As usual, you picked a gem. Thank you again. My mother was fond of CJ-B's poetry and music. She heard them on the radio! Imagine when THAT was popular music! Also, she enjoyed Harry Lauder, a Scot, who sang sort of Scottish type popular music, though not so wistful. Have you ever heard of him?
I think a lot about the days when you could hear great popular music on the radio .. and everywhere! I have heard the name Harry Lauder, but no, I am not familiar with his music -- that I KNOW of. Thanks for that tip. Your mother was in good company as a fan of Carrie Bond. It's amazing to me how many of those 100 million-seller songs from that one decade stayed in the collective memory of Americans so long, and well into and past the jazz and Big Band era.
You don’t know “RRRoamin in the Gloamin? You are young!
I picked up a lot of the old sentimental songs as a teenager while tinkling on the old upright piano which was hauled to our house from my grandparents’. They were in a series of books with titles like “Songs Never Forgotten”. I recognized (& sang) “A Perfect Day” as soon as I saw the title. If asked, I would have guessed that it was from the 19th Century. Eras overlap. Perhaps because there are heart-threads which bind us to certain sentiments, whether or not they’re in vogue.
Father, she was considered a national treasure in her day. Modern tastes, I fear, tend toward ridicule of anything "sentimental." But wow, is that not to cut the heart out of a society? We need to recultivate the sentiments, I think. I'm so glad you enjoyed this introduction!
Sweet indeed! Voices smooth as caramel. I love the song, the singers, and the scene it invokes. And I am intrigued by the story of the composer! I don't suppose any recordings exist of her performing.
I ran across one link to a snippet of her playing for a singer in that final concert she gave at the Coliseum .. but when I tried to follow it, there was no file found. That's the only recording I know of, and that is a shame, because she did live and perform well into the days of recorded music.
Weren't they wonderful? I was also thinking of how "ordinary" it was to record an album of sacred hymns and folk tunes in the 1950's and into the 1960's -- even if the singers were not known for gospel.
We were trying to remember where we had recently heard this sung and had to resort to the internet—Sterling Holloway sings this song in Remember the Night, a favorite Christmas movie with Barbara Stanwyk and Fred MacMurray. It is a sweet scene that exemplifies that era of popular music being played and sung at home (rather than on the radio or records by stars).
Yes, we covered that film awhile ago as a Christmas-themed movie, and that particular scene does just what you say. I was tempted to include it with this post, but I was already going long -- and I "put the essay to bed" at 4 AM! I said to Tony this morning that when Remember the Night was being produced, every living American would have known this parlor tune -- an what better choice was there for the parlor scene of the last night of the visit home in that film? Perfect. And yes, no radio, no star singers, just a lovely song.
Thank you for this comment! I was trying to remember where I first heard the song also, and thinking perhaps Debra had published this article before, but that didn't seem to ring true. Two years ago my wife and I watched the movie you recalled and I was really taken with the song. I enjoy engraving music for relaxation and discovered the sheet music for "A Perfect Day" (with cello obligato!) in my attic. Since it is in the public domain I took it on as a challenge to see if I could render my sheet music version as faithfully as possible in LilyPond, the engraving program. It was pretty successful if I don't mind saying so myself. No idea how it would be of interest to anyone, but there it is... So, I was delighted to read this article and the "Musical America" article as well. Blessings!
Mark, we did recommend Remember the Night as a Christmas-themed movie a couple of years back. I was THAT CLOSE to using the clip from the movie on this post, but I had already gone a bit long. Imagine that you found the sheet music in your attic! I have some vintage sheets, but not many. And I have a lot of vintage shellac and vinyl 78's, but not this song. How would we go about finding your engraving?
Dear Debra,
As usual, you picked a gem. Thank you again. My mother was fond of CJ-B's poetry and music. She heard them on the radio! Imagine when THAT was popular music! Also, she enjoyed Harry Lauder, a Scot, who sang sort of Scottish type popular music, though not so wistful. Have you ever heard of him?
I think a lot about the days when you could hear great popular music on the radio .. and everywhere! I have heard the name Harry Lauder, but no, I am not familiar with his music -- that I KNOW of. Thanks for that tip. Your mother was in good company as a fan of Carrie Bond. It's amazing to me how many of those 100 million-seller songs from that one decade stayed in the collective memory of Americans so long, and well into and past the jazz and Big Band era.
You don’t know “RRRoamin in the Gloamin? You are young!
I picked up a lot of the old sentimental songs as a teenager while tinkling on the old upright piano which was hauled to our house from my grandparents’. They were in a series of books with titles like “Songs Never Forgotten”. I recognized (& sang) “A Perfect Day” as soon as I saw the title. If asked, I would have guessed that it was from the 19th Century. Eras overlap. Perhaps because there are heart-threads which bind us to certain sentiments, whether or not they’re in vogue.
Wonderful! Thank you for the introduction to Carrie Jacobs-Bond. I think I will have an enjoyable time seeking out and listening to her music.
Father, she was considered a national treasure in her day. Modern tastes, I fear, tend toward ridicule of anything "sentimental." But wow, is that not to cut the heart out of a society? We need to recultivate the sentiments, I think. I'm so glad you enjoyed this introduction!
Sweet indeed! Voices smooth as caramel. I love the song, the singers, and the scene it invokes. And I am intrigued by the story of the composer! I don't suppose any recordings exist of her performing.
I ran across one link to a snippet of her playing for a singer in that final concert she gave at the Coliseum .. but when I tried to follow it, there was no file found. That's the only recording I know of, and that is a shame, because she did live and perform well into the days of recorded music.
Jo Stafford and Gordon MacRae sounded so great together. I love that album.
Weren't they wonderful? I was also thinking of how "ordinary" it was to record an album of sacred hymns and folk tunes in the 1950's and into the 1960's -- even if the singers were not known for gospel.
We were trying to remember where we had recently heard this sung and had to resort to the internet—Sterling Holloway sings this song in Remember the Night, a favorite Christmas movie with Barbara Stanwyk and Fred MacMurray. It is a sweet scene that exemplifies that era of popular music being played and sung at home (rather than on the radio or records by stars).
Yes, we covered that film awhile ago as a Christmas-themed movie, and that particular scene does just what you say. I was tempted to include it with this post, but I was already going long -- and I "put the essay to bed" at 4 AM! I said to Tony this morning that when Remember the Night was being produced, every living American would have known this parlor tune -- an what better choice was there for the parlor scene of the last night of the visit home in that film? Perfect. And yes, no radio, no star singers, just a lovely song.
Thank you for this comment! I was trying to remember where I first heard the song also, and thinking perhaps Debra had published this article before, but that didn't seem to ring true. Two years ago my wife and I watched the movie you recalled and I was really taken with the song. I enjoy engraving music for relaxation and discovered the sheet music for "A Perfect Day" (with cello obligato!) in my attic. Since it is in the public domain I took it on as a challenge to see if I could render my sheet music version as faithfully as possible in LilyPond, the engraving program. It was pretty successful if I don't mind saying so myself. No idea how it would be of interest to anyone, but there it is... So, I was delighted to read this article and the "Musical America" article as well. Blessings!
Mark, we did recommend Remember the Night as a Christmas-themed movie a couple of years back. I was THAT CLOSE to using the clip from the movie on this post, but I had already gone a bit long. Imagine that you found the sheet music in your attic! I have some vintage sheets, but not many. And I have a lot of vintage shellac and vinyl 78's, but not this song. How would we go about finding your engraving?
Debra, thank you for introducing me to Carrie Jacobs-Bond, both the woman and her music.
Sometimes a Song always gives my day the perfect start:)
Barbara, your comments are always so cheering to me. It keeps me going -- in this case until 4 AM! -- to finish each week's song!