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Songs that Dad sings
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Songs that Dad sings |
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Subject: Songs that Dad sings From: Bert Date: 26 Aug 99 - 11:32 AM I've noticed in other threads that some of us ('ghing & Rog the Zim for starters) have Dads that sing. Well my old man is 88 and still singing. A few years ago, us kids got him to make a tape of the songs he sings. I think it's about time that we got together and made some sort of archive of our Parents' songs. So if anyone else has an Aged P that sings, make sure that you get them recorded and post to this thread any ideas you might have about handling such an archive. (I gave Max a copy of my Dad's tape.) Bert. |
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Subject: RE: Songs that Dad sings From: MMario Date: 26 Aug 99 - 11:49 AM Forgive me if I state the obvious - but contact your local Univeristy and/or Historical Society. Give THEM copies of the tape. Or if they don't show some kind of interest, they should be able to steer you to someone who WILL. And please, please, please if the songs aren't in the DT, then try to POST them! |
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Subject: RE: Songs that Dad sings From: SandyBob Date: 26 Aug 99 - 01:06 PM I had a Dad that sang...gave me his love of it. I remember great rolling hymns coming from him when he came home from work. Sigh. He loved silly songs, cowboy songs, wrote parodies to get recovering alkies to laugh at themselves...gave me a core of songs that have stood by me though my life. What was the best song you ever learned from your Dad? SandyBob |
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Subject: RE: Songs that Dad sings From: Sourdough Date: 26 Aug 99 - 01:23 PM Electronic storage media have a limited life. A tape may disappoint you in twenty years, especially if it isn't stored under optimum conditions. You might consider transfering your recordings to CD. They seem to have the longest foreseeable life. Of course, there is always the "Dead Media" problem (try finding a place to playback 1" or 2" videotape or eight track audio tapes today) but the CD is ubiquitous enough, it will be around long enough to take the material into the next storage technology era. I am dealing with problems such as this now with a very large historical archive of tape recordings, papers, photographs, videotapes, and films. Time can sure be vicious. Sourdough |
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Subject: RE: Songs that Dad sings From: Margo Date: 26 Aug 99 - 01:52 PM My dad sings but mostly opera arias in "tra la la". But he did bring some dittys from Europe (I'm dying to see how this translates)
Il cavallo et quella cosa Margarita |
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Subject: RE: Songs that Dad sings From: Tiger Date: 26 Aug 99 - 01:57 PM My father-in-law has sung and played guitar for years. He's now 84 and dousn't cut the mustard as well as he usta, but he has made three cassettes with his stuff on them. We've circulated copies within the family and will eventually convert them to digital. |
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Subject: RE: Songs that Dad sings From: Margo Date: 26 Aug 99 - 02:00 PM I must be doing something wrong - I can't get the translator to translate the ditty from Italian to English. What am I doing wrong? Margarita |
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Subject: RE: Songs that Dad sings From: katlaughing Date: 26 Aug 99 - 02:08 PM Great thread, Bert. Why am I not surprised?**BG** I think I've probably said enough already and everyone knows how proud of my dad I am, esp. at 82 and still going to the nursing homes to entertain the old folks. He has always made music; sings all the pop songs from way back when, cowboy songs, and several in between. I think he's probably known and forgotten and remembered more songs than a lot of us will ever known, at least than me, for sure! He and mom had that in common; that and their love of music. He has made tapes off and on for many years, but the most precious to me, because it reminds me so much of childhood is the one he made a few years ago with cowboy songs on one side and family history on the other. Now that I have archived the old photos of my ancestors, the stories become even more alive and precious. He is making a new one of cowboy songs right now, of which I will be happy to send a copy to Max. Art Thieme and Sandy Paton already have copies of the old one he made. And, the historical society in new Castle, Colorado eagerly awaits my getting off me arse and getting copies of everything down to them, as my greatgrandparents on all sides were early pioneers of the area. You know this is one of my favourite subjects, Bert! Thanks! Oh, and I have too many osngs from Dad to pick out a fav., but my fav story is one his dad made up called The Little Black Calfie. We hope to publish it in a book, again, if I get my tush in gear, but mayhap sometime I will post it here. It was a wonderful going-to-bed story and dad has put it on tape, too. So long, pards, katlaughing |
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Subject: RE: Songs that Dad sings From: Philippa Date: 26 Aug 99 - 02:13 PM What about Mom? oxygen |
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Subject: RE: Songs that Dad sings From: Bert Date: 26 Aug 99 - 02:59 PM Philippa, Yep Mom as well (I did say parents) nut perhaps should have said relatives and friends. There must be Aunts and Uncles and Neigbors out there as well. I love the 'Air song' reminds me of when I worked at the Shell Fertilizer Plant. Air was the raw material, they sucked it in and extracted the nitrogen for the fertilizer. Oxygen was a by product. Kat, I'll trade tapes with you. My Dad is also working on his 'life story' We have to prod him from time to time to keep up with it. He started in chronological order but kept getting stuck. Then he decided to just record stuff as it came to mind and has been progressing better since then. MMario, My Dad lived most of his life in England so I doubt if an American University would be too interested. I could try though. 'dough, Good point - I'll copy the tape to minidisc right away. In fact I should go visit him and get him to do some more direct to disc. Margarita, There must be something in your message that is causing the translator to hang. I cut and pasted the song direct into the translator window and got 'some' results. Weren't very good though. SandyBob, No way I could pick a favourite. One I sing often is "While London Sleeps" Bert. |
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Subject: RE: Songs that Dad sings From: katlaughing Date: 26 Aug 99 - 03:03 PM You're right, Phillipa. I just posted to your thread. My mom was every bit as important to us regarding music as dad was, in fact somewhat more as he was often gone working, while mom was the one who schlepped us all to music lessons, played the piano for voice or violin practise, etc. Plus, she won an award, as a young girl, for her singing. I can still hear her sweet, high voice, (I imagine like a nightingale) quavering a little on some of the old words; a little Victorian sounding and full of emotion. She had a way of looking as though she saw another world, misty and off in the distance, "her dreamy" look, we called it. Most often seen when she was happiest, out among the pines and spruce in the Colorado mountains, singing round a campfire, the music and scent of burning wood, sending her off into other realms. We are all, her five children, products of her great love of good music. In her seventies, she came back to Wyoming, after hearing a senior citizen's choir in Massachusetts and started her own, acting as director for several years before retiring. Sure wish I could hear her once more. Keep singing, kat |
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Subject: RE: Songs that Dad sings From: MMario Date: 26 Aug 99 - 03:08 PM Bert - don't count on American universities not being interested in "foriegn" archival material. Many of them are. I know several in the US are doing archives of Irish music. |
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Subject: RE: Songs that Dad sings From: campfire Date: 26 Aug 99 - 07:30 PM My Dad seems to be the "youngster" at only 70 - of course he only claims 39 (kinda hard, condsidering I'm 40! And he wouldn't claim to sing, either - he "bays at the moon" whenever he gets the chance, though. It is from him -and his mother before him- that I get whatever "talent" I might have, or at least my love of the music. I can't remember ever NOT singing around the campfire. I don't know how he'd go for being taped, but it would be a fun project. campfire |
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Subject: RE: Songs that Dad sings From: Sandy Paton Date: 26 Aug 99 - 07:52 PM My mother was an absolutely lovely singer, with a repertoire that consisted of pop songs from the '20s, some god-awful songs like "Louisville Lou" and "Lovin' Sam" (which, of course, are the ones I most clearly remember), plus a neat version of "Our Goodman" (Five Nights Drunk) that she learned from an older brother ca. 1917, down in south-central Pennsylvania. We also sang all the "101 Favorite Songs" during family sings around the piano, and a whole pile of standard Protestant hymns (right out of the book, I'm afraid). Only a few of these were captured on tape before she died, unfortunately. She was in California and I live in the East, and my sisters out there didn't get around to recording her singing before the strokes robbed her of her ability to do it. Let this stand as a warning to all of you: don't delay! |
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Subject: RE: Songs that Dad sings From: Margo Date: 26 Aug 99 - 07:58 PM Il cavallo et quella cosa Que ti tira la vittura Et ti manga la verdura Et ti profuma il passagere You're right Bert, not a good translation. It is: The horse is the thing that pulls the car, and eats hay and perfumes the road! Then there are some nonsense syllables in a rhythm that are sort of onomotopoetic, like horse droppings. Margarita |
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Subject: RE: Songs that Dad sings From: Sandy Paton Date: 26 Aug 99 - 08:00 PM Sorry about that. I'm a real triple-threat! I should add that my father picked up a few songs while working in the Oklahoma oil fields ("Takes a Wearied Man to Sing a Wearied Song," etc.) and had a few gems like "The Road to Mandalay" and "Sailor Beware" from his college glee club days, but had almost nothing from his youth in the Ozarks (worse luck). I think he aspired too fiercely to join the middle-class; putting all the good rural stuff behind him. On family trips, we were stuck with hideobilia like "The Bear Went Over the Mountain" and similar trivia. Sandy (fading back to pass....) |
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Subject: RE: Songs that Dad sings From: DougR Date: 27 Aug 99 - 12:56 AM Bert: What a marvelous idea! My dad couldn't carry a tune in a basket, but Mom sang and had a lovely voice. I'm trying to think of some of the songs she sang but the only one that comes to mind, at present, is "Where the River Shannon Flows." I can remember her singing that in the early thirties. She was also big on hymns. DougR |
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Subject: RE: Songs that Dad sings From: Pelrad Date: 27 Aug 99 - 09:35 AM I think my parents win the youngster award, as they are both in their early 50s. Both are professional folk musicians (ever hear of Wickford Express?), so all three of their children were exposed to all kinds of stuff. Around the house we heard a lot of Bob Dylan, etc. songs from my father, but it was their professional repertoire that shaped all of our lives: traditional maritime music. I can't say I have a favorite, but I know every song they ever sang, and plenty more that I found on my own in the same genre. It sure has been great, growing up with people like Stan Hugill, Louis Killen, Dick Holdstock and Alan MacLeod, Johnny Collins and Jim Magean, Jeff Warner and Jeff Davis, Stuart Frank, etc. popping in and out of our living room. (I hope that didn't sound like name-dropping; just listing people I've been particularly influenced by.) My mother visited the Glenns a few times in North Carolina and brought back some goodies...But everything we know has been documented already, and we got it from the documentation. I don't think any of my grandparents sang; they are the kind of people who grew up speaking Canadian French but refused to teach it to their American children. My great-grandfather used to sing to my father, but he was so young he doesn't remember any specifics, just the fiddle playing. I have to say, though, that my happiest memories are of my father singing to me at bedtime. I plan to continue that tradition with my own children. Traditional music is the most wonderful gift to pass on in this modern, wasteful, forgetful culture. |
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Subject: RE: Songs that Dad sings From: Peter T. Date: 27 Aug 99 - 09:45 AM Bert, nice thread. My father, when he had a drink or two, used to break into "Marta, Rambling Rose of the Wildwood". He never played an instrument in his life, or sang at all much that I can remember. I just remember him singing that. yours, Peter T. |
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Subject: RE: Songs that Dad sings From: JedMarum Date: 27 Aug 99 - 10:15 AM I have been watching this thread with keen interest, and have enjoyed reading all the stories. My dad had/has a lovely voice; an Irish tenor. I grew up with him singing his favorites, and playing his harmonica - it was always a treat. I attribute my love for music to him. He sang many many old Irish favorites, but many pop and operatic classics as well. Many of the songs he sang I have found here; Ann Bolyen, Irish Lullaby, Whistling Gypsy,I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen,Garden Where The Praties Grow ... and many more It seems many of us have fond memories of the music our parents loved ... and have retained a love and appreciation for it ourselves. |
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Subject: RE: Songs that Dad sings From: Ferrara Date: 27 Aug 99 - 11:12 AM Margarita, the translation you quote above for your Italian ditty seems to be a good one to me. What's wrong with it? Actually it should be "that pulls your car, and eats your hay (grass?) and perfumes the roadway for you!" My dad and grandfather had several little rhymes like that, but I never could quite learn them I'm sorry to say. Best song I learned from my dad was "Cicerenella," or "Citronella," a nonsense song about a country girl from Naples. He loved Desert Blues and My Carolina Sunshine Girl by Jimmie Rodgers, (sp?), and songs like "Slap Her Down Again Paw" by Arthur Godfrey and "Ain't Nature Grand" by Esmerelda (yes!) and anything by Judy Canova (who remembers her?) -- but he didn't teach us too many songs except for things in Italian and the usual hideobilia such as You Can't Get to Heaven or the Hole in the Bottom of the Sea. On the other hand, he let me learn songs from his WWII army songbook, Abdul the Bulbul Amir, The Dying Aviator, Mademoiselle from Armentieres, That's the Wrong Way to Tickle Mary, Lydia Pinkham, the Tattooed Lady, and an amazing number of other rowdy songs. When we got to our teens he didn't want us to sing them any more or to see the book, because he said that now we knew what the words meant.... I had a cousin who taught his two-year-old to sing "The Lady in Red" ("Twas a cold winter's evening, the guests were all leaving, O'Leary was closing the bar.... ) Drove the kid's mother nuts. |
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Subject: RE: Songs that Dad sings From: katlaughing Date: 27 Aug 99 - 11:18 AM I have a friend who has the entire Jimmie Rodgers catalogue on restored tape. His family were pioneers in radio and phongraph records, plus he's been in radio all of his life, so he's made a habit of collecting old archives. We've got a lot of the old 78's, including one of Abdul Abulbul Amir, I know I'm a hobo, but who said I was a bum, Pegleg Jack, and lots of others. katlaughing |
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Subject: RE: Songs that Dad sings From: Margo Date: 27 Aug 99 - 12:33 PM Ferrara, I'm sure there more dittys, but I can't think of any right now. My dad didn't care for popular music, stuck to the classics. So I am quite familiar with all the major arias in tra la la. My grandfather used to sing to me:
Si tu veux, faire mon bonheure! My brothers and sisters had their own version: Margarita, wash your feet-a Margarita, with clean feet-a, cause the health department is up the street-a! :o) |
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Subject: RE: Songs that Dad sings From: Tony Burns Date: 27 Aug 99 - 12:41 PM Well folks, how about making a recording yourself. Someday your relatives may treasure that tape you made way back in '99. |
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Subject: RE: Songs that Dad sings From: annamill Date: 27 Aug 99 - 12:49 PM I feel so deprived! I grew up in North Jersey (never mind the city) and my father was Italian. All he ever sang was "Volare`", "Minnie the Moucher" and anything by Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra was GOD!! My mom was a Southern Baptist from South Carolina. She sang hymns, but I was a city girl and didn't set much store by hymns. I had Teddy Randazzo, Bobby Darin, and Fabian. No wonder I drink. Thank goodness for the '60s. I would never have heard folk. I like hymns now though. Maybe they bring back more innocent times for me. Nothing to do with religion though. Oh, and my parents were definitely at odds. That's all. Love, annap |
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Subject: RE: Songs that Dad sings From: Jerry Friedman Date: 27 Aug 99 - 12:49 PM Reminds me of one my Dad shared with us:
Toreador-a, don't sit on the floor-a, He also brought us, "Oh, the monkey wrapped his tail around the flagpole." As I remember my sister's giggles, she must have learned the second (and only other?) line at some point: "To see his as*hole". (That asterisk reminds me of a book called Breakfast of Champions, by Kurt Vonnegut.) My father is not strong on lyrics. He liked to sing nonsense songs, and oddly enough, he could remember the "words" of "Chickery Chick" and "Hut Sut Ralston" (sp?), at least the choruses. Also his high-school song: "In honor of dear Heights,/ We gather here to sing..." I wish I'd inherited his voice and sense of pitch, but if I say anything bad about my mother, I'll have to fight myself. |
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