Tuesday, June 02, 2009

Musical Canine Trivia

Trombonology's Beautiful and eloquent blog about the music she loves makes me wish I knew more about it. Her latest, Benny, Tram and my little dog too, leaves me unable to resist sharing an interesting bit of trivia, inspired by the mention of her little dog, Nelson. Ms. Trombonology's favorite singer, Jo Stafford, recorded the old standard duet, "Whispering Hope" with Gordon MacRae many years ago. The trivia part of is that that Septimus Winner, who wrote the song, also wrote "Where oh where has my little dog gone" and "Listen to the Mocking 'Bird." He was arrested for treason when he wrote a song in praise of a general that President Lincoln fired. Paul Harvey would have loved that one for one of his "The rest of the story" episodes. Maybe he used it and I missed it. Here's my own "Rest of the Story." Little Dog Nelson's full name is Nelson Eddy, no doubt named for another famous duet singer whose claim to fame was duets with Jeanette MacDonald. Isn't life interesting?

1 comment:

  1. Clifton,
    I greatly appreciate the plug; yours are very kind words. Through the points of your post, so neatly woven together and tied to the title, I took a sentimental journey: Several years ago, not long after I'd become mad about Jo's music, my mom told me that the Jo-Gordon "Whispering Hope" had been a favorite of my paternal grandmother, whom I'd never known. Too, I remembered how much Mom had enjoyed Paul Harvey's "The Rest of the Story" spots; she shared many of those with me after having tuned in.

    I had no idea that Septimus Winner was responsible for "Little Dog" and "Mockingbird." I'm tempted to regard the song that got him arrested as a quasi-protest song. This and devotional material ... hmmm.

    ... My Nelson was indeed named after Jeanette's baritone partner. ... I've linked to you on my own page and shall follow your musings.

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