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48
THE
OVER
MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
JANUARY 5,
Aiong the music (lounte*
HERE
HE 5 GOING
TQ TAKE
LESSORS,
I'M Q.AO
I DON'T LIVE
IN THE 5AMC
HOUSE U f l X
How Cartoonist Callahan, of the New York Evening Journal, Views the Modern Music Counter
SONGS IN KEEPING WITI^THE SPIRIT OF THE TIMES
The War Has Been Responsible for an Outpouring of Patriotic Songs, Many of Which Give
Promise of Becoming a Permanent Part of the Musical Repertoire of the American People
Within the past few months thousands of
ambitious song writers and composers have
apparently concentrated on the production of
so-called popular songs, but only a few dozen
have become sufficiently popular to merit sec-
ond consideration. A list of the more success-
ful patriotic and war songs was recently com-
piled by a writer of the New York Times evi-
dently well acquainted with the field, and
the article, which follows, is sufficiently com-
prehensive to he worthy of reproduction:
The patriotic song is doing its bit in the
war camps, as the talking machines have
already at recruiting stations. More especially
are the song writers busy devising new airs
that they hope may capture approval of the
great American and allied armies. A Broad-
way theatre star, pressing into service the
favorites of the moment, recently chose to sing,
and aroused audiences twice daily in doing so,
Andrew Sterling's "America, Here's My Boy,"
Ivor Novello's "Keep the Home Fires Burn-
ing"," Irving Berlin's "For Your Country and
My Country," and George Cohan's "Over
There," this last with the Cohanesque quick-
step refrain of "We won't come back till it's over
over there." For those who would "sing the
old songs," there are special war editions, such
as Difson's "Patriotic Songs of America," in
up-to-date khaki boards. Of airs of all nations,
the best collection is Sousa's, made for the
Government many years ago.
RIOT WITH THE ROOKIES
Wild and Woolly Rube Recruiting Song
About the Boys from Pumpklnville
c o on-GO
we're on our
to WAR
SWEEPING THE COUNTRY
7 cents
McKinley Music Co.
Seen in a Manhattan store window, the cov-
ers of the new songs tell their story. A well-
known artist's poster has already made famous
the little gray lady and her khaki-clad hero of
"America, Here's My Boy." Beside it stand
Bruno Huhn's "My Boy," set to Frances Til-
lotson Breese's "I Have Raised My Boy to
Be a Soldier," a defiance to pacifists, and J. E.
Dempsey and Joseph Burr's song of another
patriotic mother, "If 1 Had a Son for Each
Star in Old Glory." There are Cohan's "Grand
Old Flag," with less emphasis on the "rag,"
of other days; Berlin's "Let's All Be Ameri-
cans Now," under guard of a trim soldier;
Eddie Grey's "America First," with a portrait
of George Washington; Tosti's "The Allies'
March to Freedom," carrying six nations' flags;
Frank Van der Stucken's "Our Glorious Coun-
try," and the pictured troopers of Herbert
Lowe's "On to Plattsburg."
So much for the pictures. Even some of the
letters of the alphabet are worked overtime to
give the national stamp to such airs as "The
Boys of the U. S. A.," by Charlotte Bonny-
castle and Mrs. Frederick Goodwin, or the
popular Carrie Jacobs Bond's "His Buttons
Are Marked U. S." Then there are numerical
titles, from the boys of '61 to the younger vet-
erans of '98. The Militia of Mercy's appeal
has been voiced by G. Frederick Bickford's
words and music in "The Spirit of '76," its
cover showing a soldier bidding good-bye to
wife and babies. Alban Elkington of Buffalo
sent to the Times his song, "The Call to Arms."
C. M. Swingle published in Cleveland his "Men,
Men, and More Men," described as a -hymn uni-
versal. Tarquinio Masucci of the Kansas City
Voce dell' Emigrante dedicated to President
Wilson his "Hymn of War" in English and
Italian. Ray Wiley and A. F. Koerner's "Little
Girl in Blue" came from Miami, Fla.
The submarines can no more check the
fancy's flight of our song writers over the
ocean than could the airplanes stop the trans-
ported Sammies' rallying cry of "Berlin or
Bust." There's the American directness of
plain speech about "Good-bye Broadway, Hello
France," by C. Reisner, B. Davis, and B. Bas-
kette. Emilie Frances Bauer has devoted to
the Red Cross all royalties of "Our Flag in
France," sung here by Marcella Craft and Leon
Rothier. Howard and La Var have issued
"Somewhere in France Is Daddy." Harry von
Tilzer's firm anticipated fate by announcing in
manuscript "I Don't Know Where I'm Going,
But I'm On My Way." Boosey & Co. heralded
widely '"The Trumpet Call," by Wilfred San-
derson, sung by John McCormack.
No one could mistake the purpose or time-
liness of Clarence Marks and Herman Tim-
berg's "Buy a Bond" at the height of the Lib-
erty Loan campaign. The early days of the
war brought N. A. Jennings and Laura Sedg-
wick Collins' "We Are With You, Mr. Presi-
dent." The song writers' ideas grew with the
national preparations. Lindsey Perkins and
Otto Motzan's "Let's Rally" declared "We are
coming, half a million strong." W. H, Pease's
"At Them, Uncle Sam," ventured that "Ten
million brave Americans are ready at your
call," to which the same writer added "The
Red Cross needs you, sister, join it now."
Luella Stewart and O. Ebel's "Our Country's
Voice" went the whole figure at last with "One
united baud—A hundred millions stand." Be-
yond that number, the poets cannot go without
"annexations and indemnities."
The name of America appears entwined in
endless variety of captions. "The Spirit of
America—1917," by Andrew Miller, is published
by the Chandler-Ebel Company, all proceeds to
be given to the Red Cross "during the period
of the war." Alice M. Harrison and Augusta
E. Stetson's "Our America," issued by Schir-
mer, has been sung with the standard songs by
the Community Chorus, and its concerts have
featured Mrs. Stetson's "Love's Lullaby" for
war use, like good old "Rock-a-bye Baby" in
Laurette Taylor's play, as "music for the
wounded." Frank Stanton's words to Boosey's
latest, "Keep On Hopin'," have been indorsed
as the logical "cheer up" song for our soldiers
on the march. W. A. Pond prints Herman
Hupfeld's-call to young America to take a place
"Out There." Oley Speaks has set music for
Schirmer to "When the Boys Come Home," dig-
nified by words from a poem written by John
Hay.
Naturally the call for a new national anthem
has not been unanswered, although a number
of these contests resulted in prizes divided, or
in one case a refusal of award. A local weekly
counted 147 such hymns in the first month of
.the war. Los Angeles a few weeks later re-
ported 300 at least. A Chicago competition
drew nearly 700 manuscripts, with Frederick
Ryder as winner in a setting of W. D. Nesbit's
"For Your Flag and My Flag." New York's
New Singing Society got out a newly har-
monized "Star-Spangled
Banner, 1 ' and its
leader, L. Camilieri, a new melody to "Amer-
ica," as well as another to Dr. van Dyke's
"Peace Hymn of the Republic." Edward Man-
ning's "Hail, Great America," was in metre
closely allied to the original hymn. A. A.
Springmeyer composed and published one of
the best new airs for S. F. Smith's "America."
Ward Stephens set music for Chappell & Co.
to a later poem, "America," by James Whit-
comb Rilev.
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