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MMD > Archives > October 1998 > 1998.10.11 > 01Prev  Next


"Genesse" Patrol
By Matthew Caulfield

I'm sorry I didn't send this sooner, but maybe it's still not too late.

B.A.B. tune titles pose a real problem because they have become very
garbled over the years.  Apparently the titles were handwritten on B.A.B.
masters (that is the case with Wurlitzer masters, but usually in a very
florid but clear style, though with some old-fashioned letter forms).  I
have copies of Ozzie Wurdeman's B.A.B. notebooks, and it is not uncommon
to see the same title repeated in indexes and in the tune lists for the
various sizes of rolls, but with various mis-spellings.  By comparing the
spellings, checking musical reference sources, and relying a good bit on
sheer luck, I have been able to decode most of the B.A.B. mystery titles
-- but not all of them.  The problem is compounded by the fact that
B.A.B. tunes are very often foreign-language tunes.

A good example of the problem is the tune that appears on roll labels and
in Wurdeman's records as "K.D.Y.Z Jalibe Spin."  One listing "improved"
the title by giving it as "K.D.Y.Z. Jubilee Spin" (perhaps a radio
station's anniversary tune?).  Well, that tune turns out to be one
pretty familiar to Czech audiences, Anthony L. Maresh's "Kdyz ja libe
spim," which translates more or less as "While I Am Sweetly Sleeping."
It appeared on Wurlitzer Pianino roll 5002 as "In Dreamland."

Anyway, to the point of this note: the tune that begins and ends Marc's
CD "Music Fit For A King, vol. 2" is, I am sure, "Chinese Patrol" by H.
Fliege (Jan. 20, 1921).  Along the way "Ch" was misread as "G," the
"i" got seen as an "e," and (only in Marc's information) an extra "s"
crept in.

Here are the B.A.B. tunes I have not yet pinned down, i.e have not
verified with composer and date:

    Welcome Home
    Voltaro (Italian Song)
    Hail To The National Flag Lady
    Perfumed Zephyr
    The Long Islanders
    Nozze Principesche (usually mistitled "Nazzi Principal")
    Elizabeth My Queen

These are driving me crazy, particularly "Elizabeth My Queen."  Which
Elizabeth, and Queen of what?  B.A.B. had the habit of translating
titles into English without saying so: "A Glass Of Water And A Kiss"
has finally been unmasked as Vittorio Mascheroni's "Un bicchiere
d'acqua e un baccio" and "Falling Stars" as Ernesto Becucci's "Pioggia
di stelle" (Becucci is better known for his "Tesoro mio").

Question to MMD musicologists: what is a "patrol" other than just an
ordinary march?  Apparently it is some kind of subclassification in the
march genre, but that's all I know.

Matthew Caulfield


(Message sent Sun 11 Oct 1998, 17:27:30 GMT, from time zone GMT-0700.)

Key Words in Subject:  Genesse, Patrol

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