[78-L] Carson Robison Minstrel Show

[Charles Bihun]

Barnacle Bill The Sailor was not truly original.  It was an adaptation of an old English drinking song, "Bollocky Bill the Sailor".

Change a word or two, add a verse and a few bars and its yours.  Benz' is credited as the inventor of the modern auto, but I guess whoever first added chrome could contest that claim.  With music it is really the performance that matters, not the authorship.  Who would remember Irving Berlin if only he had recorded his compositions?

ChuckB




________________________________
From: David Sanderson <dwsanderson685 at roadrunner.com>
To: 78-L Mail List <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
Sent: Wednesday, August 26, 2009 9:44:32 AM
Subject: Re: [78-L] Carson Robison Minstrel Show

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.

-- 




      David Sanderson
      East Waterford, Maine

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

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