[78-L] Green Grow the Lilacs

[Guyotsmith at aol.com]

I have a World transcription by Frank Luther which contains  the song. I've 
never had the recording dates for those World transcriptions, but  I'll bet 
you could date them. Some of Frank's verses are found in the Scottish  
"Green Grow the Laurel" and not in the version Tex sang throughout his career,  
certainly inspired by the Lynn Riggs play and his involvement in same. As 
the  piece entered tradition, there were many alterations of both melody and 
lyrics,  of course. My grandmother, born in 1883, told me a great deal about 
the song,  and I wish I could recall all the details. I do know that she, 
like our friend  Frank Luther, sang it as "change the green lilac to the 
Oregon blue" or "to the  origin blue," or "to the orange and the blue," and not 
"to the red, white, and  blue."  As to the actual recording of the song, I 
would assume Frank  Luther's World transcription would be the earliest that we 
presently know  of.  Interesting topic. 
 
Jonathan
 
 
In a message dated 1/12/2014 12:43:39 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
soundthink at live.com writes:

Here are  the other 78 rpm versions I have of "Green Grown the Lilacs." All 
are  post-war.

Maddox Bros. & Rose (Columbia 21099)
Tex Ritter &  his Texans (Capitol 206)
Johnnie Lee Wills & his Boys (Decca  46064)

Other versions in my library on LP or 45 include Harry  Belafonte, Ed 
McCurdy, The Chad Mitchell Trio, Frank Luther, The Blue Sky Boys  (their reunion 
for Rounder in the 1970s), The Jones Brothers, The Easy Riders,  Johnny 
Cash, and Robin & the Folkstringers (a SESAC  45)

Cary

On Jan 12, 2014, at 9:37 AM, Cary Ginell  <soundthink at live.com> wrote:

> I found another version of it  by Tony Kraber on his Keynote 78 rpm album 
"The Old Chisholm Trail" (Keynote  104), but that is the one record out of 
three in the album that I am missing.  The liner notes give the same 
derivation of "gringo," which may or may not be  true, but it's certainly an 
interesting story.
> 
> I find it  interesting that there are no pre-WWII recordings of this 
song, in light of  the fact that its life goes back a century before Ritter's 
version.
>  
> Incidentally, Ritter didn't sing the song in "Green Grow the Lilacs."  He 
did sing four numbers, but not this one. 
> 
> Cary
>  
> On Jan 12, 2014, at 9:30 AM, Guyotsmith at aol.com wrote:
>  
>> Cary, that's an interesting question. Frank Luther sang it  on  a World 
>> transcription which would pre-date Tex's Capitol  recording - and Frank  
much 
>> later included the song on his  final Lp, in stereo, for Pickwick. Frank 
 also 
>> sang the song  on my grandmother's NBC radio series. My grandmother and 
Tex   
>> Ritter, who also worked together in New York, liked to tell the  story 
of that 
>> song's popularity during the 1847 war with Mexico,  and how the 
soldiers' 
>> singing  "Green Grow the Lilacs" was  supposedly misinterpreted by the 
Mexican 
>> troops,  resulting  in their calling the Americans "gringo" (corrupted 
from 
>> "green  grow").  In reality, the term "gringo" is probably a corruption 
of  
>> "griego," as you know  - but both my grandmother and Tex  spent decades 
telling 
>> the "Green Grow the  Lilacs" story,  and I shared it with my own 
students 
>> this past week. 
>>  
>> Whereas Tex sings "....and change the green lilacs for the   red, white, 
and 
>> blue,"  Frank Luther has it "...and change  the green lilacs  to the 
Oregon 
>> blue."  Others sing it  as "the orange and the blue."   Had I been 
possessed 
>> of  sufficient intelligence in my younger days, I would have  recorded 
my  
>> grandmother singing that song - but I didn't. Her melody - and  Frank  
Luther's 
>> - differed from Tex's. Whether Tex sang it  as Lynn Riggs wanted it  
sung, or 
>> whether he had known the  song as a youth in Texas, I don't know. He  
>> sometimes called  it his favorite song.  How many questions would we ask 
if  we  
>> could go back in time! 
>> 
>> Have a wonderful  week ahead.
>> 
>> Jonathan
>> 
>>  
>> In a message dated 1/12/2014 11:51:39 A.M. Eastern Standard  Time,  
>> soundthink at live.com writes:
>> 
>>  Does  anyone know of recordings of the song "Green Grow the Lilacs" 
that  
>> predates  Tex Ritter's 1945 Capitol version? The song was  the basis for 
Lynn 
>> Riggs' 1931  play, which consisted  entirely of traditional folk songs. 
>> Rodgers &   Hammerstein later revamped the story, replaced the folk 
songs with  
>> their own  compositions, and transformed Broadway with the  resulting 
show, 
>> "Oklahoma!"  but I find the orignal show  intriguing. I find no 
recordings of 
>> "Green Grow  the Lilacs"  in Russell so wonder if any others were 
recorded.
>> 
>>  Cary  Ginell
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