12 books for 12 songs for 12 months

The Dees are putting together the reading list for our 2010 bookclub. We're going to do a different book for each song on our new album, American History + Rock-n-Roll = The Deedle Deedle Dees. That's 12 books for 12 songs for 12 months.

We need your suggestions. Books for grown-ups and books for kids. We're actually doing two lists of 12 books, a parent list and a kid list. Below are the subjects of the songs. Have you or your child read any great books on these topics?

Amelia Earhart

John Muir

The Lowell Mill Strike

Bennie Benson and the Alaskan Flag

César Chávez and his fasts

Satchel Paige

The Mexican Muralists Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, José David Alfaro Siqueiros

Eleanor Roosevelt and Lorena Hickok

The Brooklyn Bridge

Susan B. Anthony

New Jersey

We're making arrangements with a local Brooklyn bookstore or two to create a special Deedle Deedle Dees display featuring our book club books. Any book clubs near you that you think might like to participate?

L

Put on the Dress

Track 11: Put on the Dress

album: American History + Rock-n-Roll = The Deedle Deedle Dees
words & music by Lloyd Miller, arrangement by Chris Johnson, Ely Levin, Lloyd Miller, and Anand Mukherjee
lead vocals: Otto von Dee (Ely Levin)
guest vocalist: Bill Childs


LYRICS

Put on the dress
Put on the wig
Put on the little round classes, I said

Stand up in class
You know what to say
Read your report
then shout "ERA!"

Nobody told me to be Susan B. Anthony
Nobody told me to be Susan B. Anthony

They said write a report, make it biography
They never said I'd have to dress up and be
The person I researched for the whole world to see
But even if I'd known...

I'd still be Susan B. Anthony!



BACKSTORY:
This song was inspired by a story that Bill Childs, host of the award-winning family radio show, Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child, told me. When he was in school, he was assigned to do a report on an important historical person. Bill, without any prompting from his family, chose Susan B. Anthony. Pretty awesome. Only after he had made this choice did he learn that the assignment required dressing up as one's subject and delivering the report in front of the whole class. Bill was the only kid in the class who chose a historical figure from the opposite gender -- a variable the teacher apparently hadn't considered when she created the assignment.

Bill didn't, however, change his report topic nor did he try to get out of the dress-up clause in his teacher's instructions. True to form, he "put on the dress" and did the presentation. And now, you can hear the adult Bill Childs speaking the lyrics during the second verse of the song.

More important than this fun story, though, is the story of Susan B. Anthony herself. Ever since elementary school, I've known that she was an advocate for the right of women to vote. But until recently, this is where my knowledge of this extremely important activist stopped. Instead of just listing some of the cool stuff I found out, I thought it might be more fun to make a little quiz. If you answer all three questions correctly, you'll get a free copy of American History + Rock-n-Roll = The Deedle Deedle Dees.


Susan B. Anthony Quiz
1. For what crime was Susan B. Anthony arrested?

2. When Susan B. Anthony was a child, what did one of her teachers refuse to teach her because she was a female?

3. Why did Susan B. Anthony split with fellow activist Frederick Douglass?



You can find the answers to these questions pretty easily online. But if you'd like to read more extensively about her and other activists, try one of these books.


for grown-ups:

Voices of Protest! Documents of Courage and Dissent by Frank Lowenstein, Sheryl Lechner, and Erik Bruun -- I just got this book as a present. Looks terrific.

Not For Ourselves Alone: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony by Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns -- Ken Burns' documentaries are all right, but I prefer the companion books.

Failure is Impossible: Susan B. Anthony in Her Own Words by Lynn Sherr --
Definitely read some of her speeches and essays: he knew how to hit people where it hurt.

for kids:

Susan B. Anthony: A Photo-Illustrated Biography by Lucile Davis -- lots of interesting pictures from her era

Susan B. Anthony: Fighter for Women's Rights by Deborah Hopkinson and Amy June Bates -- an early-reader chapter book, good for elementary students

- Lloyd (Ulysses S. Dee)

The new album is here! (Right here next to me)

We had a great time at our CD release concert and video shoot this past Saturday, December 12th, and we can't wait for you to hear the album! Squid, an NYC-based video director and visual artist who was an original member of the Blue Man Group's production team, shot the whole concert -- primarily to use as a stand-alone video for the song, "Little Red Airplane," but also to carve up into clips that we'll put online soon.

The album, as many of you know, is called American History + Rock-n-Roll = The Deedle Deedle Dees. The clunky, obvious title is our attempt to make it very clear what it is we do. Traveling the country the past years, the two questions we're most frequently asked are:

"So are you guys like the Wiggles?"

"Are you on Noggin?"

We (cue violins) have grown tired of these questions and so have decided to reduce our band to the simple equation that now adorns the new record. I'm sure it won't help. But who cares? We just want people to hear these wonderful new songs that we've been working on for so long.

Here's the track list:

1. Little Red Airplane

2. John Muir

3. Do the Turnout

4. Growl Growl

5. ¡Sí Se Puede!

6. Bring 'Em In

7. Tres Muralistas

8. Party Girl

9. Tub-Tub-Ma-Ma-Ga-Ga

10. The Brooklyn Bridge Song

11. Put on the Dress

12. Xu Lapi Knewel, New Jersey

I've already posted about Track 12. Tonight I'll post about Track 11. Tomorrow... you get the idea. I'm posting full lyrics plus background info on each song. And sometime in January and February (in time for our winter tour) the brand-new Teacher's Guide to the Deedle Deedle Dees will be complete and ready to mail to you (let us know if you want one).

By the way, if you need copies of either of our albums right away, please write me at thedeedledeedledees@yahoo.com. CDBaby sold out of Freedom in a Box last week and although we've sent them some more, these CDs -- as well as copies of the new album -- might not be online for sale until next week. Just tell me how many you need and when you need them by. If you live in Brooklyn, I might even be able to drop them by your house.

Lloyd

Xu Lapi Knewel, New Jersey

Attention Dees fans:

This is the first of 12 posts about the songs on our new album, American History + Rock-n-Roll = The Deedle Deedle Dees. Each of these posts will include lyrics + some background info and links. We finally sent the album artwork to the printer yesterday so, yes, we'll have the CDs in time for our release party on Dec. 12th at the Moxie Spot. http://www.themoxiespot.com/

We're also finishing our teacher's guide. This will include all the info that you find on this blog + lesson plans, in-class activities, and more. If you'd like one, write us and we'll put one in the mail. We're planning to finish it by the first week of February.

We'll begin, just to be Deedle Deedle Dee-ish about things, with Track 12 and work our way back to Track 1.

Track 12: Xu lapi knewel, New Jersey
album: American History + Rock-n-Roll = The Deedle Deedle Dees
words & music by Lloyd Miller
arrangement by Chris Johnson, Ely Levin, Lloyd Miller, and Anand Mukherjee

LYRICS
Cranetown is gone now
Montclair is where she used to be
Communipaw is long gone
Now she's just a part of Jersey City

Where's the wild garden state I roamed?
Au revoir... Farewell... Ma as-salaamah...
I've been looking for my home
Xu lapi knewel (xhoo lah-pee knay-wuhl)
I'll see you again, New Jersey

Hopoghan Hackingh
the land of the tobacco pipe is now Hoboken
Acquackanonk was broken up
into Paterson, Clifton, and Passaic

Where's the wild garden state I roamed?
Adios... Goodbye... annyeonghi gaseyo
I've been looking for my home
Xu lapi knewel (xhoo lah-pee knay-wuhl)
I'll see you again, New Jersey


BACKGROUND
I was inspired to write this song by fourth-grade students at the Montclair Co-operative School in Montclair, NJ. The Deedle Deedle Dees had been asked by the Alexander Kasser Theater at Montclair State University to create an original show and I told them I'd like to make one about New Jersey itself and enlist the help of a local school to help write the songs.

The fourth-grade class I worked with wrote 10 + songs on New Jersey topics of their choosing inlcuding Molly Pitcher, Les Paul, Queen Latifah and Thomas Edison and nearly all of them made it into the show they did with all four Deedle Deedle Dees at the Kasser Theater last February (2009). The one thing I felt like the show was missing, though, was a final number to tie it all together. I knew pretty early on that I wanted to use some of the old, forgotten place names that I'd come across in my own research for the project, but beyond this I didn't know what shape the "tie-together" song would take.

I was especially enamored with the concept of "Communipaw" as put forth by Washington Irving. Communipaw was simply the name for a village/area that became (roughly) modern-day Jersey City. Irving, however, wrote of Communipaw as the center of Dutch culture and the customs and ideals that created New Amsterdam. He, of course, was a myth-maker, and while his "histories" actually have a lot of fact in them, they also have plenty of fancy and exaggeration. I read somewhere that he chose Communipaw as the cradle of Dutchness because he liked the name -- as good a reason as any, I think (but don't trust me: I wrote a song called "Major Deegan" after the notorious expressway.)

"Communipaw" is thought most likely to have come, like so many place names in this area, from the Lenape languages. Conequently, my research on Jersey place names veered into a study of Lenape and culture. "Lenape" is a general term for the Indians who lived in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, etc. It's a misleading term because it's not one any Indian would have used to refer to him or herself, rather it's a classification that exists so that people (like me) can avoid referring to all the different tribes and family groups who populated the greater New York area.

After spending a lot of time on sites that promised to teach me Lenape, Lenape historical society blogs, etc., I came across the phrase that gives this song its title. Language scholars generally believe that Lenape languages had no word for "goodbye." Instead they said "I'll see you again." I knew, as soon as I read this, that I had the core of my song. I then went to the fourth-graders and asked to think of all the different ways that they knew to say goodbye. Kids taught me to say goodbye in Korean, Arabic, French, Spanish, and other languages that were spoken in their homes. I used these various farewells in order to represent and speak for the world of present-day New Jersey as it greets and says "I'll see you again" to Jerseys past.

sidenote: Some Jerseyites will tell you that New Jersey is the most ethnically diverse state in the nation. I don't know if this is true. I feel like California and New York might also be able to lay claim to this title. Will someone research this and let me know?

Further reading:
"Communipaw" by Washington Irving http://www.readprint.com/work-3982/Communipaw-Washington-Irving

The Jews of New Jersey: A Pictorial History by Patricia M. Ard and Michael Aaron

It Happened in New Jersey (It Happened In Series) by Fran Capo



By the way, my grandmother, Bessie, grew up in Paterson. I often think of her when I sing this song.

Lloyd (Ulysses S. Dee)

Where's the new album?

It's taking longer than we thought!

The new album by the Deedle Deedle Dees, American History + Rock-n-Roll = the Deedle Deedle Dees, is done and we're finishing the sleeve this week. We have about 20 performers on the record, (including Brooklyn kids, jazz legend Roy Nathanson and his son, indy rock goddess Ali Hammer, and the Red Hook Ramblers) and we wanted to include pictures of all of them. Getting all their pictures took some time -- and figuring out how to fit all of them + their performing credits took even more time.

But we're finishing the whole thing this week and sending it to the printer! If you pre-bought an album, it will be there before Christmas. And if you'd like to buy an album, they'll be available on our CDBaby page and at our shows soon.

Speaking of shows...

The Deedle Deedle Dees
CD release concert + video shoot
Saturday, Dec. 12th
10:30 am
The Moxie Spot
Brooklyn Heights
www.themoxiespot.com

John Henry, Ezra Jack Keats, and You

Just back from the Ezra Jack Keats concert at Symphony Space. So fun! The event was hosted by Abena Koomson, one of the stars of the new Broadway musical, Fela! She read a book by Mr. Keats as did Sonia Manzano (Maria from Sesame Street!) and Dominic Colon (The Electric Company). Randy Kaplan played three new songs based on Keats books and so did the Dees. Thanks for a great morning, everyone!

Some folks at the show were asking where they could find recordings of the new songs we performed. We sang songs based on the Keats books, Apt. 3, Over in the Meadow, and John Henry. We're talking to the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation about the possibility of recording these tunes so hopefully, sometime soon, you'll be able to hear full studio recordings of all the great new tunes that Keats books inspired. Wouldn't a compilation of all these songs be an amazing kids album? In addition to the Dees and Randy Kaplan, past Keats events have featured Astrograss, They Might Be Giants, and other excellent performers. Check this blog for updates.

I also wanted people to know where they could read and hear more about the John Henry story. After you read the Keats book (a unique and powerful retelling of the classic tale), you should first check out a few of the endless songs that have been written about this legend. Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger's takes on what is probably the most well-known "John Henry" are both good starting places. Springsteen does this tune as well and I have to thank him for introducing so many Brooklyn kids to this old song (They request it at birthday parties now -- mainly because they've heard Springsteen's version.)

Some other songs in the JH canon not to be missed:
Mississippi John Hurt's "Spike Driver Blues" -- untouchable
Leadbelly's "Take this Hammer" -- I sing it to my daughter in the swing

Grown-ups should definitely pick up Steel Drivin' Man: John Henry, the Untold Story of An American Legend by Scott Reynolds Nelson. He hunts through the prison records and finds a man who could very well be the historical John Henry. Details in many of the stories and songs about John Henry point to him most likely being some of chain gang laborer and Nelson's explorations are a thrilling trip through the early days of building industrial America by hand.

This is how we swing... John Henry!

Lloyd

Beecher

Yes, it's true: I have not posted ever since I announced the September selections for the Deedle Deedle Dees American History book club. This is because I've been very busy finishing up stuff for our new album, American History + Rock-n-Roll = The Deedle Deedle Dees. I've also discovered, on talking to some Brooklyn folks on the street, that no one (except me) has actually read September's grown-up selection, The Most Famous Man in America: A Biography of Henry Ward Beecher. A number of people have told me that they want to read it and that as soon as they get a copy, that they plan to read the heck out of it.

But that's okay. I'm going to write about the book anyway and hope some of you are inspired to get started. Before I begin my short discussion of this very fascinating book I want to talk about how I'm going to change the book club yet again in an effort to get more people involved. Here's how:

- Books will be seasonal rather than monthly. In other words, you have from now until 12:01 am January 1, 2010, to read one (or more than one) of the following books:

The Most Famous Man In America: A Biography of Henry Ward Beecher by Debby Applegate
In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick
The Thoreau You Don't Know by Robert Sullivan

I'll tell you more about the two new books in another post. For now, just pick the title you like best, look it up online and order it. All these titles are very much worth your time. Better yet, find it at your favorite local independent bookstore. If you live in Brooklyn, Book Court on Court Street is going to start stocking all our book club books. They're lovely people. Shop there.

As avid readers of this blog know, the book club also features chapter books for elementary-aged kids and picture books for the pre-readers in your family. I'll put the new kid books in another post that's specifically devoted to family reading and the specific books.

Now, back to Beecher:

Henry Ward Beecher was the pastor of Plymouth Church in Brooklyn Heights in the years before, during, and after the Civil War. During his time there he became, arguably, the "most famous man in America" due to his passionate and theatrical sermons that drew capacity crowds every Sunday. Mark Twain, Edna Dean Proctor, Walt Whitman, and some guy named Abe Lincoln were among the many who wrote or spoke of their admiration for his oratorical skills. Beecher talked about sin and redemption just like many of his peers, but he also told a lot of personal stories, stories about real people, and extended anecdotes that were very different from what anyone else was saying in the pulpit. He had a particular talent for imitating all sorts of different types of people and would use his remarkably elastic voice and expressive face to act the part of all the characters in a story he would tell. Many descriptions of his sermons / performances depict him stomping around the stage, his long hair flying, his body constantly assuming a new posture to make a new point. In many ways, he was one of America's first nationally-known entertainers -- his appeal went far beyond his religious audience.

The first two-thirds of Debby Applegate's book on Beecher are pretty standard issue general interest biography ( I love standard issue general interest biography). The final act of the book, however, has a breathless, ripped-from-the-headlines feel -- this is the section where Beecher's various (alleged) indiscretions start to catch up with him and become part of the public dialogue. After living through the public scandals involving Bill Clinton, Michael Jackson, Eliot Spitzer, and so many others, I found Beecher's ordeals both extremely familiar and a tad redundant (Oh no, not this again!" I found myself groaning). People just love to humilate a popular, powerful figure it seems and even without the internet or 24-hour cable channels, the media (newspapers and street gossip) of late 1800s America managed to overwhelm the public with constant Beecher coverage.

What are your thoughts on this book? On Beecher? Write me.