Msg #9: Another "cheeky" preparedness note

Errata

"Blackbird" has a known error in the tenor part, downbeat of measure 39, the written B should be a G#. The tracks are correct.  (Reported by Brandon Rauch)

REMINDER: The Tracks are considered our standard for singing and learning.  (In this case, the tracks are correct and the music needs correction.)

Travel Assistance

If you are coming from out of town, and would like assistance with getting from an airport to the rally (or home again), please fill out the Ride From The Airport or Ride To The Airport forms.

If you are can offer assistance (because you live here, or are traveling but plan to rent a car), please fill out a Ride Offered Form.

If you are using other transit and need a ride, please contact me directly.

We cannot guarantee help, but we will do our very best to provide it (both to the rally, and on your way home).

Cheek To Cheek

The movie "Top Hat" was a very big one for Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers and composer Irving Berlin.  The film gave us not only "Cheek To Cheek", but "Top Hat, White Tie and Tails".

The film itself is a silly little item - a so-called Screwball Comedy that quietly borrows from half a dozen elements of classic Comedia del Arte.  The infatuation with the ingenue, her initial dislike of the man, mistaken identity, slow seduction, fake weddings, constant misunderstandings - with, at the end, all misunderstandings resolved and the couple firmly in love.

"Cheek To Cheek" is the longest song Berlin ever wrote, and was written and completed in one day.  In the film the purpose of this song was for Astaire's character to finally win over Roger's ingenue. If you watch the film clip, you can see that the lyrics are the appetizer, but that the seduction completes in the choreography - one of several legendary dance scenes with Astaire and Rogers.

The song was wildly popular, and has been recorded over and over again by names both famous, and not.

Irving Berlin, the composer, is widely regarded as one of the best composers of his era.  Born in Russia, of Jewish descent, his career produced over 1,500 songs.  Many of them have made their way into the American songbook and are widely recognized today.  I love the fact that he couldn't read or write music, and was a terrible pianist.  (He wrote everything on the black keys, in F#, and had pianos that could mechanically transpose.)  He also had a number of "musical secretaries" who would write down his riffs and lyrics.

Berlin's romantic life was every bit as extreme as this story.  After his first wife died of typhoid shortly after their marriage, this shy and short Jewish man fell in love with a socially prominent Catholic woman who was heir to a large fortune. Her father sent her to Europe to avoid Berlin, and he wrote letters and songs for her.  The rumors were that they were secretly engaged before she could return home, and they quickly married in a private civil ceremony without her father's knowledge or consent.

They were married for the rest of their lives, and eventually reconciled with her father.

Video links

• You can't miss the original dance sequence - 5 minutes of amazement with about 2 minutes of singing.  Note that the singing really is simple and heartfelt.
• Because you can't really get enough of Sinatra.  Boy, he sure takes liberties with lyrics...
• ELLA!!  For amazing quality tone, expression and all the goodness, Ella Fitzgerald.
• And, although it is instrumental - what an amazing demonstration of guitar virtuosity by Chet Atkins.
• There are more out there....  Recommend your favorite barbershop performance.

Useful Links

• The NEHB Preparedness Blog.
• Critical Information About The Rally
• Run Through Calendar
• Tools for recording yourself
• Map of participants
• If you have to withdraw (before Aug 1, 2018)
• Additional learning tracks available to attendees, order from Music VP Will Johnson
• $15 per part, electronic only
• $17 per part, electronic + CD plus $3 shipping per order
• It's not too late to add the Challenge Song "Victr'y Road".
• Contact Joe Dempsey for more information.
• Travel Assistance (questions to Mark Schuldenfrei)
• If You Need A Ride From The Airport
• If You Need A Ride To The Airport
• If You Can Offer A Ride
• If you are using other transit, send me an email.