Hello all,  Go ahead and print any posting you wish, Tim, because
I've always been one to promote a totally-open forum over publishing
'sanitized/censored' material, in spite of the negative side which an
unpopular opinion (or idea) can bring to the issue.

Actually, while I'm not going to publish the Klan roll any more, it
"can be found" hidden (and still available) on my Internet pages, in
the limited roll editions department (these are subject to prior sale
and won't be reissued in the future):

    http://www.wiscasset.net/artcraft/ltdrolls.htm

One of my Mass. customers, a number of years ago, bought this Klan
March and wrote back, "It doesn't mention Negroes, but just talks about
immigrants from Europe and has innuendoes about concentration camps."
Well -- who said that this organization was a one-issue group?  The
roll I recut quoted the Dr. Coue system -- altered for the political
song, of course -- which was a popular self-help movement in the
'Twenties.  It also suggests forcing the "booze-she-vik" (and other
alleged undesirables) to work, or they'd be "thrown in the pen" --
and so forth.

Thus, the Artcraft release of the 1925 Klan March was really an
anti-immigration song ("Foreign potentate, we'll lock outside our
gate..." and so forth) and wasn't really a racist number in the true
sense of the term.  Its connotations about imprisoning immigrants who
"aren't American" is, for me, a more frightening concept in many ways.

I perforate all forms of social history, so have Mark Russell's spoof
of TV-Evangelism (where "The Good Book" is a "Gideon TV Guide" and
_money_ is their important thrust) ... slush fund lyrics in "Fiorello!"
by Bock & Harnick (whom we know personally from our Wash., D.C. shop
days) ...  and the 'holier-than-thou' man of the cloth in "Preacher &
The Bear".  (The latter individual happens to be black and the song is
in Negro dialect, but the double standards -- i.e. for himself and his
congregation -- apply to ALL politicians and ministers of today,
regardless of racial backgrounds.)

History has a way of repeating itself when ignored -- or rewritten to
satisfy a current trend.

The danger, I think, is in applying today's standards to the past --
which is a form of 'revisionism'.  My MMD posting about having to
explain the title of "Negro Heaven" (1933) -- written by a musician who
probably was partially black, in addition to being an Italian -- shows
how this business of "sensitivity" can be carried too far, in my
opinion.  The instrumental composition -- especially in its rhythm and
chord structure -- was the important facet here, as well as its
adaptation for the technical scope of the Pianola.

I began my love of 'Classic' Ragtime in the 'Forties, primarily due to
Lu Watters' Jazz Band (with Wally Rose, pianist) performing only a few
blocks from our home -- in the San Francisco Bay Area.  (Xerox copies
of Joplin's music weren't possible then, but Wally managed to satisfy
my sheet music desires -- being the approachable and kind musician he
was.)

Almost immediately I gravitated to the compositions of Scott Joplin and
James Scott, never knowing -- as a teenager in the late 'Forties --
that these were black composers.  Years later, when I learned more
about them, I had this "so what?" attitude, for the MUSIC -- not the
racial origin -- was what interested me then, and still does to this
day (some 4 1/2 decades later).

I'm not a racist, as you correctly stated.  One's age/gender/orienta-
tion/race etc. has never been a factor in my associations with other
people.  I seek the musically-inclined, the mechanically-oriented and
the electronically astute person ... as well as the politically/
historically aware individual.  Those who know me personally will
attest to this.

My fears these days are "community standards" and "family values" ...
terms which really MASK a sordid movement, in many ways.  Things get
frightening when some of these people -- who utter generic,
safe-sounding expressions -- define "family" ... and it never matches
anything in my sphere.  Of course, there are those who hide racism
behind "historical accuracy" so this is a similar situation in many
ways.

In the old days there were 'politically correct' lyrics on rolls.
I recall Supertone Rolls of "42nd Street" (perforated in the area where
Al Capone operated: Chicago, Illinois) that didn't use the words
"gangster" or "underworld" in the chorus, whereas Aeolian (of the East
Coast) did.  When "Song of the Vagabonds" by Friml made it to Word
Rolls, some did not have "to hell with Burgundy" -- and rewrote the
lyrics in that department.

I was highly influenced, in my formative years growing up in Berkeley,
Calif., by Mark Twain's writings, Tom Lehrer's songs, Spike Jones'
records (which had any number of double-entendre social references
about conditions of the time), Mae West's movie dialogue, ANYTHING by
Gilbert & Sullivan and the words-and-music by the Brothers Gershwin
(which weren't that popular in the 'Forties and early 'Fifties --
contrary to contemporary belief).

My roll of "The Back Bay Polka" -- with Ira's lyrics -- contains ALL of
the original words, not a cut-down edition as appeared in the 1946
movie film with Betty Grable and Dick Haymes.  (What was censored-out
by the Hays Office would be trivial by today's standards.)  I don't
know WHO Ira was thinking about when penning new words for George's
unused 1937 song ("Heigh Ho, The Merrio") for RKO's Damsel in Distress
... but I had Jesse Helms in mind at the time.  The snappy song is
about Boston prudes, but the concept is universal.  Helms had just
introduced Mme.  Bhutto -- then the Prime Minister of Pakistan -- as
the leader of "India" (twice -- after several hours of personal
conversation!) ... showing that his knowledge of history is in the same
cesspool which contains many of his other opinions.  Right now, Senate
Majority Leader Trent Lott has been holding up the President's
nomination for an Ambassador's post, because he openly calls Mr. Hormel
as "sinner" (his definition of that being an 'orientation' of
homosexuality).  Too bad Ira didn't write some more lyrics which would
inspire me to top my arrangement of "The Back Bay Polka"!

Granted, we have many racial problems under the surface these days ...
but the paragraph above cites that some of our elected leaders? have
expanded bigotry and citizen "exclusion" to greater heights.  I cringe
when Sen. Lott and his cronies leak their version of "morality" in the
media.  Again, it differs from my viewpoint.

A number of years ago I put a display advertisement in the AMICA player
club magazine about a House Bill (I forget the number; check your
back issues from the late '80s!) that had to do with "decency" in music
... and coupled this with a reprint from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
called "Blame That Tune" (a parody of the old radio show, "Name That
Tune").  In the article, some Bible Belt county in Missouri was trying
to censor and/or rewrite a list of well-known tunes, based on their
"promoting bad values".  These included "The Old Black Magic" (promotes
Voodoo), the Beatles' "Norwegian Wood" (promotes alcohol -- but they
missed the marijuana references!), Jimmy Buffet's "Margueritaville"
(promotes liquor) and "I Get A Kick out of You" by Cole Porter
(promotes drinking -- and, of course, these would-be moralists never
knew that "champagne" in the revised lyrics was originally "cocaine" in
the original edition!).  How they missed "Love For Sale" by Cole Porter
is beyond me, but education is not a forte with most zealots,
revisionists and/or censorship types!

So -- go ahead and print whatever you wish on the politically correct
subject.  I believe in giving everyone a voice, for better or worse.
(There are those, today, who are trying to modify the First Amendment
... and that scares me more than some of the racial slurs, which are
tasteless -- of course.)

Regards from Maine,
Douglas Henderson
Artcraft Music Rolls