There are many covers of Brown's Iowa Waltz, too many to report here but one has received more media attention than any other and that is one featuring 2016 Presidential candidate and Governor of the state of Maryland, Martin O'Malley. He sang it at most of his campaign appearances in the state of Iowa. It didn't seem to help, he dropped out of the race after doing poorly in the Iowa caucuses.
In 1996 for the Iowa Sesquicentennial, Dave Hearn wrote some of the words and the music for The Old Iowa Waltz. Shadric Smith added to the lyrics so both of them are usually credited for the waltz. Here it is being performed by one of the composers and his wife, Debbie on May 14, 2015 at Byron's Songwriter's night in Pomeroy, Iowa.
And, just to show that there is something about waltzes and politics in Iowa, here is U.S. Congressman Tom Latham singing The Old Iowa Waltz with the Frontier Fiddle Band which happens to have both of the songwriters in the band: Shadric on guitar and Hearn on piano. This one was filmed at Latham's farm in Alexander, Iowa in 2002.
In 2007, a New York based honky-tonk band called Sweet William (not to be confused with the German rock band, Sweet William) released an album on the CD Baby label titled More Than Fun. It contained a track titled Iowa Waltz. It was written by Katherine Etzel who was born and raised in Fort Dodge, Iowa and was a member of Sweet William from 2003-2007. Here it is:
There is one published "historic" Iowa waltz, titled Iowa Dream Waltz which was written in 1926 by Dr. Lew Arntz with words by Olivette Heinrich. The Special Collections and University Archives has a copy. Hopefully, they will share a copy with this blog so the music can once again be heard but if you can't wait to hear it, one of Amazon.com's vendors currently has a copy for sale.
There are two other Iowa waltzes which were recorded on small, local labels. Dates for both are unknown but it is probable that the first one was recorded in the 1950's. Titled Iowa Waltz, it was composed by Frank Cotier and performed on organ by Cotier on two different labels. The first was his own label Fran-Co where it is found on Fran-Co 3200. It was also recorded on Dudley 6000 with a different song on the flip side. While most state waltzes are in a country format, this one would best be described as a polka waltz. Thanks to somelocalloser, who shared a copy of the audio file from his record collection, you can hear it below.
The second Iowa waltz was also titled Iowa Waltz and is found on Whitkay EP-504. It was sung by and probably composed by Helen Evelyn (Kay) Smith Whittaker Gardner (1923-2002) who performed under the name Country Girl Kay. This one is clearly in the country style and is a multi-track duet with Kay singing harmony and melody and probably playing the guitar too. Again, thanks to the somelocalloser blog, you can hear this rare recording below.
The most recent Iowa waltz is quite unusual. Most state waltzes are "country" in style but there is a "classical" Iowa waltz. Mark Carlson, a well known California composer of chamber music, has written a piece for clarinet, violin, cello and piano titled A Family Portrait in Five Scenes. The fifth "scene" or movement is titled Iowa Waltz. While a live recording is not available, Professor Carlson has provided a computer generated performance of his Iowa Waltz which you can hear below.
What is not included:
There is a 1973 copyright issued to Frances M. Kadolph for a song titled Iowa Waltz. No other evidence of this song has been found.
There is a 1921 copyright issued to Francis Olson for a song titled Iowa Waltz.
There is a 1951 copyright issued to Pauline Troster for a song titled Iowa Waltz.
There is a 1951 copyright issued to Ronald Buck and Alice Vonk for a song titled Iowa Waltz.
There is reference to an Iowa Waltz by A. Bollman in the "New Music Received" section of an 1892 book titled The Writer, Vol. 5.
There is a reference to an 1847 Iowa Waltz by Thomas Britcher in Minnesota History published the Minnesota Historical Society in 1943.
And, in a first for this blog, there is an Iowa Waltz Pizza available at The Mill in Iowa City, Iowa. The pizza features bacon, granny smith apple, walnuts, Asiago, mozzarella, blue cheese and honey on an olive oil thin crust. According to Marty Christensen, who answers email at The Mill (and probably does a bit more stuff around the shop), the pizza was named after Greg Brown's song because Brown used to sing there in his early days. In 2003, The Mill closed and Brown performed a farewell concert there which you can still watch on the Greg Brown ..last Night at the Mill DVD. Sadly, Iowa Waltz was not on the playlist that night. Fortunately, The Mill has reopened and if you are a music and/or pizza lover and are in Iowa City, this looks like a great place to visit.
And as a reward for those few who made it to the end of this blog, here are the lyrics and a simplified score for Brown's Iowa Waltz.
Lyrics - Copyright © 1981, 1984 Brown Street Music
Home in the midst of the corn,
The middle of the U.S.A.
Here's where I was born,
And here's where I'm goin' to stay.
[chorus}
Iowa, Iowa,
Winter, spring, summer and fall.
Come and see, come dance with me,
To the beautiful Iowa Waltz.
We take care of our own,take care of our young,
Make hay while the sun shines.
Growing our crops, singing our songs,
And planting until harvest time.
Simplified score:
Great job. Keep on bloggin'.
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