Friday, December 07, 2007
Time capsule: Anonymous heaven
Still in the hidden-gem mode:
In the late '40s the Aunt Jemima pancake flour company ran a brief daily music show, something like an infomercial. Aunt Jemima and an announcer bantered for a minute, then abruptly cut to a piece of music, then bantered again, then a second piece of music. The banter was below even the usual standard of daytime commercials, but the music was above anything else heard on radio. A small chorus sang a mix of Old Favorites, gospel numbers, and a few newer songs.
I'm purely guessing the "Jemima chorus" was actually a set of records made by a college glee-club ... because of the classical flavor, somewhere between barber-shop and madrigal. [College a-cappella choirs and madrigal choirs were a semi-pro phenomenon in the 1930s; many of them toured nationally and made records.]
Heavenly music rammed up against crass commercialism produced an immiscible incongruity that beggars description, but I'll try anyway. Just imagine The Gabrieli and Tammy Faye Show, or J.S. "Buddy" Bach and the Oak Ridge Boys.
Here are several of the best pieces, carefully clipped away from the stupidity so that these anonymous musical angels can finally be appreciated.
= = = = =
Note: Originally these clips weren't available anywhere else online, so I had a few good selections on my own website. They are now (late 2011) available free at archive.org, here.
= = = = = ¶ 3:38 PM
In the late '40s the Aunt Jemima pancake flour company ran a brief daily music show, something like an infomercial. Aunt Jemima and an announcer bantered for a minute, then abruptly cut to a piece of music, then bantered again, then a second piece of music. The banter was below even the usual standard of daytime commercials, but the music was above anything else heard on radio. A small chorus sang a mix of Old Favorites, gospel numbers, and a few newer songs.
I'm purely guessing the "Jemima chorus" was actually a set of records made by a college glee-club ... because of the classical flavor, somewhere between barber-shop and madrigal. [College a-cappella choirs and madrigal choirs were a semi-pro phenomenon in the 1930s; many of them toured nationally and made records.]
Heavenly music rammed up against crass commercialism produced an immiscible incongruity that beggars description, but I'll try anyway. Just imagine The Gabrieli and Tammy Faye Show, or J.S. "Buddy" Bach and the Oak Ridge Boys.
Here are several of the best pieces, carefully clipped away from the stupidity so that these anonymous musical angels can finally be appreciated.
= = = = =
Note: Originally these clips weren't available anywhere else online, so I had a few good selections on my own website. They are now (late 2011) available free at archive.org, here.
= = = = = ¶ 3:38 PM
