Todaynis special because of two (count ’em, two!) different holidays thatnhave to do with songs and singing!
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First,ntoday is Barbershop Quartet Day.n
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nBacknin the “good old days,” the barbershop was a place where peoplenhung out, gossiped, and clowned around with one another. SometimesnAfrican American men would sing while they waited their turn in thenbarber’s chair…messing around with harmonies as they belted outnfamiliar spirituals, folk songs, and popular tunes. Of course, theynalways sang a cappella,nwhich means without the accompaniment of any musical instrument.
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nWithoutna guitar or piano providing a rich sound, these singing sessions atnthe barbershop started to follow a pattern of four-part harmony. Onenman would sing “lead”—that is, he would sing the actualntune—and three other men would sing harmonies above (tenor) andnbelow (baritone and bass). n
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Thenpractice of singing at the barbershop caught on, and the ancappellanfour-part-harmony style caught on even more, spreading to minstrelnsingers, women singers, and even church choirs. Nowadays, barbershopnquartets don’t generally sing at a barbershop, but they sing withoutnaccompaniment from any musical instruments, and they sing with tightnfour-part harmonies.n
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nBynthe way, women quartets also call the four parts lead, tenor,nbaritone, and bass. In most contexts, these terms mean a particularnvocal range—the actor Dan Stevens, for example, has a baritonenvoice, and Christina Aguilera is considered a soprano—but innbarbershop singing, the terms just refer to a particular part to benlearned and sung: the tune, high, low, and lowest.
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| Richard Berry |
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nSecond,ntoday is also International “Louie, Louie” Day.
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n“Louie,nLouie” is a song written in 1955 by a Los Angeles man named RichardnBerry. It’s about a Jamaican sailor who misses his lady love and isnreturning to the island to see her. The lyrics are inspired bynJamaican English, which has different rules than other dialects ofnEnglish. n
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nThensong has been recorded many different times by many different groups,nbut the most famous version is the 1963 recording by the Kingsmen.
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nAccordingnto Snopes, the Kingsmen thought they were just rehearsing when theyntaped the song. The boom microphone wasn’t set up properly for thenlead singer, plus he had strained his voice the day before AND hadnbraces on his teeth. At any rate, it turned out that this “rehearsal”nended up being THE recording—and the one and only big hit for thenKingsmen!
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| An actual letter sent to Kennedy. |
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nSo…whynam telling you about the microphone and the braces and all that? Itnis actually quite hard to tell what words that lead singer isnsinging, and somehow a rumor got started the lyrics were obscene.nSome outraged parents even wrote to complain to governmentalnofficials such as Attorney General Robert Kennedy. They probablyndidn’t complain about specific words or phrases being used in thensong—since the lyrics were (a) innocent and (b) almost impossiblento decipher—but they probably just complained, “This song isndirty! Do something about it!”
The FBI got involved.nAccording to Snopes, investigators took TWO AND A HALF YEARSnlistening to the song at various speeds, trying to hear the obscenenlyrics. They interrogated the songwriter and the various people whonhad recorded the song over the years—but not the lead singer whonhad actually sung the specific recording being investigated! Crazy,nhuh?
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nThenFBI ended up ruling that the lyrics were unintelligible at any speed.nIn other words, they couldn’t understand the lyrics. And probably thenmoms and dads who had complained couldn’t, either. And no doubt mostnof the kids listening to the song couldn’t. The vocal track justnisn’t all that clear.
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nInncase you are interested, here are the lyrics:
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nLouie,nLouie, me gotta go.
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nLouie,nLouie, me gotta go.
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Apparently more than one
album has been pressed
made up entirely of
different versions of this
iconic song! |
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nAnfine little girl, she wait for me;
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nMencatch a ship across the sea.
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nInsailed the ship all alone;
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nInnever think I’ll make it home.
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nThreennights and days we sailed the sea;
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nMenthink of girl constantly.
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nOnnthe ship, I dream she there;
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nInsmell the rose in her hair.
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nMensee Jamaica moon above; n
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nItnwon’t be long me see me love.
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nMentake her in my arms and then
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nIntell her I never leave again.
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nAlsonon this date:
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nNational Pet Day
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JuannSantamaria Day in Costa Rican
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nScientistnand inventor Percy Julian’s birthday
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First,ntoday is Barbershop Quartet Day.
