Alas, I am getting to old to make another round with a State Song. I tried
valantly last year with my 1993 march BAND OF THE SHENANDOAH which had a
nice beat, wove in three Virginia-related songs, and even today survives in
the opening of the video at the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley in
Winchester. The VMI Regimental Band gives a spirited performance therin.
There are a number of problems with getting a state song. The second
biggest is that people think "Virginia Music" is primarily a derivative of
Country, consequently we invariably get twanging geetars and pale imitations
Patsy Cline or The ____ Brothers (I forget their names, from Staunton.) I'm
of the'old school'. I recall singing lustily, or as lustily as a 5th grader
can sing, out of THE GOLDEN BOOK OF FAVORITE SONGS in the auditorium of
Meadowbrook School in Norfolk ca. 1943-44. Now those songs seemed to really
hit the spot.
But the #1 problem is bottom-up vs top-down generation of the song.
Top-Down is the usual approach, and interestingly enough, Virginia has seen
both successes and failures of it. The biggest failure, and to be honest
was not only Virginia, was the attempt in the late 19th century to re-write
the words to "Dixie" to something more appropriate than a
minstrel-show-cake-walk. This went on for years, and eventually all parties
concluded that if "Buckwheat cake and injun batter make you fat and a
little fatter..." were good enough to march, fight and die by during The
War, then the original lyrics were good enough to keep.
The single success story of which I am aware of a massive contest producing
a fine, long-lived institutional song comes right back to Virginia, and that
is the Army Air Corps Song. In 1937, Gen. "Hap" Arnold decided the fledging
Army Air Corps needed a song, so started the ball rolling on what became a
nation-wide contest. Over 500 entries were received, from people musically
well placed such as Irving Berlin and Paul Whitemen, and even a young
Meredith Wilson. The winner was selected in 1939 and was ...... ta...da....
Robert Crawford. (who he??). A pilot himself, I think captured the spirit
of those P6's and B-18's zipping around the sky. Needless to say, his song
continues today as the "US Air Force Song." And to tie it firmly back to
Virginia, I understand that there is a 'Crawford Hall' on Langley Air Force
Base to honor him.
So all that having been said, I think that I'll just ride Jamestown into the
sunset.
Randy Cabell - The Trumpter of Jamestowne
----- Original Message -----
From: "Sunshine49" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, March 09, 2007 4:37 PM
Subject: Re: [VA-HIST] The curtain goes up -- at least a small corner
thereof
> We need some of you musically talented people to write a new state song
> for Virginia. Maybe something with a 17th century flair, instead of all
> the vaguely sappy sounding 1930s type glorifications. Something that will
> mark Virginia's song as different from most of the other state songs,
> which mostly meld together IMO, you can hardly tell one from the next.
> Except for Ky. and Md.
>
> So after the May 400th celebration is done, send us a progress report
> :-)
>
> Nancy
>
> -------
> I was never lost, but I was bewildered once for three days.
>
> --Daniel Boone
>
>
>
> On Mar 9, 2007, at 2:16 PM, Randy Cabell wrote:
>
>> Just when I had given up hope of finding out anything about the Big
>> Jamestown Weekend in May, Bob Moody, Director of the Stonewall Brigade
>> Band in Staunton sent me not only notice of a performance, but a
>> performance of my march, The Trumpeter of Jamestowne! and an invitation
>> to sit in with my tuba!!!. So for everybody out there who gets tired of
>> my carping about the lack of info, here is a tidbit:
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>> --------
>>
>> The Stonewall Brigade Band, continuous since 1855, has been selected as
>> one of the performing organizations for the "Signature Weekend" at
>> America's 400th Birthday Celebration in Jamestown VA, commemorating the
>> 400th anniversary of the first permanent English Settlement.
>>
>> The band will perform a concert including music that the settlers would
>> have heard before leaving England, the march played by the British as
>> they left the surrender at Yorktown, music from the 300th Anniversary in
>> 1907, and music written for the Stonewall Brigade Band by members of the
>> band and other Virginia composers including Will Ruebush, Ray Hoaster,
>> Greg Moody, Randy Cabell, Gary Fagan and Bryan Kidd. Also included will
>> be "General Lee's Grand March" and "Under the Shade of the Trees" based
>> on Stonewall Jackson's dying words and composed by Shawn Bentz, who will
>> travel from Illinois to play in the band for this event. Also included
>> will be Sousa's "Powhatan's Daughter" written for but not performed at
>> the 1907 Anniversary celebration.
>>
>> The performance will be Saturday May 12 from 6-6:45 pm on the Democracy
>> Stage at Anniversary Park. For information on the entire celebration
>> and also ticket information for this event, go to <http://
>> www.americas400thanniversary.org/>
>>
>> Randy Cabell - The Trumpeter of Jamestowne (now with a bit more
>> substance :-))
>
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