Twice 55

 

Don’t know if you remember this songbook, but I still have mine. I think it came from elementary school when we were learning the plastic flute.

 

There were no valves or reeds, just a single piece of black plastic and cover up holes to make different sounds. I think the first song was “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”.

From what I scribbled on the page, it was Mrs. Sandlers class (Room 208).

 

or room 103 at Junior high or perhaps room 209 Schwartz?

However I got it, this was my first music book. The copyright is 1957, which would have made me nine at the time, but this is the ‘revised’ edition.

This little book was kept in the Autoharp case and then in the organ’s bench. It was used at family gatherings to sing-a-longs of old time favorites and hymns.

Each song had the scored notes and words but no chords.

I had picked up the Autoharp and learned the songs then switched to guitar and picked out the chords I’d learned.

“The Brown Book” had the words to songs that soon became folk classics like “Go Tell It On The Mountain” and “The River is Wide” plus Christmas tunes that were popular for the season.

It is a classical reading with original words and music for songs that cannot be found on Google anymore like “Carry Me Back to Ole Virginny” “Old Black Joe”, “Old Zip Coon” and “Dixie”.

The cover has a sketch of the symbol on the Hitachi transistor radio we just got and the inside page has my father’s signature that I learned to trace and duplicate on school letters that needed a parents review.

Don’t know if it was purchased as a school supply with the flute or a gift for my mother to play and sing with? Someone might pick it up from the estate sale and not know any of these songs?

“Run fetch a pitcher gets the baby some beer”

Candyman