Come On to the PTA PARTY!

Most likely 64 years ago tonight there was a PTA party in the county of Marin, California. I provide you with the handmade invitation from Montez Lawton's scrapbook.

So why can I narrow this down to 1951? The give away are the first few lines on the inside of the card:

"Come on to our school, our school,
We geeve you—dinner!"

This is a word play on the Rosemary Clooney 1951 hit "Come On-a My House." Too many people will have no idea who Rosemary Clooney was, unless they just think of her as George's aunt. And even fewer people will know the people are who are referred to in the information below from Wikipedia:

"Come on-a My House" is a song performed by Rosemary Clooney on her album Come On-A My House, released on June 6, 1951. The song was written by Ross Bagdasarian and his cousin, the Armenian American Pulitzer Prize winning author William Saroyan, in the summer of 1939, while driving across New Mexico. The melody is based on an Armenian folk song.

It was not performed until the 1950, off-Broadway production of The Son. The song did not become a hit until the release of Clooney's recording.

It was probably Saroyan's only effort at popular songwriting, and it was one of Bagdasarian's few well-known works that was not connected to his best-known creation, Alvin and the Chipmunks. Bagdasarian, as David Seville, went on to much fame with his Chipmunks recordings.

…the song touches upon traditional Armenian customs of inviting over relatives and friends and providing them with a generously overflowing table of fruits, nuts, seeds, and other foods. (SOURCE: Wikipedia)

So take a minute and imagine the PTA party back in '51. I'm betting there were a lot of crepe paper decorations.





And the Rosemary Clooney record playing.

ROSEMARY CLOONEY and DUKE ELLINGTON

When you bought an LP you had more than just the music on the vinyl, you had the LP jacket. For those who've never experienced buying music this way I'm sorry for you. I think it increased your connection to the artist. You had something tangible to hold and often times the cover itself was a work of art. Just look at some of the old Blue Note album jackets. Beautiful work.

Yes, CDs have little jewel boxes with a reduced cover image, but there's something about being stretched out on the floor in front of the stereo listening to the album the first time as you read the liner notes and study the image on the front of a large cardboard jacket. Later you prop the album jacket up against something so you can see it until you replace it with your next favorite acquisition. Digital music isn't the same. The experience isn't the same. It's lacking physical connection.

I bought this LP at an estate sale. No, it's not in great condition, and in places the music is a little funky thanks to the previous owner and a bad needle. I will probably break down and buy a CD someday. But I like having the cover, shabby though it may be. It's tangible. I can listen to the music and actually read the liner notes without magnifying glasses.

Click on images to see them larger at Picasa via the magnifying glass.

I also like the ads they ran on the old albums of work by other artists. If they didn't run it on the back jacket they'd run ads on the inner sleeves. Each album became a special purchase. And yes, the back cover scan is pieced together and a bit funky.

I can say nothing about Rosemary Clooney other than pure perfection. A perfect voice singing perfect songs by Duke Ellington. You just have to relax with your eyes closed and listen. Put the world outside your door and forget about it.

The liner notes were written by Irving Townsend:

Irving Townsend (1920-1981) was an American record producer and author. He is most famous for having produced, in March 1959, the Miles Davis album Kind of Blue, which at #12, is the highest-ranked jazz album on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and according to the RIAA, is the best-selling jazz album of all time. (SOURCE: Wikipedia)

All this for a dollar.