Subject: RE: [Dixielandjazz] Misunderstanding old tunes

[Scott Anthony]

I agree with Dan (and Max Morath) completely here. I think that lyrics, as
originally written, sometimes convey ideas and prevailing attitudes that are
no longer acceptable years later. There is just no reason to be so
historically pure that you might (or even are bound to) offend your
audience. When we perform we are not really trying to give a history
lesson - we're trying to entertain.

I played in a quartet one afternoon quite awhile ago (10 years?) at the
opening of a store in a shopping center in Sausalito, California, not one of
the world's most conservative towns. We were playing "When It's Sleepy Time
Down South," and not even singing any lyrics, when the manager of the new
store came out and up to us in the middle of the tune and asked us to stop.
A black couple was standing next to him, very angry. They were offended that
we were playing "When It's Slavery Time Down South" and no amount of
explaining (ie. Louis Armstrong's theme song, etc.) would satisfy them.
Needless to say, it was a pretty hairy situation that hadn't even been
provoked by lyrics, but just the misunderstood title of a tune.

On the other hand, I have 3 different versions of Irving Berlin's "I'll See
You In C-U-B-A" - the original sheet music from 1920, a version from about
1950, and another from the "Irving Berlin Fakebook" published by Hal Leonard
about 10 years ago. This tune is basically a Prohibition protest song with
pretty interesting and fun lyrics, and a nice weird selection of keys for
the verse and chorus. In fact, the verse by itself changes from Cm to C
twice! However, the recent Hal Leonard version has the verse in Am, and
completely changes the lyrics to eliminate any mention of alcohol,
Prohibition, or anything remotely offensive. I actually called them and
complained because they killed not only the meaning of the song, but the
musically interesting key changes. The guy I talked to just brushed me off
saying that the original lyrics were no longer relevant.

Oh well...

Scott
-----------------------------------------------
Scott Anthony
Golden Gate Rhythm Machine
Golden Gate Rhythm Machines Custom Guitars
Managing Editor, San Francisco Traditional Jazz Foundation "Cricket"
LaserUp! Software
889 De Haro Street
San Francisco, CA 94107
415-260-6116
www.santhony.com

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <DWSI at aol.com>
To: <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Monday, July 24, 2006 4:33 PM
Subject: Subject: RE: [Dixielandjazz] Misunderstanding old tunes


> I guess I have to add my few comments here because of the decisions I've
had
> to make with one song, Mr. Johnson, Turn Me Loose, (Ben Harney's  biggest
> hit, 1896). I had heard and memorized Max Morath's excellent, well
syncopated
> recordings before I got curious about the history of this, one  of the
earliest
> of all ragtime piano songs, (even predating Scott Joplin's,  Maple Leaf
Rag of
> 1899). Through the Internet I got a copy of the  original sheet music from
> the Library Of Congress. What a shock! The  lyrics used language I
wouldn't
> listen to much less sing on stage today. I  asked Max later why his
version was,
> in effect, cleaned up. He said simply,  he changed it because it was not
> acceptable language for an audience today. He  was right. How could you
justify
> taking the time, or even trying, to  explain to an audience that this was
the way
> people talked back then. Max's  version captures all the great lyrics,
melody
> and, most importantly, the  syncopation that makes this a classic of its
own
> kind. I'll stick with the  cleaned up version, thank you.
>
> In some ways this reminds me of how we fool ourselves into thinking we
> understand Shakespeare today, just because we speak the modern English
language.
> In fact, Shakespeare is middle English with different meanings to many
words
> and  phrases. Take the famous balcony scene for example, where Juliet
looks at
> Romeo  and asks: Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou, Romeo? Is she blind? Is
> there a  heavy fog coming into Verona? No, in middle English, that phrase
meant,
> why does  your name have to be Romeo. Ironically, the French understand
our
> Shakespeare  better than we do because his plays are translated into
contemporary
> French. Ask  a Frenchman to tell you what's going on in a Shakespearean
play
> next time.
>
> My point is simple. The words by today's standards often are not only ugly
> and inflammatory, they sometimes have different meanings. Let's stick to
what
> we  perform and play with pride that represents the best of OKOM history.
>
> Dan (backup piano man) Spink
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