Guide To

THE AB S UELS SHEET MUSIC COLLECTION

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Guide To

THE AB S UELS SHEET MUSIC COLLECTION

Trexler Library Muhlenberg College

Allentown, PA

The Abralll Sallluels Sheet Music Collection at Trexler Library: A History

Trexler Library is very honored to own the Abram Samuels Sheet Music Collection. It is a rare, valuable, and unique resource and serves not only the Muhlenberg College com­munity, but music researchers from around the world. Mr. Samuels transferred the prop­erty to Trexler Library in three separate transactions in 1990, 1994, and 1995. The total num­ber of pieces is slightly over 31,000.

While the collection is somewhat smaller in numbers than the largest collections of sheet music in United States libraries, its focus on popular music almost exclusively from the decades of the 1920's through the 1950's makes it unique. Most sheet music collections encompass music from several centuries and include classical and sacred music, as well as popular. Samplings done on the Abram Samuels Sheet Music Collection against the leading national union catalogue would indicate that only 25% is available in other catalogued collections, suggesting that a substantial majority of the items in the collection are not pres­ently available to the library and scholarly community.

We are pleased to offer this guide to the Collection to the public and also pleased that we have as a resource this valuable collection as well as the collector himself! Abram Samuels serves as honorary curator of Trexler Library.

© Copyright 1997.

Myrna McCallister Library Director

Table of Contents Foreword ....................................................................... p. 3 Introduction ................................................................. p. 5 The Sheet Music Collection ...................................... p. 7 Quick Guide to the Collection .................................. p. 9 The Com poser File .................................................... p. 10 The Cole Porter Collection ...................................... p. 13 The Miscellaneous File ............................................. p. 19 Description & Condition of Sheet Music ............. p. 21 Why I Began & Enjoyed Collecting ..................... p. 24 The 1920's, 30's, & 40's as the Collection Period .. p. 27 A Brief History of American Pop Music ............... p. 28 Conclusion .................................................................. p. 35

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INTRODUCTION By Abram Samuels

I am delighted that you are interested in the Abram Samuels collection of popular sheet music, the result of over sixty years of songsheet collecting. This extensive body of music was gifted to Muhlenberg College in 1991.

The collection portrays the musical, social, and historical significance of the songs we used to hear on the radio, the songs we danced to at our senior proms, and the songs we hummed and whistled. Musically, you will find that most of the published material originated during what I regard as the golden era of American popular music (i.e., the 1920's, 30's and 40's).

Socially and historically, both the music and lyrics capture the essence of the flapper years (the 1920's), the Depression years of swing (the 1930's) and World War II (the 1940's). Of course, there are many other songsheets reflective of the periods both prior to 1920 and post-1950. But the

concentration of the aforementioned thirty year period underscores the dynamics of an ever-changing American culture and its musical milieu.

While I have always been primarily interested in the music and lyrics in these songsheets, I take a trip into nostalgia whenever I come across sheet music from long-forgotten films, Broadway shows, interesting song titles, and covers, many of which were illustrated by well-known artists. And quite a bit of the collection features photographs of the many luminaries and entertainers who made the headlines of the day.

This booklet explains how to use the collection, how to locate specific song titles, and how the collection is organized.

It is my hope that you will find this booklet to be an interesting and informa­tive glimpse into American popular music of the golden era.

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THE ABRAM SAMUELS SHEET MUSIC COLLECTION

My earliest memory of hearing a popular song was when I was around three years old listening to my parents' Victrola in our home at 36 South 18th Street in Allen­town, PA. In addition to the Victrola we had in our parlor an upright piano which my mother played. I believe I derived my musical proclivities from her and I remem­ber noodling on the keys with one finger. And I was able to sing by heart some of the popular tunes of the day which was more than President Ulysses S. Grant could say for himself. When asked what songs he knew, he claimed to know only two and then commented, "One of them is 'Yankee Doodle' and the other one isn't!"

In 1935, when I was fifteen years old, I began taking piano lessons from Fulmer

"Roxy" Rei£, whose studio was located at 939 Hamilton Street. My lessons ended in 1938 when I went away to college, but by that time Roxy had inculcated in me not only a burgeoning interest in piano music, but an appreciation for the sheet music of the great songs that were being composed and performed across the American landscape during those years.

I learned to play many of these songs and my appetite for popular music was stimulated when I was able to distinguish among Berlin, Gershwin, Kern, Porter, and Rodgers songs.

In 1931 we moved to 2315 Union Street where the piano, now a spinet, was put in the basement. It was in the mid-1930's when I began saving the sheet

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Serenade in the Night (1937). The first piece of music assigned to the author.

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..... .J fm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter (1935). Many song titles, such as this one, have become part of our everyday language.

music I acquired. "Serenade in the Night" was the first popular number Roxy assigned to me. I hated that song and still do. But then I progressed to "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter," a much livelier tune which attained the No. 2 ranking on "Your Hit Parade" (March 7, 1936).

I spent many a Saturday night listening to "Your Hit Parade" on the radio at which time the most popular songs of the week were performed. This weekly survey took into account the number of times the songs were played on the air as well as their sheet music sales. At college I spent a lot of time at the piano and, in fact, even composed a melody for an amateur production of the comedy, "Boy

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Meets Girl." The script called for two songwriters to deliver a number entitled "There's a Pain in My Heart and My Heart's on My Sleeve." Another student and I performed the song (to my tune) in the show.

I began writing my own songs, both words and music, in 1938. I had few aspirations for them, but, if nothing else, they helped to stimulate my interest in the ballads of the day.

In the 1970's I acquired a huge sheet music collection from a second-hand dealer in Manhattan. It was then that I began collecting serious! y and, at the same time, meticulously labeling and classifying each song sheet.

A QUICK GUIDE TO THE TWO COLLECTIONS

The sheet music collection is divided into two files. The first, the Composer File, is arranged by composer and then cross­indexed both alphabetically by song title and numerically, according to when the individual title was acquired. The second, the Miscellaneous File, is also cross-indexed by both title and number, and is composed of all sheet music not classified by com­poser. Computer printouts of the files enable the user to ascertain quickly the location of a particular title. Duplicate

copies of individual titles are not given separate accession numbers.

The system is both simple and efficient and is one used by various symphonic music libraries. The fact that the catalog has been computerized is an outstanding feature of the Abram Samuels Collection. Even the Library of Congress has yet to sort and catalog its enormous sheet music collection. The same holds true for the New York Public Library.

One Hour With You (1932). An example of "star" photographs which added interest and sales value to a sheet music cover. This song became the theme song of Eddie Cantor's radio program.

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THE COMPOSER FILE Let us assume, for example, that you

wish to locate the Cole Porter sheet music. The letter "T" designates the Porter song sheets. The first Cole Porter listing, alpha­betically, is 'Abracadabra." Numerically, the first Porter number is T-1, which happens to be an album of some of his best­known songs.

One may ask the significance of the prefix "T." Early on I designed my own classification system, and on the upper left­hand corner of the sheet music cover I posted the appropriate classification number for each song. At that stage of my life, while I was still in my teens, I was pretty ingenuous about defacing the

covers, and if I had it to do over again, I would use a more sophisticated system.

Suppose you wanted to locate the sheet music for a song entitled "Spring Is Here." To assist the user I prepared a separate printout of all of the songs arranged by composer with all of those listings arranged alphabetically by title. I refer to this as the Combined Composer File. In addition, there is a combined print­out for every song in the Composer File, arranged alphabetically by title. It so happens that "Spring Is Here" is listed in both the Composer File and the Miscella­neous File. First of all, it is a beautiful number written by Richard Rodgers/

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Star Dust (1929). Some musicologists regard this song as the most popular song of the 1920's, 30's and 40's. Many different editions exist.

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Lorenz Hart (and one of my favorite songs). If you therefore searched the composer file, you would find that it is labeled No. R-10. You would then find this sheet music in the Richard Rodgers collection under No. R-10. You would also find it listed in the Combined Composers File.

However, if it's not the Rodgers/Hart "Spring Is Here" that you're looking for, you would then check the Miscellaneous File under the alphabetical listing where you would find three pieces of sheet music under that title. You would find that W-15,888, W-18427, and W-20,537 each carries the title, "Spring Is Here."

The actual sheet music in both collections is stored in wooden and metal file cabinets located in the Rare Books Storage Room of Trexler Library. There are over 6,000 titles in the Composer File and over 22,000 in the Miscellaneous File. In many instances there is more than one copy of a specific song, due to the demand that the publisher print more than one cover for that song. For example, there are a number of different editions of Hoagy Carmichael's "Star Dust" (L-11 ).

Another example: there are a number of published covers for George M. Cohan's World War I song, "Over There" (BB-62). The most valuable is one that was illustrated by Norman Rockwell. It is coveted not only because of its rarity, but also for its striking depiction of young soldiers absorbed in song.

Indicated below are the names of all of the composers I collected, together with their prefix numbers:

A: Harry Revel B: Harry Warren C: Richard Whiting D: Ralph Rainger E: Vernon Duke F: Burton Lane G: James Van Heusen H: James Monaco I: Not used J: Allie Wrubel K: Arthur Schwartz L: Hoagy Carmichael M: Jimmy McHugh N: Sammy Fain 0: Arthur Johnston

P: Walter Donaldson Q: Duke Ellington R: Richard Rodgers S: Irving Berlin T: Cole Porter U: Jerome Kern V: George Gershwin W: See Miscellaneous File X: Harold Arlen Y: Vincent Youmans Z: Kurt Weill M: Harry Ruby BB: George M. Cohan CC: Stephen Sondheim DD: Noel Coward EE: Ray Henderson FF: Frank Loesser GG: Frederick Loewe HH: Jule Styne II: N acio Herb Brown JJ: Hugh Martin

My personal favorite amongst the composers I collected is Richard Rodgers (when he collaborated with Lorenz Hart). I also hold in high esteem other composers whom I did not collect (e.g., Johnny Green, Isham Jones, Meredith Willson, Harry Woods).

Shown below is a representative list of well-known lyricists I did not collect under their own names:

Johnny Burke Sammy Cahn Howard Dietz Al Dubin Dorothy Fields Ira Gershwin Mack Gordon Oscar Hammerstein, II E.Y. Harburg Lorenz Hart

Gus Kahn Alan Jay Lerner Johnny Mercer Mitchell Parish Leo Robin

There are many others I did not list and some of these lyricists wrote their own music as well.

Some people might question my fail­ure to maintain separate listings for such composers as Leonard Bernstein, Jerry

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Too Marvelous for Words (1937). Covers illustrated with stars' photos, such as Ruby Keeler, are today often sought by collectors.

Herman, Victor Herbert, Rudolf Frimt Sigmund Romberg, Harold Rome, the Von Tilzers, etc. Such exclusions were strictly a matter of personal preference, and much of the sheet music written by these song­writers will be found in the Miscellaneous File.

It should be pointed out that in addition to the lyricists listed above, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, George M. Cohan, Noel Coward, Frank Loesser, and Stephen Sondheim wrote their own lyrics, and occasionally Hoagy Carmichael and Walter Donaldson did so, too.

Why didn't I begin collecting the wordsmiths as well as the com posers? I decided years ago that since I was primarily interested in the music, I would only collect those who wrote the melodies to these songs. Of course, most of the well-known

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works of these lyricists are indeed in the collection, but they will be found with the composers with whom they collaborated. Obviously, if I had begun to separately classify lyricists, I would have duplicated much of what I had already amassed.

Of the songwriters listed above certain names stand out over and above the others regarding their lyric-writing talents. In my view Lorenz Hart and Cole Porter were superior to all others with Ira Gershwin and Johnny Mercer following closely behind.

Regarding the Combined Composers File, the first song sheet listed alphabetically is "A Man's Cotta Fight" (X-172). There is no numerical file for the Combined Composers File.

THE COLE PORTER COLLECTION

Since I have alluded to the Cole Porter (1891-1964) collection, I shall dwell on his songs as an illustration of how and why his sheet music was acquired and labeled. There are 270 Cole Porter titles from his substantial oeuvre. I believe my earliest copyrighted Porter song sheet is "Old-Fashioned Garden" (T-31), which he copyrighted in 1919. He wrote for both the films and Broadway and many of his tunes became standards.

Years ago, at the conclusion of a Muhlenberg College course I presented on American Popular Music which surveyed many of the popular songs written during the 1920's, 30's and 40's, I conducted a questionnaire among those in attendance in an effort to ascertain which song of the one hundred or more we studied ranked first in their opinion. Porter's "Night and Day" (T-19) won overwhelmingly. This song was written for a rather obscure 1932

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Night and Day (1932). A perennial Cole Porter favorite written for the Broadway musical, "Gay Divorce."

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Broadway musical, "Gay Divorce," which starred Fred Astaire. When the stage show was transformed into a film, its title was changed to "The Gay Divorcee". "Night and Day" is a characteristic Cole Porter song with its minor chords and sophisticated words and music. It is also a rather long number. Many of Porter's songs were quite

lengthy and, in my view, often tedious. "Begin the Beguine" (T-91) is typical of this, being one of the longest songs ever writ­ten by anyone. Whenever I hear it per­formed, I say to myself, "This song ought to be called 'End the Beguine'."

In the collection are songs from most of his shows and movies. In addition to

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Begin the Beguine (1935). A lovely Cole Porter classic, this song was featured in the Broadway production, "Jubilee," and popularized by Artie Shaw.

"Night and Day" you will find other standards such as "Let's Do It" (T-178),"You Do Something to Me" (T-6), "What Is This Thing Called Love" (T-186), "Love for Sale" (T-153), "I Get a Kick Out of You" (T-3), "Anything Goes" (T -39), "You' re the Top" (T-33), "Blow, Gabriel Blow" (T-194), "Just One of Those Things" (T-49), "It's De­Lovely" (T-2), "I've Got You Under My Skin" (T-10), "Easy to Love" (T-11)(my

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favorite song), "In the Still of the Night" (T-40), "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" (T-15), "Friendship" (T-116), "I Concentrate on You" (T-23), "I Love You" (T-58), "Wunderbar" (T-75), "So in Love" (T-79), 'Another Op'ning, Another Show" (T-156), "I Love Paris" (T-120), "It's All Right with Me" (T-90), "From This Moment On" (T-101) and "True Love" (T-98).

These songs can be located in the

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same manner as I described for "Spring Is Here," but they'll be found under the "T" prefix (vs. the "R").

I occasionally experienced seren­dipity while searching for titles not in my collection. Some years ago, while browsing through the files of an archivist in down­town Philadelphia, I remember thinking to myself, "Wouldn't it be terrific if I should come across "For No Rhyme or Reason" (T-158)? This was a Cole Porter number from a Broadway failure called "You Never Know" for which I had been searching for

years. Perhaps it was clairvoyance, but within a minute or so of silently expressing this wish, I came across a mint copy of that song!

In the event you wish to determine which songs originated from which shows or films, you would have to consult various reference books published within the realm of American popular music that delineate the names of musical movies and shows, also listing the titles of songs from such productions. Some collectors arrange their sheet music according to the production

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Were Thine That Special Face (1949). Loosely adapted from Shakespeare's "Taming of the Shrew," "Kiss Me, Kate" was a hugely successful Broadway and Hollywood musical with Cole Porter's most accomplished score. The sheet music cover above is from the film version.

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from which the song(s) originated, but since I was primarily concerned with the music itself, I decided years ago to limit the classification system to composer and/or song title.

If you wanted to know how many songs were published from, for example, "Kiss Me Kate," a 1948 Cole Porter show, you would want to consult the listing of the score on the cover of one of the pieces of sheet music from that show, assuming the information was not available from reference books. There are published

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compendiums which list most of the popular songs published up to and beyond the first half of the twentieth century.

Some of the Cole Porter songs include salacious and risque lyrics. These titles, of course, are collectibles in them­selves. "Let's Do It" (T-178) was prohibited on the radio for many years as were "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" (T-15), "Love For Sale" (T-153), and ''All of You" (T-92). The lyrics to "I Get a Kick Out of You" (T-3) were changed from, "Some get a kick from cocaine," to "Some like the perfumes of

Anything Goes (1934). A very young Ethel Merman is highlighted in this musical comedy, with words and music by Cole Porter.

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Spain," in order to be more acceptable to general audiences. (It is questionable whether there had ever been any kind of a tribute to Spanish perfume!)

Porter was a suave, dapper, urbane, foppish, cosmopolitan gentleman born in Peru, Indiana, with the proverbial silver spoon in his mouth. It therefore came as a shock to his aficionados when a song entitled "Don't Fence Me In" (T-67) became the No.1 song hit in 1944, and, incidentally, his greatest commercial triumph. People simply couldn't accept the fact that of all people the witty and debonair Porter, the writer of smart, sophisticated tunes, had written this cowboy number, more suited to the likes of Roy Rogers or Gene Autry.

My reasons for collecting composers like Porter et al were primarily due to many of the associations I had with these songs. I previously stated that "Easy to Love" (T-11) is my favorite song, and I must have half a dozen copies of this sheet music, all with the identical cover. "Easy to Love" takes me back to 1936 because two separate events in my personal life remind me of that song. It is my belief that most of our favorite songs are those which awaken memories of our past. When I hear a tune that recalls an incident from years ago, I am immediately transported back to that time and place, triggering nostalgia on my part.

One of the pleasures of collecting sheet music is to be familiar with the interesting anecdotes behind the writing of

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songwriters' works. There are many involving Cole Porter and here are several: He was the master of the "laundry list" song (i.e., the usage of proper nouns or subordi­nately common nouns in the lyrics). In 1935 during the Boston tryout of "Anything Goes," "You're the Top" (T-33), a "list" number was so enthusiastically received by the audience that it became necessary for Porter, who was in New York, to dictate encore choruses on the telephone to Ethel Merman in Boston. Merman happened to be a former stenographer and she simply jotted down the new lyrics in shorthand.

In 1937 Louis B. Mayer, the autocratic head of the mammoth MGM Studios, commissioned Porter to write the score for its new film musical, "Rosalie," starring Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy. Porter had written six different versions of the title song before he came up with one which he finally submitted to Mayer. The studio head listened and then told Porter to forget that he was writing for Nelson Eddy and just dash off a good old­fashioned hanky-tonk number. Porter left Mayer's office enraged, rushed home, and deliberately tried to write the worst possible song he could. He turned out the new version in a few hours and then played it for Mayer who accepted it on the spot. The irony of this anecdote is that "Rosalie" became a tremendous hit, selling over 500,000 copies of sheet music, and ranked No. 1 on the Hit Parade.

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THE MISCELLANEOUS FILE (W's)

The second section is the Miscella­neous collection and I have used the prefix "W" to distinguish between these sheets and those listed by composer. This collection is also cross-indexed alpha­betically by song title and numerically with the accession numbers beginning with 1 (i.e., W-1).

I collected sheet music primarily because of the music inside the front cover. Other collectors are more inter­ested in the attractiveness of the covers. Still others are intrigued by song titles. And many sheet music adherents collect by categories such as Atlantic City, band/ orchestra leaders, Broadway shows,

Hollywood films, Civil War, cartoons (Walt Disney), dances (Charlestons, jitter­bugs, waltzes, polkas, etc.), humor, states and other geographical locations, trans­portation (train, airplane, boat, car), military, World War I, ragtimes, African­Americans, sports, money, stage/screen/ radio/TV luminaries (e.g., Shirley Temple, Judy Garland, Fred Astaire/ Ginger Rogers, etc.), American presidents, John Philip Sousa marches, the Von Tilzer brothers, entertainers (Al Jolson, Eddie Cantor, Sophie Tucker, etc.), advertising, westerns, Scott Joplin, clothing, mother, novelty, girls' names (Mary and Sue were the most popular), etc.

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You're Getting to Be a Habit with Me (1932). From the hugely successful film, "Forty-Second Street," this sheet music highlights the many stars, including dancer Ruby Keeler.

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In the Miscellaneous File you will find a lot of sheet music in the above categories, but not arranged as such. For ~xample, "I Wonder What's Become of Sally" (W-502) ) will be found in the "W" section, as will "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" (W-15,608). These songs were written by songwriters other than those listed above in the Composer File.

There are three categories that particularly appealed to me. First, since I collect miniature trolleys, I began putting aside all sheet music with trolleys on the cover. Second, since I've always had a special place in my heart for the old Atlantic

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City (before the advent of casinos), I began collecting sheet music with scenes of Atlan­tic City on the cover. Third, my favorite river is the Susquehanna because I had fond memories of canoe trips on that river in the 1930's, and so I began collecting sheets with scenes or titles of the Susquehanna on the cover.

In the Miscellaneous numerical file "My Cabin of Dreams" is labeled W-1, because it was one of the first pieces assigned to me by Roxy, my piano teacher, and when I began classifying the Miscella­neous File, this one happened to be at the top of the pile.

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DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION OF SHEET MUSIC Abbreviations on printouts:

Bent: song sheet had been folded British: British edition of song sheet BW· black-and-white (i.e., standard

edition) Creased: same as bent L: large format NC: no cover NSG: not-so-good condition Punched holes: usually on left side Poor: poor condition R: standard or regular format Separated spine: split at the fold Trimmed: cut down song sheet Xerox: copy machine copy

Prior to 1917 virtually all popular sheet music was published in the large format (app. 10 3/4" x 13 3/4"). But around 1920 the size was reduced to what became known as the standard format (app. 9" x 12"). During World War I, because of a shortage of paper, a small format appeared (app. 7" x 10 1/2"). An example is "Ja-Da" (W-2676), published in 1918. Most of the sheet music in the Abram Samuels Collection is of the standard format. A small amount constitutes the large format. In the Miscellaneous ("W") File the large formats are kept in a metal file drawer. In the Com­poser File they are filed along with the stan­dard formats in the sheet music cabinets. For example, many of the early Jerome Kern songs were published in large format, as were many of the songs of Irving Berlin and Walter Donaldson, as well as most of the works of George M. Cohan.

Whenever possible I tried to acquire mint copies of original covers; compared to the original covers, standard editions (normally black-and-white covers) are not desirable additions to one' s collection, unless they are the only copies obtainable. II Star Dust (L-11) rna y very well be the most popular song ever written and it should come as no surprise to learn that there are numerous publications of this song, each with a different cover.

Those copies that have photographs of movie stars or celebrities on the cover are far more valuable than those without pictures or drawings. Sheet music covers

are like miniature movie posters and they bring forth memories of the old films. Those with personalities on the covers provide glimpses into our entertainment heritage.

Some song sheets were published as advanced artist copies. While these had black-and-white, non-illustrated covers (and sometimes no covers at all), they nevertheless attained a certain amount of value if for no other reason than they were used by performers. Other sheets, without covers, are labeled professional copies.

During the 1920's some publishers promoted two songs at a time, using a technique known as the double song sheet. In order to consolidate two songs into one format, a II gateleg," consisting of six fold­out pages was issued, and included two covers, sometimes illustrated.

Practically all of the 1920's, 30's and 40's sheets published in their original covers are out-of-print and largely unobtainable today. In fact, except for the standards, most of the black-and-white editions are no longer available either.

Sheet music must be handled very carefully to assure that no blemishes appear on it and that the spine does not become separated. Needless to say, the value of the music is diminished if it is not maintained in mint condition. The collector must make certain that the inside sheet is not missing. If the song sheet has been trimmed in any way, its value is substantially reduced. Most of the music in the Abram Samuels Collection is irreplaceable because it is no longer available from music publishers or music retailers.

Some of these song sheets are British editions. This means that not only were they published in England but the formats differed from the American editions. The paper stock was often heavier and the covers were often quite different from the American versions.

From the very beginning sheet music covers were designed by some of our leading artists (e.g., Nathaniel Currier, James Montgomery Flagg, James M. Whistler, Charles Dana Gibson, Winslow Homer, Nor man Rockwell, Harrison Fisher, Maud Humphreys, and Maxfield Parrish

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No No Nanette (1924). Sheet music from the Broadway score can often be verified by the presence of the titles of all of the additional songs from the score.

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(who only illustrated one cover). Others were primarily sheet music artists: Albert Barbelle, Edward H. Pfeiffer, Fred W. Starmer, Frederick Stewart Manning, Albert Vargas, etc. Many covers during the early 1930's were illustrated in Art Deco design.

The E.T. Paull Music Co. of New York published music at the turn of the century, mostly in the large format. These titles were coveted by all sheet music collectors because of their magnificent lithographs, usually in five colors. In fact some collectors placed more value on E.T. Paull song sheets than on any other. Another publisher some­times collected was the Vandersloot Music Publishing Company of Philadelphia and Williamsport, PA.

You will find a number of the afore­mentioned sheets in the Miscellaneous File, arranged alphabetically by title.

First editions of song sheets, as with first editions of books, are much more valuable than reprints. It is not an easy matter to ascertain which sheets are first editions, but if the music originated from a Broadway show or a Hollywood musical, the titles of all the published songs from

that production will be listed on the cover. For example, if eleven songs are indicated on the cover of "Tea for Two" (Y-1 ), a song which originated from the Broadway musical, "No, No, Nanette," this would signify that, in all probability, it's a first edition. The front cover is orange, purple, and white, and the back cover advertises a song entitled "Memory."

The song sheets from "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" (in the Miscella­neous File) were originally published by the Irving Berlin Music Company. Then they were reprinted with the same covers by Bourne, Inc. Obviously, the ones with the Irving Berlin Music Company imprints are first editions.

The highest known price paid for a single song sheet was during the 1980's when an early 19th century first edition of "The Star Spangled Banner" was sold for $28,000. The first edition is identifiable because there is a misspelling on th e cover. It reads "Pariotic Song" instead of "Patriotic Song." There are only seven known copies and I am not one of those fortunate owners.

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WHY I BEGAN AND ENJOYED COLLECTING SHEET MUSIC

Quoting a songwriter of my acquain­tance, "The collector collects, then he recollects." Throughout my life I've been an avid and inveterate collector, especially of paper goods. I used to keep "Your Hit Parade" rankings week by week, weekly football ratings, scrapbooks of my favorite movie stars, etc. As the old saying goes, "One man's junk is another man' s treasure." I fit the latter category. According to Sigmund Freud, the urge to collect is a sublimation of sexual desire. On the other

hand, some psychologists maintain that collecting is an unsatisfied lust for power.

On a more serious note, I found from the very beginning that amassing volumi­nous sheet music was a relatively inexpen­sive diversion, not requiring large outlays of money. I visited flea markets, antique shops, second-hand book stores, paper shows, thrift shops, garage sales, attics, and basements. I often acquired large quanti­ties of music without charge; people were glad to get rid of it.

RECORDED BY FRANK S NATRA OH CAPfTOL RECORDS

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lyrics ~ BOB WELLS

From Here to Eternity (1953). This cover from a relatively late example of the sheet music collection illustrates the "star power" of the cover.

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The collection is an eclectic one; there is some of just about everything: novelty numbers, blues, waltzes, you name it. Whenever opportunity presented itself for me to add to the collection, I always took advantage of it.

I knew a man in Maplewood, NJ, who wallpapered his first floor powder room with sheet music. It was quite a conversation piece because all of the titles were suggestive of bathroom humor.

I've always been fascinated by the covers of sheet music with their colorful illustrations and pictures. Covers provide an exciting experience in nostalgia. Few antiques recall the past as vividly and colorfully as old sheet music.

Over the years I became acquainted with many of the songwriters of the golden age of American popular music. Most of them are now deceased, so in my own way I've been able to perpetuate their memory through their songs. This is one reason why I'm glad that I organized one of the files according to composer.

Everybody, in my opinion, needs an avocation. Mine was sheet music collecting and I often experienced euphoria when I came across a long-sought piece. And there were other moments when I would proudly show off a recently acquired and very rare song sheet such as "Lydia, the Tattooed Lady," from an old Marx Brothers film. What a collector looks for is what he hasn't got. It's the kind of pastime for which there is no denouement, no sense of completion. Sheet music collecting gets in your blood.

You're always looking for that one piece you don't have, and there will always be one piece that you'll be looking for! Tie yourself to a hobby and you'll never be at loose ends!

I had a great deal of sentimental attachment to various songs in my collection and even though some of those covers had become mutilated and defaced, they evoked long-forgotten memories. Oftentimes I would look at the cover of a certain piece and it would summon up recollections of an old movie or show I had once seen and had forgotten about, or of a former entertainment celebrity. More often than not, a song reminded me of a particular episode in my life, because old

songs are nostalgia ticklers. Regardless of the quality of the music or the insipidity or mundaneness of the lyrics, that song is like an old flame that never dies. For instance, "I Faw Down and Go Boom" (W-410) has to be one of the sappiest songs ever written. Yet I'm immediately reminded of a minstrel show circa 1929 when I had to perform this number. One of the pleasures of collecting old music is remembering a tune, even a banal one, a song that elicits past memo­ries! And a lot of the songs of the golden era, in fact most of those in the Miscella­neous File, are at best mediocre and many are downright terrible.

One of my regrets in collecting is that I accumulated so much sheet music that its very magnitude precluded my desire and inclination to play each song on the piano. It would have been well­nigh impossible, and today I regret that I shall never have the opportunity of learning so many excellent tunes that are buried within the collection.

Woolworth's 5 and 10 cent store was located at 737 Hamilton Street. At least weekly, during the 1930's, I would walk to the back of the store to the sheet music department where a pianist would play the latest songs of the day. I can still remember the appetizing displays of mint condition sheet music, most of it selling for $.35 per copy. At the time I wished that I could have bought a copy of every new song.

After it became generally known that I had amassed a huge sheet music collection, people would often ask me to identify the names of songs which titles escaped them. Or they would sing or hum a line or two of a song and hope that I would know the number. Or they would ask who wrote a certain tune. Or they would ask me from what movie or show a song originated. I was always happy to oblige them and I would either check my printouts or refer to my reference books to locate the particular song. This resulted in my becoming a veritable tune detective.

Here is a case in point. Recently a friend of mine in Allentown asked me if I had ever heard of a song called '1\ngel in Disguise." I did indeed recall it as a 1940 number which never became particularly popular. I checked my printouts and found it in the Miscellaneous File (W-1918). It had

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been written for a forgettable Ann Sheridan-Humphrey Bogart Warner Brothers film, "It All Came True." I then made a copy of the sheet music and mailed it to my friend. He informed me that an elderly acquaintance of his, a retired college professor, who lived in Skowhegan, ME, had been searching for this song for five years, so of course he was most grateful to receive it. I enjoy using my reference books to research for musical trivia.

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All of my life I've been a keeper of records and lists. I have a mind born of trivia and minutiae, sometimes too pragmatic, too organized, and too methodical for my own good. And I was a born archivist. Before I computerized my collection, I had started a Roll-0-Dex card file of all the song sheets I owned up to that time. With these reasons in mind it should come as no surprise to the reader why I began collecting sheet music.

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THE 1920's, 30's AND 40's AS THE COLLECTION PERIOD

A large percentage of the Abram Samuels Collection of sheet music was published during the 1920's, 30's and 40's. Why did I specifically collect during this period? There are a number of reasons:

First, I grew up in the 1920's, 30's, and 40's. I remember the first songs I ever heard as a child: "Three 0' Clock in the Morning" (W-264), "Humoresque" (W-805), and "Keep Your Head Down, Fritzie Boy" (W-236). It was in the 1930's when I took piano lessons. And the songs written just before and during World War II were mostly ballads and ballads have always been predilections of mine.

Second, in my opinion the best songs of the twentieth century were written during this thirty year period and also, in my opinion, they have been unequaled since that time. With the advent of the Beatles, Elvis Presley, and rock music, tastes in popular music changed almost overnight as did songwriting. Of course, there have been exceptions. "My Fair Lady" and subsequent Lerner/Loewe scores were outstanding as was "West Side Story," "The Sound of Music," "Gypsy," and others of that genre. But, since 1950 most of the songs written for Broadway and Hollywood have been mediocre if not downright banal.

Third, the five "giants" of American popular music, Berlin, Gershwin, Kern, Porter, and Rodgers, did the bulk of their songwriting during this thirty year period. Berlin and Porter, at the ends of their careers, had virtually stopped composing during the 1960's. Gershwin died in 1937, Kern in 1945, and Rodgers' efforts were mainly mediocre following the death of Hammerstein in 1960 .

Fourth, old song sheets are period pieces. They are wonderful reflections of their times, and songs written during this period are distinctive according to their decade. Many of the 1920's tunes were snappy, peppy, syncopated, Charleston numbers and, generally, emblematic of the F. Scott Fitzgerald years. Many of the 1930's tunes emphasized swing, the Depression, the Big Bands, etc., while, as I pointed out above, the 1940's tunes were reflective of World War II and its immediate aftermath. Porter's "Let's Misbehave" (T -32) was indicative of the 1920's. His '1\t Long Last Love" (T-12) was a typical 1930's number. And "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To" (T-47) is a characteristic 1940's ballad.

Of the 34 composers mentioned above, only Stephen Sondheim has been prolifically composing into the 1990's. With a few isolated exceptions the others did their best work during the 20's, 30's and 40's. If you scan the year-by-year list of Academy Awards for best songs, subsequent to 1950 you will find very few tunes that could compare with the mastery of so many of the songwriters of that thirty year era.

Think of the music of which we have been deprived because of the untimely death in 1937 of George Gershwin at the age of 39.

Think of the" trunks" of unpublished songs composed by Irving Berlin, Harry Warren, and others which were submerged because of the changes in tastes of popular music (e.g., Elvis Presley, the Beatles, and rock music).

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A BRIEF HISTORY OF AMERICAN POPULAR MUSIC

Irving Berlin once said, "The history of America can be traced through its music." As a long-time collector I regard myself as a historian of sorts not an academic historian to be sure.

Dr. Sigmund Spaeth, a leading musicologist of the first half of the twentieth century wrote, "The popular song has become a most revealing index to American life in general. It sums up the ethics, the habits, the slang, the intimate character of every generation, and it will tell as much to the future students of

current civilization as any histories, biographies, or newspapers of the time."

Start with "Yankee Doodle" and continue with "The Star Spangled Banner," "Home Sweet Home," "Oh Susanna," "Dixie," "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," "Sidewalks of New York," right up to the stirring George M. Cohan tunes and it seems as though every human emotion, the heartbeat of a growing, dynamic young country, was captured in its music. And then continue with 1911's "Alexander's Ragtime Band" (S-123) when American

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With Plenty of Money and You (1936). This song and cover, from "Gold Diggers," shows the emphasis on wealth that typified many Depression-era movies.

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Sunny Side Up (1929). This title song featured Janet Gaynor, also known for being the first actress to win a "best actress" Oscar in 1927-28.

popular music began a new era the era of jazz (the 1920's), swing (the 1930's), and rock (the last half of the present century).

How does one distinguish between jazz and swing? Jazz is a distinctive genre of musical arran gem en t, recognized by its intricate, propulsive rhythms, syncopated melodic nature, and improvised variations, which usually result in a recomposition of the original melody. It was generally assumed to be of African-American origin and first emerged in New Orleans at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Swing is difficult to define because its music is felt rather than observed and cannot be accurately notated. It is really a

style of jazz, often arranged for a large dance band, and having less complex harmonies and rhythms than jazz. Swing is analogous to the Big Band era, and died with the approach of World War II.

Jazz was the inevitable music of the unrestrained society of the 1920's, and those " tired businessman musicals" reflected "flaming youth." One of the strange products of the time was "Yes, We Have No Bananas," (W-672), a musical oxy­moron of nonsense. Clara Bow was the "It" girl, and Helen Kane was the "boop-boop­a -doop" girl with her rendition of "I Wanna Be Loved by You" (M-32). With the release in 1928 of "The Jazz Singer," starring Al

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Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? (1932). Born of the bitter depression days of the 1930's, this tune evokes the pain and loss of that time better than many images or words.

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Jolson, talking pictures revolutionized popular music in America.

The decade that began in 1930 was spent largely in recovering from the excesses of the 1920's. "Happy Days Are Here Again" (W -86), which had been published in 1929, had now become a song of irony when the stock market collapsed. Depression lay heavily upon us and "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime" (W-80) was symbolic of the times. Swing became the outgrowth of jazz and big bands came into prominence. Walt Disney's first feature film, "The Three Little Pigs," featured "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?" (W-487).

War clouds hung over Europe as the 1940' s began and thus began an out­pouring of war songs. "Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition" (FF-22) was amongst the first of this genre. While not essentially a war number, "White Christmas" (S-37) became one of the biggest song hits of the century. With Rodgers/Hammerstein' s "Oklahoma," the pattern of conventional musical comedy was broken resulting in the arrival of other musicals imitating its general form.

A few words about African-American music: some of our most talented com­posers during the golden era were African-

Praise The Lord

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And Pass The Ammunition!! Wer4t _ _, Melk

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Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition (1942). Some songs and covers reflect important moments in our national history, such as this Frank Loesser song from World War II.

I

American. Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Errol Garner, Louis Armstrong, Eubie Blake, and Fats Waller immediately come to mind. It may be apocryphal but it has been said that Waller was the true composer of "I Can't Give You Anything But Love" (M-11) and "On the Sunny Side of the Street" (M-45) and sold these songs to a Broadway songwriter. African-American songwriters were responsible for developing blues, rags, soul, and scat music. Following is a repre­sentative listing of some of their more famous pop numbers: The "father of the

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blues," William Christopher Handy, composed "Saint Louis Blues" (W-182). Ellington composed "Mood Indigo" (Q-48), Calloway "Minnie the Moocher" (W-2936), also known as "The Ho De Ho Song," Garner "Misty" (W-243), Armstrong "Sugar Foot Stomp" (W-8378), Blake "I'm Just Wild about Harry" (W-1791), and Waller "Keepin' Out of Mischief Now' (W-210). We cannot exaggerate the debt we owe African­Americans for their contributions to American popular music.

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CONCLUSION

I cannot imagine my life without popular music; it has sustained me on more than one occasion. Para phrasing the immortal Ira Gershwin lines from "Long Ago and Far Away" (U-60), "Chills run up and down my spine - Aladdin's lamp is mine," this is the sensation I have when I hear certain songs from my past. I "feel" music. I can neither articulate nor meta­phorically describe what I feel except to express it on the piano. Coleridge said, '1\n ear for music is a very different thing from a taste for music." I play by ear but have no taste for either serious (classical) music or the other end of the music spectrum rock.

I think back to a random year and cogitate on the sheet music that was both popular and unforgettable from that period. For instance, let's consider the year 1934 when we were in the midst of the Depression, when the Midwest was devas­tated by dust storms, when Amos 'n' Andy was the most popular radio show with "One Man's Family" being a close second. The hit songs of the day we listened to were '1\11 I Do Is Dream of You" (II-13), "Blue Moon" (R-54), "Cocktails for Two" (D-5), "The Continental" (W-85), "I'll String Along with You" (B-28), "Isle of Capri" (W-1618),

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"June in January" (D-14), "Love in Bloom" (D-16), "Love Thy Neighbor" (A-3), "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" (W-161), "Stars Fell on Alabama" (W-173), "Stay As Sweet As You Are" (A-39), "The Very Thought of You" (W-868), "Wagon Wheels" (W-3934), and "You're the Top" (T-33).

Popular music has always played an important role in the history of America. The poet Carl Sandburg has observed that "the song history of America, when some day it gets written, will accomplish two things. It will give the feel and atmosphere, the layout and lingo, of regions, of breeds of men, of customers and slogans, in a man­ner and air not given in regular history, to be read and not sung." The songs in this sheet music collection are a source of wonderment and delight, and should be enjoyed by everyone who believes in bringing forgotten songs to life.

"Old songs are best­How sweet to hear The strains to home And memory dear."

(Clarence Urmy)

by Abram Samuels

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Love in Bloom (1934). A hit song popularized by a very young Bing Crosby, from the movie "She Loves Me Not."