Ramblin’ Richard – Songs of World War II
Thursday, August 27th, 7pm
New Ipswich Library
Presented by “Ramblin’ Richard,” this interesting and entertaining program recalls the music and brings to light the fascinating and unfamiliar stories about some of our most beloved American songs from 1939 – 1945. Songs like: “Beer Barrel Polka,” “Bluebirds over the White Cliffs of Dover,” “You are My Sunshine,” “Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition,” and “Sentimental Journey.”
Richard asks questions such as: What popular song was written as a response to the bombing of Pearl Harbor? What song was popular world-wide and thought to be from each country where it was popular? What song, popular here and abroad, was written to lift the spirits of our allies prior to our involvement in WW II? What popular WW II era song was a top hit, and written and recorded by a state governor?
This special hour-long program, “illustrated” with music, was debuted, in part, at the “Humanities Fair” in Concord sponsored by the New Hampshire Humanities Council, and has been presented throughout the region. Intended for libraries, historical societies, and other community groups, “Ramblin’ Richard” revisits the popular songs from this special period of our history and tells the fascinating and largely unknown stories about them. A sample may be found on-line at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaOUioJsptE&feature=youtu.be.
Richard, a member of the New England Foundation for the Arts, is a retired professor who studied Gospel and American folk music and is an active musician who makes more than 200 performances each year. He tells the stories and sings the songs while accompanying himself on guitar, 5 string banjo and baritone ukulele.
This event is free, but a donation for the St. Vincent-DePaul Food Pantry in Greenville is always appreciated. This program is sponsored by the Stearns Burton Lecture Committee.
New Ipswich Library 