Dear Old Father's Day

For Father's Day, I suspect most people will be hearing a range of somewhat familiar songs appropriate for the occasion.  I suspect, as well, that among those songs will not be this one.

This is, "Dear Old Dad," from a very little-known musical that played off-Broadway in 1961.  It has an important footnote in Broadway history, though, being the first book-musical with lyrics by Sheldon Harnick.  However, the music was not by his longtime partner Jerry Bock, but a fellow named David Baker.  Adding to this oddity is that it has an odd timeline.  It was performed off-Broadway after two Harnick-Bock shows, including the Pulitzer Prize and Tony-winning Fiorello!  However, it had been written before both, and initially performed in Dallas.

The show is basically a satire on the Horatio Alger-type stories.  And this song, sung by son and mother to the memory of "Dear Old Dad," fits right in with that in it's very tongue-in-check whimsy.

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