Miningman, thanks for the response on "Oh Canada." I had to ask, I was listening to some variations on "Oh Canada" on YouTube by various artists and in the "Comments" section there was quite a war going on between the Celine Dion and Lara Fabian fans.
Personally I think they're both pretty good.
And back to the National Anthem, several years back I lucked into a John McCormack Victrola record of his rendition of the "Star-Spangled Banner" done around 1918. Ol' John does the first and last verses, and quite well too. That old Victrola can be quite a time machine if you give it a chance.
We had an Edison disc; it had the "Soldiers' Chorus" (from Faust ?). As I recal, it was not as loud as the records we had that had been pressed in the thirties. One of my older brothers said that we shoud use a cactus needle when we played it--so we put one of those into the pickup when playing that record; I do not remember if it improved the sound or not.
What did we play our records on? An assembly that two of my brothers put together--a suplus Navy ARB receiver (broadcast band plus two or three short wave bands--good for getting the correct time directly from Arlington, Va.), an amplifier, a power supply, a speaker, and an old buffet that we had in the dining room.
Johnny
Back to national anthems. A few years ago I was in Cole's Tavern in Buffalo, New York for a cask beer festival. The original theme to "Hawaii Five-O" was playing on a speaker. I said to a guy, "You Americans have the coolest national anthem!" He listened and then cracked up.
There's one problem with Edison's discs, they only work on an Edison phonograph. We've got a 1917 cabinet Victrola, which puts out some surpisingly good sound by the way, and tried a 1/4" Edison disc on it. No good, the sound was weak and barely audible. Turns out Edison phonograph needles engaged the record groove at a 90 degree angle where Victor Talking Machine (and everyone else) used a 45 degree angle.
I got that straight from a docent at the Edison museum in Fort Myers FL when I told him about my "Edison problem."
Fun to see the competition regarding the "Edison Diamond Disc", with the carefully un-named competitor dismissed haughtily out of hand, and the other carefully obfuscated competitor roundly defeated by the prominently and repeatedly named Edison product. Bet we have at least one know-it-all who chimes in to say that Berliner, not Edison, invented the 'gramophone' with disk records.
Not so ... but it pays to remember that one of these Edison discs was about 1/4" thick, and it played using 'hill-and-dale' recording which allowed both higher fidelity and relatively longer play time. (Interestingly enough, the first true long-playing records were introduced by Edison ... around 1926!)
Overmod- No "s" it's command...."from all thy sons command" to "in all of us command" ...my error.
Wanswheel- Now I truly regret that I did not take better care and vigilance with my finances thru life and become a Warren Buffet type because I would instantly employ you full time ( very generously of course), as my personal information "guy" and archivist.
Let's put a copy here so posterity can remember how it started.
(This has the Inuit, as well as the French, lyrics - I haven't looked for other First Nations versions, but they too ought to be able to participate.)
I actually think the gender-neutral change is justifiable and doesn't hurt the power of the lyric -- but if they also changed 'command' to 'commands', that's a problem.
We had a similar problem a few years ago, probably not coincidentally when my college went through a 'female administration' blitz, with the "principal" college song being tinkered with to make it gender-inclusive (a goal which I find worthwhile in principle, by the way.) One of the lines was a rousing cheer "Sing praise to Old Nassau, my boys! Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!" which has now been tinkered into "In praise of Old Nassau we sing..." which takes much of the heart out of the business. And "Her sons shall give, while they shall live, three cheers ..." was rather ingeniously changed to "Our hearts will give..." which was a good try, but a bit too wimpy for a great many alumni, who just keep singing the old version. The result is as amusing as listening to a current Catholic mass, where a great many of the responses get a little garbled-sounding as half the people say what they remember, and the other half say what is currently provided.
Not sure how this can be tied in with railroads -- perhaps someone can find an example of a railroad song that was improved or wackified by being gender-neutralized or PC-corrected.
Firellock76- Sorry for the late response. Well I'm not a big Celine Dion fan, but that's just a personal choice, so I'll go with Lara Fabian. Actually Jim Cornielson's version is, again, quite spectacular. When a Canadian team is playing at the United Center he sings the first half in French, the second in English. Also puts in the same kind of "power" into it. Big difference is the crowd isn't going nuts so you can actually hear it. It's kind of funny because they all know to go crazy when he starts the Star Spangled Banner and they are not quite sure what to do with the Canadian anthem So they kind of look around at one another and stay silent. An occasional "whoop".
Tree68- Sadly I must inform your daughter that our Parliment, in theit infinite wisdom, has passed a bill changing the words so that's it is now gender neutral i.e. politically correct. This just occurred a few weeks ago. Instead of "in all our son's command" it now is "in all of us commands". Sigh!
tree68 Firelock76 So Miningman, who does the best version of "Oh Canada," Celine Dion or Lara Fabian? My daughter attended college in VA for a couple of years. Occasionally "O Canada" was played along with the US anthem. Her classmates were amazed that she knew the words - but she did grow up on the Canadian border, and "O Canada" was among the songs they learned in choir.
Firelock76 So Miningman, who does the best version of "Oh Canada," Celine Dion or Lara Fabian?
So Miningman, who does the best version of "Oh Canada," Celine Dion or Lara Fabian?
My daughter attended college in VA for a couple of years. Occasionally "O Canada" was played along with the US anthem. Her classmates were amazed that she knew the words - but she did grow up on the Canadian border, and "O Canada" was among the songs they learned in choir.
"Oh Canada" is a pretty stirring piece of music, I always enjoy hearing it.
As a matter of fact, if you want to hear a really stirring anthem, search "YouTube God Save The Tsar,", several will pop up but select the one uploaded by Alexey Karabanov, he's the conductor in the video, probably the coolest looking conductor since Toscanini! Interesting man, he's a bandmaster and captain in the Russian Navy. You'll also be amazed by how many of the audience stand up when that old Imperial anthem's played.
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
Well that's the point! You either go bonkers or you're frozen in awe. No middle ground.
Miningman Very interesting. I suggest the polar opposite to easily be among the most stirring, best experienced live of course in the moment, but still comes through quite well if you are not there. Jim Cornelison at the United Center for any Chicago Blackhawk game. Rousing and stunning.
Very interesting.
I suggest the polar opposite to easily be among the most stirring, best experienced live of course in the moment, but still comes through quite well if you are not there. Jim Cornelison at the United Center for any Chicago Blackhawk game. Rousing and stunning.
zugmann blue streak 1 Cannot find it right now but a recording of all 5 verses of the National Anthem is inspiring as well. Helps to have the written verses. https://osaycanyouhear.wordpress.com/2013/01/06/a-world-premiere-recording-of-the-star-spangled-banner/ From the above: "...The video here offers what I believe to be the first recorded version of Carr’s original 1814 sheet music edition, using methods of historically informed performance practice to capture a sense of what an early performance might have been like. We’ve tried to recreate something akin to the first documented performance of the song on October 19, 1814 when an actor identified as a Mr. Hardinge at Baltimore’s Holliday Street Theatre sang the song as part of a bill presenting August von Kotzebue’s drama Count Benyowsky, of The Conspiracy of Kamschatka.(1)"
blue streak 1 Cannot find it right now but a recording of all 5 verses of the National Anthem is inspiring as well. Helps to have the written verses.
Cannot find it right now but a recording of all 5 verses of the National Anthem is inspiring as well. Helps to have the written verses.
https://osaycanyouhear.wordpress.com/2013/01/06/a-world-premiere-recording-of-the-star-spangled-banner/
From the above:
"...The video here offers what I believe to be the first recorded version of Carr’s original 1814 sheet music edition, using methods of historically informed performance practice to capture a sense of what an early performance might have been like. We’ve tried to recreate something akin to the first documented performance of the song on October 19, 1814 when an actor identified as a Mr. Hardinge at Baltimore’s Holliday Street Theatre sang the song as part of a bill presenting August von Kotzebue’s drama Count Benyowsky, of The Conspiracy of Kamschatka.(1)"
Now that it is time for the Fifth, it might be appropriate to note that the tune they mention was not lifted from an "amateur musicians club", at least not the sort of organization that comes to mind when you mention that term. Although perhaps the organization was the equivalent of some college bands when it comes time to "aspirations" of this general sort ...
Here are the original words and some of the original sense. Perhaps this is an even more fitting end to the holiday... and, perhaps, inspiring one to boot.
Makes most of those other hokey national song melodies seem a bit stale, doesn't it?
Thank you Zugmann, a fitting end to the holiday!
Interesting, the tempo of the music and the style of singing is very similar to a version I've got on a record album done by Colonial Williamsburg in 1976. Probably as close as we'll ever come to the way it was in 1814.
It's been fun. But it isn't much fun anymore. Signing off for now.
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.t fun any
Happy BirthdayAmerica.
Norm
"Alexander Hamilton." Wellllll, that's different....
Not my kind of music, but pretty clever and well done, and as long as he's remembered, nothing to complain about.
I did like the Burr line, "I'm the damn fool that shot him!"
I'll say this much, if the kids that like hip-hop hear this, listen to it, and learn something from it, then it's all OK.
Greetings from the Great Frozen North and a happy Fourth to all the Muricans! Didn't the late Flip Wilson say that the reason Christopher Columbus gave for going to the new world was so they could discover Ray Charles?
Wanswheel, thanks for that clip of the Marine Band, "The President's Own," and that great performance of "The Stars and Stripes Forever."
I got one look at the conductor, and the thought hit me, "Are they robbing the cradle to make Marine colonels? CAN'T be me getting older!"
Thank you, Mike for the "Stars and Stripes Forever" and "God Bless America."
That work, especially, of John Phillips Sousa always thrills me.
I trust that many who listened to Kate Smith's singing noticed the introduction that is usually missing now when this is sung. Written at a time when our country was not yet at war, the situation in Europe indicated that we should give thanks for our country and ask God's blessings upon it.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Ya had me there for a minute - I was impressed that you used the term "Independence Day," instead of "Fourth of July."
Our neighbours to the north don't celebrate the "First of July." They celebrate Canada Day. For that matter, we don't celebrate the "Twenty-fifth of December."
Regardless - I hope everyone had a safe and sane holiday and didn't get tangled up too badly in traffic...
Firelock76: The progression is- 1 Finish that wobblin water beverage.
2. Have Ignition source handy
3. Light the firework...
4. Throw IT! ( Remember your hand grenade
class at Quantico !)
5. If it gets dropped.. RUN!
6. Either go for a new beverage, or the aloe
vera for the burns....
Best of all enjoy the 4th any way you want!
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