Blog - Elisberg Industries

Wait, Wait...

6/25/2017

This is a special edition of our "Not My Job" segments that we post here from the NPR quiz show, Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me! In part that's because it's from the archives, aired a decade ago, originally broadcast on March 27, 2007. It's also much longer than most of the "Not My Job" segments -- almost twice as long, in fact. And it's probably the most-famous of them all. I wasn't sure I'd be able to find it...but happily, I did. If you don't usually listen to these, for some reason known only to you, make an exception this week.

Host Peter Sagal's guest contestant here is none other than -- okay, are you ready? -- Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. No, really. Not the sort of contestant you generally find on radio quiz shows. His sister-in-law was a fan of the program and nagged him to appear, and finally he relented. And the show makes the most of it. The interview, as I said, is long -- usually these pieces run about 9-10 minutes. This lasts for 17 minutes. And it's a joy all the way through. And often very funny.

(Earlier, I had written about hearing this broadcast live, and my recollection of a story he told about baseball. My recollection is incorrect. He doesn't tell it here, and he was born after the even occurred, so clearly my memory is pretty bad on this point.)

All rise...

Today's Piano Puzzler

6/24/2017

From the archives, this week's contestant is David Hempling. from San Francisco. What I wrote previously was "It's a very easy hidden song to get. As for the hidden composer style, it's clear after hearing the answer, but I didn't find it typical for that composer so I missed it."

Happy Father's Day, Part 3

6/18/2017

And to fill out the trifecta, here's an odd, funny, little-known song from a little-known musical -- by a well-known songwriter.

The song is "Dear Old Dad," from the off-Broadway show, Smiling the Boy Fell Dead, with lyrics by Sheldon Harnick early in his career, before even he teamed up with Jerry Bock to write Fiddler on the Roof, Fiorello! and The Apple Tree. This show was written in 1954 with composer David Baker, but didn't get an off-Broadway production until 1961 (oddly, after Harnick and Bock had done two shows on Broadway, including winning a Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award for Fiorello!)

The show is a sort of spoof of Horatio Alger stories, and here in this number the young, noble hero and his mother sing a tribute to the boy's late, lamented father that starts out pretty straight-forward though takes a slight turn.

Today's Piano Puzzler

6/10/2017

This week's contestant is Cayce Wilkinson from Council Bluffs, Iowa. I didn't have a clue on the hidden song (as neither did the contestant or host Fred Child), though did at least get it on the second pass when pianist Bruce Adolphe brought the song out more. And it was totally stumped on the composer style, with only a few possibilities in mind...but then near the very end I made one different guess -- and was right.

The Benefits of Backstory

6/5/2017

I find this story a hoot. Bear with me, the backstory is important.

On Friday, I had dinner with my cousin Jim and his wife Olga. (I guess that thanks to whimsy this is just the day for Tales of Cousins.) They invited a few friends, and after the dinner he showed down of his river and boat slides, including a lot of steamboats. Jim worked in boat field for 30 years or so -- starting with repairs, and then moving into the development of high-tech products for private, commercial and government shipping. (Those of you with keen eyes will recall that the photo in the "About Elisberg Industries" section above is me "piloting" a paddlewheel boat down the Mississippi...)

Anyway, afterwards, I asked him if he knew the song, "Something's Always Happening on the River," which I thought he'd enjoy. It's from the little-known musical, Say, Darling, though being a river song I figured there was at least a slight chance. But no, he didn't. So, when getting home, I tracked it down online and sent him a link to it.

I also sent him the background to the song, rather than just the song itself, because I figured it would help in enjoying the song more, knowing what's going on with it. Again, bear with him, this is the part of the backstory that's helps with the end. What I wrote was --

Thanks much for the dinner and enjoyable evening. It was a good time. And when I got in my car I found out how late it was. Yipes! Sorry. But then I sort of enjoyed taking advantage of Jim not having to go off to work in the morning…

This is the song I was telling you about, “Something’s Always Happening on the River.” It’s from the musical “Say, Darling,” which didn’t have a long run in the late-50s, but a respectable one, written by the famous team of Jule Styne (who wrote “Gypsy” and “Funny Girl”) and Comden & Green (who wrote “Bells are Ringing” and “On the Town,” and the screenplay to “Singin’ in the Rain”).

Ostensibly, the show is about the making of a musical. But it’s history is more convoluted and interested than that. To describe it accurately it is a play about a musical based on a book about a musical based on a book.

Here’s a translation in English.

A writer named Richard Bissell wrote a novel called “7-1/2 Cents” that was adapted into the famous musical, “Pajama Game.” He then wrote another novel loosely based on his experiences having his book turned into a musical. That second novel was called, “Say, Darling.” And it in turn was made into what basically was a musical, though was described as a “play about a musical.”

One little real-life tidbit which relates to the song, but which you’d find interesting. Before becoming a writer, Richard Bissell was a licensed riverboat captain. (Apparently he and Mark Twain are the only two riverboat captains who became professional writers.) Though “Pajama Game” and “7-1/2 Cents” had nothing to do with the river, the fictitious world of “Say, Darling” did, overlapping with Richard Bissell’s former life. What this particular song is about is the writer at the end of the show being wistful about how his simple book about the river has been blown out of proportion into this big Broadway musical, and musing about the simplicity and joy of river life.

There! That’s the story…

And so I sent the email and its long story and song-link off. And when I got his reply back...this, to my surprise, is what he wrote --

"I have read a few books by Richard Bissell including My life on the Mississippi or why I am not Mark Twain and a book form the Rivers of America Series The Monongahela.

"His river experience, writing style and sense of humor made them especially enjoyable for me."

What a hoot! He not only knew of Richard Bissell, but had actually read a couple of his books! And the character singing was a fictionalized version of Bissell himself. And if I hadn't sent that interminably long background to what the song was -- which ultimately was totally unnecessary, but...well, what I do -- there wouldn't have been that connection to Richard Bissell. Which tends to be one of the reason I write interminably long background tales. They just don't usually have this connection as the result. Or usually any connection. But I do find that having some perspective makes it all the more fun anyway.

For those of you curious, here's the song in question. It's the big finale to the show, performed by David Wayne. And I might as well toss in a couple other things about the musical. It actually didn't officially promote itself as "a musical," but rather -- as I wrote above -- a play about a musical. There wasn't even an orchestra. Instead, because it was about putting a musical together, they did it as realistically as possible, using only two pianos on stage, as if they were rehearsal pianists. When the cast album was produced, however, they did get a full orchestra and had someone come in and write orchestrations, specifically for the record. As I said, the show isn't particularly well-known, but it had a solid run of 332 performances, which is almost a year. The reason I know about the show and why the family had the cast album sitting around is because my parents had taken a trip to New York in the late '50s and saw it. It's a fun, pretty good, albeit slight score.

This is the song --

Today's Piano Puzzler

6/4/2017

From the archives. This week's contestant is William Beyer from Des Moines, Iowa. The hidden song is extremely easy, and most people should not only get it, but get it quickly. The composer style though is one of those where I can throw a dart among several people and hope for the best. In fact, the contestant, who from his analysis of musical styles was clearly very knowledge, and he had a great deal of difficulty, though eventually got it (albeit it with a a few descriptive clues). So, I took a total guess to the one I thought it might be closest to -- and was wrong.

Wait, Wait...

5/28/2017

This week, host Peter Sagal's guest contestant for the "Not My Job" segment of the NPR comedy-quiz show Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me! is the great singer-songwriter John Prine. There's a nice bit of connection here, since the show is done is Chicago, and Chicago is where John Prine came to fame -- and even started as a mailman. (He talks about that here, although leaves out the story about how he occasionally would lock himself in a mailbox for the privacy so that he could write there.) There's no discussion of his close friend Steve Goodman, but he does talk about folk singer Ed Holstein, who's still performing, and with his brother Fred -- a folksinger, as well -- owned the prominent club Holsteins, which was the center of the folk scene in Chicago. And Prine also tells the story about how he got his start thanks to, of all people, Roger Ebert. It's a very affectionate and funny chat.

Writers Talk

5/28/2017

On this new 3rd & Fairfax podcast, the guest is writer Mike Schur who talks about the range of his impressive career that started with being put in charge of the "Weekend Update" segment of SNL with Tina Fey and Jimmy Fallon, moving on to the writing staff for The Office for its first four seasons. From there, he co-created Parks and Recreation. And then co-creating Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Finally, he gets into his latest series that he created last season, The Good Place. As I wrote on this pages earlier here, I love the show and am a big fan of its charm, whimsy and inventiveness, and particularly its willingness to try "different." One "Spoiler Alert" -- if you're still catching up on the show, there is a discussion of the season finale. As you might imagine, it's a lively and fun interview -- as well as charming and even at times self-effacing.

Today's Piano Puzzler

5/27/2017

This week's contestant is Mike Freiberg from Golden Valley, Minnesota. The hidden song is extremely easy, and most people I think will get it about five seconds in, after a very sleight introduction. And it's obvious throughout, not especially hidden. As for the composer style, I had a pretty definitive guess early on and was right. So -- I got both, huzzah. I think most have a good chance, as well.

Wait, Wait...

5/21/2017

This week on the NPR game show, Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me!, host Peter Sagal's guest contestant is movie director Guy Ritchie, who among his many films has directed the current King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, both recent Sherlock Holmes films, Swept Away, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and came to fame with the well-regarded independent Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Yes, I know he's promoting his film, but it's one thing to do promotion, and it's another thing for the British Guy Ritchie of all people to so-unexpectedly appear on a radio popular culture game show. And for all his tough-guy movies, and tough early life, he comes across as quite charming and thoroughly self-effacing. And funny.