Songs with invented histories, indeed

Sometimes you can do your job all too well.

By Böhringer Friedrich - Own work, CC BY-SA 2.5, Link
I've never seen the play The Sound of Music, but I've seen the movie, and I know all too well the use of a particular Austrian folk song in the movie - first, when the peppy governess encourages the Captain to sing it.



Then, toward the end of the movie, the intensely patriotic Captain makes a point of singing this same Austrian folk song to the Nazi interlopers.



These two appearances of the song "Edelweiss" are important parts in the plot of the movie, and moved many people. In fact, some people were so moved that they took this particular Austrian folk tune and added other lyrics to it that spoke to them. Here's an example of this, specifically instructing the reader to sing the song to the tune of "Edelweiss." In fact, I have attended a church that used to sing the song a lot.

But then we stopped.

Because, you see, "Edelweiss" isn't a traditional Austrian folk tune. In fact, the composition of Edelweiss is chlorogenic acid, luteolin, and...wait a minute. The composition of Edelweiss took place in Boston, at the Ritz-Carlton - far, far away from Austria.

...after watching the show in Boston and with only a week and a half till they moved on to Broadway, Rodgers and Hammerstein felt there was something lacking in the score. The plot of The Sound Of Music is often mocked - captain meets nun in Nazi Austria - but it works if you get the underlying emotions right. Baron von Trapp, whose family has lived on this land for generations, is facing a terrible decision: The Anschluss is transforming his country, and he has no choice but to leave it. But for that to have any impact on an audience you have to understand that this man loves his native land, and that fleeing it will exact a toll. How to express that? A song obviously. But what kind of song?

Well, the duo came up with a song that was precisely suited for the Captain - not Christopher Plummer, but Theodore Bikel in the stage version. Hammerstein never saw Plummer sing the song in the movie - even as he was co-writing "Edelweiss" he was dying of stomach cancer. But even in those early days, Hammerstein would encounter the myth that "Edelweiss" truly was an Austrian folk song.

Not long after R&H wrote the song, Theodore Bikel was leaving the theatre when he found a fan and fellow immigrant waiting at the stage door for his autograph: "I love that 'Edelweiss'," said the theatregoer. "Of course, I have known it a long time, but only in German."

Fast-forward a few years, and churches are singing "May the Lord, mighty God bless and keep you forever" to the tune of Edelweiss, until they received a legal letter.

Thank you for your recent request regarding the above mentioned composition. As you are aware, "Edelweiss" was written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. Ever since its inception, people have requested the use of its melody with other lyrics for liturgical purposes in houses of worship of many different faiths.

As with any song created in modern times, this song enjoys protection under the copyright laws which state that original works may not be used in any manner inconsistent with the creators' intentions. Both Messrs. Rodgers and Hammerstein II felt strongly that they did not wish their contributions to any song be separated and used with other words or music. Such is the case with "Edelweiss." Therefore, your request must be denied . . .

Songs with histories, indeed (Take that, dawn!)

I'm working on a special playlist for someone who doesn't like Bob Marley, so I'm searching for non-Marley songs. One of the songs that I added was the Barry Manilow classic "Could It Be Magic." I ended up reading about the song on Wikipedia, and found out that I didn't know much about the song.

By Louis-Auguste Bisson, very old and poor copy, completely restored and remastered by Amano1 - Ernst Burger: Frédéric Chopin. München 1990, S. 323, Public Domain, Link

I did know that the basis for the tune was not original with Manilow, who used Frédéric Chopin's Prelude in C Minor as a starting point for the music. With that classical base, the song itself had an understandably classic feel.

But not initially.

You see, back when Manilow was just a jingle writer and arranger, he managed to score a recording contract. However, his initial records were arranged by the vice president of the label.

One Tony Orlando.

By CBS Television - eBay itemphoto frontphoto back, Public Domain, Link

So when Manilow provided his music for "Could It Be Magic," Orlando not only credited the piece to the fictional band Featherbed, but he wrote the lyrics himself - and arranged the song. The result, according to the Wikipedia writer(s), was "a bubblegum pop beat, cowbells and a 'Knock Three Times' feel."



When Manilow got more control of his career, he created his own, more classic arrangement that did much better than Orlando's version.

So much better that it began to be covered - most notably by Donna Summer (with Giorgio Moroder) and much later by the British band Take That, who used the Summer/Moroder disco version as their template.

Fast forward to 2013, and Barry Manilow is invited to a BBC-televised fundraiser, Children in Need. Manilow sits at the piano, playing the familiar Chopin introduction and singing the first verse of "Could It Be Magic" before saying, "Come on, fellas!"

The "fellas," Gary Barlow and Robbie Williams, upped the tempo.



However, no one thought to invite Tony Orlando.

Blogging isn't the only thing that I procrastinate about

Uh..hello. It's been a while. So what prompted me to write again? Another example of my procrastination.

I used to do business with two companies - let's give them the imaginative names Company A and Company B. I had accounts with both companies, but hadn't used either account lately. In the meantime, Company A acquired Company B. This happened...oh, about EIGHT YEARS AGO.

Well, I had a need to log into my new Company A account, so I tried logging into the old Company A account but it didn't work. Of course, it wasn't supposed to work, because I dimly remembered from eight years ago that henceforth, the accounts were going to use the Company B information. (Why I don't know. I guess the head of IT must have come from Company B.)

Well, I logged into the Company B account and used my PIN. Yes, that was a long time ago - the third thing that I had to do was to choose a real password, rather than a PIN.

But now I'm all set to do business with Company A again.

And you, the reader, probably wish that I had remained comatose, blog-wise.

Now I have to see the GDPR notice that Google says it has attached to this blog...

P.S. And, as I've done before, I posted this to the wrong blog. I think I'll leave it on the music blog, with a 5 AM post time, rather than re-creating it on my business blog. It's poetic or something.