Maggie's Farm

He begins with Stella. Sheesh.

Click on the youtube connection. 

More accurately from the German, "earworm." Anyway, the Quartermaster's Song was a WW1 Brit marching song which became a Brit Scouting campfire song, and later a US Scouting and ordinary campfire song. Also, a good car song. All with varied lyrics.

I have no doubt that the WW1 versions were bawdy. I heard "There was Hank, Hank, givin' himself a wank in the store...". The magic of a tune like this is that you just make up all the verses you can think of to keep it going. 

The silly refrain about "My eyes are dim, I cannot see.." is great, but here are some of my favorite lines:

There was tea, tea, but none for you and me in the stores...

There were snakes, snakes, big as garden rakes in the stores... 

There are eggs, eggs, eggs with hairy legs in the stores...

There is gravy gravy, enough to float the Navy in the stores...

There are rats, rats, big as bleedin' cats in the stores... 

There are rats, rats, with bowler hats and spats... 

The Shadows rocked this tune long ago. Really good.

A version from the late 30s from Murgatroyd and Winterbottom 

Burl Ives' version 

A kids' version from Cardiff - well, watch it on the youtube offered:

Recording via a cool story:  A Newspaper Editorial Resulted in Saving the Recorded Legacy of Black Gospel Singing

Dead at 78. As I said recently, never a Deadhead but spent a lot of time with them on the Sirius Dead channel in my new car due to not reading the instructions. Maybe Garcia was "Captain Trips" but the music did not seem like that.  Hunter was an American folklorist, as is Dylan and as was The Band.

The Grateful Dead lyricist filled a generation with a sense of amused, loving, liberatory patriotism.

Here are two versions of Ripple, one by the Dead and one by Hunter alone. 

Via Am. Digest,  The thoroughly modern genius of George Gershwin

And this - forget Sinatra, this is the ultimate NYC tune. He came up with it riding on a train, aka subway:

He looks old. A friend says his new recording is wonderful: Tree of Forgiveness. 

"Lonesome friends in science say,
the world might end anyday
but I don't care, that's not where I live ..."

You can listen there on Amazon Prime. A musician's musician, inspired many. Feels like a good-bye record.

Vanderleun likes this.

For road running or driving, I prefer Creedence. 

From 1915, a WW1 tune. Silent at first, for a moment

Do any of we mortals deserve this?  Herman Baumann horn, Herman Prey-Spring baritone.

With some interesting comments by Bernstein at first. My reminder: Bach never had musicians at his disposal like those of today.

It's working this way in my family.

The cello piece from the greatest composer and musician of all time plays a major role in Mark Helprin's latest novel,  Paris in the Present Tense. A mythic tale of sacrifice and redemption in death.