Thursday, June 1, 2017

Over There

This is the 100th anniversary of the publication of Irving Berlin's Over There.

It's not only an American classic; it's also the first song I arranged for a Navy band.

I did it for a live Armed Forces Radio broadcast from Treasure Island, a recreation of the days of old radio featuring Bing Crosby, Mel Blanc, Meredith Wilson and a bunch of other fogies.

(The chief told us we were doing this big-deal radio show in the drill hall. He said the theme song would be Over There. "We don't have an arrangement yet," he said. "Maybe Seaman Mullen will do it." He was kidding. But I brought in the arrangement the next morning. He was surprised. So was I.

If it's on the internet, my wife can find it. First she came up with this  hour-long audio track of the show. The band gets a bit of play throughout. Over There  gets it's first airplay at about 3:15, after a comedy routine with Mel Blanc.

Then she found this video clip from the show. At 9:35, the band and cast close the performance with Anchors Aweigh (the modulation at the end throws off even the best) and a reprise of Over There.


.