Updated November 28, 2011
That's my song!
I sang it at Symphony Space on March 10th, backed by Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks, the Washington Square Harp and Shamrock Orchestra, and three harmony singers ...
I sang it again on March 18th at the Blarney Star concert at Glucksman Ireland House to launch the WSHSO's new CD ...
I recorded it with the WSHSO in May ...
I sang it at the launch of the Mercy Centre fundraiser CD, In Partnership With The Poor, on November 14 at the Irish Repertory Theatre ...
And it's now it's available for purchase!!
To order, click HERE.
Waltz Me Around Again, Willie was written by Will D. Cobb (lyrics) and Ren Shields (music) for a 1906 vaudeville production called “Miss Dolly Dollars.” The song immediately became a #1 hit and was popular for years afterward.
Harpo Marx was very fond of Waltz Me Around Again, Willie. He refers to it many times in his biography, "Harpo Speaks!" His one-fingered version was the first song he learned on the piano. Later in his career, when his piano playing utilized all ten fingers, Harpo introduced Waltz Me Around Again, Willie as a hilarious improvised climax to a Marx Brothers performance in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Here's Harpo's description: "we played a six-handed, three-keyed version ... Chico on the stool, me sitting on Chico's shoulders, and Groucho crouching behind us, reaching his arms around Chico like tentacles, with all of us singing. We collapsed like a house of cards... We had never had such fun or such an ovation before." (page 118, "Harpo Speaks!")
This popular parlour song found its way into the works of some well-known writers. In a scene from his 1932 comedy "Ah! Wilderness" Eugene O'Neill has one of the actors whistling Waltz Me Around Again, Willie. John Cheever mentions the song in "The Wapshot Chronicle," and James Joyce refers to it in "Finnegan's Wake." In "Look Homeward, Angel" Thomas Wolfe employs Waltz Me Around Again, Willie as a figure of speech meaning "here we go again!" This usage illustrates the fact that the song was so widely known that it had become an idiomatic exclamation, one which you might still hear today.
Waltz Me Around Again, Willie came to me from Thailand. Mick Moloney, who sponsors the WSHSO, heard the song at the Mercy Centre where he spends half of every year working with Father Joe Maier and others who care for abandoned, orphaned, and trafficked children in the slums of Bangkok. It seems that Waltz Me Around Again, Willie is Father Joe's favorite song! Mick thought it would be a good song for me to do with the group.
Upon receiving the mp3 file Mick sent me, I was immediately struck by the song's old-fashioned charm and a delightful humorous outlook. It refers to things that barely exist any more like dry goods stores and the magic of waltzing away your everyday cares.
Harpo Marx was very fond of Waltz Me Around Again, Willie. He refers to it many times in his biography, "Harpo Speaks!" His one-fingered version was the first song he learned on the piano. Later in his career, when his piano playing utilized all ten fingers, Harpo introduced Waltz Me Around Again, Willie as a hilarious improvised climax to a Marx Brothers performance in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Here's Harpo's description: "we played a six-handed, three-keyed version ... Chico on the stool, me sitting on Chico's shoulders, and Groucho crouching behind us, reaching his arms around Chico like tentacles, with all of us singing. We collapsed like a house of cards... We had never had such fun or such an ovation before." (page 118, "Harpo Speaks!")
This popular parlour song found its way into the works of some well-known writers. In a scene from his 1932 comedy "Ah! Wilderness" Eugene O'Neill has one of the actors whistling Waltz Me Around Again, Willie. John Cheever mentions the song in "The Wapshot Chronicle," and James Joyce refers to it in "Finnegan's Wake." In "Look Homeward, Angel" Thomas Wolfe employs Waltz Me Around Again, Willie as a figure of speech meaning "here we go again!" This usage illustrates the fact that the song was so widely known that it had become an idiomatic exclamation, one which you might still hear today.
Waltz Me Around Again, Willie came to me from Thailand. Mick Moloney, who sponsors the WSHSO, heard the song at the Mercy Centre where he spends half of every year working with Father Joe Maier and others who care for abandoned, orphaned, and trafficked children in the slums of Bangkok. It seems that Waltz Me Around Again, Willie is Father Joe's favorite song! Mick thought it would be a good song for me to do with the group.
Upon receiving the mp3 file Mick sent me, I was immediately struck by the song's old-fashioned charm and a delightful humorous outlook. It refers to things that barely exist any more like dry goods stores and the magic of waltzing away your everyday cares.
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| (c) 2011 Marilyn Stern / sternphoto.com |
In the picture above, I am singing Waltz Me Around Again, Willie at the WSHSO's big CD launch concert on March 18th. To quote a phrase from the song: "I feel like a ship on an ocean of joy..."
The WSHSO recorded my song in May. Production on the track was finished in the fall. Willie is our group's contribution to a fund raising CD for the Mercy Centre. I'm just ever so grateful to Mick for asking me to sing this song, and I'm equally pleased that it will be used to support such a great cause. Please buy a copy. To order, click HERE. Share my happiness and support the Mercy Centre!
In the meantime, if you're not familiar with Waltz Me Around Again, Willie, have a listen to Billy Murray's version recorded on an Edison cylinder in 1906.
The WSHSO recorded my song in May. Production on the track was finished in the fall. Willie is our group's contribution to a fund raising CD for the Mercy Centre. I'm just ever so grateful to Mick for asking me to sing this song, and I'm equally pleased that it will be used to support such a great cause. Please buy a copy. To order, click HERE. Share my happiness and support the Mercy Centre!
In the meantime, if you're not familiar with Waltz Me Around Again, Willie, have a listen to Billy Murray's version recorded on an Edison cylinder in 1906.
© 2011, Linda Mason Hood
Truffles, Turtles & Tunes Copyright Statement
1 comment:
I love your blog~love hearing about your music ~ lovely....such a surprise since I arrived looking for turtles ! Thank you ~~~
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