Dusty Music Box Project

Here's the project in progress page. I'm trying to record a bunch of these songs that I bought in a big box of dusty music and also write an essay to put the song in perspective. Don't expect Jacques Brel to magically possess me. If everyone were that good he wouldn't be so special. And if I could perform like that you'd have to pay to see me. I can't postpone this project until I learn to sing and play piano* so I'm moving forward with it in the hopes the very last song I record won't be as bad as the first. For the record I think the best American pop music started with The Cotton Club in the mid-'20s and ended around 1959 with the death of Buddy Holly. The musicianship and arrangements and creativity of those 40 years has never been surpassed. There have been some catchy songs since 1959 but musicianship gave way to production gimmicks and now we have instrumentalists and producers and almost zero songwriters.

Anyway, The songs with links are all the songs I've recorded and written a bit about organized by decade:

Music tells a story

1900-1909
Anchors Aweigh  MCMVI 1906

1910-1919
That Hypnotizing Man 1911
Please Don't Take My Lovin' Man Away 1912
Bobbin' Up and Down 1913
 At The Mississippi Cabaret 1914
You're The Dawn of A Perfect Day 1915
Back Home In Tennessee 1915
Sierra Sue MCMXVI 1916
Over There 1917
Little Sir Echo 1917
The Bells of St. Mary 1917
Who Said Dixie? 1918
Santa Rosa Rose 1918
When a Feller Needs a Friend 1919
The Alcoholic Blues 1919

1920-1929
The Love Nest 1920
When The Harvest Moon is Shining 1920
He Always Goes Farther Than Father 1921
Ma! 1921
The Melody That Made You Mine 1925
Always 1925
Daybreak 1926
When The Organ Played At Twilight 1929


1930-1939
Overnight 1930
Bye Bye Blues 1930
Good Night, Little Girl of My Dreams 1933
Deep Purple 1934
Little Old Lady 1936
Rosalie  1937
Once In A While 1937
I Live The Life I Love 1937
Bei Mir Bist Du Schon 1937
 Sail Along, Silv'ry Moon 1937
Penny Serenade 1938
I Have Eyes 1938
All Ashore 1938
There's a Gold Mine In The Sky 1937
I Get Along Without You Very Well 1939
We'll Meet Again 1939
Scatter-brain 1939

1940-1949
When The Swallows Come Back To Capistrano 1940
Tschaikowsky's Concerto No.1 3/4 1941
Tonight We Love (Tschaikowsky) 2/2 1941  (The arranger changed the time signature to Pete's first Piano Concerto)
An Old Country Garden 1941
The White Cliffs of Dover 1941
He Wears a Pair Of Silver Wings 1941
Along The Navajo Trail 1942
I've Heard That Song Before 1942
Where The Mountains Meet The Sky 1942
Light A Candle In The Chapel 1942
There's a Harbor of Dream Boats 1943
My Dream of Tomorrow 1943
Comin' In On A Wing and A Prayer 1943
Rum and Coca-Cola 1944
Ac-cent-tchu-ate The Positive 1944
Swinging On A Star 1944
Anniversary Song 1946
My Heart Is A Hobo 1947
April In Portugal 1947
Bella Bella Marie 1947
Buttons and Bows 1948

1950-1959


1960-1969
Angel On My Shoulder 1960
Love is Blue 1966

I wish a box of old sheet music was rare, but it's pretty common. This one cost $10, but that was a lot of money to me when I bought it. The box it came in is probably worth more than the sheet music since it's super vintage metal-reinforced wax cardboard soft drink shipment box, probably from 1973. A collector would probably kill for that box.

*The piano is a Yamaha P105 unit. I like the modeling and the action but the speakers are only adequate for a small room.  All these recordings are done with the speakers on the unit itself. I don't own any good amps.

The guitar is a Seagull spruce/cedar