Sound Beat

Fred Astaire was one of the greatest film stars and dancers of all time, but there was only one partner who really filled his dance card.

The 1936 film “Swing Time” featured Ginger Rogers and Astaire…

Alright, excuse us for a bit of poetic license. The swimsuit had more to do with atomic bombs than rockets.

The Bikini Atoll is a small island chain in the South Pacific. In July of 1946 it served …

Buschmann gets credit for inventing the harmonica and, according to some experts, the accordion.  (Imagine your neighbor learning the instruments, now imagine them inventing both).

The accordion is a…

With high energy shows, slightly tawdry lyrics and a style that blended Dixieland, blues and jazz, the Harlem Hamfats were just… born at the wrong time.

You’re listening to the ironically named Harle…

This song is a bridge of sorts between two others. It started with Helen Hume’s Be-Baba-Leba, recorded in 1945. From there, the lyrics changed into the “Hey! Baba-Re-Bop” that you hear…right here:

Ge…

When British army bandmaster Lieutenant FJ Ricketts was stationed at Fort George in Scotland, he…did as the Scots do, and played a fair amount of golf. The story goes that he came across a certain ni…

So impressed was Beethoven that when he composed his Symphony Number 3 in E Flat Major, he dubbed it “Bonaparte”. But as the story goes, he became enraged when Napoleon named himself Emperor of the F…

Valentine’s Day is the one day of the year where even the most restrained of suitors demonstrate their affection, wearing their hearts on their sleeves, if you will. Hey, where does that saying come …

Johnny Mercer first made his way to New York with dreams of becoming an actor. But he’d catch on as a singer and songwriter, his first break coming during a “Youth of America” audition. Conductor Pau…

Arthur Sullivan was one of Britain’s most important composers, one half of a little theatrical team known as Gilbert and Sullivan. But in his own words: “I have composed much music since then, but ha…

You’re listening to Ralph Young and the Ray Charles Singers with The Legend of Wyatt Earp, a 1955 Decca 78. The mark of authenticity Earp brought to a film set in the 20’s must have been invaluable. …

You’re listening to Johannes Brahms and the Banda de Estado Mayor de Mexico. That’s right, a Hungarian danza by a Mexican banda.

You’re on the Sound Beat.

Brahms composed 21 danzas, basing them on Hu…

One of the most revered and renowned recordings in music history.

You’re listening to Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground by Blind Willie Johnson. Music historians cite the song as a retelling of…

You’re listening to the Jubilee Singers of Fisk University sing Peter on the Sea, from 1927, and you’re on the Sound Beat.

Fisk University struggled financially from its very founding just six months…

What kind of music comes mind when you think of college-aged musicians hanging around a coffeehouse? Probably some acoustic folk, maybe some bongo-based “world” music? How about…classical cantatas?

Y…

Youre listening to Sitting On Top OfThe World, recorded by The Sheiks in 1930. The song graced the Grateful Dead’s eponymously-titled first album, released in 1967. The Dead were sitting on top of th…

You’re listening to La Mer, a Columbia 78 from 1948 and you’re on the Sound Beat.

A man as prolific as Charles Trenet (850 songs published over a 60 year career) probably doesn’t rest much, even on t…

You’re listening to Nat Wills with “If a Table at Rector’s Could Talk” from the 1913 Ziegfield Follies.

In 1850, there were 19 millionaires in the US. But by the Gay Nineties, there were over 4,000. …