The Cold Feet Rag

Really posting this one for no other reason than it's January, well and we're having our first real bout of winter weather here in Indy. Here's a (far too MIDI feeling) version of Cold Feet Rag by Mamie Williams.



I wish I could find some more information about the composer, but the internet doesn't seem to have been kind to her legacy. Mamie Williams penned seven ragtime tunes that I can find, mostly published in St. Louis, so I'm guessing there's a connection there. Unfortunately I can't confirm anything. If anyone knows something about her I'd love to hear what you've got!

August Full Moon - Moon Moths

August's full moon is upon us, warm and faintly melancholy, drunk and recognizing summer's doom is at hand.

I have a love of Art Nouveau and that led me to choose this sheet music cover for August's full moon. Moon Moths was, as you can see, composed by Albert Kussner, a man who I can find very little information about. Apparently he composed classical music (two opuses Loves Mystery, and Woodland Flowers), but I couldn't find a recording of any of them online.

The cover does remind me of the Luna Moth, though. Occasionally I'll see one of them flitting about the lakeside or, ghost-like, passing in front of my headlights on a summer night. Or maybe they're not actually moths at all...

Full Moon Music - Luna Waltz

Carl Emil Paul Lincke was born in the Jungfern Bridge district of Berlin in 1866, a year that saw Jesse James rob his first bank and Italy go to war with Austria. After his father's death, Lincke was sent to Wittenberge where he joined the Wittenberg City Band and learned to play various instruments. Lincke didn't go into minitary music as a career as his mother thought he would. The nightlife drew him away from the starkness the life of a military musician and he found himself drifting toward the dance halls and berlesques. In 1987 he created the one-act musical play Venus auf Erden which premiered at the Apollo Theater in Friedrichstrasse.

In 1899, after a two year stint with the vaudeville house Folies Bergere, Lincke returned to the Apollo and produced his biggest success the operetta Frau Luna and the Luna Waltz (below) featured in that composition. But, as we all know, a lovely song does not make a lovely person and as the nineteen-teens ebbed into the furious twenties and then the steely thirties, Lincke found himself one of the poster-boys of the Nazi regime.



In 1937 he was awarded the silver cross and made an honorary citizen of Berlin. He departed Germany to conduct Frau Luna in Bohemia in 1943 and returned to find his Berlin home and publisher had been destroyed by allied bombs. After the war Lincke couldn't endear himself to the allies as he had to the Nazis. He moved to Arzberg, Bavaria with the approval of American General Pierce and later to Hahnenklee where he died shortly before his eightieth birthday. To this day his march Berliner Luft remains the unofficial anthem of the city that adopted him and his tune Das Gluhwurmchen (The Glow Worm) was translated into English in a greatly edited version by Johnny Mercer and made a hit by the Mills Brothers in 1952.

February Full Moon - Moon Winks (1908)

With February the time for lovers and, therefore, much winking I thought I'd select an appropriately flirty tune. Moon Winks is billed as a three-step, what those of us who have a passing familiarity with more modern dance terminology would call it a waltz.

As always when writing one of these little missives, I started combing the web for information on George Stevens. I came across a lot of Moon Winks sheet music covers and even came up with a good YouTube video with commentary by a vintage platter collector who goes by the handle of Ifmudge. There's some nice information about the disc and the bandleader featured on the recording and I recommend taking a listen.


Sadly, though, even after enjoying the tune I still didn't know anything more about the illusive Mr. Stevens. I spent some time exploring the bottoms of various internet rabbit holes, chasing copyright information for different interpretations of the song Moon Winks until I eventually checked the Catalog of Copyright Entries - Musical Composers, Part 3 from 1932.

Yes, the problem was that George Stevens was actually the pseudonym for Frederic J. A. Forster, the author of Moon Winks. A breakthrough worthy of eureka? Well, not really. Though I now knew that Mr. Stevens was actually Mr. Forster, the mystery more-or-less remained. I managed to discover he was born in 1878 and died in 1956 and even found his short death notice as seen on the obituary page in the May 11, 1956 issue of the Indiana Gazette:

Frederic J. A. Forster, 80, founder and president of a music publishing firm, publisher of such songs as “The Missouri Waltz,” “It Ain’t Gonna Rain No More,” and “Down by the Old Millstream,” died Wednesday. SAN DIEGO. Calif

It seems a sad thing, a man who filled more than one couple's evening with the lovely music that sparked romance and set hearts pattering should find his end as a side note on the obituary page. Still, every waltz must have its end and so many times love is a bittersweet thing. Take your loved one out under the February moon tonight, bundle up warm, and stare up at the winking moon and be thankful for this moment, because when it comes right down to it that's all you really have.

January Full Moon - Indiana Moon (1923)

If you're a frequent visitor to my blog you'll know that I spent the last year sharing the names of each month's full moon. It was a fun jaunt through the Old Farmer's Almanac, but one that left me searching for a second act. Well, for better or worse, the decision I came to for 2014 was to feature one moon-related song a month through the year and, where possible, one that included the name of the month in which it was being featured.

Though I didn't have any luck finding a January moon song, I figured I'd start things off with something that directly links to the name of this blog. Indiana Moon with music by Irving Berlin and words by Isham Jones. Take a listen and see what you think of this Vocalion version from 1923.