Wobally Walk

This one goes a tad outside the norm for this blog - okay, more than a tad - but it reaches back to the 20s as it covers four decades of Fred Waring's music career. And it's probably a safe bet that no other blog has posted this collection yet. The book looked interesting, and it still does - as it sits up there with several other "I'll get to that one of these days" titles. From Allmusic.com, "It would probably be stretching the definition considerably to put Fred Waring in the jazz category, though he was very popular utilizing some concepts from the improvisational school. Waring led a dance-based banjo band at 18; he attended Penn State, then formed Fred Waring's Collegians, who ultimately became the Pennsylvanians, although they were based in Detroit. They recorded extensively in the '20s and enjoyed some success. The 1929 film Syncopation and 1930 stage show The New Yorkers helped Waring's band become popular sensations. They got steadily more commercial and lightweight in the '30s, while becoming widespread radio and film performers. The band appeared in a film with Dick Powell in 1937, were at the 1940 World's Fair, appeared on Broadway in 1945, then in a cartoon film in 1948. They also scored pop hits in 1947 and 1949, and became the first band to land their own television show in 1949. They became a diversified empire, with businesses, workshops for glee club directors, publishing wings, a monthly journal, real estate and a corporation to run it all from 1950-1970. The recepient of a 1982 Congressional Gold Medal for his contributions to American music, Waring continued to perform until his death on July 29, 1984." Scans of the disc and the book cover are included, and if you look close enough you'll see sisters Rosemary and Priscilla Lane at the microphone during a 1930s performance. Enjoy. +

Tracks

01. Sleep
02. Collegiate
03. Wobally Walk
04. Love For Sale
05. Sing! Sing! Sing!
06. Mama Don't Allow
07. Comin' Through The Rye
08. Baseball
09. Battle Hymn Of The Republic
10. Smoke Gets In Your Eyes
11. I Got Rhythm
12. Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child
13. Funiculi, Funicula
14. So Beats My Heart For You
15. So Long, Mary
16. Dry Bones
17. Bali Ha'i
18. Fanny
19. Stars And Stripes Forever
20. Remember
21. Mr. Frog A Courtin' He Did Ride
22. September Song
23. Hora Staccato
24. Some Enchanted Evening
25. Without A Song
26. All The Things You Are
27. Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor
28. Sleep