Brass, Reeds, and Percussion

It’s difficult to find a musical composition that deals with sickness, but maybe “Fever” qualifies. We’ll open today’s edition of Brass, Reeds, and Percussion with a 1960 recording of “Fever” in recognition of our special guest today: Dr. Pam Hudson, CEO of Crestwood Hospital. She’ll be talking with us about COVID-19 and vaccinations.

"Goin' Out of My Head" is a song written by Teddy Randazzo and Bobby Weinstein, initially recorded by Little Anthony and the Imperials in 1964. That year, their version reached number 6 on the Billboard Top 100 chart. Since that point, it’s been covered by a number of other artists including the Zombies and Sergio Mendes and Brazil 66. As part of a medley, the Letterman’s version reached number 2 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart in 1967.

Known as the French Mozart, François-Adrien Boieldieu lived from 1775 to 1834. He is mostly famous for his operas. He was born in Rouen, where he wrote his first works. During the Reign of Terror, Rouen was of the few French cities to maintain its musical life. During the revolutionary period, he went to Paris and worked as a piano tuner until he had his first big hit in 1800: The Caliph of Bagdad. Today's edition of Brass, Reeds, and Percussion features three wind-band arrangements to the overtures of three of Boieldieu’s operas.

This edition features music from the 1950s. Today's episode opens with recordings of Ray Anthony and His Orchestra. Anthony was born in 1922 and was a trumpeter, big-band leader, songwriter, and even an actor. During WW II, he joined the Navy and played in Glenn Miller's military big band. During the 1950s, he appeared in several movies, including one in which he portrayed Jimmy Dorsey. One of his biggest hits was his 1953 recording of the "Dragnet" theme, originally composed for a radio show.

Considered by some to the successor to John Philip Sousa, Edwin Franko Goldman was born in Louisville, Kentucky, on New Year’s Day, 1878. When his father died, Edwin, his mother, and his siblings moved to New York City, where the family had musical connections. Edwin’s grandfather was a professional classical pianist. Edwin started taking trumpet lessons when he was 9 years old and eventually played in the Metropolitan Opera’s orchestra with his uncle, the concert master.

Today’s edition of Brass, Reeds, and Percussion is designed to help ua listeners become kool cats by listening to bongo music from the 1960s. During the late 1950s, bongos became popular because almost anyone could play them. They were also widely used in popular music. So today’s edition of Brass, Reeds, and Percussion will feature a number of 1960s recordings.

Sometimes, wind band music is popular music—a fact demonstrated during this edition of Brass, Reeds, and Percussion when we hear a 1961 top-10 hit that was described as the first big-band record you could twist to. “Up a Lazy River” was written in 1930, but it became a top-10 hit in 1961 when a version by Si Zenter and His Orchestra made it to the Billboard Top 100. The tune and most of the words were written by Sidney Arodin, born in Westwego, Lousiana. (That’s across the Mississippi River from New Orleans.) He was a clarinetist and songwriter.

In 4 years, Glenn Miller had 16 number-one hits and 68 top-10 hits. That’s more than Elvis Presley with only 38 top-10 hits and the Beatles with 33 top-10 hits. During World War II, Miller lead the Army Air Forces Band from 1942 to 1944. On December 15, 1944, while flying to Paris to arrange for transferring the band to Paris, the airplane carrying Miller disappeared over the English Channel.

Cornelis Dopper is sometimes referred to as the most Dutch of Dutch composers because his frequent use of Dutch folk music in his compositions. But during his lifetime he was a accused of sounding too German and also too much like John Philip Sousa. In November 1918 after a performance of Dopper’s 7th Symphony which ends in a march, a member of the audience expressed his dissatisfaction with the composition by shouting "Long live Sousa"—in Dutch, of course. The heckler was banned from the concert hall for a week.

Today’s edition of Brass, Reeds, and Percussion features the "Lincolnshire Posey" by Percy Grainger, but we begin with tune that won the 1967 Grammy Award for Song of the Year: “Up, Up, and Away," composed by Jimmy Webb. Because Webb's father was a Baptist pastor and former U.S. Marine, Webb learned piano and organ as a child and grew up singing in church. In 1961, at age 14, he bought his first record: "Turn Around, Look at Me" by Glen Campbell.