Ringo Starr, the accidental Beatle turned 71 today. It is tough for me to think about the Beatles in their 70s – hell, I had a hard time thinking of Paul McCartney at 64. But here it is, the oldest Beatle is 71.
Born Richard Starkey to Elsie (née Gleave) and Richard Starkey, a confectioner in Liverpool, England. Ringo had the good fortune to know The Beatles at a time when they needed to replace Pete Best as their drummer, and although he was relegated to playing tambourine during his first recording session with John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison, Ringo would go on to become the lovable one, the cuddly one and he played the sad sack persona to the hilt.
Ronnie Self (July 5, 1938 – August 28, 1981) was a United States rockabilly singer and songwriter. His solo career was unsuccessful, despite being signed to contracts with Columbia and then Decca from the late 1950s through the early 1960s. His only charted single was “Bop-A-Lena”; recorded in 1957 and released in 1958, it reached #68 on the Billboard charts. His boastful country anthem “Ain’t I’m a Dog” was a regional hit in the South, but failed to score nationally.
Rumored to be the first Rock N Roll singer signed to Columbia despite the objections of the Columbia A&R performer Mitch Miller.
A talented performer and songwriter, Self’s career was blighted by his severe alcoholism and erratic behavior, including incidents of violence. However, Brenda Lee’s cover of his songs “I’m Sorry” and “Sweet Nothin’s” became major pop classics and his country gospel song “Ain’t That Beautiful Singing”, recorded by Jake Hess, was awarded a Grammy for Best Sacred Performance in 1969. He died in Springfield, Missouri.
On this date in 1925, American Singer, Songwriter, Actor, Television host and Media Mogul, Merv Griffin was born
On this date in 1925, American Singer and Musician, Bill Haley of Bill Haley and His Comets was born
On this date in 1931, American Singer, Actress and Ordained Minister, Della Reese was born
On this date in 1937, American R&B and Soul Singer, Songwriter, Producer and Record Executive, Gene Chandler was born
On this date in 1939, British Bassist, Jet Harris of The Shadows was born
On this date in 1940, American Country Singer, Songwriter and Actress, Jeannie Seely was born
On this date in 1949, American Singer, Songwriter and Actress, Phyllis Hyman was born
On this date in 1957, future Beatles Paul McCartney and John Lennon were introduced during a performance by Lennon’s band, the Quarrymen, at the St. Peter’s Church Hall fête in Woolton, Liverpool
On this date in 1971, American Trumpeter, Singer and Actor, Louis Armstrong died
On this date in 1979, American Musician, Music producer, Arranger, Songwriter, and Orchestra Conductor, Van McCoy died
On this date in 1998, American Singer, Actor, Cowboy and Icon, Roy Rogers of the Sons of The Pioneers died
On this date in 2004, American Soul and R&B Singer and Songwriter, Syreeta Wright died
On this date in 2008, American Jazz Drummer, Bobby Durham died
On this date in 2009, British Folk Singer and Musician, Johnny Collins died
Stephen Collins Foster (July 4, 1826 – January 13, 1864), known as the “father of American music”, was the pre-eminent songwriter in the United States of the 19th century. His songs — such as “Oh! Susanna”, “Camptown Races”, “Old Folks at Home” (“Swanee River”), “Hard Times Come Again No More”, “My Old Kentucky Home”, “Old Black Joe”, “Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair”, and “Beautiful Dreamer” — remain popular over 150 years after their composition.
Foster attended private academies in Allegheny, Athens, and Towanda, Pennsylvania. He received an education in English grammar, diction, the classics, penmanship, Latin and Greek, and mathematics. In 1839, his elder brother William was serving his apprenticeship as an engineer at nearby Towanda and thought Stephen would benefit from being under his supervision. The site of the Camptown Races is 30 miles from Athens, and 15 miles from Towanda. Stephen attended Athens Academy from 1839 to 1841. He wrote his first composition, Tioga Waltz, while attending Athens Academy, and performed it during the 1839 commencement exercises; he was 14. It was not published during the composer’s lifetime, but it is included in the collection of published works by Morrison Foster. In 1842, Athens Academy was destroyed in a fire.
Stephen Foster
His education included a brief period at Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania (now Washington & Jefferson College). His tuition was paid, but Foster had little spending money. Sources conflict on whether he left willingly or was dismissed; but, either way, he left Canonsburg to visit Pittsburgh with another student and didn’t return.
During his teenage years, Foster was influenced greatly by two men. Henry Kleber (1816–1897), one of Stephen’s few formal music instructors, was a classically trained musician who emigrated from Darmstadt, Germany, to Pittsburgh and opened a music store. Dan Rice was an entertainer, a clown and black-face singer, making his living in traveling circuses. Although respectful of the more civilized parlor songs of the day, he and his friends would often sit at a piano, writing and singing minstrel songs through the night. Eventually, Foster would learn to blend the two genres to write some of his best-known work.
Oh! Susanna
In 1846, Foster moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, and became a bookkeeper with his brother’s steamship company. While in Cincinnati, Foster penned his first successful songs, among them “Oh! Susanna” which would prove to be the anthem of the California Gold Rush in 1848–1849. In 1849, he published Foster’s Ethiopian Melodies, which included the successful song “Nelly Was a Lady”, made famous by the Christy Minstrels. A plaque marks the site of Foster’s residence in Cincinnati, where the Guilford School building is now located.
Then he returned to Pennsylvania and signed a contract with the Christy Minstrels. It was during this period that Foster would write most of his best-known songs: “Camptown Races” (1850), “Nelly Bly” (1850), “Old Folks at Home” (known also as “Swanee River”, 1851), “My Old Kentucky Home” (1853), “Old Dog Tray” (1853), and “Jeanie With the Light Brown Hair” (1854), written for his wife Jane Denny McDowell.
Stephen Foster statue on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh
Many of Foster’s songs were of the black-face minstrel show tradition popular at the time. Foster sought, in his own words, to “build up taste … among refined people by making words suitable to their taste, instead of the trashy and really offensive words which belong to some songs of that order.”
Although many of his songs had Southern themes, Foster never lived in the South and visited it only once, by river-boat voyage (on his brother Dunning’s steam boat, the Millinger) down the Mississippi to New Orleans, during his honeymoon in 1852.
Foster attempted to make a living as a professional songwriter and may be considered innovative in this respect, since this field did not yet exist in the modern sense. Due in part to the limited scope of music copyright and composer royalties at the time, Foster realized very little of the profits which his works generated for sheet music printers. Multiple publishers often printed their own competing editions of Foster’s tunes, not paying Foster anything. For “Oh, Susanna”, he received $100.
Stephen Foster and George Cooper - this photo (the last taken of the songwriter) was made in January 1864, just a few days before Foster died
Foster moved to New York City in 1860. About a year later, his wife and daughter left him and returned to Pittsburgh. Beginning in 1862, his fortunes decreased, and as they did, so did the quality of his new songs. Early in 1863, he began working with George Cooper, whose lyrics were often humorous and designed to appeal to musical theater audiences. The Civil War created a flurry of newly written music with patriotic war themes, but this did not benefit Foster.
Stephen Foster had become impoverished while living at the North American Hotel at 30 Bowery on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York. His brother Henry described the accident that led to his death:
Confined to bed for days by a persistent fever, Foster tried to call a chambermaid, but collapsed, falling against the washbasin next to his bed and shattering it, which gouged his head.
It took three hours to get him to Bellevue Hospital, and in an era before transfusions and antibiotics, he succumbed three days after his admittance at the age of thirty-seven.
In his worn leather wallet, there was found a scrap of paper that simply said “Dear friends and gentle hearts” along with 35 cents in Civil War scrip and three pennies.
Foster was buried in the Allegheny Cemetery in Pittsburgh. One of his most beloved works, “Beautiful Dreamer”, was published shortly after his death.
Robert has been performing
in bands and writing songs
since 1969. He is a former
writer and performer for the
Bob & Tom Show. He lives
in Fort Wayne, IN with his
wife, Sheri and their three
children, Dustin, Harrison
and McCartney.
I've had several requests to do a Pink Floyd post. I'll get around to it soon. For now, enjoy this live video of the band from Knebworth in 1990 with SHINE ON YOU CRAZY DIAMOND
Every Sunday, Peter Tibbles contributes a column called "Elder Music" at the web site,TIME GOES BY. Check it out. For archives of previous "Elder Music" columns click HERE.
