By Roger Neil
I’ve been listening to recordings made in the 1930s and early 40s by the black American contralto, Marian Anderson. She’s one of my very favourite singers, not only among altos, and one of the finest songs on the CD is her rendition of Stephen Foster’s ‘My Old Kentucky Home’.
It seems such a pity that so many of Foster’s songs – which include ‘Campdown Races’, ‘Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair’, ‘Oh! Susannah’, ‘Old Folks at Home’ (also known as ‘Swanee River’), ‘Beautiful Dreamer’ and ‘Old Black Joe’ – are no longer deemed PC in modern America and have fallen out of the repertoire.
Impoverished, Foster died in Manhattan in 1864, aged just 37. America’s Schubert!
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Sound Of The Hound 
To be held at the original HMV site building, now called The Old Vinyl Factory in Hayes on June 21st this year is an Elvis Presley Film Festival, this is part of the Brunel University’s Calling The Tune Film Festival. They have asked the UKs biggest Elvis Fan Base Organisation namely Strictly Elvis UK to run the day for them.
There will be Elvis memorabilia stands available during the day plus films of Graceland, Elvis Holidays, Concert Footage etc, At 6.30 pm there will be a special showing of the Elvis movie King Creole followed by Jailhouse Rock, always thought to be two of the best of Elvis’ thirty three films..
In the evening a disco will be held playing a lot of Elvis’ popular songs and also other well known rock and roll music.
Tickets for the films are £3.00 and for the disco £5.00, There is an all day £8.00 ticket. On the door or from enquiries@strictlyelvis.net
Thanks Mike…
I also understand from our good friends The EMI Group Archive Trust that a selection of material from their ‘Memories of EMI’ project will be shown at the same event on SUNDAY 22 JUNE http://callingthetune.com/whats-on/