[78-L] Frank Luther items on my want-list for decades

[Guyotsmith at aol.com]

In a message dated 2/18/2009 6:50:03 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
soundthink at aol.com writes:

Whoops.  Sorry. The old woman with the pain was on "Happy the Harmonica."

Cary  Ginell


-----Original Message-----
From:  soundthink at aol.com
To: 78-l at klickitat.78online.com
Sent: Wed, 18 Feb  2009 3:45 pm
Subject: Re: [78-L] Frank Luther items on my want-list for  decades



Very cool, Jonathan. I grew up listening to Frank  Luther kiddie records like 
"The Tick Tock Shop" (which used to frighten me  when The Pain would chase 
the 
Old Woman all across the countryside). I  have quite a few Luther 78s and 
will 
check my stock when I get home. I  think his records have been vastly 
underrated; 
there was some superb  musicianship on them, especially when you had folks 
like 
Frank Novak,  Barney Burnett, and Carson Robison as sidemen. If it weren't 
for 
artists  like Luther, Robison, Vernon Dalhart, and Bob Miller, I wouldn't own 
 
records on such hard-to-find labels like Herwin and Herschel Gold  Seal.



Cary, it's great to hear from you. I recently acquired  a Decca test of one 
part of Beth Brown's "Happy the Harmonica" (which is one of  Frank's all-time 
best) and it bears the title, "How the Old Woman Lost the  Pain." It differs 
somewhat from the re-written version which was eventually  released. Frank used 
to remark that he wanted his records for small children to  be good enough, 
musically, for adults to be able to enjoy - yet simple and  direct so that they 
would be readily comprehensible  and entertaining for youngsters. His early 
Decca sets certainly fill  the bill. 
 
In the 1970s, when Frank had just written a musical  play about protecting 
the environment, and I made some remark to him during a  phone conversation 
about the positive values in his work, Frank replied, "I've  always tried to 
accomplish some 'good' in every project I've ever  done." 
 
Best,
 
Jonathan
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