Paul's Favorites
We always had music in the house and it was NOT country. My parents were Sinatra fan along with Welk, Como and the other great "easy listening" people.
When rock and roll hit the scene, Paul stil enjoyed the real music. See some examples....
My (Partial) List Of Favorites
- High Noon
- The Class Of 1957
- What A Wonderful World (Louis Armstrong)
- Amazing Grace
- Come Go With Me
- Welcome To My World (Dean Martin)
- Gentle On My Mind
- Swing Low Sweet Chariot (Elvis Presley)
- Slow Boat To China (Kay Kaiser)
- My Grandfathers Clock (The King's Men)
- They Call The Wind Mariah (Kingston Trio)
- Too Young (Nat King Cole)
- The Old Lamplighter (Teresa Brewer)
- American Patrol
- Come A Little Bit Closer
- Don't Worry; Be Happy
- Blue Moon (Mel Torme)
- Jukebox Saturday Night
- The Lion Sleeps Tonight (The Tokens)
- Torn Between Two Lovers
- Sugar Foot Stomp
- Swing Low
- Strangers In The Night
- Sing Sing Sing
- Waltzing Matilda
- Opus One
- Misty
The 1950's
The 1950s decade refers to the years 1950 to 1959 inclusive.
The Fifties in the United States and much of Western Europe are generally considered conservative in contrast to the Social Revolution of the next decade. Mass suburban developments and nuclear family ideals serve as symbols of the era from the end of the Second World War in 1945 to the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy in 1961. Education grew explosively because of a very strong demand for high school and college education.
The Cold War between the United States and the USSR played out through the entire decade. The fifties also revolutionized entertainment with the mainstream introduction of television, rapid growth of the recording industry and new genres of music, and movies targeted at teenage audiences. Due to the conservative norms of the era and the sometimes violent suppression of social movements, seeds of rebellion grew and were manifested through Rock and Roll, movies emphasizing rebelliousness, expansion of the Civil Rights Movement, the so-called Beat Generation of poets and artists. All of these played significant roles in the Social Revolution of the Sixties (1960s).
The 1950s in the United States of America were marked with a sharp rise in the economy for the first time in almost 30 years, and a return to the 1920s-type consumer society built on credit and boom-times, as well as the baby boom from returning GIs who went to college under the G.I. Bill and settled in suburban America. Most of the internal conflicts that had developed in earlier decades like women's rights, civil rights, and imperialism were relatively suppressed or neglected during this time as a world returning from the brink hoped to see a more consistent way of life as opposed to the radicalism of the 1930s and 1940s. The effect of suppressing social problems in the 1950s would have a significant impact on the rest of the twentieth century.
It Was A Very Good Year!
Whispering Hope
Whispering Hope words & music by Septimus Winner, 1868. My father loved that song, always did!
Jo Stafford and Gordon MacRae did a 1949 recording.
Guess is a haunting tune for me because of his death in 1970. It was played at his funeral and I will never forget those moments.
The Words From Whispering Hope
Soft as the voice of an angel,
Breathing a lesson unheard,
Hope with a gentle persuasion
Whispers her comforting word:
Wait till the darkness is over,
Wait till the tempest is done,
Hope for the sunshine tomorrow,
After the shower is gone.
Refrain
Whispering hope, oh how welcome thy voice,
Making my heart in its sorrow rejoice.
Waltzing Matilda
Waltzing Matilda :Just a great tune.... when we went to Australia, we enjoyed stories about it... it almost became the national anthem... except for the subject matter!!
The song narrates the story of an itinerant worker making a crude cup of tea at a bush camp and stealing a sheep to eat. When the sheep's owner arrives with three police officers to arrest the worker, he drowns himself in a small lake and goes on to haunt the site.