An American Songline

Journeys in Vintage Music with Cecelia Otto

Music

Pre-Depature Thoughts

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At this time next week, I’ll be standing in New York City. My rehearsal for the inaugural performance at the Duplex Cabaret will be finished, and then I’ll have some down time before I perform my first show on the 13th. I can’t call it the “calm before the storm” because it won’t be that negative. It will be be more of a “pause before the whirlwind”. But I know it will be a great whirlwind – it will all go so fast.

I’ve been researching this travelogue as well as rehearsing/living with this the music for years, and there’s a part of me that honestly can’t believe I’ll be actually be doing this tour. I’ve been corresponding with people in New York and New Jersey for months who are now writing “See you soon-literally!” My mind is definitely blown on so many levels to read these words and know it will actually be true very soon.

There will be amazing and not-so-amazing points on this journey, but I know that’s what this is all about. I look forward to this road ahead of me, and I’m so grateful for all of your wonderful wishes and thoughts for this project.

Have a great weekend-and I hope to see you on the road!

Song of the week: “I’m Always Chasing Rainbows”

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This week’s song is one of greatest pop standards in American culture. “I’m Always Chasing Rainbows” was first recorded in 1918, and many, many people have recorded this vaudeville hit over the years. The melody is based on Chopin’s Fantaisie-Impromptu in c-sharp minor, which was originally composed in 1834.

The popular music of America prior to 1918 doesn’t generally show much sadness or melancholy in its lyrics, but with the advent of World War I, you start to see the songs change. Lyrics of about missing/losing a loved one unexpectedly, bad luck, and the change of trying to keep farms and families together after their sons have been to war. Today’s song is about that never ending search to keep fighting for your dreams even when your luck is against you. It’s a beautiful song, and after working with it over the months to prepare for this tour I really enjoy performing it.

Here’s the original 1918 recording of the song, performed by Charles W. Harrison. The second video included in today’s post is of the Chopin’s Fantaisie Impromptu played by Arthur Rubenstein, one of the greatest pianists of the 20th Century (he was also considered one of the greatest interpreters of Chopin’s works as well). You’ll hear the melody starting after the “Largo” section, about a minute into the piece. Enjoy!

New Year, New website!

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Hello everyone,

Hope everyone’s 2013 has got off to a great start! I’ve been running full speed the last few weeks trying to finalize the tour and get out the word to everyone about what I’m doing this year.

There’s been a lot of great changes to the website in preparation for this tour, including a Press page with photos and a press release, Audio and Video samples of me performing, a Frequently Asked Questions page, and an online store where you can buy the preview CD (you can also make donations to help with the project as well). Stay tuned for the tour page, where I will be listing all of the concerts shortly.

Again, this project is a grassroots effort. The more you and your communities participate with this endeavor, the better the project will be. If you would still like to help me, it’s not too late! I still need to find venues to perform along the route, musicians to accompany me and lodging, please contact me via email or through the contact page on the website.

Thank you all for your support this year, and I look forward to meeting you all very soon!

Greetings from Canton!

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I’m here in Canton, Ohio for the 2012 Lincoln Highway Association conference, and all I can say is wow, what a night last night!

I had the honor to start the festivities off after invocation last night at dinner with a few songs from next year’s program.  I am still floored by the response from over 130 people in attendance last night. Everyone had a good time, and were smiling and singing along. Thank you again to the Ohio Lincoln Highway League and the Ohio Lincoln Highway Historic Byway for letting me be a part of your conference this year.

We shot video of my performance last night, and plan to put up excerpts after the conference is over, so stay tuned for that! In the meantime, I plan to post daily about the conference with pictures and words, so check back often for those posts. If you are in the Canton area, attending the conference, I have a table in the book room this year.  Please stop by to say hello!  I’ll also have an advance copy of last night’s songs for sale for $5, and you can’t beat that.

Here are a few picture highlights from yesterday:

President Lincoln and I met yesterday afternoon, and he bought a copy of my CD!
Here is a view of my booth for this year’s conference.
Me in my full costume prior to performance.
A big thanks to Paul Gilger for accompanying me last night. I couldn’t have done it without him!
Me with in costume at my table this year.
So glad to see a good friend and colleague Brian Butko last night at the conference! I know he is a busy man.

Song of the week sung by yours truly: "Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life"

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Can you believe it’s almost April!  Time has flown this month. I’ve been working with a great coach on a demo to sell/market the singing travelogue, and I thought I’d share this track with you today!

Today’s song sung by me is: “Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life”.

This song comes from the operetta “Naughty Marietta” by Victor Herbert which first premiered in 1910.  The Utah Historical Archive told me this song appeared on a January 23,

1930 music program for the Chamber of Commerce in Salt Lake City.  Seeing the 20 year gap from the premiere to the performance in Utah, you can see the song had wonderful staying power.

For those of us who weren’t alive during at this point in history, I’ve heard various comments from people like: “it sounds like music from a Bugs Bunny cartoon” or “I’ve heard this music before, but didn’t know there were actually words to it!”  Overall, those who have heard me sing this piece really like it, and for me it definitely speaks to the sentiments of the time.

Let me know what you think!

Song of the week: “Manhattan”

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For those of you new to the Lincoln Highway’s history, the Eastern Terminus of the highway is in Times Square in New York City. Whether drivers were heading eastbound or westbound, this little part of New York made a big impact on all of their journeys.

“Garrick Gaieties” was a musical revue that gave Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart there first commercial success in 1925. This revue parodied topics of the day, and was so popular two more shows followed this revue in 1926 and 1930. This team went on to write many memorable songs together including:  “My Funny Valentine“, “The Lady is a Tramp“, “Falling in Love with Love“, and “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered“.

Today’s piece is an instrumental version of “Manhattan”, the biggest hit from the first revue and part of the “Great American Songbook” (there’s a few different links to various non-profits that are trying to preserve the songs on the Wikipedia page I linked to).

I love the pictures that accompany this version, and the orchestra does a great job. I’m so impressed by this recording, and I hope you will enjoy it too!

Seek and ye shall find

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Happy Leap Day to all!

In the last month, I’ve been contacting historical societies in various states along the Lincoln Highway not only to let them know about the project, but to also see if they had any concert/recital programs from 1913-1935.  I’ve had some tremendous results thank to the following agencies:

The Wyoming State Historical Society and The Wyoming State Archives came through with flying colors and I now have close to 50 pages of programs from this era.  They also recommended a link I thought I would share with you history buffs, “The Wyoming Newspaper Project”. I spent hours (and could spend more hours) looking at all of the newspapers that were transferred online from microfiche.  You not only can search by keyword, but also by pattern and concept.  You can print anything from this website as well-all free of charge!

Nebraska’s Historical Society also had a few great finds, including a souvenir program that had music for a song called “Let Me Stray” from the Grand Island Capitol Theatre.  I can’t find any modern recordings of this song, so I’m looking forward to debuting it on the road next year.

And last but not least, here’s the fun find for today.  The Utah State Archives found a program from 1930 of the operetta “Naughty Marietta”, and noted two songs were performed: “Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life” and “My Heart is Back in Napoli” (we know the latter as “Italian Street Song”.  At first I didn’t know these songs, but when I played them back, my first memories of these songs from watching old Bugs Bunny cartoons as a kid.  Sad but true.

Today’s video is a hilarious interpretation of “Italian Street Song”.  She even stays in tune while everything falls in around her.  Enjoy!

Song of the week: “Love Me or Leave Me”

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Hi folks!  I was off last week after an unexpected back injury.  I’m doing much better now, and I’m back to post my “Song of the week”.

“Love Me or Leave Me” is one of my favorites from this time period.  It’s been used in many different ways over the years, and usually it’s been performed in 4 at a much slower tempo.  While it sounds fine at that tempo, it actually was written in 2. For all the non-musicians out there, this is more of a “dance” tempo which was typical of 1920’s music.  I’ve actually liked singing it at the faster tempo, and will more than likely perform it on the road in this way.

Here’s a great recording from 1929 of the song in this faster tempo sung by Scrappy Lambert (I love that name).  It’s fun to also see the old Victrola in this video as well.

Enjoy!