Fedele and Callie, I live in Washington, DC and am a very active member of the Folklore Society of Greater Washington. My father was born in Teora, a small town in Provincia Avellino, about 70 miles west of Naples. My mother was from Bowden, Georgia,USA. Both sides of the family loved music, so I learned southern Appalachian songs, operatic excerpts, pop music from the 20's, 30's and 40's, and both romantic parlor songs (eg Santa Lucia) and country tunes like Cicerenella in Italian.

Callie, what I learned from my family was basically Neapolitan songs. Neapolitan songs are almost never about anything except blue waters, soft music and l'amore...

Fedele, I'm going to start new threads for two songs I'd like to learn more about. Maybe you will recognize them. Thanks for your offer of help!

- Rita Ferrara