Leo Reisman: Happy Days Are Here Again (1929)

It’s ironic that “Happy Days Are Here Again” was recorded one month after the 1929 stock market crash. The song appeared in the 1930 film, Chasing Rainbows, but is best known as Franklin Roosevelt’s 1932 campaign theme song.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqrb0Zsm4T8

The Year in Music: 1941

1941 provided an Indian summer in the midst of the Great Depression and before World War II. Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams thrilled Americans throughout the baseball season and big band music dominated. The music continued to own the market until 1946 when dramatic changes occurred. Here are some of the top hits of 1941.

Chattanooga Choo-Choo (Glenn Miller)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XQybKMXL-k

A String of Pearls (Glenn Miller)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLTDo08giGk

Green Eyes (Jimmy Dorsey)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neyj54oSHC0

Amapola (Jimmy Dorsey)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xx6I1dFnZnQ

God Bless This Child (Billie Holiday)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_1LfT1MvzI

Blueberry Hill (Gene Autry)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQzt0263Kj0

Take the “A” Train (Duke Ellington)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guYlCLmX59c&ob=av2n

　

The Year in Music: 1940

World War II raged in Europe and the Depression at home. Big Band began to take hold after being sneered at by the public. Meanwhile, Woody Guthrie releases Dust Bowl Ballads chronicling the struggles of people in the Midwest.

Glenn Miller In The Mood:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJE-onnw2gM

Frenesi-Artie Shaw:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0F4k6klcmw

Only Forever-Bing Crosby:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNCt6hkCUic

When You Wish Upon a Star- Cliff Edwards:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKh6XxYbbIc

Blueberry Hill-Gene Autry:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdJSBtuS0oc

When The Swallows Return to Capistrano-The Ink Spots:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3-p71lleUY

The Woodpecker Song- Glenn Miller:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FynFKr9izA8

You Are My Sunshine-Jimmie Davis:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZdUigq5Q_Y

Dust Bowl Blues- Woody Guthrie:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-K5eMK1mqcU

The Year in Music: 1939

The Great Depression began its second decade while World War II broke out in Europe. The music of 1939 reflects the hopes for a better time as well as patriotism. Big band music evolved from swing and dominated the musical landscape beginning in 1935.

The following is a sample of what was popular in 1939:

The #1 song of 1939 was Judy Garland's "Over the Rainbow."

Over the Rainbow by Judy Garland:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HRa4X07jdE

and some other popular tunes.

Moonlight Serenade by Glenn Miller:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHBvksGdhxA

Little Brown Jug by Glenn Miller:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYo6G8RBjAE

God Bless America by Kate Smith:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8QksTKRYS0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnQDW-NMaRs

Strange Fruit by Billie Holiday:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXdnD39GYVU

When the Saints Go Marching In by Louis Armstrong:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyLjbMBpGDA

Bessie Smith: Rock n Roll Hall of Fame Class of 1989

Her life in links.

Rock Hall Bio: http://rockhall.com/inductees/bessie-smith/bio/

Bessie Smith was the greatest singer of her period and extremely influential in jazz circles. She began recording in 1923 and became the highest paid black performer of her time.

Cemetery Blues (1923):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecH8deDHKJE

Downhearted Blues (1923):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=go6TiLIeVZA

St Louis Blues (1925):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=go6TiLIeVZA

Empty Bed Blues (1928):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BsIntS_Io4

The Great Depression nearly ended her career. Motion pictures with sound further hampered her career as Vaudeville disappeared in its wake. She continued to perform into the 1930s.

Bessie Smith died in a car accident in 1937.

Woody Guthrie: Rock n Roll Hall of Fame Class of 1988

His life and career in links.

Rock Hall Bio:

http://rockhall.com/inductees/woody-guthrie/bio/

Official Site:

http://woodyguthrie.org/

His father was a Klansman that participated in a lynching. His mother suffered from dementia as a result of Huntington’s Disease. The disease later killed him.

In the 1930s, he began traveling with economic refugees migrating to California. He settled with radicals.

This Land is Your Land (1940):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxiMrvDbq3s

Billy the Kid:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVGpNRAErlc

Pretty Boy Floyd:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4YKUJZI5Bg

Dustbowl Blues:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQYKJaWuj0Y

Tom Joad:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKWGAGPy_kw

Roll On Columbia:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUoh2QSjXAw

House of the Rising Sun:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQD1fRcRFO8

Bob Dylan visited Guthrie in the hospital to meet his idol. Guthrie died on October 3, 1967. His Dust Bowl Ballads remain some of the most important work in music history.

The Animals:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmdPQp6Jcdk&feature=related

All-Star Tribute:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHqOl7v4Axg

Woody Guthrie: Tom Joad (1940)

Woody Guthrie followed the exploits of John Steinbeck's anti-hero after the events in The Grapes of Wrath. Joad stood for justice and human dignity in the face of tradition in the midst of the Great Depression and Dust Bowl. Henry Fonda played Tom Joad in the movie version of the novel. Over 50 years later, the character inspired Bruce Springsteen's "Ghost of Tom Joad."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKWGAGPy_kw