artist from Lubbock, TX.  Born Charles Hardin Holley in 1936, his career was cut short after a fatal airplane crash in 1959, but not before making an indelible mark in rock and roll and pop music history.  He is credited with innovating the rock sound and inspiring and influencing countless other musicians after him, including Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, and The Rolling Stones.  He released only three albums, but they have been enough to show his talents as a singer-songwriter, and many of his hits are still covered by other artists and given radio play today.  Buddy Holly and the Crickets are known for great rock hits: Peggy Sue, That'll Be the Day, Everyday, and Oh Boy (and many others.) 

Holly, "The Big Bopper" Richardson, Richie Valens, and the pilot of the small charter plane died en route from Clear Lake, IA (his last performance at the Surf Ballroom) to Moorehead, MN in the early morning hours of February 3, 1959.  We can only imagine what he could have offered the world had this tragic event been avoided, while not forgetting the lost talents of the other two musicians on board. 

On this somber note, Variation 3 comes to a quiet and pensive end.

Variation 2

Liberace Walter Valentino Liberace, or just Liberace (pronounced lib-er-ah-chee) had his debut at age 20 with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.  He is one of the highest paid musicians and pianists of all time.  A West Allis, WI native, he made his film debut as a honky tonk pianist in South See Sinner in 1950.  His trademarks include a candle-lit candelabra and increasingly gaudy outfits (he was Elton John before Elton John was Elton John!).  He was a virtuoso in the truest sense of the word, taking already complicated piano rags and solos and adding even more flash and flare.  The candelabra idea came to him after watching the 1945 movie, A Song to Remember, based on the life of Chopin.

Prokofiev Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) is best known for his works Peter and the Wolf, Romeo and Juliet (the ballet), and the Lieutenant Kije suite. 

"Another time after a concert (Prokofiev) told a famous singer, who had just performed a few of his songs, that she did not understand anything about his music and had better stop singing it. He said it in the presence of a large group of startled onlookers and in such a boorish way that he brought the poor fat lady to tears. 'You see,' he continued reprimanding her, 'all of you women take refuge in tears instead of listening to what one has to say and learning how to correct your faults.'"

Nicolas Nabokov, (1951) from Old Friends and New Music

Toscanini  The Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini (1867-1957) began as a cello and composition student at Parma's Royal School of Music (Italy).  He graduated with honors and was noted for his photographic memory.  At age 19, while on tour with an Italian opera company, (he was playing cello in the orchestra ensemble) he was asked to fill in for the conductor.  The opera was the enormous Aida, and Toscanini conducted it from memory.  He continued to accumulate conducting experiences and by age 31, he was conducting Milan's Teatro alla Scala (the most distinguished opera ensemble in Italy).  After proving his world-class abilities, he was made director of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra in 1930.  He retired from the New York Phil in 1937, but then accepted a position directing the NBC Symphony, an ensemble of musicians of the highest caliber for weekly radio programs.  He retired completely at age 87 and died in his home in the Bronx a few years later, just shy of his 90th birthday.

Variation 1

Marilyn Monroe is better known as an actress and model, but she did do a fair amount of singing in her films.  Some of her more notable tunes are Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend from 1953's Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and I Wanna Be Loved By You from the hilarious Some Like It Hot (1959).  On May 19, 1962, she sang Happy Birthday to President John F. Kennedy, ten days before his actual 45th birthday.  It was one of her last public appearances; she died almost three months later. 

Marlon Brando isn't a musician.  He did, however, have the starring role as Sky Masterson in the 1955 MGM movie-musical Guys and Dolls.  Frank Sinatra wanted the role of Sky, but instead got the role of Nathan Detroit.  The film was based on the 1950 Broadway production, with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser.  There was no vocal dubbing, so what you hear is really the actor's voice.

The King and I is a musical about a British governess hired to work for the King of Siam.  It is based on the novel Anna and the King of Siam (1944) which itself was derived from the written memoirs of Anna Leonowens, who was the governess to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in the 1860s.  The stage musical was an instant hit, winning three Tony Awards.  It was the fifth musical hit from the music and lyrics duo Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. 

THEME

Doris Day is an American actress and singer.  She made her start as a big band singer in 1939 and gained recognition in 1945 with the hit Sentimental Journey.  She has appeared in 39 films and released 29 albums.  As a big band singer, she has worked with Jimmy James, Bob Crosby (brother of Bing Crosby), and Les Brown.  She is now 87 years old and a strong supporter for animal rights.

Johnnie Ray was a popular singer throughout much of the 1950s.  He is noted for innovating the theatrical style of performance: crying, banging on the piano, falling to the floor, tearing at his hair, all done with strong emotion.  Two of his first big hits were Cry and The Little White Cloud That Cried.  This 2-sided record earned him the distinction of being the first pop singer to hit the 2-million-sold mark. As a kid, he'd lost hearing in his right ear and later lost much of the hearing in his left ear due to an operation.  Whether or not this influenced his performance style is unclear.

South Pacific is the 1949 Broadway musical, music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II.  The book was written by Hammerstein and Joshua Logan.  The plot, set in WWII, centers around an American nurse who falls in love with an expat French plantation owner.  The musical explores racial prejudice and the subject of interracial marriage.  Hit songs to come from this great musical include: Bali Ha'i, I'm Gonna Wash the Man Right Outta My Hair, Some Enchanted Evening, and Younger Than Springtime.  The show has won 10 Tony Awards, and the 2008 Broadway revival was a colossal success, earning the show another 7 Tony Awards.

SAW

Recently, I watched a great French film called Delicatessen.  It's one of those wonderfully wacky, almost surreal sort of movies, with great style, subtle wit, and a bit of gore.  It's about a butcher, who is also a landlord, who kills people to sell to his tenants, a la Sweeney Todd.  One of the main characters is a clown, who, in addition to performing some neat soap bubble tricks, plays a musical saw.

All I know about the musical saw is from an old Betty Boop cartoon, where Betty goes through a Looking Glass (or was it a grandfather clock?), Alice-style and meets all sorts of characters, one of which plays a saw.  The sound is ethereal, like a theremin, and from what I have researched, fairly easy to play, unlike a theremin.

It seems uncertain exactly who first got the idea to put fiddle bow to saw, but it seems to have originated in the Appalachian region of the US.  They became more popular in the vaudeville circuit, during the 1920s and 30s.  The saw is "played" by friction of a well-rosined bow, either violin or 'cello, and bending the bow to a shallow S curve.  The changes in how the bend is manipulated creates the different pitches.  That's really all there is to it, and with some practice, the sawer can play anything she can sing.  The saw is called for in some major works, including George Crumb's Ancient Voices of Children, and movie scores.

Tear the roof off

I've always liked George Clinton and Parliament (and his other band, Funkadelic, but I tend to like Parliament more).

To this day, thanks to a college professor for my American pop music history class, I think of sixteenth note subdivisions as: par-lia-ment-and-funk-a-del-ic.  (1-e-and-a, 2-e-and-a)  But that's not really why I like George Clinton.

He's interesting and his music is interesting.  He got his start in the biz by starting a doo-wop group called The Parliaments.  By the late 1960s he had started Parliament and Funkadelic, both working at the same time, usually using the same musicians, but operating under different recording labels.  The style is collectively known as P-Funk.  George Clinton and the P-Funk All Stars was formed in the 1980s.

From what I remember from a documentary I saw years ago (which is what turned me on to Parliament in the first place) was the Clinton temporarily lost the rights to his name Parliament, so he started Funkadelic. 

The music is psychadelic and funky, with lots of instruments and voices, and high-quality musicianship.  Parliament tends to have a smoother R&B groove, while Funkadelic is a bit more raw and rock-based.  In May of 1997, George Clinton and 15 members of P-Funk were inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Bow wow wow yippee-yo yippee-yay!