Bite Point

Memorial Day Post: Captain Ben L. Salomon

Thank you to all who have served, from our Revolution to the present day. And particular thanks this day to Captain Ben L. Salomon, September 1, 1914 – July 7, 1944, who posthumously won the Congressional Medal of Honor "For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty." He saved more than 30 wounded American's lives at the cost of his own. To my knowledge, he is the only dentist ever to have received our country's highest military honor.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_L._Salomon

Songwriters Ray Evans and Jay Livingston

Warning: This post is totally off topic.

Lerner and Loewe. Rogers and Hammerstein. Yes, but-

Have you heard of Ray Evans and Jay Livingston?

They struggled for years in the bad old/good old Era of the Hit, when niches were crushed under the weight of mass and normal and The Regular Kind. (Have y'all read Seth Godin's We Are All Weird?) They had to get permission from Gatekeepers to do anything with their creativity.

They had to be picked.

And picked they finally were. They won two Oscars for their music. They wrote an astonishing variety of music, including Mona Lisa, Silver Bells, Dear Heart, Que Sera Sera, Buttons and Bows, The Cat and the Canary, and You're So Right For Me.

Astonishingly, they also wrote Mr. Ed and Bonanza. Jay sings on Mr. Ed!

Oh, and Ray wrote LYRICS for Bonanza. Yep. They may be best left in the dusty attic.

Here's where y'all can hear many of them, with history on each one as well as various recordings by famous and not-so-famous artists:

http://rayevans.org/

 

I just have to point out a few. 

http://rayevans.org/music/song.cfm?tSong_id=1795 Buttons and Bows. Dinah Shore, yeah!

http://rayevans.org/music/song.cfm?tSong_id=1782 The Cat and the Canary; how could I not have known this wonderful song?

http://rayevans.org/music/song.cfm?tSong_id=1159 You're So Right For Me. You can choose between Tony Bennett, Rosemary Clooney & Jose Ferrer, Judy Garland & Mickey Rooney and Peggy Lee. Or listen to 'em all!

And:

http://rayevans.org/music/song.cfm?tSong_id=1762

*Why is it that I cannot listen to Andy Williams sing Dear Heart without crying? Seriously, I can't help it, it happens every time. Sigh.

Thanks to Ben Yagoda and his article in The Pennsylvania Gazette for pointing me to the deeper history of these guys. http://benyagoda.com/ 

 

11/11/2011...11/11/1918

11/11/11...it makes me think of 11/11/1918, at the 11th hour, when mankind's greatest madness ended. And yet it didn't end; it started up again, fueled by even greater evil, and continues to flare to life to this very day. In 2011 the very last of those soldiers from The Great War passed away. Ten million of them (and seven million civilians) never made it past 11/11/18. What would best honor their noble memory is to stop using violent conflict to further the aims of nations.