[78-L] Carson Robison Minstrel Show

[David Sanderson]

Bud Black wrote:
> When I think of Carson Robison I hark back to his WWII patriotic war songs
> such as "Here I Go To Tokio," "Hitler's Letter To Mussolini," and "1942
> Turkey In The Straw" among others.  I believe he penned these tunes himself.
>  I guess, by today's standards, you could call these tunes propaganda, but
> the rhyming was clever and humorous.
> 
> Bud 

Yes, he had a real touch with words, and with comic songs.  I don't know 
if he wrote "Barnicle Bill, the Sailor" offhand, but his and Frank 
Luther's recording popularized the tune.  A man who had access to 
Robison's files claimed that Robison had a file of 1200 song copyrights. 
  I may have mentioned here at some point that I think he is very much 
underrated both as a performer and a songwriter.  Some of his best work 
is the early stuff with Vernon Dalhart, "My Blue Ridge Mountain Home" 
and many others popularized via Dalhart's recordings with Robison.  Jack 
Palmer's Dalhart biography goes into Robison's work in this period 
extensively.

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      David Sanderson
      East Waterford, Maine

      dwsanderson685 at roadrunner.com
      http://www.dwsanderson.com