"...everyone is bored,and devotes himself to cultivating habits..these habits are not peculiar to our town.." Albert Camus "The Plague"

Sunday, July 04, 2010

Stephen Foster: Born on the Fourth of July (Hard Times)



Stephen Collins Foster was born in Lawrenceville, Pennsylvania,now part of Pittsburgh, on the Fourth of July in 1826. That was a most important Fourth; it marked the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. It was on that day too that the second and third presidents died - John Adams and Thomas Jefferson

(John Tasker Howard, from historical notes to book below)


(born July 4, 1826, Lawrenceville, Pa., U.S. — died Jan. 13, 1864, New York, N.Y.) U.S. songwriter. He began writing songs as a child, influenced in part by black church services he attended with the family's servant and by songs sung by black laborers. In 1842 he published "Open Thy Lattice, Love," and in 1848 he sold "Oh! Susanna" for $100; it quickly became an international hit. He later entered into a contract with the publisher Firth, Pond & Co. He was commissioned to write songs for Edwin P. Christy's minstrel show; his "Old Folks at Home" became one of the most popular songs of the century. In 1857, drinking heavily and in financial difficulties, he sold all rights to his future songs to his publishers for about $1,900. In 1860 he moved to New York; he died penniless at age 37, leaving about 200 songs, including "Camptown Races," "My Old Kentucky Home," "Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair," and "Beautiful Dreamer," and he is universally regarded as the greatest American songwriter of the 19th century. Source


-----------Oh, Susanna! Foster's Greatest Hit?

Oh, Susanna! sung by Pete Seeger: Oh, Susanna

"So far as is known, only one song has ever made the Hit Parade eighty-seven years after it was written and seventy-seven years after the death of its composer. That song is Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair by Stephen Collins foster. In 1940 and '41, when the broadcasters and the American society of composers, Authors, and Publishers were feuding, the radio suddenly discovered Jeanie. She was sung, she was played as a ballad, an aria, a chorus, a fantasy, a ballet, a foxtrot, a swing tune. It is a safe wager that during those two years Foster's ballad had more performances and was heard by more people than in all the years since its creation. The wonder is that it survived such mauling, that it has not departed into Limbo together with Yes, We Have No Bananas and the Hut Sut Song..." (Deems Taylor, in the forward to A Treasury of Stephen Foster; Random House, New York; 1946. The illustrations here are from that book and are by William Sharp.)

Jeanie With the Light Brown Hair-Sung by Jan Degaetani: Jeanie With the Light Brown Hair


-----------Jeanie With the Light Brown Hair


Hard Times "Hard Times was the second of the two songs which were based on fragments of folk songs which Stephen heard as a child in the Negro church where the family nurse, Olivia Pise, worshipped. Hard Times was published in January of 1855, four and a half years later than the other song of Negro derivation. Oh Boys, Carry Me 'Long, and its words were tragically prophetic, for it became one of the songs that Foster sang most frequently in hi last days, when "hard times" were on him in full force indeed"


---------Hard Times Come Again No More

Here is Hard Times.. sung by Renee Fleming and Garrison Keillor:
Hard Times Come Again No More Garrison Keillor-Renee Fleming

...And, another version by Emmylou Harris:
Hard Times [Come Again No More Emmylou Harris

This post is reprinted from Steady Habits, July 4, 2010

Tags: emmylou harris,garrison keillor,Jan Degaetani,renee fleming,stephen foster,oh susanna,hard times,jeanie w light brown hair,

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Dems on Nuclear Option in 2005

OBAMA & DEMS IN 2005: 51 VOTE ‘NUCLEAR OPTION’ IS ‘ARROGANT’ POWER GRAB AGAINST THE FOUNDER’S INTENT

In this video from 2005 you will view leading Dems pontificating about the so called Senate "Nuclear Option", otherwise known as "reconciliation"; a rarely employed tactic to stifle filibuster and allow for a simple majority to prevail. The Dems are singing a very different tune today and refuse to rule out use of the tactic to ram through their monstrous health care bill.


Video credit: Breitbart TV
Tags: senate dems hypocrisy,nuclear option, reconciliation,senate 51 votes,obamacare,health care bill,

Sunday, February 21, 2010

CPAC 2010 Speech Highlights: Gingrich & Beck




Following is the complete (1 hour) video of Glenn Beck's address.









Historian, author, and former U.S. House of Representatives Speaker, Newt Gingrich, spoke earlier in the day; his speech (35 minutes) titled "Principled Bipartisanship Starts at 2 + 2 = 4" can be viewed here.

Newt's, professorial demeanor lent credence to the seriousness of our Nation's political and economic dilemma and was a stark contrast to the antics of Glenn Beck, who with his ever present chalkboard, outlined the dangers of Progressivism with his, by now, well known delivery of comic gesture, grimace, and patter. Both speakers were quite effective despite their very different approaches to the plight of the U.S.A. in 2010.

Here is an audio snippet from the Gingrich speech. (MP3 2:57) and
an audio snippet from the Beck presentation. (MP3 2:26)


Here is a selection of comments about the Glenn Beck presentation from Newsy.com:


Tags: newt gingrich,glenn beck,cpac 2010,american conservative union,conservative politics,george orwell,albert camus,god given rights,


Friday, January 08, 2010

Scott Brown for U.S. Senate: Mass. Election Jan 19!

The special election to fill the Ted Kennedy U.S. Senate Seat will be held January 19, 2010. We strongly urge everyone who is fed up with Democrat/Liberal machine politics in Boston and Washington to come to the polls on that Tuesday and cast a vote for Scott Brown. About the man and his beliefs:

State Senator Scott Brown has led the fight in Massachusetts against wasteful government spending and higher taxes. He is a free-market advocate who believes our strength as a nation flows from its people. He believes in a culture of family, patriotism and freedom. At his September 12 announcement of candidacy for the U.S. Senate, Senator Brown articulated a core set of beliefs that guide his thinking.

  • Government is too big and that the federal stimulus bill made government bigger instead of creating jobs
  • Taxes are too high and are going higher if Congress continues with its out-of-control spending
  • The historic amount of debt we are passing on to our children and grandchildren is immoral
  • Power concentrated in the hands of one political party, as it is here in Massachusetts, leads to bad government and poor decisions
  • A strong military and vigorous homeland defense will protect our interests and security around the world and at home
  • All Americans deserve health care, but we shouldn't have to create a new government insurance program to provide it
Amazing that in a Bay State dominated by leftists a conservative has come within striking distance of victory against Martha Coakley, the robotic candidate in lockstep with the Obama,Reid, Pelosi, and Patrick agenda.

We've dumped Dodd in Connecticut and Dorgan in North Dakota; now let's continue the momentum towards turning our nation back from the disastrous course set by Obama & Co.

More from Scott Brown
Rasmussen Polling Results (Jan 5)
John McCormack at Weekly Standard




Tags: scott brown for senate,scott brown, senator scott brown,conservative momentum,take back country,take back congress,