Tagged: musicians

New Acquisition: The Revelers Vocal Arrangement Collection

Special Collections and University Archives has recently acquired a collection of handwritten musical scores for The Revelers, an American quintet composed of four male vocalists and a pianist popular on record and radio between 1925-1940.

This collection includes approximately 500 original vocal arrangements from The Revelers’ catalog of works performed in 1921-1939, including individual charts for each vocalist and master vocal scores. The arrangements are the work of two pianist-arrangers that worked with The Revelers: Ed Smalle (1887-1968) and Frank Black (1898-1969), with the latter forming the bulk of the collection. The scores include hand-written lyrics added by each vocalist for their part, as well as additional notes and annotations made by the arranger. Continue reading

Anniversary of Harry S. Stamper, Jr.’s Passing

StamperGuitar_smallMarch 9th, 2014 marked the two year anniversary of the passing of Oregon folksinger Harry S. Stamper, Jr.  His song “We Just Come To Work Here (We Don’t Come To Die)” became the unofficial anthem of the occupational health and safety movement, and it was designated a “classic labor song” by the Smithsonian Folkways record label. During his career, Stamper, who was from Coos Bay, performed at the Great Hudson River Revival, the Highlander Center, and the San Francisco memorial for legendary labor leader Harry Bridges. His work caught the attention of renowned folk musician Pete Seeger, influential folklorist Archie Green and a host of other journalists, documentary filmmakers, scholars and union activists.

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