1942 Agnes de Mille, Rodeo, American subject matter in ballet
Today marks the 70th anniversary of the symphonic premier of Aaron Copland’s Four Dance Episodes from Rodeo. Originally written as a ballet in five sections, Rodeo was pared down to a four movement symphonic work which was premiered by the Boston Pops Orchestra under the direction of Arthur Fiedler.
Aaron Copland (1900 – 1990) was an American composer, composition teacher and conductor. He is one of the pioneers of the “American style” of composition, and was often referred to as the “Dean of American Composers.” The son of Russian immigrants, Copland was born in Brooklyn, NY, in 1900, and began writing music in his teens. Eventually, Copland traveled to France to study composition at the Fontainebleau School of Music under Nadia Boulanger, who also taught Philip Glass, Astor Piazolla and Quincy Jones. Copland is best known for his orchestral music, including Billy the Kid, Appalachian Spring and the Fanfare for the Common Man.
The ballet version of Rodeo was choreographed by the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. The Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo was formed in 1938 by members of the original Ballet Russe. One of the founding members of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, Rene Blum, was one of the first Jews to be arrested during the German occupation of France. In September 1942, just one month before the premier of the ballet Rodeo, he was sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp where he was later killed.
The original version of Rodeo consisted of five dance scenes: “Buckaroo Holiday,” “Ranch House Party,” “Corral Nocturne” (partially composed by Leonard Bernstein), “Saturday Night Waltz” and “Hoe-Down.” For the symphonic version of Rodeo, Copland omitted the “Ranch House Party,” but left the remaining four movements intact.
Rodeo, like many of Copland’s other works, incorporates traditional American folk tunes (such as the use of the Shaker hymn “Simple Gifts” for his Appalachian Spring). Some of the tunes include “Old Paint,” “Bonaparte’s Retreat” and “McLeod’s Reel.” Copland’s treatment of “Bonaparte’s Retreat” (in the “Hoe-Down” movement) has become one of the most famous moments of Rodeo, in part because of its use as the background music for a series of commercials by the American Beef Council. In fact, most people immediately recognize the end of “Hoe-Down” by imagining the voices of Robert Mitchum and Sam Elliot interrupting the music by saying “Beef, it’s what’s for dinner.”
Dr. Scott M. Kiser is a classical trumpet player who served 5 years in the US Navy, primarily with Navy Band New Orleans. During that time, Dr. Kiser was a regular performer at Museum events!
On this day 70 years ago, Georgia-born big band leader and Columbia Records recording artist Harry James achieved the rare feat of occupying not only Billboard’s #1 slot, but the #2 chart position as well. At #1 in March 1943 sat ‘I’ve Heard That Song Before,’ featuring the superior tone of James’ trademark trumpet and the vocals of Helen Forrest, while, bubbling under just beneath it, was ‘I Had The Craziest Dream Last Night,’ the theme from the 1942 musical comedy ‘Springtime In The Rockies,’ which not only featured James as a part of the regular cast, but also starred James’ future wife, Betty Grable.
While ‘I Had The Craziest Dream’ would undergo a rapid descent out of the Top Ten, ‘I’ve Heard That Song Before’ would remain atop the Billboard charts all the way through the middle of May before finally being ousted by Glenn Miller’s ‘That Old Black Magic.’
Click below to hear the original hit recordings of Harry James ‘I’ve Heard That Song Before’ and ‘I Had The Craziest Dream Last Night.’
This post by Collin Makamson, Red Ball Express Coordinator @ The National WWII Museum
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Patty Andrews never served in the military, but she and her singing sisters certainly supported the troops.
During World War II, they hawked war bonds, entertained soldiers overseas and boosted morale on the home-front with tunes like “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B” and “I Can Dream, Can’t I?”
Andrews, the last surviving member of the singing Andrews Sisters trio, died Wednesday at 94 of natural causes at her home in the Los Angeles suburb of Northridge, said family spokesman Alan Eichler in a statement.
“When I was a kid, I only had two records and one of them was the Andrews Sisters. They were remarkable. Their sound, so pure,” said Bette Midler, who had a hit cover of “Bugle Boy” in 1973. “Everything they did for our nation was more than we could have asked for. This is the last of the trio, and I hope the trumpets ushering (Patty) into heaven with her sisters are playing `Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy.'”
Patty was the Andrews in the middle, the lead singer and chief clown, whose raucous jitterbugging delighted American servicemen abroad and audiences at home.
She could also deliver sentimental ballads like “I’ll Be with You in Apple Blossom Time” with a sincerity that caused hardened GIs far from home to weep.
From the late 1930s through the 1940s, the Andrews Sisters produced one hit record after another, beginning with “Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen” in 1937 and continuing with “Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar,” `’Rum and Coca-Cola” and more. They recorded more than 400 songs and sold over 80 million records.
Other sisters, notably the Boswells, had become famous as singing acts, but mostly they huddled before a microphone in close harmony. The Andrews Sisters – LaVerne, Maxene and Patty – added a new dimension. During breaks in their singing, they cavorted about the stage in rhythm to the music.
Their voices combined with perfect synergy. As Patty remarked in 1971: “There were just three girls in the family. LaVerne had a very low voice. Maxene’s was kind of high, and I was between. It was like God had given us voices to fit our parts.”
Kathy Daris of the singing Lennon Sisters recalled on Facebook late Wednesday that the Andrews Sisters “were the first singing sister act that we tried to copy. We loved their rendition of songs, their high spirit, their fabulous harmony.”
The Andrews Sisters’ rise coincided with the advent of swing music, and their style fit perfectly into the new craze. They aimed at reproducing the sound of three harmonizing trumpets.
Unlike other singing acts, the sisters recorded with popular bands of the 1940s, fitting neatly into the styles of Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, Jimmy Dorsey, Bob Crosby, Woody Herman, Guy Lombardo, Desi Arnaz and Russ Morgan. They sang dozens of songs on records with Bing Crosby, including the million-seller “Don’t Fence Me In.” They also recorded with Dick Haymes, Carmen Miranda, Danny Kaye, Al Jolson, Jimmy Durante and Red Foley.
The Andrews’ popularity led to a contract with Universal Pictures, where they made a dozen low-budget musical comedies between 1940 and 1944. In 1947, they appeared in “The Road to Rio” with Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour.
The trio continued until LaVerne’s death in 1967. By that time the close harmony had turned to discord, and the sisters had been openly feuding.
Midler’s cover of “Bugle Boy” revived interest in the trio. The two survivors joined in 1974 for a Broadway show, “Over Here!” It ran for more than a year, but disputes with the producers led to the cancellation of the national tour of the show, and the sisters did not perform together again.
Patty continued on her own, finding success in Las Vegas and on TV variety shows. Her sister also toured solo until her death in 1995.
Her father, Peter Andrews, was a Greek immigrant who Anglicized his name of Andreus when he arrived in America; his wife, Olga, was a Norwegian with a love of music. LaVerne was born in 1911, Maxine (later Maxene) in 1916, Patricia (later Patty, sometimes Patti) in 1918.
All three sisters were born and raised in the Minneapolis area.
Listening to the Boswell Sisters on radio, LaVerne played the piano and taught her sisters to sing in harmony; neither Maxene nor Patty ever learned to read music. All three studied singers at the vaudeville house near their father’s restaurant. As their skills developed, they moved from amateur shows to vaudeville and singing with bands.
After Peter Andrews moved the family to New York in 1937, his wife, Olga, sought singing dates for the girls. They were often turned down with comments such as: “They sing too loud and they move too much.” Olga persisted, and the sisters sang on radio with a hotel band at $15 a week. The broadcasts landed them a contract with Decca Records.
They recorded a few songs, and then came “Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen,” an old Yiddish song for which Sammy Cahn and Saul Kaplan wrote English lyrics. (The title means, “To Me You Are Beautiful.”) It was a smash hit, and the Andrews Sisters were launched into the big-time.
In 1947, Patty married Martin Melcher, an agent who represented the sisters as well as Doris Day, then at the beginning of her film career. Patty divorced Melcher in 1949 and soon he became Day’s husband, manager and producer.
Patty married Walter Weschler, pianist for the sisters, in 1952. He became their manager and demanded more pay for himself and for Patty. The two other sisters rebelled, and their differences with Patty became public. Lawsuits were filed between the two camps.
Patty Andrews is survived by her foster daughter, Pam DuBois, a niece and several cousins. Weschler died in 2010.
Patty Andrews of Andrews Sisters rallied troops
