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14 Jan 07 - 12:31 PM (#1936283) Subject: Origins: Oscar Brand's 'Wake Island' From: Lighter About 1960 Oscar Brand recorded a collection of songs for, about, and presumably by, U.S. Marines. One was called "Wake Island," and the lyrics are in the DT: http://www.mudcat.org/@displaysong.cfm?SongID=7567 Brand's tune was "The Cyclone of Rye Cove," by the Carter Family. Is there any evidence at all that the song existed before Brand began singing it ? Has anyone reading this post ever sung it ? |
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14 Jan 07 - 02:35 PM (#1936409) Subject: RE: Origins: Oscar Brand's 'Wake Island' From: Charley Noble Why not contact Oscar Brand? He's still based in NYC and runs a folk music radio show on WNYC. Here's a link to his website: Click here for website He was a veteran of World War 2 and may have collected the song while editing a newsletter to the troops. Cheerily, Charley Noble |
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15 Jan 07 - 05:43 PM (#1937661) Subject: RE: Origins: Oscar Brand's 'Wake Island' From: Lighter Charley, I've said it before and I'll say it again: "D'oh !" But even if he "collected" it, nothing resembling it appears elsewhere. I'm still interested to know whether the song has caught on in the nearly half-century since it went public. |
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16 Jan 07 - 02:19 PM (#1938514) Subject: The 'Wake Island' Story From: Gene http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Wake_Island |
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02 Dec 21 - 07:28 AM (#4127798) Subject: RE: Origins: Oscar Brand's 'Wake Island' From: GeoffLawes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Wake_Island |
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02 Dec 21 - 12:21 PM (#4127818) Subject: RE: Origins: Oscar Brand's 'Wake Island' From: cnd Did Oscar ever get back to you, Jon? |
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02 Dec 21 - 09:53 PM (#4127856) Subject: RE: Origins: Oscar Brand's 'Wake Island' From: Lighter Hi, Carter. No. I once believed that all the songs on his "service albums" were authentic. That's certainly the impression one gets from the liner notes. Over the years I've concluded that many are more or less traditional, others have been rewritten, and some are Brand originals. Since "The Cyclone of Rye Cove" is a less familiar Carter Family song, and I've found no trace of "Wake Island" before Brand recorded it, I'm strongly inclined to believe that "Wake Island" is Brand's alone. The lyrics show up here and there on the 'Net unchanged. The cyclone (tornado) by the way, hit southwestern Virginia on May 2, 1929. |