Happy birthday Stephen Foster

Subject: Happy birthday Stephen Foster
From: toadfrog
Date: 13 Jan 03 - 11:08 PM

Yes! And it is James Joyce's birthday, too!

Subject: RE: Happy birthday Stephen Foster
From: catspaw49
Date: 13 Jan 03 - 11:11 PM

Probably getting drunk together.........

Spaw

Subject: RE: Happy birthday Stephen Foster
From: masato sakurai
Date: 14 Jan 03 - 12:20 AM

Stephen Foster was born on the Fourth of July in 1826. It was the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. He died at Bellevue Hospital, New York, on January 13, 1864.

~Masato

Subject: RE: Happy birthday Stephen Foster
From: Cluin
Date: 14 Jan 03 - 12:22 AM

Happy Deathday, Stephen Foster?

Subject: RE: Happy birthday Stephen Foster
From: catspaw49
Date: 14 Jan 03 - 12:30 AM

Well, they come, they go...........

Spaw

Subject: RE: Happy birthday Stephen Foster
From: songs2play
Date: 14 Jan 03 - 02:41 AM

Hard Times no more.
God Bless

Subject: RE: Happy birthday Stephen Foster
From: Wilfried Schaum
Date: 14 Jan 03 - 09:01 AM

Oh that the best must go so young!

Wilfried

Subject: RE: Happy birthday Stephen Foster
From: fat B****rd
Date: 15 Jan 03 - 06:20 AM

Bit late but........my Mum was 94 on the 13th of Jan.

Subject: RE: Happy birthday Stephen Foster
From: masato sakurai
Date: 15 Jan 03 - 07:38 AM

My Brother Stephen by Morrison Foster, chapter V (1932; originally a part of Morrison Foster's Biography, Songs and Musical Compositions of Stephen C. Foster, 1896).

~Masato

Subject: RE: Happy birthday Stephen Foster
From: masato sakurai
Date: 15 Jan 03 - 08:52 AM

Evelyn Foster Morneweck, Chronicles of Stephen Foster's Family, Vol.2, pp. 558-560 (1944).

Subject: RE: Happy birthday Stephen Foster
From: GUEST
Date: 15 Jan 03 - 09:23 AM

Oh the sun shines bright on my Old Kentucky home
It's summer, the darkies are gay.


Such poingnant lyrics. Makes ya long fer the good ole days.

Subject: RE: Happy birthday Stephen Foster
From: GUEST
Date: 15 Jan 03 - 11:19 AM

Subject: RE: Happy birthday Stephen Foster
From: DougR
Date: 15 Jan 03 - 11:50 AM

How dare you folks denigrate Trent Lott's favorite composer! I wonder;were Strom and Stephen schoolmates?

DougR

Subject: RE: Happy birthday Stephen Foster
From: Banjer
Date: 15 Jan 03 - 07:40 PM

Guest, unlike you and your GUTLESS wonder friends I am not afraid to let the world know my opinions. My Old Kentucky Home, Suwannee River, and anything else Stephen Foster and many others wrote was written in the past when such lyrics were not looked down upon by the high and oh so mighty politicaly correct idiots such as you seem to be. Our music is as much a part of our heritage and our history as our family trees and anything else that allows us to learn of the past. You and your fellow PC clones may want to rewrite it all, but I will protest such actions as long as I have breath in me. In short, FUCK OFF AND DIE!!!! Banjer said it! (if you want my real name, PM me)

Subject: RE: Happy birthday Stephen Foster
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 15 Jan 03 - 07:55 PM

Incomparable, Foster was our best composer of popular songs.

Subject: RE: Happy birthday Stephen Foster
From: DougR
Date: 16 Jan 03 - 12:12 AM

Banjer: Right on! I am an admirer of his music also.

DougR

Subject: RE: Happy birthday Stephen Foster
From: Banjer
Date: 16 Jan 03 - 06:33 AM

Many admire his music, more so probably today than when he was alive. If you follow his songs chronologicaly you can almost feel his life. Many of his early compositions deal with a happy quality of life and as he became older you can see the decline in his life by what he writes. His life was also the life of many others during those turbulent years in our history, therefore making his songs a sort of musical insight into the mid-nineteenth century. Yes, by today's standards they may be (and are) considered racist by some, but we must keep in mind that at the time he penned these thoughts there was a different style of life. We have to some degree overcome a lot of those mistakes, and we still have a long way to go, in my estimation, but if we continue to let every hack with an editing pencil rewrite our history and sweep the unsavory parts under the rug, what will prevent similar mistakes in the future? 'History books are wtitten by the victors', I've heard said and we have their slanted view, but music such as Foster's songs tell a much better story than any text ever could. We owe him and other composers of the time a great deal for writing as they did. Thank heaven all these idiot PC hawkers weren't around then!

(soapbox back in the corner)

Subject: RE: Happy birthday Stephen Foster
From: GUEST
Date: 16 Jan 03 - 02:03 PM

Dear Mudcatters, especially Banjer,

My name is Ben Simons and I am an African American. I have been lurking around this site for a few weeks and found many of the postings informative, humorous and worth reading. I was planning to eventually become a member. Yesterday I made the mistake of placing a humorous comment in this thread.

I am not an advocate of being politically correct. I feel that we all should have a good enough sense of humor to tolerate harmless racial, religious or ethnic jokes. While I am a major admirer of Stephen Foster's music and own a number of Stephen Foster albums I do feel that some of his lyrics are no longer relevant to us. My posting was an attempt to get that across, not to stand on a soapbox about how minorities are treated or anything else.

Unfortunately, it seems, that even with all the Bush bashing and anti-conservative posting, some of you are really worse than our President when it comes to seeing two sides to an argument. For Banjer to say "FUCK OFF AND DIE" solely because he did not know where I was coming from and thought that I might not see things exactly the way he does is not a sign of an open-minded thinker...something that most folk musicians are.

My posting was under the name GUEST. Being a guest has two sides. The guest should not purposely try to offend his host. I thought my comment was a toss off little bit of humor. I gues that in this group humor is only reserved for the inner clique. On the other hand, a guest should be made to feel welcome. To threaten someone without knowing them or without trying to make them see another side of the story does not make someone feel welcome.

I am a lover of folk music and from my readings felt that this would be a good group to affiliate with. Unfortunately that does not seem to be the case unless I adopt the group platform and and only think the same thoughts as Banjer. If one disagrees one does not seem to be accepted.

I'm sorry that I did not get a chance to get to know you. I hope that you treat other newcomers better. Maybe conversations between open-minded thinkers would lead to even better and more interesting postings in the future.

By the way Banjer, why would I ever want to know your name? No need for a private message.

Goodbye and good luck,

Ben

Subject: RE: Happy birthday Stephen Foster
From: MMario
Date: 16 Jan 03 - 02:09 PM

my g*d ben, have you never had a disagreement with a friend - or someone at a party - or in a bar?


That you have to agree with ANYONE here is not an issue - I doubt highly that 'spaw, billD, or a whole host of others agree with me on any number of issues - and many of those have been touched on in the forum.

Subject: RE: Happy birthday Stephen Foster
From: GUEST
Date: 16 Jan 03 - 04:18 PM

Subject: RE: Happy birthday Stephen Foster
From: JennyO
Date: 17 Jan 03 - 12:52 PM

GUEST, if you give up that easily on people, you must miss out on some good things.

I can only speak for myself, as a member of only a few weeks. In my opinion, you will be missing out on something very valuable if you leave. I haven't always had the answers I wanted, but we are all human, and in general, you get back what you give.

That's my 2 cents worth, anyway.

Jenny

Subject: RE: Happy birthday Stephen Foster
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 17 Jan 03 - 01:39 PM

Guests, if they look through the threads and the discussions in the Forum, will soon note that most songs are given in their original, historical form, if that is known, since that is the root stock from which other versions are derived. Other versions are reproduced as well, giving us a picture of the song's evolution and providing users with a variety of options.
The songs are a record of our past, as has been stated before, and are important to all of us for that reason. Thankfully, no censorship is imposed.

Subject: RE: Happy birthday Stephen Foster
From: DougR
Date: 17 Jan 03 - 01:43 PM

Ben: I don't know if you are still around. I hope you are.

In a post or so above Banjer's I supported what he said. I should have been more explicit. I agreed with the positive things he said about Foster. I should have read further and noted his/her admonition to Guest. My support of Banjer's remarks did not include that sentence.

We get a bit too worked up, I suppose, about GUESTS. I do I know. But I don't believe I have used as strong language in addressing my frustrations as was used in that post.

I think Banjer is a good person, and that he/she got carried away with the moment.

Anyway, I hope you will reconsider and hang around. As for my part in supporting Banjer's statement, I apologize to you.

DougR

Subject: RE: Happy birthday Stephen Foster
From: Sandy Mc Lean
Date: 17 Jan 03 - 04:38 PM

Those biogs are great masato! Thanks for the insight!
            Sandy

Subject: RE: Happy birthday Stephen Foster
From: masato sakurai
Date: 17 Jan 03 - 07:38 PM

Another biography online is Harvey B. Gaul, The Minstrel of the Alleghenies (1934). Major offline books include John Tasker Howard, Stephen Foster: America's Troubadour (Thomas Y. Crowell, 1934; revised ed., 1953), and, more recently, Ken Emerson, Doo-Dah!: Stephen Foster and the Rise of American Popular Culture (1997, 1998). Foster was the first American who tried to make a living as a composer.

~Masato

Subject: RE: Happy birthday Stephen Foster
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 17 Jan 03 - 08:10 PM

For anyone who hasn't found it yet, the most attractive website for Stephen Foster songs is: Foster
Click on the whirling note above music archive, then click on Foster songs at the top of the page. Both midis and text are given. Midis very good.

Clicking on Popular Songs will bring up the popular songs, anon. and by other authors, of that time period. Note: a few songs are listed as traditional which have known authors for the lyrics; the statement is true for the music.

Subject: RE: Happy birthday Stephen Foster
From: Banjer
Date: 20 Jan 03 - 08:54 PM

I happen to feel strongly about tose who would hide behind gises of any sort to voice their opinion. If you believe in your opinion then be big enough to stand behind it, not an anonymous GUEST title. My real name is available to any that want it simply by PM and asking. I have been know here as Banjer since I joined this community, that is my name here. I apologize for the rude emotional suggestion, however, I stand by all that I said in the earlier posts, and will amend the outburst to 'If you don't like the way it was written, just ignore it, don't try to change history'

Subject: RE: Happy birthday Stephen Foster
From: toadfrog
Date: 20 Jan 03 - 09:27 PM

Gee, Banjer, you must find MUDCAT a very disturbing place. I've seen much worse abuses of anonymity, like the GUESTS who patch in interminable doses of hate literature. Wouldn't they be a more appropriate target for flaming than this poor guy? Why, of all the GUESTS in the world, pick on this one?

Subject: RE: Happy birthday Stephen Foster
From: JennyO
Date: 20 Jan 03 - 11:54 PM

Banjer, he isn't anonymous now - he said his name is Ben Simons. He said so on a public forum.

Mine is Jenny O'Reilly.

What's yours?

I think you jumped on him too hard, and it appears that anything you say now will be too late and that he won't be coming back. I agree with what toadfrog said. Why him?

I know (and have said so on other threads) that some guests can be a pain, and some do seem to be hiding behind the GUEST tag, and maybe some of your anger about that spilled over onto him, and you might even regret using such strong language, but its too late now for this one. You might say you don't really care and it's no great loss, but you'll never really know now, will you!

Maybe we should all stop and think sometimes about the words we use and how much power they have to affect other people and make a difference in the world. Many of us try to do that through songwriting and music, and that is a wonderful thing, but it is who we are being in our everyday lives that really makes the most difference!

Subject: RE: Happy birthday Stephen Foster
From: masato sakurai
Date: 21 Jan 03 - 01:47 AM

Robert P. Nevin's article titled "Stephen C. Foster and Negro Minstrelsy" is available online. It first appeared in Atlantic Monthly (Volume 20, Issue 121, November 1867, pp. 608-616), and was later reprinted in his Les Trois Rois (Pittsburgh: Jos. Eichbaum, 1888, pp. 159-185).

~Masato

Subject: RE: Happy birthday Stephen Foster
From: Banjer
Date: 21 Jan 03 - 06:38 AM

Gee, Banjer, you must find MUDCAT a very disturbing place

NO, because, I don't even bother with those types of threads. But when anyone, named or anonymous starts to try to change the historical wording of songs then I get my dander up. Foster and others wrote in styles acceptable to their times. Those songs should not be subjected to the Political Correctness machine.

I will continue to rant against the PC'ing of music. My campaign againt Native Ground Music and Wayne Erbsen has been successful in at least one merchants shop by his removal of song books by Erbsen in which he proclaims to present the 'music of the past' and then goes right into changing lyrics to make them PC.

Mine is Jenny O'Reilly.

What's yours

Here on the Mudcat and at least two places in the 3D world I am know as Banjer. My other name is Ray Eanes

Subject: RE: Happy birthday Stephen Foster
From: JennyO
Date: 21 Jan 03 - 08:07 AM

For chrissake, all he did was make a joke!

Doesn't sound like you got anything I said. I give up.

Subject: RE: Happy birthday Stephen Foster
From: Banjer
Date: 21 Jan 03 - 08:53 PM

You see it as a joke if you want, I sa it (and still do) as a snide remark insinuating that F=what Stephen Foster wrote is wrong. As was pointed out to me by one whose opinion I value (in PM, not on this thread) this was probably a the work of a troll and I won't comment anymore in this thread, I very rarely comment on any thread here of late and am beginning to see why. Next I will be asking myself why I even open this site anymore.........