February 26 - Johnny Cash (The Musical Birthday Series, 7th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for February 26th are here: Frank Bridge (2020), Fats Domino; Betty Hutton (2021), Franz Strauss; Johnny Cash (2022), Anton Reicha (2023), Jackie Gleason (2024), and Stefano Landi (2025)

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Johnny Cash (26 February 1932 – 12 September 2003) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cash Cachet

The wise would say it's rather rash

To pen a poem on Johnny Cash,

    Especially a light one,

For if you try to write a smash,

Invoke the ghost of Ogden Nash,

And smoke a cigarette to ash, 

And still you end up writing trash,

   It could come back to bite one.

But comic verse is just a dash

Of humor, nothing bold or brash,

A thing that's over in a flash, —

   And so I think I'll write one.

 

 

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January 9 - Crystal Gayle; Valborg Aulin (The Musical Birthday Series, 6th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for January 9th are here: Rudolf Bing; Joan Baez (2020), Reinhard Keiser (2020), John Knowles Paine (2022), Betty Roché; John Knowles Paine (2023), Joan Baez; Rudolf Hindemith (2024), and John Knowles Paine; Rudolf Bing (2025)

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Crystal Gayle (b. 9 January 1951) is an American country music singer widely known for her 1977 hit "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue". 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Siblings 1

Music writers and journalists have claimed the pair had "sibling rivalry". In an interview with People, Lynn explained that such a rivalry did not exist: "People try to make it like we compete, but that's all in their minds...We fight a little bit, but that's just sisters. And we never fight over the music business." - Wikipedia

Today's the day to tell the tale

Of country singer Crystal Gayle,

And put to rest reports wherein

She feuded with Loretta Lynn.

As sisters, yes, they'd sometimes spat,

But that, the sisters said, was that.

In music, they were best of friends,

And that is where the story ends.

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Valborg Aulin (9 January 1860 – 13 March 1928) was a Swedish pianist and composer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Siblings 2

Aulin embarked on a career as a pianist, often collaborating with her younger brother, Tor, a composer and the leader of a well-regarded string quartet. – Sudip Bose, "Who Was Laura Valborg Aulin?" theamericanscholar.org

At the age of 43, Aulin decided to move from the capital, and she ceased composing. Her work was performed less and less, and would be forgotten  -- heavily adapted from Wikipedia

 

Valborg and her brother Tor

Are scarcely heard of any more,

Unless the bots that fill your feeds

Select the music of the Swedes;

And you can live your life content

Without a moment being spent

In listening to a single note

The Aulin siblings ever wrote.

 

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December 12 - Connie Francis (The Musical Birthday Series, 7th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for December 12th are found here: Frank Sinatra; Connie Francis; Adolf Schulz-Evler (2019), Dionne Warwick (2020), Frank Sinatra; Sammy Davis Sr. (2021), Frank Sinatra (2022), Frank Sinatra (2023), and Adolf Schulz-Evler (2024)

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Connie Francis (12 December 1937 –16  July 2025) was an American top-charting singer and actress of the late 1950s and early 1960s.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Arthur's Advise

Arthur Godfrey told her to drop the accordion—advice she gladly followed, as she had begun to hate the large and heavy instrument. -- Wikipedia

"The knot isn't Gordian,

   The answer is clear.

You should lose the accordion,

    To spark your career.

The accordion's big, it

   Is awkward to grip,

And though polka bands dig it,

   It's not very hip."

 

 

 

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March 6 - Bob Wills (The Musical Birthday Series, 7th Annual Cycle)

Previous March 6th entries can be found here: Oscar Straus (2019), Norman Treigle (2020), H. C. Robbins Landon (2021), Sarah Caldwell; Julius Rudel; Oscar Straus (2022), Stephen Schwartz (2023), and Yannick Nézet-Séguin (2024)

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Bob Wills (6 March 1905 – 13 May 1975) was an American wEstern swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Where There’s a Wills

 

Considered by music authorities as the founder of Western swing, he was known widely as the King of Western Swing.  -- Wikipedia

Of Wills I sing,

Who was the king

Of Western swing,

A style that has

It’s own pizzazz,

Combining jazz

With country as

A hybrid thing.

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February 18 -- Pee Wee King (The Musical Birthday Series, 6th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for February 18th are here: John Travolta (2020), Yoko Ono (2021), Johann Christian Heinrich Rinck (2022), Johann Christian Kittel (2023), and Tom Jones (2024)

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Pee Wee King (18 February 1914 – 7 March 2000) was an American country music  songwriter and recording artist best known for co-writing "Tennessee Waltz".   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lesson Learned

All versions of the lyrics to the "Tennessee Waltz" narrate a situation in which the persona has introduced his or her sweetheart to a friend who then waltzes away with her or him.  – Wikipedia, s.v. “Tennessee Waltz”

To honor his birthday, let us sing

“The Tennessee Waltz” of Pee Wee King,

Which warns us we should never lend

The love of your life to a dancing friend;

You never can know when he or she

Will respond to that waltz from Tennessee,

While leaving you lonely, seeking answers,

Ignored by the clusters of circling dancers.

 

 

 

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