True Blue Sam the Travelin' Man

David aka True Blue Sam

With the record cold and snow all over the place, it seems like a good time to warm things up with a Sophie Tucker song. EdmundusRex uploaded this record, and I have copied his notes below:

"Sophie Tucker (Jan.13,1884 - Feb.9,1966) was a singer and comedian, one of the most popular entertainers in America during the first two-thirds of the 20th century.

She was born Sonia Kalish to a Jewish family in Tsarist Russia. Her family emigrated to the United States when she was an infant, and settled in Hartford, Connecticut. The family changed its name to Abuza, and her parents opened a restaurant.
She started singing for tips in her family's restaurant. In 1903, at the age of 19, she was briefly married to Louis Tuck, from which she decided to change her name to "Tucker."

Tucker played piano and sang burlesque and vaudeville tunes, at first in blackface. She later said that this was at the insistence of theatre managers, who said she was "too fat and ugly" to be accepted by an audience in any other context.
She made a name for herself in a style that was known at the time as a "Coon Shouter", performing African American influenced songs. Not content with performing in the simple minstrel traditions, Tucker hired some of the best African American singers of the time to give her lessons, and hired African American composers to write songs for her act.
Tucker made her first appearance in the Ziegfeld Follies in 1909, but didn't last long there because Florenz Ziegfeld's other female stars soon refused to share the spotlight with the popular Tucker.
Tucker made several popular recordings. They included "Some of These Days," which came out in 1911 on Edison Records. The tune, written by Shelton Brooks, was a hit, and became Tucker's theme song. Later, it was the title of her 1945 autobiography.
In 1921, Tucker hired pianist and songwriter Ted Shapiro as her accompanist and musical director, a position he would keep throughout her career. Besides writing a number of songs for Tucker, Shapiro became part of her stage act, playing piano on stage while she sang, and exchanging banter and wisecracks with her in between numbers.
In the 1930s, Tucker brought elements of nostalgia for the early years of 20th century into her show. She was billed as The Last of the Red Hot Mamas, as her hearty sexual appetite was a frequent subject of her songs, unusual for female performers of the era. She made numerous popular film appearances, including Broadway Melody of 1938. In that film, Tucker sings a song during the big finale; even though she is playing a character and not herself, several neon lights displaying her real name light up in the background of the stage in tribute.
She continued performing in the U.S. and the United Kingdom, until shortly before dying of lung cancer in 1966 at the age of 82 and was interred at Emanuel Cemetery in Wethersfield, Connecticut.

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Miff Mole (March 11,1898 - April 29,1961) was a jazz trombonist and band leader. He is generally considered as one of the greatest jazz trombonists and credited with creating "the first distinctive and influential solo jazz trombone style."
Sophie Tucker, Miff Mole Orchestra - I've Got a Cross-Eyed Papa (1924)"

David aka True Blue Sam

This excellent recording is shared with us by EMGColonel, over in the UK. This is an American Victor recording of the Trinity Choir, circa 1910, and uploaded yesterday, just in time for Christmas.

David aka True Blue Sam

Hark, the Herald Angels Sing with Organ and Orchestra: the closing Procession at Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral, Kansas City. Trinity Choir (John Schaefer, Director), John Fowler, organist. Christmas 2007

Video by anglicanorganistjohn

Before EJ went off to college to become an engineer, he played in the Christmas Orchestra several years at the Methodist Church in Carbondale, Illinois. They always closed out the Christmas concert with this song. A live performance of Hark the Herald Angels by an orchestra and a pipe organ will make you thrill and vibrate with the music; Unforgettable!

David aka True Blue Sam

The Santa Train at the Nevada State Railroad Museum in Carson City, NV.

David aka True Blue Sam

David aka True Blue Sam

The Harmony Double Mixed Quartet performs another Christmas song for the Puritone label of the Straus & Schram mail order company. Merry Christmas!

The True Blue Sam Family wishes all of our visitors a Merry and Blessed Christmas! Thanks for visiting, and now get back to your own family!

David aka True Blue Sam

The Harmony Double Mixed Quartet performs a wonderful old Christmas carol on the Puritone Label for the Straus & Schram Company.

David aka True Blue Sam

from Jim02026

David aka True Blue Sam

Go visit The Packing Rat, then go do likewise. Derek takes lots of new shooters to the range and starts them in the right direction to be safe and skillful shooters. There are people all over this country who want to learn how to shoot; we should all follow Derek's example and take someone to the range.