Al Jolson Medley

Under the title Just Jolson, this is a set of five songs associated with Al Jolson. The songs are:  April Showers - Carolina in the morning - You made me love you - Rock-a-bye your baby with a Dixie melody - California here I come. They are arranged throughout for 2-part male choir with some unison passages. The audience could be invited to join in.  Piano - Roberton Publications 53180 - price code Z - duration c.5'45"

The Birth of the Blues

Written in 1926, the song was later a hit for Frank Sinatra and frequently performed by popular singers like Louis Armstrong, Sammy Davis Jr and Shirley Bassey. The film Birth of the blues was released in 1941 and starred Bing Crosby. Piano – Roberton Publications 53184 – price code X – duration c.2’20”

Blowin' in the Wind

Blowin' in the Wind was Bob Dylan's first important composition. He recorded it in 1962 and it made his name. Dylan addresses what he thought was man's greatest inhumanity to man - indifference. The result was one of the greatest protest songs ever written.  Piano - Roberton Publications 53172 - price code X - duration c.3'45"

Blue Skies

Irving Berlin wrote Blue Skies in 1926. It became one of the first songs to be featured in a 'talkie' when Al Jolson sang it in The Jazz Singer (1927). Since then it has been used in ten other films.  Piano - Roberton Publications 53178 - price code X - duration c.1'30"

Chattanooga Choo Choo

Chattanooga choo choo was written by Harry Warren in 1941 for the film Sun Valley Serenade. The movie featured the Glenn Miller orchestra, and his subsequent recording of the number was the first record to achieve 'gold disc' status as it sold over a million copies.  Piano - Roberton Publications 53173 - price code X - duration c.1'55"

The Deadwood Stage

The film Calamity Jane  was a huge hit for Doris Day, and she produced one of the legendary performances in movie history. Everyone has probably heard  the  Oscar-winning Secret Love, but that is definitely a woman’s song. The Deadwood Stage ran it a close second and is much more appropriate for a male choir, so “Whip crack away”! Piano – Roberton Publications 53185 – price code X – duration c.2’10”

Ghost Riders in the Sky

Subtitled A Cowboy Legend, Stan Jones' song describes an old cowhand's vision of red-eyed, fire-breathing cattle thundering across the sky. They are being chased by the ghosts of long-dead cowboys. More than 50 different artists have recorded versions of this classic Country and Western epic.              Piano - Roberton Publications 53181 - price code Y - duration c.3'15"

Great Day

Vincent Youmans (1898-1946) is best known for Tea for Two and I want to be happy - songs from his hit Musical No, No, Nanette. Four years later (1929) Great Day was the title song of another of his (eleven) Broadway Musicals. The show was a failure, but this optimistic number - "When you're down and out, lift up your head and shout,'There's gonna be a great day!'" has endured.  Piano - Roberton Publications 53176 - price code X - duration c.1'30"

I Dreamed a Dream

Les Misérables is the longest-running Musical in the West End. There have been professional performances in 38 countries and in 21 languages. Written in 1980, the Musical is based on Victor Hugo's novel of the same name.         Piano - Roberton Publications 53171 - price code X - duration c.2'45"

The Lion Sleeps Tonight

This song is based on the Zulu folksong often known as Wimoweh. It was brought to the attention of the folk singer Peter Seeger whose group The Weavers recorded it in 1951. Their version was entitled Wimoweh, a mishearing of the original song’s chorus of uyimbube, meaning “you’re a lion” and was all about the last king of the Zulus, known as Shaka the lion.       Piano - optional percussion - Roberton Publications 53183 – price code X – duration c.3'10"

Little Brown Jug

Another tribute to the Glenn Miller orchestra. The song was written in 1869, showing that an excessive interest in alcohol was the reason why "My wife and I lived all alone in a little log hut". However, since Miller's instrumental adaptation of this Victorian ditty, the number has become associated with the 'big band' era of the Thirties. This arrangement reflects his instrumental version more than the original song!  Piano - Roberton Publications 53175 - price code X - duration c.3'00"

The Little Drummer Boy

Ostensibly transcribed from a Czech carol, this Christmas song first appeared in 1941 under the title Carol of the Drum. The lyrics tell the story of a poor young boy who could not afford a gift for the infant Jesus, so he played his drum instead. The most successful recorded version was that of Boney M. It reached the top of the charts in 1981.  Piano - Roberton Publications 53174 - price code X - duration c.2'40"