by Peter Cates James Thurber James Thurber (1894-1961) achieved a much deserved hilarious notoriety for his writings and cartoons via the New Yorker. With respect to his cartoons, Maine’s own E.B. White, while still working at the magazine’s Manhattan office as an assistant editor, found some of Thurber’s sketches in the wastebasket and published them, […]
by Peter Cates John F. Kennedy The 35th President John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917-1963) was a most vivid, vibrantly alive presence on the family Philco TV set from when I first saw him debate Richard Milhous Nixon (1913-1994) during October 1960, it being a very cold Friday night, to the assassination in Dallas; I remember Kennedy’s […]
by Peter Cates Elsie Baker Frederick Wheeler A ten-inch acoustic Victor shellac disc presented the duet of contralto Elsie Baker (1883-1971) and baritone Frederick Wheeler (1877-1951) performing There Is Nothing, Dear, I Wouldn’t Do for You from a vaudeville musical revue, All Aboard, produced by comedian Lew Fields who was part of the early 1900s […]
by Peter Cates Henry Wadsworth Longfellow One of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s finest poems is My Lost Youth, originally published in his 1858 volume, The Courtship of Miles Standish. Having been raised in Portland, the poet wrote some verses that evoked what must have been for him the then unspoiled beauty of the Pine Tree State’s […]
by Peter Cates The President’s favorite music RCA Victor released a one lp anthology during the mid-1950s entitled The President’s Favorite Music; I purchased a copy of it for $2 at a record store in Amherst, Massachusetts, in 1966, when Lyndon Johnson was president. Of course, the center of attraction on that record was the […]
by Peter Cates Rosa Ponselle Barbara Maurel A 1919 Columbia ten inch acoustic 78 rpm shellac has a very lovely duet of sopranos Rosa Ponselle (1897-1981) and Barbara Maurel (1889-?) performing the very well-known funeral hymn Abide With Me, which was often sung as a special number on non-funeral church Sundays by my father and […]
by Peter Cates Frederic Chopin Polish-born Frederic Chopin (1810-1849) composed his incredibly beautiful two Piano Concertos when he was 20. The first one was my favorite of the two for decades while the second didn’t particularly thrill me until more recent years. As usual with my favorite pieces, I have collected duplicates of the two […]
by Peter Cates Harry S. Truman The 33rd President Harry S. Truman (1884-1972), upon being sworn in as FDR’s vice-president, was told by his mother, “Now you behave yourself.” Like every other president since George Washington, Truman was, warts and all, a character. A highly controversial 1974 book, Plain Speaking, by Merle Miller (1919-1986) has […]
by Peter Cates Tiny Bradshaw Singer Tiny Bradshaw (1907-1958) was an important figure in the development of what came to be known as rhythm and blues. A 1951 King label (4447) ten-inch 78 rpm record features him vibrantly vocalizing two blues selections – Brad’s Blues; and Two Dry Bones on the Pantry Shelf – with […]
by Peter Cates Charles Adams Prince From August 1915, a ten-inch acoustically recorded shellac (Columbia A1882) presents Prince’s Band under the direction of Charles Adams Prince (1868-1937), Columbia’s highly-accomplished musical jack of all trades and a relative of former Presidents John and John Quincy Adams. The two marches are Under a Peaceful Sky and R.B. […]