Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
54
THE
MUSIC
TRADE
REVIEW
THE EFFECT OF COTTON ON MUSIC
WAR AND JAZZ AT THE SAME TIME
PREPARING FOR THE NEW SEASON
Leading Product of the South Has Developed
Its Own School of Song Writers, Singers and
Publishers, Declares Prominent Writer
Western Paper Declares That Hawaiian Jazz
Played on Ukuleles by a Picked Regiment
Should Prove the Undoing of the Germans
Indications Are That at Least the Average
Number of New Publications Will Make Their
Appearance—Long Chances Not Favored
In an article on the importance of the cotton
raised in the South as a war factor, written for
the Nation's Business, by Aaron Hardy Ulm, a
very interesting phrase appears: "In addition
to its official position as a cloth and food pro-
ducer, cotton and the river steamboat have com-
bined to form another industry of no mean pro-
portions. They have their own school of song
writers, singers and publishers. Syncopated de-
scriptions of steamers on the Mississippi and
life on the New Orleans levee have been sung to
the listening ears of a delighted world by
American phonographs."
After this rather unusual tribute, cotton must
surely be king.
The following rather entertaining comment
upon the present craze for jazz music recently
appeared in the Wichita, Kan., Beacon, and per-
haps reflects the opinions of a fair proportion of
the population:
"The saying that misfortunes never come sin-
gly has been illustrated by the fact that the war
and the jazz came into being almost at the same
time.
''There has been some curiosity as to just
what constitutes jazz. Walter Damrosch said
the other day that it is 'rhythmic noise.' Some
will dispute this and amend by striking out the
word 'rhythmic' But that won't clear up the
matter.
"Apparently one can manufacture jazz out of
anything handy, as one makes a salad or a hall
tree. The saying that the packing houses are
using everything, including the squeal of the
hog, must be true. War time economy has
forced us to use everything. The jazz mixer
has taken all the things which the boiler maker
and the packer throws away and herded them
into a palpitating compact mass, a cacophonous
wienerwurst of hitherto wasted sounds. It seems
to bear the same relation to music as does
futuristic art to painting.
"There is only one thing worse than jazz,
and that is Hawaiian jazz. That is compound-
ing the felony. Each element by itself consti-
tutes a separate offense, and the combination,
if used on the Hindenburg line, would easily
vindicate the rumor that American ingenuity is
about to spring an invention which will make
poisonous gas seem like May sunshine and the
singing of orioles.
"The Germans are supersensitive to music.
They can almost live on it. Hawaiian jazz
played on ukuleles by a picked regiment—you
can't beat it! Let jazz do its bit to make the
world safe for Democracy."
A casual survey of the local music publishing
field at the present time, when plans are being
or should be considered for the coming season,
indicates that there will be little letup in the
normal production of popular numbers, and it
may even be that the output of popular num-
bers will show a tangible increase in the begin-
ning at least.
It would appear that the flood of patriotic
songs, good, bad and indifferent, has reached its
crest and that the fall supply of songs will be of
the usual ballad, novelty or dance order.
There is not so much being heard about the
high cost of production, not because the high
cost isn't there but because most of the pub-
lishers have succeeded in adjusting themselves
to the new conditions. They are getting more
money for songs that hold promise and are
holding back to a greater extent than before on
numbers that at first sight appear to be gambles.
The publication of every popular song, of course,
is a gamble, but where the average number may
be said to represent a ten to one shot there have
been published in the past, at intervals, songs
that may be said to have represented a hundred
to one chance. This taking of long chances is
not being done this season.
For the most part the trade appe.ars to be in
a healthy condition. There is a good sprinkling
of live sellers and quite a few songs that may be
described as hits. Here's hoping that the hits
will be plentiful in the coming months.
RESPECT DUE NATIONAL ANTHEM
General Bridgmann Declares There Is a Proper
and Improper Time to Play It
In an address which was delivered recently be-
fore a gathering of piano manufacturers, Gen-
eral Oliver W. Bridgmann, vice-president of the
Army and Navy Club, made a strong plea for
the respect that is due the flag and the national
anthem. "When 'The Star Spangled Banner'
is played," said General Bridgmann, "every man
should come to attention without feeling that
he must look around to see what the other fel-
lows are doing. There is too much of the prac-
tice of using the national anthem under improper
conditions. Played before the rising of the
curtain of the theatre it commands the proper
attention. Played at the falling of the curtain
when the audience has commenced to straggle
out it does not command the proper respect and
attention, and that, therefore, is the wrong time
to play it. There is too much careless use of
the national anthem in the cafes and cabarets.
Those are not the places where real patriotism
is aroused."
Two Sensational English
Ballad Successes
"Somewhere a Voice is Calling"
"The Sunshine of Your Smile"
T. B. Harms & Francis, Day & Hunter
62 West 45th Street
NEW YORK
BUY YOUR MUSIC FROM
p blish rs
BOSTON » *
WALTER JACOBS
8 Bosworth St.,
Publisher
of
BOSTON, MASS.
"See Dixie First"
Oliver Ditson Company
BOSTON
NEW YORK
Anticipate and supply Every Requirement of Music
Dealers
Two Splendid Sacred Songs
In Great Demand
"THE VOICE IN THE
WILDERNESS "
JOHN PRINDLE SCOTT
"TRUST YE IN THE
LORD"
Music Engravers and Printer*
SEND MANUSCRIPT AND IDEA OF
TITLE FOR ESTIMATE
311 West 4 3 d Street
N e w York City
We PublUh an Excellent Line of Teaching Music
j, JJaxamt and dump a nu
11*7-13*9 BROADWAY, NEW YORK
"ATEAR,AJOSS,ASMILE"
"THAT'S WHY MY
HEART IS CALLING YOU"
Music b y OTTO MOTZAN
KARCZAG PUB. CO., Inc.
62-64 W. 45th St., 7th Floor, New York
HUNTZINGER &
CHAS.K.HARRIS'
ifth Avc, New York
The Song of the Moment
"KEEP THE HOME-
FIRES BURNING"
('Till the Boys Come Home)
CHAPPELL & CO., Ltd.
41 East 34th St.
NEW YORK
PUBLISHERS, PRINTERS AND ENGRAVERS OF MUSIC
ROBERT TELLER SONS & DORNER
Two Wonderful Ballads
JOHN PRINDLE SCOTT
These songs are suitable for all church services, including
Christian Science. Both issued in two keys
White-Smith Music Pub. Co.
Main Offices: 62-64 Stanhope St., Boston.
Branch Houses: New York and Chicago.
Mack Whiting, who was the stage director of
"Chin-Chin," is putting on the dances for the
Edward B. Perkins production, "The Red
Clock," which will be ready for its premiere in
a short time.
O R D E R
Red, White, Blues
Mister Buzz Saw
Alpine Sunset, Valse Romantique
Vaise Egyptian
The Jubllator March
Visions of Madrid, Spanish Serenade
The Isle of Palms
A Night In June, Serenade
F R O M A N Y J O B B E R OR
C. L. BARN HOUSE, " " " f t ^ I A -
Brand New Song Hits for the
Season 1917-18—Now Ready
"Break the News to
Mother"
"I'LL SEE YOU LATER, YANKEE LAND"
"KATHLEEN, MY ROSE"
"YOU KISSED ME" (And Said Good-Bye)
"LOVE 0' MINE"
"THOU SHALT NOT STEAL"
"YANKEE" (He's There-All There)
"I MISS THE OLD FOLKS NOW"
"THE MORE LOVE I GET THE MORE
I WANT"
"SCRATCHIN' THE GRAVEL"
-SWEETNESS" (Honeysuckle of Mine)
"DRY YOUR TEARS" (Waltz)
PUBLISHED BY
CHAS. K. HARRIS
Broadway and 47th St.,
N. Y. CITY