Memory Stirring Music

As with memories, songs come to mind in no particular order. And, as with memories, something usually triggers the song coming to mind. I've caught myself, quite often, humming or singing songs that fit the situation that I was in at the moment. I don't do it on purpose. :) These songs are in MIDI format. When I refer to a particular singer or two, it's because of their relationship to a particular piece of music. If you have the opportunity to acquire their original recordings or CDs of them, go for it! Here, meanwhile, is the next best thing: Library of Congress Edison Sound Collection They have music files in Real Audio and WAV format. Here's a site that has real old time music and it's in Real Audio. Antique Phonograph Hour Here's a site (check the archive as well) that has very old songs in Real Audio and some mp3s Early Recorded Sound and Wax Cylinders and here's one with no music but has the lyrics of several novelty songs Froggy's Have fun!

You may direct link to these songs though it's best not to because if the site disappears, so does the file. If you're on computer, right click on your mouse and from the menu select "Save As". For MSNTV (formerly WebTV) you need to use what is known as a transloader to move files. This transloader is good. Unless you're using Angelfire , The Zone or Homes.Paulding.net. They have built in file movers, sometimes known as "beamers".

MSNTV has a built-in MIDI player. On computer you can use WMP or download and install a nice lightweight freeware player called NoteWorthy Player™

This is a wonderful and stirring hymn. One of my favorites. The Lord's Prayer The words are found in Matthew 6:9-13 (KJV).

Here's one that'll get you going! "Ho, my comrades! see the signal waving in the sky, Reinforcements now appearing, Victory is nigh!" refrain: "Hold the fort for I am coming," Jesus signals still, (now ready with your Bibles!) Wave the answer back to Heaven, "By Thy grace we will!" Hold The Fort This hymn was written by P. P. Bliss, author of many great hymns of the faith. To find out more about him, go here Philip P. Bliss Homepage You will be blessed.

This is the first song my mother ever taught me. In The Garden This beautiful version of "In The Garden" was sequenced by Randell M. Lawson.

We sing this song at our church and this morning I woke up singing it. All I could remember, at the moment, was part of the chorus "Under His wings, under His wings" and humming a bit of the rest of the chorus. It's such a comforting song. The music is by Ira D. Sankey, D. L. Moody's songleader. Under His Wings .

When I was helping out in a Sunday school class for two and three year olds at the Baptist church I belonged to, we did this song Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam That time spent with those children sped by all too soon.

If most of these songs seem to be "way back", it's because my father was 37 when I was born in 1949 and my mother remembered the songs her parents enjoyed and they had been born in 1896 and 1900. She told me about one house they rented in the early 1940s that had a victrola and stacks of recordings dating from the early days of the 20th Century. The latest disk was about 1920. One song that my maternal grandfather got a kick out of was Arthur Fields' (see, I know there are more singers from the "old days" than Billy Murray {grin}) "Would You Rather Be A Colonel With An Eagle On Your Shoulder Than A Private With A Chicken On Your Knee?" Oh, and by the way Murray and Fields got together on a Fields hit (that he did as solo) called "Jada Jada". Daddy remembered that song from his childhood (it was released when he was about 6 or 7 years old). This Jada is a little jazzier than I've heard before but pretty nice. :) Another that my mother always enjoyed is "They Go Wild, Simply Wild Over Me".

I grew up watching the "Lawrence Welk Show" so may have heard it on there. It seems I've always known it.

Don't know the first time I heard this. We were a musical family in that we listened to a lot of music on records (remember those?) and on radio and television. My dad could play the ukelele (a hold-over from the Roaring '20s). I can, too, but my kids never appreciated my talent. ;) Oh!

A wonderful couple from my former church in St. Joseph, Missouri, sing this. They may have sung it in earlier years but I most associate it with the home-going of their 11-month old daughter. She was born with a defective heart and it was a miracle she survived being born. All in the church prayed (probably the entire country via prayer chains) for her to receive a heart transplant. It was not to be but she was a joy while she was here and all who know the Lord as personal Saviour will see her (again, if they knew her on earth). I love you, Connie and Greg. Joy Comes In The Morning What they went through has hit close to home. I've got a year old granddaughter waiting for a heart transplant just a few hours away from where their daughter waited and she's a joy, too. Update: She received a new heart New Year's Eve 2004 and is doing very well. :) Further update: She's entering kindergarten this fall (2008). What a miracle! Thank you, everyone, for all of your prayers.

This hymn is based on, and quotes almost word for word the last of 2 Timothy 1:12 ". . . for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have commited unto Him against that day." (KJV).I Know Whom I Have Believed Courtesy of Jeshua Ministries

About a guy's hometown that is "fifty miles from nowhere." Describes some of the places my family (past and present) has lived. Not Here, Not There
Sequence by Richard A. Reublin- by permission. Original from the ParlorSongs.com Website

The following song was played and sung by my father's aunt Mignon Paris to him when he was a small boy. It was one of his fondest memories and one of which he spoke often. They were in Texas, not Ohio, but that didn't matter. :)

My mom used to sing this song to me. It was one of her father's favorites. He was 4 F at the time of the Great War. His brother was drafted but caught the measles before he could get sent "over there" and by the time he was out of quarantine, the war was over. K-K-K-Katy

Although I can't find a song that my mother heard as a child "Later On Brother, You'll Understand Why" this is a similar song. Things happen to us here on earth and maybe we'll understand in this lifetime or it's possible that we'll only know when we reach our Heavenly Home. Farther Along Sequenced by Randell M. Lawson.

Here's a song that caught my fancy when I was a kid The Streets of New York For years I couldn't find it because I thought it was called "In Old New York" (part of one of the lines). Sequenced by "Perfesser" Bill Edwards

This song I first heard (as far as I know) as a commercial jingle on a kids' show. My Pony Boy. The commercial was for some kind of flavored syrup concentrate to add to water. I can't remember the product's name. It's probably best forgotten! Sequenced by "Perfesser" Bill Edwards

This song was sung by Billy Murray and the American Quartet. I love quartets and this song can almost make you see the paddlewheeler coming into dock so it can pick up it's passengers to go Sailing Down The Chesapeake Bay Sequenced by "Perfessor" Bill Edwards

I picture Charlie Chaplin when I hear this song. It's the dancing bread rolls that Charlie Chaplin did so eloquently "The Gold Rush" (1925) that does it. Johnny Depp performed it in "Benny & Joon" (1993). Oceana Roll Courtesy of Melody Lane Timeless Music

I enjoyed watching Betty Boop cartoons on TV when I was a kid. She always sang catchy tunes. This one I remember in particular. That's My Weakness Now My mom had fun drawing her. Made her just like.

This is the song that was playing on the phonograph in Jimmy Cagney's breakout movie "Public Enemy". I'm Forver Blowing Bubbles

Billy Murray (1877-1954) was singing it. I include that information because a number of the songs on this page he sang first or was best known for. Well, he was the major recording artist of popular music during the early 20th Century. Here's a site that has some discography (though they have a different version with a different singer of "Get Out And Get Under") and pretty good biographical information. It's zzznew

Here's another song Murray was famous for. He was so identified with it that in a film for the Oldsmobile company in 1932, he reprised it. He'd originally recorded it when it first came out in 1905. In My Merry Oldsmobile Sequence by Richard A. Reublin- by permission. Original from the ParlorSongs.com Website

Billy Murray and one of his most frequent duet partners, Ada Jones, recorded this song. Knock Wood Sequence by Richard A. Reublin- by permission. Original from the ParlorSongs.com Website

I remember when I was a little girl and I was in the car with Daddy that he'd sing this song to me. The song was popular when he was a teenager. Yessir, That's My Baby

This patriotic song is known as "Grand Old Flag" but the original title was "Grand Old Rag". George M. Cohan meant it in a respectful way but there were outcries from critics and others connected with show business and patriotic societies that accused the premiere flag waver of disrespect! There were recordings made at the time that use the original title and words. The "respectable" version was used in the 1942 biopic of George M. Cohan (a highly fictionalized account which pleased the composer) and excluded the painful 1919 Actors Equity strike (G.M.C. sided with management).

I fell in love with New Jersey in 1996 and moved here in 2002. It's a beautiful state and very popular during the tourist season. Oddly enough, the only times I visited were during the off-season times. I was visiting my daughter, who'd married a Jersey boy. This song is a good-natured putdown of little old New Jersey, which has suffered the slings and arrows (and not a few barbs) of comedians, and here, song writers, over a very long period of time. Over On The Jersey Side
Sequence by Richard A. Reublin- by permission. Original from the ParlorSongs.com Website Here's a page that has vocal of the song, recorded about 1908, when it was new. It's the second song on the page. A Little Musical History, Please It's zipped. Windows XP has a built-in "unzipper" but I use JustZIPit, freeware which can be downloaded from DirFil but for MSNTV/WebTV listeners, the zip version works best. I know. I used to have MSNTV.

This song Precious Lord (Take My Hand) was written by a man named Tommy A. Dorsey (no relation to the Big Band leader Tommy Dorsey) who lost his wife in childbirth and his son the next day. He was away at a Gospel singing convention. The Lord had impressed upon him to stay home but he thought she was all right. That put him at the lowest point of his life and he thought God had deserted him. He was seriously thinking of going back to the word of jazz that he had come from but Lord made Himself real to Mr. Dorsey and out that low place came that song.

As a child of the 1950s, television played a major role in my memories. One of them was watching James Stewart on some variety show in the 1970s playing the piano and this was the tune (and he was singing along!) he was playing. Ragtime Cowboy Joe It was an energetic performance! I loved it. This MIDI was Sequenced by Dr. James Pitt-Payne in London UK 14th July 2000.

This piece Rialto by George Gershwin reminds me of the Ernie Kovacs TV show as he used it during several of his very outre skits. A nice piece of music, too. What of Gershwin's isn't?

When I was in high school, Miss Bowler was the teacher of the glee class I took. If any of us wanted to please her, we requested this song My Buddy but looking back on it, I realize that the song had special memories for her. As callous 14 and 15 year olds, most of us were just wanting to "get" on her good side. She was a wonderful teacher. She had been in the service but in high school since we were all baby boomers, the Second World War was what came to mind. Her age, though, has me now thinking it was the First World War (the Great War) that she was involved in as an auxiliary. The song was very popular during the First World War.

When I was young(er) and watching "Arsenic and Old Lace" on TV, the scene where Cary Grant is starting to "lose it" and starts singing under his breath "There is a Happyvale far far away" I thought, that is a church song. I'd never heard in church, that I know of but that started me on a 30 year search for it. Discovered it a 100 year old revival song book. Have since discovered on the 'net. There Is A Happy Land Courtesy of Cyber Hymnal

And here are the words:

There is a happy land, far, far away,
Where saints in glory stand, bright, bright as day.
Oh, how they sweetly sing, worthy is our Savior King,
Loud let His praises ring, praise, praise for aye.

Come to that happy land, come, come away;
Why will ye doubting stand, why still delay?
Oh, we shall happy be, when from sin and sorrow free,
Lord, we shall live with Thee, blest, blest for aye.

Bright, in that happy land, beams every eye;
Kept by a Father's hand, love cannot die.
Oh, then to glory run; be a crown and kingdom won;
And, bright, above the sun, we reign for aye.

Sometimes, I think that if I had a "theme song" this would be it! Stumbling Sequenced by "Doc" Wilson.

Here's another Ohio song. I've heard it and a couple of the lines are (at least used by my obviously favorite singer) were "She is just nineteen and the village queen" and "I like chicken when it's fresh from the farm." My great-great grandmother was from Ohio and when she married my Hoosier great-great-grandfather, she was "chicken fresh from the farm", all of fifteen years old. (Down By The) O-HI-O (I've got the sweetest O-My-O)
Sequence ? Richard A. Reublin- by permission. Original from the ParlorSongs.com Website

Several songs that evoke special memories.