Season 358: The 1930s!

Harry122

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This is what I really want for the holidays - awesome 1930s songs from the Seasonistas!

Remember, there's still a whole lot of celebrating to do over on Geoff's thread!



Playlist
 
Ukulele Hog Heaven. This was what my Gran's music stool was full of...and the pile of music behind the horsehair stuffed armchair. Thirties music.:cheers::rock:
 
My favorite period of music is from around 1925 to 1945. The five years before and after the 1930s is there to build a frame around that decade: The best musical decade in the history of humankind.
 
My camera (and yours too, most likely) keeps track of videos takes by numbering them in serial order. When I did a jiffy-take of this one for Randy this morning, it got labeled as "MVI 666." Appropriate.



Ooops! I posted this an hour before midinight Hawaii time. Sorry!
 
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Yes a favourite decade here too.I hope I get time to do something jazzy.
But in the meantime I'll do some delta blues.Tommy McClellan had the reputation as a sloppy but exciting player.I'm fine with the sloppy and don't even need to nudge the bottle to achieve it.This is his Whiskey Headed Man.He also did a Whiskey Headed Woman...just to prove he was no sexist!
 
The only 1930s song I have left in my pile for the year.

 
Season 358. Submission 1. "Roll Out The Barrel" (AKA - "The Beer Barrel Polka") Authorship info posted on vid.


Randy, thank you for hosting and your fine theme. This song was recorded by the Andrews Sisters in 1939.

Wishing everyone a joyous holiday Season!

This song is dedicated to Tommy Coughlin. I remember his singing it on the Seasons a number of times and I miss his beautiful presence and music. Here he is singing a medley that begins with it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVg1EryZGgk




 
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Classic Groucho Marx song from the 1939 movie, "At the circus". I did this one awhile back, love the lyrics in it. Was fun doing it again. At the end here I show off the sides and back of this Bonanza uke, at the request of Berni Armstrong, which this song about showing off is the perfect set up for I think.

 
First recorded by Lale Andersen in German in 1939: Lili Marleen
 
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This song was first recorded by Sons of the Pioneers in 1934, but they recorded at least one other version at some point, and I don't know which was first. When I was a kid, my mom had a cassette tape of their "Best of," which had a version with whistling and a big ritardando finish. The CD that I bought of theirs several years ago has fiddles instead of whistling and doesn't have the big finish. I have been trying to whistle this just like the guy on the recording from that cassette since I was about 6 years old, but I have never been able to get my tongue to flip fast enough. Anyway, this version is based on my memory of the one from the old cassette.



This song has also been covered by:
Gene Autry
Bing Crosby
Slim Whitman
Johnnie Ray
Lorne Green
Kate Smith
The Supremes!
Harry James
Michael Nesmith
Grant Green (jazz guitar, which also includes Herbie Hancock on piano)
Clint Eastwood?!
Frankie Layne
Don Everly
Marty Robbins
Leo Kottke!
and last but perhaps not least...the Meat Puppets
 
Great theme!

My go to 1200-songs-fakebook has a songlist from each decade, and looking at the 30s list, I see a lot of songs that I either allready tried or want to try.

I just happened to be working on some fingerstyle for this song, which our host also recorded a version of earlier this year:

 
Midnight Special

This song was probably written long before the 30s, it seems like nobody really knows it's exact origin, but the Lomax brothers recorded Leadbelly playing it in 1934. I get the impression that rendition first popularized the song. This isn't that exact version, but one from a folk song book I have.
 
I think I first heard this in a wonderful 70's movie "Save the Tiger"- a Jack Lemmon tour de force. The Bunny Berrigan Trumpet version. Probably my favourite version.
That said Ira Gershwin lyrics are a thing of wonder.From 1936.
 
This may be my last one of the week as I have family coming in for Christmas, and I still have to work. A Roy Acuff classic, first recorded in 1936. I'm a big fan of his. I did this on dulcimer, ukulele, and mandolin, but I think I played enough uke to satisfy Randy! This is one of the most used melodies in the history of country music. In addition to this song, this same melody was used for "I'm thinking tonight of my blue eyes", "Wild side of life, and "It wasn't God who made Honky Tonk Angels", and other songs too I am sure.

 
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