Dear Readers of My History Quizzes: I find it increasingly difficult to come up with fresh material for my Q's and A's and getting into obscurities makes little sense to me. I have identified four historical sources I'd love to latch onto, but I've been entirely unsuccessful in so doing except for Deac Martin's "Book of Musical Americana" which I have on loan from Charlie Davenport. The other three are:
Author: James W. Johnson
Title: The Origins Of The Barbershop Chord
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Author: Deac Martin
Title: The Evolution Of Barbershop Harmony
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Author: Sigmund Spaeth
Title: Barbershop Ballads And How To Sing Them
Can anyone out there in barbershopland help me out? My strong preference is to buy these books from you because as a barbershop history buff I'd certainly wish to have them in my own permanent collection. Borrowing them obviously is second best...there is no third choice. Needless to say, if you have any source materials not mentioned above (that don't get into very narrow niches or obscurities, but rather are of general interest to a wide cross section of barbershoppers), I'm all ears. Thanks very much.
Mark Axelrod
The Quizmeister
Teaneck, NJ Chapter
The subject of this month's quiz is the society's honorary membership program.
QUESTIONS:
1- Who were the society's first honorary members, and when were they inducted into this elite fraternity? For extra credit, is it also a sorority as well?
2- Three non-barbershop chorus/choir directors were honored. Who are they?
3- One opera singer was honored. Who is he?
4- Three TV/radio personalities were honored. Who are they?
5- One person who doesn't seem to be qualified for honorary membership at all was inducted. Who is he?
ANSWERS:
1- In 1959 Irving Berlin and Meredith Willson concurrently became the society's initial honorary members. If women will ever be distinguished as honorary members is a question I cannot answer. I can tell you that from 1959 through the present moment, every single inductee has been a man. If women are ever so distinguished, my first pick (a no brainer to me) is the hugely talented composer, arranger, championship chorus director, championship quartet singer and quartet/chorus coach, Renee Craig. The only other person I can think of in Renee's league is the recently departed Freddy King.
2- Mitch Miller, (the Sing Along With Mitch Chorale - on his 1960's TV show), Jerold Ottley (the Mormon Tabernacle Choir), and Fred Waring (the Pennsylvanians). Waring in particular was a barbershop aficionado.
3- Sherrill Milnes, Metropolitan Opera baritone
4- Victor Borge, Arthur Godfrey, and Dick Van Dyke
5- Bill Hanna, creator of the Flintstones and the producer or co-producer of the Tom and Jerry cartoon series, Huckleberry Hound, the Jetsons, Scooby Doo, the Smurfs and Yogi Bear. OK, I get it; our hero was a hall-of-fame cartoon animator and producer. But how did that earn him an honorary membership in the society? Beats me. The society website sheds absolutely no light. I did learn from another source that Hanna loved music (but so does almost everyone alive) and that he wrote the theme song for the Flintstones. That's a cute little jingle, but why would its composition be a qualifier for honorary membership in an a capella singing society? The mystery endures, in other words. If any reader of this quiz knows the answer, kindly enlighten me, and I will share that knowledge with everyone.
(In June of 2009 I received a heads up from PROBE webmaster, Arnie Wade, that a barbershopper from California by the name of Shelley Herman had the answer to the Bill Hanna mystery. Shelley's email to me now follows: "One of Bill's artists, Steve Clark, was a member of the (then) Reseda Valleyaires, now the San Fernando Valley Chapter. Steve talked Bill into coming to a chapter meeting and Bill was hooked. He sang with the chapter for many years until business and health issues forced him to quit. So he really was a barbershopper. His many contributions to the society in the form of publicity and in other ways motivated the BOD to make Bill an honorary member." I then emailed Shelley with this follow-up question...why did the board of directors make Bill Hanna an honorary member when he was already on the books as a regular member? Shelley did not know the answer to that question and Bill and Steve are both deceased. The mystery persists. If you can shed any light on this, please contact me...mark@benchmarkrsi.com -or- 201-836-7753. Thanks. Mark Axelrod).
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