Julius Henry Marx made his debut on the vaudeville stage in 1905 at the age of 15. He was soon joined by his brothers Milton (Gummo) and Adolph (Harpo). They were a singing group at first and highly unsuccessful until Julius (Groucho) began to insult an audience in Nacogdoches Texas after much of the audience had abandoned the theater in mid song to watch a runaway mule on the street outside. His witty repartee was much more entertaining than the singing, so the Marx brothers became a highly successful comedy act.
The Marx Brothers, by this time including the eldest, Leonard (Chico) and the youngest, Herbert (Zeppo) went on to star on Broadway and then in Hollywood films starting with one of the earliest talkies, “The Cocoanuts,” in 1929. This clip, from a 1939 film “At The Circus” introduces Groucho’s signature song, “Lydia the Tattooed Lady.” He would continue to sing this song throughout his life when appearing on television or before live audiences - probably some dead ones too.
“Orchestra Wives” was a musical filmed in 1942 starring Ann Rutherford and George Montgomery and featuring the Glen Miller Orchestra. It was the second, and last, film that Miller made, both with songs written by Mack Gordon and Harry Warren. The first was called “Sun Valley Serenade.”
Soon after making this film Miller joined the Army and attempted to “modernize” military music. His addition of swing rhythms to Sousa marches outraged military music traditionalists. Miller was lost in an airplane crash over the English Channel in 1944, on his way to entertain the troops in France.
This clip features saxophonist Tex Beneke, singing group The Modernaires and the dancing Nicholas Brothers. The Nicholas Brothers called their athletic dance style “flash dancing.” They are a precursor to the 1990’s break dancers. The “no hands splits,” which they do several of in this routine, are considered physically impossible by present day dancers. Gregory Hines has said that if their biography was ever filmed, their dance numbers would have to be computer generated because no one could duplicate them.
Written by Harold Arlen and E. Y. “Yip” Harburg for the film “Wizard of Oz,” “Over the Rainbow” is one of the most covered songs in popular music. I’ve even heard Ian Tyson sing it. It is the number one song on the “Songs of the Century” list compiled by the Recording Industry Association of America
Here is seventeen year old Judy Garland, in the film, singing the song that was nearly cut for slowing down the action. “Over the Rainbow” won an Oscar for best original song in 1939.
One day I was cruising YouTube, playing videos of various guitarists and I said to my wife " I'm just amazed that I can be sitting here watching Doc Watson's fingers for free." It dawned on me that it would be a valuable service to share these gems with other people. The videos posted here are the ones that really caught my eye.
