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[François de Paris]

Boujour tout le monde!

A little Song Of The South info from:

http://disneybooks.blogspot.com/
This blog is by a French fellow and is all in English!!

------------
And here is Jim Korkis' last article of the week!

VOICES SINGING THE SONGS OF THE SOUTH

Currently I am working on an extensive article on Disney's SONG OF THE SOUTH for the magazine, Hogan's Alley, and here is a research vignette on some of the uncredited vocal work in that film:

Much of the uncredited singing was done by the Hall Johnson Choir, an African American choir led by Hall Johnson (a highly regarded African American choral director, composer, arranger and multi-instrumentalist) that performed to enthusiastic audiences in various prestigious New York venues. National recognition came when Johnson's choir performed under his direction in Marc Connelly's Broadway production of "Green Pastures" in 1930.

Five years later, Johnson took the choir to Hollywood, California to participate in the film version of "Green Pastures"(1936). Johnson and the choir remained in the Hollywood area and appeared in other films including "Hearts Divided" (1936), "Banjo On My Knee" (1936), "Lost Horizon" (1937), "Tales of Manhattan" (1942) and "Cabin In the Sky" (1943). Their performances also included the crows in Disney's "Dumbo" (1941) and "Song of the South" (1946). Johnson returned to New York in 1946 where he organized the Festival Negro Choir of New York. He was posthumously honored for his work in films by being elected to the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame in 1975, five years after his death.

The DeCastro Sisters were a female singing group: they consisted of Peggy, Cherie, and Babette DeCastro. In 1945, the DeCastro family moved to the United States from Cuba and the sisters became protégées of Carmen Miranda. They had a style similar to the popular Andrews Sisters trio but with a Latin flavor. It was probably their connection with Miranda who had worked with Disney on "The Three Caballeros" that helped get them their first film work doing some singing background vocals for "Zip A Dee Do Dah" in "Song of the South".

AND a little pic to go with it!

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4371/2021/1600/Hal1.jpg

[François de Paris]

Samba anyone?!

Hey, Miranda!!

[François de Paris]

Wasn't she CUTE?!?

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4371/2021/1600/Doreen.jpg

[Cillaliz]

More about Jerry, past and present, New Yorker As some DRs might remember, the "Anvil" was a notorious gay sleeze bar on the lower westside. (Don't ask!)

der Brucer

The comment that he was out with another girl every night was in response to Little Edie saying all he wanted was sex with her...lol guess they were both wrong...but Jerry did like corn

[Cillaliz]

More about Jerry, past and present, New Yorker As some DRs might remember, the "Anvil" was a notorious gay sleeze bar on the lower westside. (Don't ask!)

der Brucer

Thanks for the link to the New Yorker story. Very interesting

[elmore3003]

Well, I must say that this looks interesting, if nothing else.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000ESST6U/ref=pe_5390_2999770_pe_snp_B000ESS

DR JRand56, thank you for posting this.  Christopher Maltman is in it and he's one of my faves.

[Cillaliz]

I really enjoyed The Illusionist.  I loved the score, the story and all in all it was a wonderful escape on a cool cloudy afternoon

[Matt H.]

Thanks for the SONG OF THE SOUTH info, DR Francois. Now, if only DIsney execs would shake the rocks out of their heads and release the thing in a beautifully restored commercial DVD. I'm grateful for the one I have, but it really could look SO much better.

[Matt H.]

Off to watch some DVDs.

WBBL.

[Maria]

I really enjoyed The Illusionist.  

Ditto. As did DR Elmore, I believe. A wonderful, old-fashioned "escape from the world for two-hours" film.

[bk]

Back from Grant's and the book fair and am running very late.  So, I must jog now, then music person is coming to do the redo of one of the Brain songs (my last redo, I swear!), and then it's off to dinner.

[MBarnum]

Got about 1/4 of the way through my book on evergreen Bollywood actress/ item dancer Helen. It was getting chilly outside.

I am thinking a nap might be in order now as my eyelids are drooping.

[François de Paris]

Thanks for the SONG OF THE SOUTH info, DR Francois. Now, if only DIsney execs would shake the rocks out of their heads and release the thing in a beautifully restored commercial DVD. I'm grateful for the one I have, but it really could look SO much better.

Thanks!

Unfortunately, the new CEO does not want to! I guess they'd rather have the bootleggers make the profit Disney could be doing with a decent product!
This world of ours needs to be PC I guess!
PC on them I say!!

Do I feel sorry for not buying the VHS of it when it was available here just a few years ago!

[François de Paris]

Ditto. As did DR Elmore, I believe. A wonderful, old-fashioned "escape from the world for two-hours" film.

And, boy, we sure can use an ESCAPE from this world!!

[François de Paris]

And that's what Uncle Remus says!!

[François de Paris]

Mr Ibert (We can't blame Michael anymore!!) is OBSTRUENT to the release of Song of the South on dvd!

[Ginny]

History was made today in The Big House

GO BLUE!

[François de Paris]

Hello, Ahmed20065, our newest member!

[François de Paris]

History was made today in The Big House

GO BLUE!

My! Who would have thought!

[François de Paris]

Go Blue?!

I guess we don't get a choice!

[MusicGuy]

DR Francois --

In the "small world" department ...... I enjoyed you sharing the musical information regarding "Song Of The South."  I was aware of Hall Johnson's participation and contribution to the film (and also "Cabin In The Sky" which I love!), but I'll bet you might be surprised to read that I once sang with Hall Johnson !  In the late 1950s, he would sometimes tour to high schools, do several days of rehearsal with their top choir, and then present a program to the student body assembly.  It was great fun to do, and he was a warm and friendly man who got the best out of our choir.  Our choir, by the way, was not too shabby....we had a great regular choral director and we won quite a few competitions.

However, I didn't know that the DeCastro Sisters were doing background vocals!!

[Charles Pogue]

BK talking about the book fair made me feel deprived, so I took a drive up to Cincinnati and went to the old book haunt of my youth, Ohio Book Store, in downtown Cincy...four floors of books.  It was sunny and bright, both on the drive up and back and a beautiful day for an hour's jaunt each way(...probably took BK that long just to get to Santa Monica from the Oaks of Sherman and back and it's only about ten or 12 as opposed to the 60 I was travelling).  

Found some early Ibsen, a child's souvenir story book of Alexander Korda's Thief of Baghdad (15 bucks...this would probably be 50-100 in LA), the play Room Service, and a rather old book called Frightful Plays which I know nothing about, but has nice illoes in it.  All for a grand total of 33 bucks (Thief included in that total).  

Stopped over the river in Newport, Ky, at Dixie Chili for my two cheese coneys with onions and my four-way with onions (Cincinnati chili over spaghetti, topped with grated cheese! Yum!) and drove home listening to Bobby Vee and a recording of a TV playlet by Richard Rodgers of ANDROCLES & THE LION, starring beloved British comic Norman Wisdom, John Cullum, Inga Swenson, Ed Ames, and Noel Coward.  All in all, a lovely day...

When I got back home, I called The Lovely Wife in Lexington at her sister's. She said it was pouring rain there and they had had a power failure.  But here in Georgetown...not 12 miles away...it's still gorgeous!  Not a dark cloud in the sky!

[François de Paris]

DR Francois --

In the "small world" department ...... I enjoyed you sharing the musical information regarding "Song Of The South."  I was aware of Hall Johnson's participation and contribution to the film (and also "Cabin In The Sky" which I love!), but I'll bet you might be surprised to read that I once sang with Hall Johnson !  In the late 1950s, he would sometimes tour to high schools, do several days of rehearsal with their top choir, and then present a program to the student body assembly.  It was great fun to do, and he was a warm and friendly man who got the best out of our choir.  Our choir, by the way, was not too shabby....we had a great regular choral director and we won quite a few competitions.

However, I didn't know that the DeCastro Sisters were doing background vocals!!

That's our MusicGuy, ladies & gents! Famous before I could even sing a song myself (Well, in fact, I could, in the late 50s... by myself!)!

Thanks for sharing the souvenirs!

And now... MusicGuy at the piano!

[François de Paris]

A picture of Francis Hall Johnson!

MusicGuy's not on it because he was too small then (1951)

http://www.gmu.edu/library/specialcollections/schnit8_l.gif

Dr. Hall Johnson, leader of the Hall Johnson Choir, joins choir members at a reception in a Berlin beer hall during  the Berlin Arts Festival, 1951

[elmore3003]

Found some early Ibsen, a child's souvenir story book of Alexander Korda's Thief of Baghdad (15 bucks...this would probably be 50-100 in LA), the play Room Service, and a rather old book called Frightful Plays which I know nothing about, but has nice illoes in it.  All for a grand total of 33 bucks (Thief included in that total).  

DR CharlesPogue, are there any famous plays in the Frightful Plays book?  I've begun reading a new book about Mary Shelley, Lord Byron and the night in Geneva that FRANKENSTEIN was conceived titles THE MONSTERS:  MARY SHELLEY AND THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN.  Should be good for the Halloween season.

[TCB]

Got about 1/4 of the way through my book on evergreen Bollywood actress/ item dancer Helen. It was getting chilly outside.

MBarnum, ignore the sarcasm from elmore about you reading this weekend.  I think you will really enjoy the antics of Archie and Jughead!

[TCB]

Stopped over the river in Newport, Ky, at Dixie Chili for my two cheese coneys with onions and my four-way with onions (Cincinnati chili over spaghetti, topped with grated cheese! Yum!) and drove home listening to Bobby Vee and a recording of a TV playlet by Richard Rodgers of ANDROCLES & THE LION, starring beloved British comic Norman Wisdom, John Cullum, Inga Swenson, Ed Ames, and Noel Coward.  All in all, a lovely day...

Thank you DR Charles Pogue for explaining a four-way with onions.  Otherwise, who knows what François or TCB would have made out of it!

[bk]

The book fair was amusing.  The prices, usually ridiculous by anyone's standards, were completely out of control and guess what - no one was buying anything, at least that I could see.  Even the dealers who are usually a bit less than others were outrageous.   I do believe it's like the real estate market - that is beginning what I believe will be a nice leisurely slide into the toilet - it happened exactly ten years ago, and it's already begun happening in LA.  Mark my words.

I think these dealers are either going to just sell to each other (that's where most of the action is at these shows, and it's hilarious to watch), or they're going to be sitting on books for many years to come because no one in their right mind is going to pay these prices.  And I'm not even talking about primo condition books - they're charging three hundred bucks for books with tattered dust jackets or facsimile dust jackets, and worse, these dealers are now trying to do something that would have put them out of business a mere ten years ago - selling second and third editions for high money when said editions are worthless to any knowledgeable collector.  The latter is the result of eBay idiocy and these dealers have delightedly decided to capitalize on people's rank stupidity.

Were there books I wanted?  Sure.  I saw a The Ghost And Mrs. Muir first edition (in all my years of collecting I'd never seen the book in or out of jacket) - in jacket, close to $500.  The jacket had so many tears and rips and big chips out that it was a joke.  The same dealer had a first edition of the book that was made into the movie Red River.  Never seen that one either - $400 - jacket was nice except that it was trimmed top and bottom by 1/4" - that's a big no-no.  For $100 I would have purchased both perhaps.  But greed wins the day, only greed isn't winning - those books will not sell at those prices.  The dealer did say he'd "work with me."  I don't think he'd be willing to work as hard as I'd want him to, however.

All of that said, I did get the one bargain of the show - a dealer friend had a lovely first edition of Neil Simon's The Odd Couple, a surprisingly hard book to find in first edition and in collector shape.  Usually the spine has faded completely and it's a jacket that was prone to chipping and scuffing.  This copy, other than some minimal wear at the head and heel of the spine, was basically excellent with no fading at all to the spine.  I looked up copies on the Internet - the highest priced of them isn't in as good condition - and that price was $450.  The cheapest, which was available for $125, was in awful condition.  I got this for considerably less than the latter price.

[François de Paris]

Thank you DR Charles Pogue for explaining a four-way with onions.  Otherwise, who knows what François or TCB would have made out of it!

A sexual mess for sure!!

Fingers licking good?!?

[François de Paris]

Users browsing this board: François, Tomovoz, TCB

Les Trois Mousquetaires.... with a fine dust cover!

(Even though MY spine seems to be fading!! )