The Story Behind The Song (the story continues)
On A Starry Night words and lyrics by Captain Joy Webb
In November 1963 the Salvation Army elected a new General, his name Frederick Coutts. When the general was interviewed by the media, one reporter asked how the Army intended to reach out to its young people. The Beatles were all the rage and so he said “If we need to use guitars and up tempo music then we shall do so”.
The next day the press wanted to see this group, which of course didn’t exist. So the Army’s international H.Q. contacted the Army Training College and asked for a group of musicians to get together for a quick sing and a photo shoot.
Brian Birkin, the brother of our chairman Neil, was in the college at the time and recalls: “I remember the call for guitarists to assemble in room ‘M’ and a small number from that group was chosen. Some of those chosen had guitars but were unable to play them and so had to learn a few basic chords very quickly so as to be able to play as a group”
They were known as the Joystrings and their leader, Joy Webb, wrote a song called”It’s An Open Secret”. The song reached no 32 in the charts. From then on things snowballed; they sang in Soho’s Blue Angel Club, made records and played at many venues.
In 1964 Joy Webb wrote a song called “On A Starry Night”, which is still popular and sung by many school choirs to this day.
In the years that followed many of the old school Salvationists were critical of the new sound their young troops were producing. But the Joystrings received support from General Coutts and were eventually accepted by their fellow members.
Our very own Bard of Barnburgh, Walter Crooks has very kindly sent me one of his latest poetic pieces for your enjoymentA BUSY LIFE
I,ve not put pen to paper for a considerable time it seems,
My brain doesn't appear to function at producing many ideas and themes.
I'm too busy going here and there doing this and that,
Even a busy man like me has to stop and have a chat.
No time to paint or write or craft,
Retired? I wonder, it all seems daft.
I need more hours in the day for jobs which take much longer.
The way I puff and pant them through, no chance of getting stronger.
I like the choir, it's my night off. I joined to have a change.
Now I find I,m working hard to extend my upper range.
It's better than all medicines to watch the rustic faces
And her ladyship trying the utmost to insist on musical phrases
I've rambled on and realised there's much that's not completed,
I'll carry on, not too late to change, until I get deleted.
I've now found the timeand written these lines between my varied employ.
As for the unknown future, I must find time for what I enjoy.
Walter Crooks
The Story Behind The Song
As a totally new feature for our website, I thought it might interest you to give a bit of background to the new pieces as we learn them.
About ten or eleven years ago, I was fortunate enough to be part of the Dearne Theatre Group. I was struggling to remember the words to one of my solo pieces and Betty White gave me some really good advice which I have carried with me ever since; she told me that every song tells a story and is therefore a straight forward sequence of events, all you need to do is remember the story and you've cracked it!
When our Kate was asking if anyone in the choir new the origins of this piece last Thursday, I thought "I'm sure I researched this but I'm blowed if I can remember anything about it???" Needless to say I hadn't, so here goes.
As Brian Brumfitt pointed out, Battle Hymn was written by Julia Ward Howe in November of 1861.She apparently woke in the middle of the night with the words coming to her as she slept.
The tune itself, however, is credited to William Steffe in1856. In the early days of the American Civil war the tune was used to create the Union army marching song "John Brown's body lies a-mouldering In the grave, but his soul goes marching on" in tribute to the slavery abolitionist.
Julia And her husband Samuel were also abolitionists, and the song was used by the Union Supervisory Committee for recruiting coloured regiments in Philadelphia.
The lyrics refer to several biblical passages: the first verse contains images of treading out the winepress, and a terrible swift sword which both appear in the books of Isaiah and Revelations.
In the years since the Civil War, Battle Hymn has been used frequently as an American patriotic song.
It was played at the memorial services in St Paul's and the Washington cathedral for the September 11thvictims. It was also played at the funeral of Winston Churchill.
It has been recorded by Judy Garland and Whitney Houston.
The Lyrics have been used in many ways; the title of John Steinbeck,s "Grapes Of Wrath", John Updike's "In The Beauty Of The Lillies". Martin Luther King used the words in several of his speeches.
The opening line of "These things take time" by The Smiths refers to to the first line of Battle Hymn - Mine eyes have seen the glory of the sacred wunderkind, you took me behind a dis-used railway line!
As well as being adopted by many British football supporters, the tune has also been used by folk singer Len Chandler in a song called "Move On Over" and by British band "Half Man Half Biscuit in a song entitled "Vatican Broadside".
And of course as you all know it, forms part of "An American Trilogy" by Elvis Presley.
Strike up the band is taken from the musical of the same name first performed in 1927.The original book written by GeorgeS Kaufman, is a political satire centred on Horace J Fletcher, a cheese tycoon who tries to maintain his monopoly on the American market by convincing the U.S. government to declare war on Switzerland. The story ended darkly and not surprisingly flopped at the box office.
In 1930 Morrie Ryskind, the American dramatist who also wrote scripts and lyrics for several Marx Brothers films, (including A Night At The Opera), re-wrote the story; he softened the political overtones, increased the emphasis on romance and added a happy ending. Genious!
He also relegated the war plot to a dream sequence and changed the commodity from cheese to chocolate - much more believable!!
The music and lyrics for Strike Up The Band was written by George and Ira Gershwin, who later gave the song to the university of California, Los Angeles and it became one of their school songs.
In 1940 Busby Berkeley directed the film version, which starred Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland.
The song has been recorded by many artist, more notably by Ella Fitzgeraldin 1959 and also by Bing Crosby and the American Jazz singer, Chris Conner.
NO MATTER WHAT
No matter what was written by Andrew Loydd Webber and Jim Steinman for the 1996 musical "Whistle Down The Wind".
The song was made popular by Boyzone in 1998 when it reached no 1 in the uk singles chart as well as five other countries.Whistle down the wind is based on the novel of the same name by Mary Hayley-Bell. The book was set in Lancashire, however, for the stage show it was moved to a small town in Louisiana. The story revolves around three children, Swallow, Brat and Poor Baby who are looked after by their widowed father, Boone.
One day they discover an escaped convicted murderer hiding in their father's barn. They are convinced he is Jesus and contrive to smuggle food and drink to him. Swallow asks him if he is able to bring their mother back to life, he admits he can't but tells them a story about a character called Annie Christmas. When the children ask "Jesus" to explain the moral of the story, he confesses he doesn't know. The children offer him gifts and promise that "No Matter What" they will always love him because he is the son of God.
The convict eventually burns the barn down to hide evidence that the children have helped him and manages to escape the local sherriff and townsfolk who are hunting for him.
Amen / This Little Light Of Mine
Amen was written by Jester Hairston for the 1963 Sidney Poitier film "Lilies Of The Field". Poitier plays an itinerant African American handyman who encounters a group of East German nuns. The nuns are convinced he has been sent by God to help them build a new chapel. They share their different musical traditions with one another : their catholic chants and his baptist hymns, at this point Poitier sings Amen to the nuns.
In 1964, Curtis Mayfield, along with his soul band "The Impressions" put together a version of the song "Amen" which they combined with "Swing Low sweet Chariot". The song was No 1 on the R and B charts for three weeks and peaked at No 7 in the American top 100. Both Otis Redding and Erma Franklin had minor success with their covers of the song.
"This Little Light Of Mine" is a gospel children's song written by Harry Dixon Loes around 1920. During the 1950's and 60's the song became a civil rights anthem.
In 1964 The Seekers recorded a version. During more recent times the song has been covered by Christina Ricci for the film "Black Snake Moan", and also by L27, a Christian Rap, Dance and Hip-Hop band from Manchester.
The song talks about the importance of unity in the face of adversity, it's refrain sings of the light in each individual and how, whether standing up alone or joining together, each little bit of light can break the darkness.
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