19th Annual
National Carry A Tune Week

For 2019



"You got to ac-cent-tchu-ate the positive
E-lim-i-nate the negative
And latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with mister in between"


Celebrating the 75th anniversary
of the movie song featured in HERE COME THE WAVES.
The film was released in December of 1944

 

 

List of Tunes chosen in 2019
in these categories:

 

I. Patriotic Music

II. Folk Music

III. Religious Music

IV. Popular Music

V. Classical Music

VI. Film Music

 

 

This free online event is sponsored each year by

The American Tune Lovers Society

 

 

 

 

The tunes below have links to other pages on this website.

Most of them also have links to YouTube.

Here are the tunes chosen for the

19th Annual National Carry A Tune Week
(October 6-12, 2019)...

 

 

 

Patriotic Music = 3 tunes

 

From Adrienne:

"The Star-Spangled Banner"

Listener Tune Talk:
As sung by Whitney Houston. It gives me chills every time I hear her sing it.

YouTube with Whitney Houston singing it in 1991 -- click here

 

 

 

From Jim:

“The Battle Cry of Freedom” by George Frederick Root (1862)

  Listener Tune Talk:
This was written for the Union cause during the Civil War.  The words include “rally ‘round the flag” but I doubt the phrase originated with this song.

YouTube of this song -- click here

 

 

From Roger:

 

"Song of the Marching Men"

Listener Tune Talk:
This was the Final Chorus of a choral work, THE NEW EARTH (1919),
with words by Lois Ayres Garnett and music by Henry K. Hadley.
It was first recorded by The Old Stoughton Musical Society Chorus,
Earl Eyrich, Conductor and included on this AMRC CD: Land of Our Hearts

 

 

 

 

 

Folk Music = 2 tunes

From Jim:

"I Don't Want to Get Adjusted to this World"
words & music by Sanford J. Messingale

Listener Tune Talk:
A funny 90-second ditty that the Weavers sang in many concerts

YouTube sung by The Weavers --click here

 

From Roger:

"Variations on AULD LANG SYNE"

Listener Tune Talk:
At the turn of a new century in 2000,
I was quite taken with that favorite old Scottish folk tune
traditionally sung at New Year's Eve. But I was interested in
what is probably the earliest American version of the tune
with slightly different words by Albert Laighton from 1855
and sung at Father Kemp's Old Folks Concerts.
So I composed a series of variations on that version and
it is included on this AMRC CD:

Here is my composition on computer keyboard -- click here

Read my article on the early American "Auld Lang Syne" -- click here

 

 

 

 

 

Religious Music = 3 tunes

 

From Jill:

"Leaning On The Everlasting Arms"
by Elisha A. Hoffman (1887)

Listener Tune Talk:
I’ve been humming and singing mine all week. In fact if another song pops Into my head I shift back to “Leaning On The Everlasting Arms” in honor of carry a tune week. I like the Alan Jackson country version a lot. We play it from iTunes and sing it with Mom when we visit. I also used it as background Communion music when the youth visited shut-ins.

Note: This hymn was sung by actor, Robert Mitchum,
in the very dark film noir,
NIGHT OF THE HUNTER (1955)

YouTube of the hymn sung by Alan Jackson -- click here

 

 

From Jim:


“Come Sunday” by Duke Ellington 

Listener Tune Talk:
I believe this tune was in Ellington’s first version (1943) of his “Black, Brown and Beige” suite, which was revised and made popular in 1958.  I first heard it in Ellington’s “Concert of Sacred Music” (1965), where “Come Sunday” is performed both vocally and instrumentally.

YouTube of this tune sung by Mahalia Jackson with
the Duke Ellington Orchestra -- click here

 

 

 

From Roger:

 

 

"Search Thou My Heart"
words: Sister Ruth Mildred Barker/music: Roger Lee Hall

 

Listener Tune Talk:
This hymn was composed to a deeply spiritual poem
by a young Shaker girl then living at Alfred, Maine and
originally titled, "A New Year's Prayer," written on January 1, 1921.
I composed a tune for her poem in 1983 and dedicated it to her
while she was living at the Shaker community
in Sabbathday Lake, Maine.
I arranged the tune for four-part chorus in 2011
and it was recorded by The Canterbury Singers in 2013
on the CD: "Celestial Praises" (AMRC 0017).

 

To hear this hymn
with soloists Susan Papinsick and Jim Miller
and The Canterbury Singers,
directed by Kathryn Southworth -- click here

This hymn is now available on these AMRC CDs:

"Celestial Praises" (0017)

Search Thou My Heart" (0042)

"My Shaker Home" (0048)

 

 

 

 

Popular Music = 2 tunes

 

From Gail

Two Songs:
"Over The Rainbow"
words by E.Y. Harburg/ music by Harold Arlen
from the popular movie, THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939)

and

"What A Wonderful World"
music & lyrics by Bob Thiele and George David Weiss (1967)

 

Listener Tune Talk:
I was looking for a song to counteract the news we hear every day.
As this song says it: I still think this is a "wonderful world."


YouTube: "Over the Rainbow" and "What A Wonderful World"
sung by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole -- click here

 

 

 

From Roger:

"Sh-Boom" (1954)

written by James C Keyes, Carl Feaster, Floyd Mc Rae,
Claude Feaster and James W. Edwardsoom

Listener Tune Talk:
A favorite mid-1950's r&b (or doo-wop)song
and I would enjoy singing along to the record as a teenager.

YouTube: The Chords - original version -- click here

The Crew-Cuts cover version -- click here

This doo-wop classic was the only hit for The Chords, who were an R&B group from the Bronx. The five members of the group wrote the song. In a 1963 article in The Saturday Evening Post, Jerry Wexler, who was executive vice president of Atlantic Records, used the group as an example of the vacillating nature of the music business. Said Wexler: "What happens to them? They just disappear. We had one group - The Chords - that had a hit record for us in 1955 or 1956. It was called 'Sh-boom.' It was #1. But of all their subsequent records, none sold. Now, I think one is a house painter, one is a pants presser, one is writing songs and one is trying to get back into the business as a singer." -- from Songfacts


 

 

 

 

 

 

Classical Music = 2 tunes

 

From Jim:

Listener Tune Talk:
“Slaughter on Tenth Avenue" by Richard Rodgers
The exciting music was composed for the Broadway show, "On Your Toes" (1936) and choreographed by George Balanchine. Later, Gene Kelly and Vera-Ellen danced to it in the movie, WORDS AND MUSIC (1948).

YouTube of the movie version -- click here


From Roger:

 

"My Shaker Home" by Sister Lillian Phelps (1959)

Listener Tune Talk:
This lovely song was composed by Sister Lillian 60 years ago
after returning from a summer outing and viewing her beloved home
"at the top of the hill so quiet and still."
I discovered this Shaker song in 2009
and learned that apparently it was never performed by any non-Shaker singers
in a concert or on a recording.
I arranged it for soloists and it was recorded in 2013 on
the CD, "Celestial Praises."
Five years later, this song was included
on another CD titled after this wonderful song.

To hear this song sung by Jim Miller and Karol Carroll,
accompanied by Kathryn Southworth, piano,
Katie and Samantha Allman, violins -- click here

Read more about the AMRC CD 0048: "My Shaker Home" -- click here

 

 


 

 

 

Film Music = 4 tunes
(Songs and Themes)

 

From Felisa

 

“Tangerine”
words: Johnny Mercer/music: Victor Schertzinger
from the movie, THE FLEET'S IN (1941)


YouTube of the song sung by Bob Eberly and Helen O'Connell
with the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra
-- click here

 

From Jim:


"High Hopes"
words by Sammy Cahn/ music by James Van Heusen

Listener Tune Talk:
It was written for the 1959 movie, A HOLE IN THE HEAD, and sung by Frank Sinatra and Eddie Hodges.  “High Hopes” won the Oscar for Best Song of that year.

YouTube with this song performed by the American Classics ensemble
in a concert honoring the centennial of Sammy Cahn's birth in 2013 --
click here

A Centennial Tribute to Sammy Cahn (1913-1993) -- click here

 

 

 


From Marilee:

"Ac-cent-tchu-ate the Positive"
words: Johnny Mercer/ music: Harold Arlen (1944)

Listener Tune Talk:
My dad raised me on "Ac-cent-tchu-ate The Positive" --
he was an eternal optimist.

YouTube: Sung by Johnny Mercer and The Pied Pipers -- click here



 

From Roger:

LAURA Theme
music by David Raksin, 1944

Listener Tune Talk:
This is surely one of the best loved movie themes of all time.
I have loved it for many years and especially how composer David Raksin
using it in so many ways throughout this film.
Later, after the film was released, words were written by the
great lyricist, Johnny Mercer, and it has since become a pop standard.

YouTube: Theme from LAURA -- click here

YouTube: Song version from 1945 sung by Dick Haymes
with Victor Young Orchestra -- click here


National Carry A Tune Week
2001-2019 = 548 tunes chosen

 

 

 


 

Are you a teacher, musician or music lover?

See this catalogue of 50 CDs of classical, folk, popular and film music at the

American Music Recordings Collection (AMRC)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Sammy Film Music Awards

See the complete list -

click here

 

 

 

 

 

 

Centennial Tributes:

Leroy Anderson (classical-crossover composer)

Gene Autry (western singer-songwriter)

Sammy Cahn (lyricist)

Bette Davis (actress, singer)

Jerome Moross (composer)

Miklos Rozsa (film composer)

Walter Schumann (film composer)

Jimmy Stewart (actor, singer)

 

 


 

See the composers listed on the

Tunemaker Hall of Fame

 

 

 

If you wish to be on the mailing list for the annual Tune Week, send your name and email address to:

National Carry A Tune Week

 

Please help support the mission of

The American Tune Lovers Society

Order your books, CDs and DVDs at the

CAMP Store

 

 

 

National Carry A Tune Week (Main Page)

 

 

 

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