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23rd National Carry A Tune Week
Tunes Chosen for the week
of October 1-7, 2023
Featured Tune
75th anniversary of this song from the 1948 movie musical
sung by Doris Day in her first movie role
which is included on this special CD
with songs by the 4-time Oscar-winning lyricist,
Cast for this limited edition
CD with songs by Sammy Cahn
Tunes chosen
in these categories:
This free online event has been sponsored each year by
The American Tune Lovers Society
Thank you to those who participated in this 23rd Carry A Tune Week survey for 2023.
Some tunes have links to other pages on the Web.
There are some links to YouTube so you can watch videos of the tunes.
Here are the tunes chosen for the 23rd Annual National Carry A Tune Week
(click links for YouTube)
"In Memoriam -- Harry Belafonte (1927-2023) did it all!" -- from Gail
For your listening pleasure:
Harry Belafonte - The Greatest Collection with 80 tracks -- YouTube
Patriotic Music
From Gail
"This Land Is Your Land" is a song by American folk singer Woody Guthrie. It is one of the United States' most famous folk songs. Its lyrics were written in 1940 in critical response to Irving Berlin's "God Bless America". Its melody is based on a Carter family tune called "When the World's on Fire". When Guthrie was tired of hearing Kate Smith sing "God Bless America" on the radio in the late 1930s, he sarcastically called his song "God Blessed America for Me" before renaming it "This Land Is Your Land".
Harry Belafonte sings This Land is Your Land - YouTube
From Roger
"Chester" - This early American patriotic song was written in 1778 by William Billings (1746-1800)
and was one of the most popular songs sung during the American Revolution.
There is a later version of the song set to different words by
Philip Doddridge and sung for many years (that version shown above) by
The Old Stoughton Musical Society - Americas's oldest surving choral society, organized in 1786
From Steve
"God Bless America" - Irving Berlin (1938)
as recorded by Lawrence Welk
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Lawrence Welk Glee Club - "God Bless America" - YouTube
Folk Music
From Gail
"Scarlet Ribbons" was written in only 15 minutes in 1949 at Danzig's home in Part Washington, New York after she invited lyricist Segal to hear her music. The song tells a miraculous tale: the singer (who could be a mother or a father) peeks into their daughter's bedroom to say goodnight and hears the daughter praying for "scarlet ribbons for my hair". It is late, no stores are open in the town, and there is nowhere to obtain any ribbons. The singer's heart "is aching" throughout the night but when at dawn they again peek into the daughter's bedroom they see lovely "scarlet ribbons" in "gay profusion lying there." The singer says that if they live to be two hundred (or, in some versions of the song, a hundred), they will never know from where the ribbons came.
Harry Belafonte "Scarlet Ribbons"
on The Ed Sullivan Show - YouTube
From Roger
"Home on the Range" is a classic song sometimes called the "unofficial anthem" of the American West.
Dr. Brewster M. Higley (also spelled Highley) wrote the lyrics as the poem "My Western Home" in 1872 or 1873,with at least one source indicating it was written as early as 1871. On June 30, 1947, "Home on the Range" became the Kansas state song. In 2010, members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 western songs of all time.I always associate this song with my favorite western singer, Gene Autry, and enjoyed hearing his recording on radfio when I was very young.
"Home On The Range" - sung by Gene Autry - YouTube
From Steve
"Blowin in the Wind" - Bob Dylan (1962) - Peter, Paul, and Mary - YouTube
Religious Music
From Gail
"Mary's Boy Child", also known as "Mary's Little Boy Child", is a 1956 Christmas song,
written by Jester Hairston. It is widely performed as a Christmas carol.
Sung by Harry Belafonte on YouTube
From Roger
"Simple Gifts" (aka: "Tis the gift to be simple") by Elder Joseph Brackett
and composed in 1848. The song became popular after the tune being used in the 1944 ballet, Appalachian Spring, with a score by Aaron Copland. The Shaker dance song
has been arranged by many including folksingers Judy Collins and Bill Crofut,
and by composers like John Williams.
This Shaker dance tune was used by British songwriter, Sydney Carter,
for his song, "Lord of the Dance" in 1963 which has become famous worlwide."Simple Gifts" (arr. by Roger Hall) sung The Canterbury Singers - YouTube
From Steve
"To God Be the Glory" - Northern Baptist Association - YouTube
Popular Music
From Gail
"And I Love You So" is a popular song written by folk singer and guitarist, Don McLean, and released on his 1970 debut album, Tapestry.
Harry Belafonte - And I Love You So - YouTube
From Jim:
“Hello, Young Lovers” (1951). Music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II.
Written for the musical play, “The King and I.”One thing I like about this song is its “verse” or introduction, once a common lead-in to a featured song in American musical theater. I believe that “verses” are seldom written now, but there was a time when even popular songs played on the radio led listeners into the mood or theme of the song that followed. This verse, in three stanzas, begins: “When I think about Tom, I think about a night, when the earth smelled of summer, and the sky was streaked with white….” The woman singing the song recalls the love with her late husband, then offers advice to to younger people.
The main tune begins: “Hello young lovers, whoever you are, I hope your troubles are few. All my good wishes go with you tonight, I’ve been in love like you.” The tune itself is a lovely soaring melody so typical of Richard Rodgers. Although written and usually sung as a slow ballad the music can be played in Waltz time. Popular recordings were made by Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, Johnny Mathis and (I think) Rosemary Clooney. In the 1956 movie, Marnie Nixon sang the song while Deborah Kerr mimed it.
Classical Music
From Gail
"A Woman Is A Sometime Thing" from Porgy and Bess
The opera by American composer George Gershwin, hads a libretto written by author DuBose Heyward and lyricist Ira Gershwin. It was adapted from Dorothy Heyward and DuBose Heyward's play, Porgy, itself an adaptation of DuBose Heyward's 1925 novel of the same name. Porgy and Bess was first performed in Boston on September 30, 1935, before it moved to Broadway in New York City. It featured a cast of classically trained African-American singers—a daring artistic choice at the time. A 1976 Houston Grand Opera production gained it a renewed popularity, and it is now one of the best known and most frequently performed operas.
Harry Belafonte and Lena Horne - Porgy and Bess -1959 (FULL ALBUM) - YouTube
From Roger
"Variations on an Oriental Theme" in G Major for piano (Op. 1, No. 1)
This was my first classical composition, completed in September 1968
and recorded in 1970 by a pianist friend from Rutgers University.
The composition was published in 1984 and a recording is
now available on my CD, GENTLE PEACE.
The composition contains 7 variations on
my original tune which sounds like an Oriental melody
and thus my title for the composition.
From Steve
"Old and Lost Rivers" (1986) - Tobias Picker
(performed by the Houston Symphony Orchestra) - YouTube
Film Music = tunes
(Songs and Themes)
From Gail:
From the film, BRIGHT ROAD (1953)
Belafonte and Dandridge were known to audiences for their singing talents, which are showcased in Bright Road. Early in the film, Belafonte sings "Suzanne (Every Night When the Sun Goes Down)", and later, Dandridge briefly sings words from the Aldred Tennyson poem "The Princess: Sweet and Low" to the tune of a lullaby.
Belafonte and Dandridge costarred again in the musical film, CARMEN JONES (1954).
From the soundtrack of the film BRIGHT ROAD. Much better than Leonard Cohen.
Harry Belafonte - Suzanne - YouTube
From Roger
"Thanks For The Memory"
music by Ralph Rainger/ lyrics by Leo Robin
this Oscar-winning song in THE BIG BROADCAST OF 1938
sung by Bob Hope and Shirley Ross
I have always liked this nostalgic movie song
which received the Oscar for Best Song of the Year.
I thought it was approrpriate to play it as the last song
on my old radio show, IN THE MOOD,
and I ended the program by saying:
"thanks for the memory and maybe we'll meet again sometime."
Here it is sung by Bob Hope and Shirley Ross from the original soundtrack recording --"Thanks For The Memory" from THE BIG BROADCAST OF 1938 - YouTube
From Steve
"It Might Be You" - by Stephen Bishop
From film, TOOTSIE, 1982 -- YouTube
National Carry A Tune Week 2023
= 17 tunes chosenSurvey list from 2001 to 2022 -click here
Total Tunes Selected from 2001-2023 = 550
24th Annual Carry A Tune Week - October 6-12, 2024
Are you a teacher, musician or music lover?
See this catalogue of CDs available for classical, folk, popular and film music
and single audio tracks also available separately as downloads at the --American Music Recordings Collection (AMRC)
The Sammy Film Music Awards
The longest-running awards for film music recordings
See the complete list -
Centennial Tributes:
Leroy Anderson (classical-crossover composer)
Gene Autry (western singer-songwriter)
Walter Schumann (film composer)
James Stewart (actor, singer)
See the composers listed on the
Please help support
The American Tune Lovers Society
Order your copy of this AMRC CD with enjoyable piano music--
National Carry A Tune Week (Main Page)
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