Dated George M. Creaky, Contrived Providence Journal Theatre by the Sea must have thought this was a good time to once again dust off George M!, the cornball saga of Rhode Island-born song-and-dance man George M. Cohan. While this trite 1960s musical is mostly about Cohan’s 25-year reign over Broadway during the early 1900s, there are a few patriotic tunes apropos of the season.
Inside McCain's iPod The New Republic "Over There" -- George M. Cohan "A Whiter Shade of Pale" -- Willie Nelson "I Tied an Onion to my Belt, Which Was the Style at the Time" -- The Grampa Simpson Quartet "Danger Zone (Top Gun theme)" -- Kenny Loggins "I'm Going to Crush Obama" -- McCain
Yankee Doodle President Washington Times Let the star-spangled games begin. The countdown has begun for July Fourth, historically one of the busiest days of the year for White House hopefuls, each vying to appear presidential in the classic sense - a true man of the people - strong, steady
July 05, 2008
I've gone to my farm in Kentucky for the weekend. It's a great place to relax, do a little hard physical labor, and forget about the rest of the world. If you don't have such a place, I highly suggest you get one.
In the meantime, here's a little something that I found for you to read with your morning coffee.
See you on Monday.
J. Peterman
From The Wall Street Journal:
I am seated in the refurbished beaux-arts auditorium of the American Academy of Arts on West 154th Street. Beneath the elegant sculpted muses, time moves backward this warm spring day as the air vibrates with the infectious music of George M. Cohan (1878-1942), the "Yankee Doodle Dandy," as he himself put it, "born on the Fourth of July." In fact, though the family rigorously defended that Independence Day claim, Cohan's birth certificate was dated July 3.
The recording session isn't of Cohan chestnuts filtered through James Cagney or Broadway's "George M!" This is authentic Cohan played in the original ragtime-era arrangements. Included are familiar numbers like "Give My Regards to Broadway" and "Yankee Doodle Dandy" from the 1904 show "Little Johnny Jones"; the rousing World War I song, "Over There"; and medleys from such hit shows as "George Washington, Jr." (1906), "Forty-Five Minutes From Broadway" (1906), "The Honeymooners" (1907) and "Little Nellie Kelly (1922), performed with conspicuous élan and attention to historic performance practice ordinarily lavished on Bach, Handel and Rossini. On stage is the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra; on the podium is its founder and conductor, Rick Benjamin.
The first things you notice are the numbers' exceptional tunefulness and syncopated rhythmic infectiousness. Apart from marches and waltzes, Cohan's music often reflected the popular dances of his day: the one-step, the two-step, the high-stepping cakewalk, the sultry tango, and such anthropomorphic variations as the bunny hug, grizzly bear, turkey trot and -- longest surviving -- the fox trot. Ragtime is some of the happiest music on Earth, and listening to Mr. Benjamin's performances it is easy to understand why he has devoted his life to it.
A pianist and tubist by training, Mr. Benjamin discovered his calling as an 8-year-old in the 1970s: Seeking amusement while visiting his grandparents' New Jersey home, he wandered out to the garage, where he discovered their 1917 Victrola. He wound it up, put one of their records on the turntable, lowered the steel needle to the shellac, and "as music poured out of the dusty ancient machine," he recalls, "I was overwhelmed by a feeling of complete wonder: A new world, glowing with life, was calling out to me from another time." He was hooked.
Yankee Doodle Dandy IMDB.com From his early days as a child-star in his family's vaudeville show up to the time of his comeback at which he received a medal from the president for his special contributions to the US, this is the life- story of George M. Cohan.
Who's Who of World War I firstworldwar.com During his musical and theatrical career Cohan's output was prolific. Aside from publishing in excess of 500 songs he wrote some 40 exuberant plays and musicals.
George M. 101 musicals101.com Cohan's baptismal certificate -- which is his only written birth record -- verifies that he was born in Providence, Rhode Island on July 3rd, 1878. However, Cohan's family unfailingly insisted that George and his country shared birthdays on the 4th.
I always liked James Cagney playing George M. Cohan. It made you proud to be an American.
Times change, people change, but the music remains.
Happy Fourth of July!
George M. Cohan's statue stands proudly in Times Square, giving his regards to Broadway. He was one of us and his tunes will last forever because of their unabashed pride and charm.