An American Troubadour – Woody Guthrie

When doing a google search on the term ‘An American Troubadour’ names such as Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson and even Don McLean show up on the first page. Woody Guthrie, one of the first and perhaps also one of the best of the American Troubadours, was born in Okemah, Oklahoma on July 14, 1912.

He had rough youth with his sister Clara dieing in a fire and his mother going through a period of what now is termed degenerative neurological disease, possibly Parkinson’s Disease. Even though he didn’t spend much time in school he read constantly, perhaps some of these books were about psychology.

Will Geer, the actor who many remember as Grandpa Walton, was a lifelong friend to Guthrie. They met during the 1930′s in California when like many others Guthrie left the dust bowl for California. During this stage he sang when he could, did whatever work that was available and listened to the tales of the working man.

In February 1940 after hearing once again what he felt was the overplayed God Bless America on the Kate Smith radio show, he sat down to write his most well known song, This Land is Your Land. It wasn’t until four years later that the song was first recorded and not until the 1950′s that is was issued as sheet music.

Even though he is best remembered as a song writer, he really was simply a poet, whose words were put to music. He also wrote Bound for Glory, a autobiography of his growing up in Oklahoma, Texas and his wayward travels.

When he died from complications from Huntington’s Disease on October 3, 1967 his songs were once again being sung by the folk artists of the era. Bob Dylan, an American Troubadour himself, considered Guthrie his hero.

Carole King’s 1971 Album Tapestry

The Album was recorded by Singer/Song writer Carole King in January 1971 and released in March. Lou Adler produced the album, which included original songs as well as some of her compositions and recorded by others in the 1960’s. It was her second album.

The Album reached Number 1 for 15 weeks on the Album charts and remained on them for 302 weeks or nearly 6 years.

The Album had the number 1 singles It’s Too Late, I Feel the Earth Move and So Far Away. The song You’ve Got A Friend was recorded by James Taylor and his version also peaked at number 1.

Barbara Streisand released a version of the song Where You Lead. Where You Lead remade by Carole King and her daughter Louise Goffin is used as the theme for The Gilmore Girls.

It won the Grammy Award for best Album in 1972. The Song It’s Too Late won Record of the Year while You’ve Got a Friend won Song of the Year. Carole King was awarded Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

Two tribute albums have been made. The first in 1995 titled tapestry Revisited: A Tribute to Carole King, and the second, released in 2003, titled A New Tapestry — Carole King Tribute.

Uncle Miltie

He was the first Superstar of Television and in the late 40s/Early 50s he was the one of the most watched, with people scheduling their evening around his show. Uncle Miltie was Milton Berle and June 12 is the anniversary of his birth. He was born Mendel Berlinger in New York in 1908.

He spend nearly all of his life in show business becoming a child performer after he won a contest at the age of 5. He claimed that he performed as a child actor in a few Silent Films, including the serial Perils of Pauline, but since records weren’t kept on who appeared in the films this has been debated.

What is known is in 1916 at the age of twelve he enrolled in the Professional Children’s School and made his Broadway debut in Florodora. This lead to his long career. He took the name Milton Berle at the age of 16.

Berle’s first appearance on Television came not in the 40s, but in 1929 when he emceed an experimental closed-circuit telecast to 129 people in Chicago. In 1948, NBC moved the Texaco Star Theater from radio to television. In its first year he was one of the 4 rotating hosts and in its 2nd he became the lone host.

Berle is credited with selling many televisions. As the new decade began his show owned Tuesday night. But Television hosts didn’t seem to have the lasting effects that Radio had and by 1956 his show had lost its audience, although it did have two appearances by the young popular singer Elvis in that year.

At the age of 93 he died died on March 27, 2002 in Los Angeles, California.

Red Sox Pitcher – George Herman (Babe) Ruth

It was on July 11, 1914 that the 19 year old left handed pitcher George Herman Ruth made he first appearance for the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox played the Cleveland Indians defeating them 4-3. In 1914 Babe Ruth would appear in 4 games starting 3 of them. He pitched 23 innings, with a record of 2 wins, 1 lost and ERA of 3.91.

From this point until the end of the 1919 season Ruth played for the Red Sox. He was primarily a Pitcher for them until 1918, when he was used both as a pitcher and an outfielder. He was 18-8 in 1915, 23-12 in 1916, 24-13 in 1917, and 13-7 in 1918 and was winningest left-handed pitcher in baseball from 1915-1917.

In 1919 he played in 130 games, pitching 133.3 innings in 17 games with a record of 9 wins 5 lost. He had 29 Home Runs, 114 RBIs with a batting average of .322. At the end of the season his contract was sold to the New York Yankees.

After going to the Yankees he would only pitch in 5 more games. Once in 1920, twice in 1922, once in 1930 and again in 1933.

Ruth pitched in 163 in his career pitching with 148 of these games being starts and 107 complete games. His career pitching record was 94 wins, 46 lost with an ERA of 2.28. The only year in which he gave up more Home Runs as a Pitcher than he hit as a batter was in 1914.

In his 22 year career Ruth would have a career average of .342, have 2,873 hits of which 714 were Home Runs and 136 were Triples. He also received 2,062 walks. It makes you wonder what his numbers would have been if he hadn’t spent the first 4 years primarily as a pitcher.

Musical Artist of the Decade

This morning Lady Gaga performed on the Concert Summer Series on NBC performing to their biggest crowd. Each generation/decade has had a musical artist that has in their own way defined the decade. Is the decade of 2010 Lady Gaga’s? So far it would seem that way. Here is my list of the Artist of the last several decades.

1930′s – Bing Crosby with the 1940′s being Frank Sinatra. Many could be of the opinion that Bing Crosby is the artist of the 30′s and 40′s with Sinatra reaching the top in the later 40′s and into the early 50′s.

1950′s – Elvis Presley. He’s not called the King for nothing

1960′s – The Beatles. They began in 1962 as a top British act before reaching the US in 1964. The 70′s began as they ended, but their influence is still felt.

1970′s – Elton John. He was the first artist to debut at Number 1 on the album chart and from 1971 on (although Your Song did debut in 1970) didn’t miss a year without a top selling song.

1980′s – Michael Jackson. Just one word, Thriller. Although there is an argument for Madonna.

1990′s – Garth Brooks. Whether you liked him or not, he sold a bunch of CD’s.

2000′s – The decade has just ended and their could be an argument for a number of artists. Beyonce, Jay Z, Britney Spears, and even Miley Cyrus. But I’ll give that honor to Mariah Carey.

Mickey Carroll

2009 was the 70th anniversary of the film The Wizard of Oz. Very few involved with the film are still alive and on May 7, 2009 we lost one the Munchkins. Mickey Carroll played the part of the Town Crier, marched as a Munchkin Soldier and was the candy-striped Fiddler who escorted Dorothy Gale down the yellow brick.

Mr. Carroll was born Michael Finocchiaro on July 8, 1919, in St. Louis, the son of Italian immigrants. Before his appearance in the Wizard of Oz, he danced in vaudeville, worked on radio ads and radio shows with George Burns, Gracie Allen, Jack Benny and Al Jolson.

Carroll told The Associated Press in a 2007 interview that the Munchkins made only $125 a week while filming, followed by decades of recognition.

In the mid-1940s, Mr. Carroll returned to St. Louis to run the family business making cemetery monuments which he sold it in 1996.

In November 21, 2007 the Munkins received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Carroll and the six other surviving Munchkins were there as it was uncovered.

When Carroll died he was fondly remembered by his neighbors in St. Louis as a person gave much of his time and money to St. Louis area charities.

Mary Surratt – The Woman, The Town, The Conspiracy

On July 7, 1865, four persons who had been tried and convicted in the conspiracy to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln were lead to the gallows to be hung. At a little before 2 PM the trap door was tripped and the four fell to their death. Those hung that afternoon were Lewis T. Powell, George A. Atzerodt, David E. Herold and Mary Surratt.

Mary Elizabeth Eugenia Jenkins Surratt, who was the mother John Surratt, another possible conspirator, but one who was never found guilty, was the first woman executed by the United States Government. In fact, few thought that the government would actually put her to death, including the hangman. He only put five loops, instead of seven, on her noose, thinking that the noose would never be used.

Surratt owned a tavern in the town of Surrattsville, Maryland as well as a boardinghouse in Washington. It was at the boardinghouse that the conspiracy for the assassination may have been hatched. When John Wilkes Booth escaped Washington he and David Herrold stopped at the tavern in Surrattsville.

Surrattsville was named for the family of Mary Surratt’s husband, John Surratt, Sr. John Surratt Sr. held the post of postmaster of Surratsville when he died unexpectedly in August of 1862. Because of the notoriety of the name Surratt, the Post Office renamed the town Robeysville. In 1879 the town was again renamed to its present name of Clinton.

It’s now believed that at most she was a minor member of the conspiracy. The Surratt society has preserved the tavern in Clinton. Her boarding house in Washington also still survives.

Those who were executed that day were tried and convicted by a Military court. A year later in 1866. The United State Supreme Court ruled that Military court had no jurisdiction in civilian cases, if civil courts were open. Had this ruling been in place a year earlier, Surratt and the others would have been tried in civil courts with possible different outcomes.

The First Game

Until 1933 the only time that Baseball’s National League faced the American League was in the World Series. That changed on July 6, 1933, at Chicago’s Comiskey Park when players from the two leagues came together to play the first All-Star Game.

This first All-Star Game was held as part of the 1933 World’s Fair in Chicago, Illinois and was initiated at the insistence of Arch Ward, a sports editor for the Chicago Tribune.

The American League team was managed by Philadelphia A’s manager Connie Mack with John McGraw managing the National league.

With all of the great hitters of the game that played that day such as Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Frankie Frisch, the first RBI was recorded by American League pitcher Lefty Gomez. Gomez was also the winning pitcher.

Others firsts were Babe Ruth hitting the first Home Run with Frankie Frisch hitting the first for the National League later in the game. Lou Gehrig made the first error.

The 2 hour 9 minute game was seen by 49,200 fans. The American League won that first game with the final score being 4-2.

Vacation

6 Things To Consider will be on vacation for the Independence Day Weekend and will return on Tuesday July 6, 2010.

Have a great 4th of July!!

2nd of July

It may not be remembered as the most important day of 1776, but it probably should be. Of course those who have read 6 Things Consider know my opinion on the importance of the date.

It was on the 2nd of July that the Continental Congress voted for Independence from their home county of England. The 4th of July is simply the day that the Declaration to the English King, George III, was approved.

There are a few common beliefs about America’s Independence that are not quite accurate. The date of Independence is just one of them. Another is that on July 4, 1776 after the vote for Independence was made that the members of Congress signed the document. There wasn’t a document to sign, other than the copy that the Secretary, Charles Thomson, had made the changes and additions that had been made during he debates.

The signing was done as an after though and was done on August 2, 1776. Since the members of the congress changed regularly due to appointment by their representative States, there were signers of the Declaration of Independence who was not even in attendance of July 4th.

Some of this stems from a misinterpret of the famous painting by John Trumbull. It has been commonly called the “Signing of the Declaration” when in reality it shows the presentation of the Declaration of Independence to the President of the Congress, John Hancock, by the five man committee, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman and Robert Livingston, that had been tasked with its drafting. This presentation was made on June, 28, 1776.

Trumbull’s Declaration of Independence is a 12-by-18-foot oil-on-canvas painting that was commissioned in 1817 and was placed in the United States Capitol Rotunda, where it still resides, in 1826.