Michigan

Michigan does not have an official state waltz. They do, however, have a confusing state song situation which involves a waltz. In 1937, the Michigan legislature declared My Michigan by Giles Kavanagh (lyrics) and H. O'Reilly Clint (music) as the official state song. It was to replace an unofficial state song, Michigan, My Michigan, the original lyrics of which were written by Winifred Lyster in 1862 to honor Michigan men who had fought in the civil war.  It was sung to the tune of O Tannenbaum which is written in 3/4 time and can pass for a waltz. (It is also the tune for state songs in Maryland, Iowa and, at one time, Florida.)  Today, My Michigan, is virtually never performed and Michigan, My Michigan has become the de facto state song.  Interestingly, the lyrics of Michigan, My Michigan have been changed twice and the tune has been changed once.  You can find all of the lyrics in the excellent Wikipedia entry on Michigan, My Michigan or you can listen to them below.

The original 1862 version:

In 1886, Major James Long wrote new lyrics and shortened the song (six stanzas instead of ten).  He also de-emphasized, but did not eliminate, references to the civil war. It was still sung to the tune of O Tannenbaum. This version is a little rare, but you can hear it here:

In 1902, Douglas Malloch wrote new lyrics which eliminated all references to war and shortened it to a very singable four stanzas.  Otto Miessner contributed a new tune - still a waltz and not as singable or memorable as O Tannenbaum.  In 2003, Michigan Senate Bill 644 proposed making the Malloch/Miessner song the official state song but it never got out of committee. You can see a copy of the 1911 sheet music here and you can listen to it below.

The good people of Michigan have taken matters into their own hands.  If you happen to find a Michigan resident who thinks they know the state song, the odds are that you will hear the words written by Malloch but you won't hear the tune written by Miessner - you will hear O Tannenbaum.  An example follows.

Just one more complication - in 2013, Michigan State Representative Frank Foster submitted House Bill 4263 which would make Michigan Man by Mike Ridley (it is not a waltz) the official state song. That bill, too, has disappeared in committee.

With that introduction, let's looks at some real Michigan waltzes, and there are some nice ones.

The first to be reviewed is titled Waltz for the Michigan Missionary which was written and performed by Bryson Breakey. The song is totally unique in the world of state waltzes in that it is a "Music Video" as opposed to the typical "song captured in a video." It is an early example of the creativity of Kendall Lawren Rock from Poulsbo / Seattle, Washington - she made the video eight years ago while she was in high school. After this video was made, Kendall spent some time at Colorado College and has since been traveling the world with her Nikon camera - you can view her photos at her website or through her Instagram feed.  She continues to make creative "Music Videos", there is a relatively new one featuring Lemolo on YouTube, as well as making serious documentaries and videos that pay the rent.  Apart from the creative nature of the video, the song is quite enjoyable although not a waltz likely to be encountered in a ballroom.

There are six other live video performances of waltzes celebrating Michigan. First on the list is The Michigan Waltz composed by Bill LaVallie, Sr. in 1950 and performed below by his grandson, Jeff Krebs, a native of Michigan's upper peninsula.  Krebs often performs as "Papa Crow" and has a great kid's album titled Things That Roar.  His Michigan Waltz is available on his second album, Full Moon, Full Moon.

Michigan State University in Lansing, Michigan has one of the biggest and best college radio stations in the U.S.A. - Impact88.9FMhttp://impact89fm.org/.  They broadcast a live show called "The Basement" on Thursday nights featuring local bands and artists.  In March, 2009, they featured Sam Corbin on the show and he performed his own Michigan's Waltz. Corbin is from Ypsilanti and has now issued three albums containing mostly songs he has written himself. A full arrangement of Michigan's Waltz appears on his second album and can be heard on YouTube but it is tough to top the live performance from "The Basement" below.  Corbin is accompanied in this video by guitarist and singer, Brian Westrin.

On April 15, 1921, William Harvey Breeding was born into a musical family in Washburn, Tennessee.  Tough times drove the family to Pontiac, Michigan in the 1930's.  Young William was a big fan of Zane Gray and took to calling himself Arizona, no last name - just Arizona, when he began singing in clubs as a teenager.  His younger brother joined him and they were known as the "Arizona Twins." His life is exceptionally well documented in a book, Detroit Country Music by Craig Maki and Keith Cady from which all this information comes. He took the last name of Weston, the book never explains why, and went on to long and varied life that always included music - as a singer, guitarist, band leader, disk jockey, record store proprietor or promoter.  He was a founder of the Michigan Country Music Association. He wrote a number of songs including Beautiful Waltz of Michigan.  He recorded the song in 1977, in a band led by Johnny Gimble, a member of Bob Wills famed Texas Playboys and always hoped it would become the state song of Michigan.  Sadly, that recording is long lost but fortunately Don Stidham has preserved the song with the video below.

The music industry, or at least those who write about the music industry, like to create new categories of music - Folk music became Roots music which became Americana music.  Here is a new one - Michigana music and if you want to hear real Michigana music, you go to Bob's Barn in Lake Odessa, Michigan.  There is a Michigana music jam there every Sunday at 4 pm.  You can get an overview of Michigana music by browsing Bob Warner's (yes, it is his "barn") YouTube channel.  In that channel, you find one of the authentic gems of Michigana music, Michigan Waltz by the late Garland (Gar) Buhrer (1928-2012) of Hudsonville, Michigan. Gar was locally well known for his fiddle playing and was inducted into the Michigan Fiddlers Hall of Fame in 2008.  He played with a group called the Singin' Strings and worked for Steelcase of Grand Rapids to pay the bills. It is just a guess, but the video below sounds like a cassette tape recording made in someone's living room during a jam.  That is Gar singing and probably him playing the fiddle. (Thanks to Ken Moore, President of the Michigan Fiddler's Association, for the information about Gar.)

In 1982, Judi Morningstar wrote Michigan Saturday Night. Judi is a composer, hammered dulcimer player and jewelry maker from Highland, Michigan.  Michigan Saturday Night was her first composition with vocals. It was recorded by the band Just Friends (Rosemary Kornacki, Lori Cleland, Judi Morningstar and Cecelia Webster) in 1986 on a cassette tape titled A Dulcimer Holiday. You can find a score for the song here. You can hear Just Friends perform the song in the video below from a 2013 meeting of the Country Dance and Song Society (CDSS) in Lansing, Michigan where Judi and her husband, Glen, received a CDSS lifetime achievement award. You may also hear the song if you point your browser to Blue Lake Public Radio on Saturday night at 8:00 - Michigan Saturday Night is used as theme music for the program of the same name, hosted by Steve Albert. (Thanks to Jim McKinney for bringing Michigan Saturday Night to the attention of this blog and to Judi Morningstar for the link to the video and the information about the song).

In this collection of Michigan waltz videos, only one cover was encountered (a cover is a performance of a song by someone other than the originator).  The original of the cover is Michigan Waltz by Kitty Donohoe. She first recorded the song, along with other Michigan related songs she had written in 1987 and with a cassette tape and accompanying book for sale made a tour of Michigan elementary schools singing her songs.  She added a few songs and reissue it as a CD in 2004. You can still buy the book and the recording (now digital) from Amazon.  Donohoe is a very talented singer/songwriter from the Detroit area who is perhaps best known for the song she wrote after the 9/11 tragedy, There Are No Words. Her voice and style are very reminiscent of Cheryl Wheeler and it happens that she has opened concerts for Wheeler (and for Doc Watson and David Bromberg and quite a few others).  Listen to the original below.

The cover of Ms. Donohoe's Michigan Waltz is unusual.  Her songs continue to be song in Michigan elementary schools and in 2011, a young third grader, Gabe Puzio, learned to sing the song at school.  Two years later with some piano lessons under his belt, he decided to add some chords to the song and created his own piano arrangement.  His music teacher was so impressed that she had his song recorded and the YouTube video below is the result. This blog is impressed also, the young man has quite a good ear for music. (Thanks to a series of people who helped uncover this story - Scott Banks who made the video, Gwendolyn Stewart for identifying the source of the song, and Gabe's mother, Staci, for sharing the story.)

Next in this series is a "live" video of a record player playing Michigan Waltz on a 45 rpm record by the Pavlik Brothers. The story behind this song is not known but it probably involves a Detroit rockabilly singer called Johnny Powers.  Johnny's real name was John Leon Joseph Pavlik and he eventually became co-owner of Sun Records, a full-service recording company in Detroit in the 1950's.  This isn't Johnny's kind of music but his father and his father's family were also musicians and played for dances in the Detroit area.  It seems likely that this is Johnny's dad and uncles with Johnny, perhaps, joining them on guitar.

In 1925, John Philip Sousa of march fame wrote Coeds of Michigan.  According to the Michigan Marching Band website, Sousa always stayed with the University of Michigan band director, Wilfred Wilson, when he visited Ann Arbor.  Wilson asked Sousa to write a march for the Michigan Marching band but Sousa responded with a waltz instead because "Michigan already has a great march." While best known for his marches, Sousa wrote a eleven waltzes, many of them written for his operettas. You can hear his Coeds of Michigan waltz played by the U.S. Marine Band under the direction of  Lieutenant Colonel Jack T. Kline in the Heritage of John Philip Sousa Collection in the video below.

There are a few additional Michigan waltzes to be found on the internet but no video or audio files are currently available.  They include:

• The Michigan Waltz, a polka style waltz written by Allen Mesowski and Nellie Rowloff, recorded in 1957 on the Rambler label by Jeanneane (vocal) and the Ramblers.


• Michigan Waltz, an instrumental, composer unknown, recorded in 1951 on the Decca label by Georgie Cook and his orchestra.


• Michigan Waltz, a cowboy waltz written and sung by Earl Peterson in 1950 on the Nugget label which he founded with his mother. This was his first record. Earl, known as "Michigan's Own Singing Cowboy" is accompanied by his band, The Sons of the Golden West. Earl later recorded on both the Sun and Columbia labels.


• Michigan Waltz, words by Wanda Force, music by Buddy Bregman and sung by Carl Berth with BIG JOE and his Moonlite Drifters.  Recorded in 1961 on the Delta label of Saginaw, Michigan.

Not included in this blog are many Michigan waltzes which were apparently never recorded but appear in copyrights.  Some were published but most were unpublished.  This is not a complete copyright search, just a search through those copyright documents for which full text searching is available through the Internet Archive (a wonderful resource).

Beautiful Michigan Waltz, words and music by Colin P. McLeod, 1956
Michigan Waltz, words and music by Fred Elwin, 1952
Michigan Waltz, Don Ray Coates, 1952
Michigan Waltz, James Nobles, 1952
The Michigan Waltz, Theodore Bruce Rider, 1951
The Michigan Waltz, words by Sidney Holden and music by Harry D. Squires, 1953
Michigan Waltz, Sam Messenhelmer, 1955
Michigan Waltz, Frances B. Roy, 1955
Michigan Waltz by Michael Farenga, 1955
The Michigan Waltz, words by Edward W. Boyle and music by Kenny Roberts, 1959
Michigan Waltz by Fred J. Boyle, 1959
Michigan Waltz by L. Roberts, 1959
Michigan Waltz, words and music by Katherine Gertrude Harwood, 1954
Michigan Waltz, by John Edward Haselbarth, 1954
Michigan Waltz, words and music by Louis August Shefke, 1949
The Michigan Waltz, words by Oliver Booth and music by Don Deadman, 1971
Michigan Waltz, N.B. Vasilopulos, 1921
Michigan Waltz, words and music by Dallas V. Stacks, 1961
Michigan Waltz, words and music by Johnny F. Wolfe, 1961
Michigan Waltz, by W. Miles, 1909.
Michigan Waltz by William Wellington Noble in 1952

A search in Google Books also uncovers some additional versions of Michigan waltzes:

• Advertisement for Michigan Waltz, piano sheet music by Staab published in 1868 by J.L. Peters.


• In 1927, Joe Lanin's Waltz Kings recorded a Michigan Waltz on GEX 555-A, reported in the book The American Dance Band Discography 1917-1942.


• The March 20, 1971 issue of Billboard Magazine makes reference to a record containing Michigan Waltz and Michigan Polka by Big Daddy Lackowski.  No other trace of the record was found.


• According to the Michigan Folklife Reader by Dewhurst and Lockwood, published in 1987, C. J. Whitney wrote Borders of Lake Michigan Waltz in 1866.

For those who have made it all the way to the bottom, here are lyrics and a simplified score of Papa Crow's grandfather's The Michigan Waltz. 

Lyrics

In the north woods of Michigan,
Land that I love,
We sat beneath the northen tree with the moon up above.
And then we quarreled. 
Oh now, I know it was my fault
While the band across the lake so blue played the Michigan waltz

Now why did we quarrel
Oh why, why did we part
Come back, my darling, for you are 
Breaking my heart

For I'm sad and I'm lonesome
I am heart broken and blue.
And when i hear the Michigan waltz,  
Darling I think of you.

Well I've traveled on down south dear
Away out east and out west
and I can't forget you darling
Though I'll do my best.
And I long for the day when we will be sweethearts again
and I'll sing you this song dear, 
Good old Michigan.

Now why did we quarrel
Oh why, why did we part
Come back, my darling, for you are 
Breaking my heart

For I'm sad and lonesome
Why, I'm heart broken and blue.
And when I hear the Michigan waltz,  
Darling I think of you. 

When I hear the Michigan waltz,
Darling I think of you.

And a simplified score:

Return to the Introduction and Index of Other States

Massachusetts

Massachusetts has no official state waltz although it does have an official state march, a state folk song, a state glee club song, a state ode and a state polka.  In fact, Massachusetts waltzes are in very short supply.  There are many Massachusetts songs including one of the Bee Gees' biggest hits, a folk song by Arlo Guthrie, a rock anthem by the Dropkick Murphys, a country ballad by Aaron Lewis, and even a cartoon salute to the state by Peter of the TV series, Family Guy. But all of these are in duple time, not a waltz among them. Maybe songwriters are challenged by forcing the four syllables of Massachusetts into the the three beats of a waltz?

There is, however, a song titled Massachusetts Waltz.  It evades the four-syllables-in-three-beats challenge by never mentioning the name of the state.  In fact, the only thing connecting the waltz to the state of Massachusetts is that the band, High Diner, is based in Boston, Massachusetts.  High Diner describes themselves as a band that unites" retro vibes with modern sounds" - something like a cross between Herman's Hermits and R.E.M. Their Massachusetts Waltz, co-written by John Murphy and Jordan Zylak, is a delightfully whimsical stream of nonsense and totally unlike any other state waltz encountered so far in this blog. You can listen to it here:

There are some earlier Massachusetts waltzs from the 1950's that can be found by copyright searches but they were apparently never published or recorded:

• The Massachusetts Waltz, words and music by Charles Davis Pike
• Massachusetts Waltz by Matthew Pilegard
• First Lady of Massachusetts Waltz by Vincent Mottola

To be complete, among the seven state songs officially recognized by the Massachusetts legislature is a song in triple meter.  On November 16, 2000, the Massachusetts state legislature named a "waltz" titled Ode to Massachusetts by Joseph Falzone (1924-2016) as the official "ode of the commonwealth."  According to his obituary, Falzone worked most of his life at Suffolk Downs, a thoroughbred race track in East Boston.  He worked on the side as a comedian and musician, remembered by many as "Joe, the one man band" who marched in parades in East Boston. You can find a score for his Ode to Massachusetts, probably the score he provided to the legislature, here.  It is an unusual song. It is "through composed", there is no repetition of melody or chord pattern - like a Schubert art song.  The score performance notes suggest "slow, gospel feel." You will find two videos of Ode to Massachusetts on YouTube - both use the same recording as a sound track for a Massachusetts slide show. This blog has been unable to learn who made the recording - if you know, please leave a comment.   To this listener, the recording does not fulfill the "slow, gospel" potential of the song. Judge for yourself below.

And, finally, just because it is clever the video below is offered in liu of another Massachusetts waltz.

Return to Introduction and Index to Other States

Maryland

The official Maryland state song, Maryland, My Maryland, happens to be in 3/4 time, like a waltz, although like the Iowa state song the tune is more likely to make you feel like decorating a Christmas tree than to dance a waltz since they both share the tune with O Tannenbaum.  The lyrics, on the other hand, inspire other feelings.  The lyrics come from a nine stanza poem written and first published in 1861 by James Ryder Randall. The Wikipedia article about Maryland, My Maryland tells its story well so it won't be repeated here but suffice it to say it became an anthem for the Confederate army with lyrics so controversial that the Maryland Senate has recently considered dropping it as a state song or at least altering the lyrics to make it more acceptable.  Today, most public performances include only the third verse. One such performance by the U.S. Naval Academy Glee Club is shared below.

Should the state of Maryland choose to mandate a new state song or to create an official Maryland state waltz, there are several choices. The most recent Maryland Waltz is that composed by Bob Donaldson, who in his "real job" is a popular science teacher at Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Springs, Maryland. Its nuanced view of Maryland's position as a border state in the American Civil War is quite a contrast to Maryland, My Maryland. Here is Donaldson singing his Maryland Waltz:

If you would like a version with a little more visual interest, here is a video of Donaldson singing his Maryland Waltz at the Montgomery Blair High School Magnet Arts Night in 2016.  Singing with Donaldson is fellow science teacher, Elizabeth Duval, and a grandson, Will Donaldson.  Playing the piano (and singing) is another grandson, Ian Donaldson.  And, two students provide string accompaniment - Stephan Loh on viola and Calvin Liu on violin.

Sheet music is available in the Notated Music collection of the U.S. Library of Congress for two 19th century Maryland waltzes. The oldest is Maryland Waltz, a piano piece composed by George Willig, Jr. in 1847. In 1889, Wilhelm Diederichs composed the Rose of Maryland Waltz.  A computer generated performance of this latter waltz can be heard below.

In 2007, Laurence Baer, a singer/songwriter from the Baltimore, Maryland area, released a CD, Across a Bering Strait Bridge, which also contains a Maryland Waltz.  You can hear it in the YouTube video below.

The final example of Maryland Waltz was recorded in 1960 on a 45 rpm record on the Jay Jay Record label (Jay Jay 210) by Eddie Lash.  Lash is a Chemnitzer concertina player from Chicago who is best known for his polkas.  In fact, the primary side of the record containing Maryland Waltz features Tricky Fingers Polka.  Sadly, no audio track for either tune is available.

Not included:

A search of Google Books and the Internet Archive found four additional examples of Maryland waltzes.  Since no further evidence of publication or recording was found, they were not included in the discussion above.  The four are:

• My Maryland Waltz, words and music by Edwin G. Gittings, piano arrangement by LeRoy Heine. Published by E.G. Gittings Music. Copyright issued in 1965


• Maryland Waltz by Walker W. Lilley. Copyright in 1971


• The Beautiful Maryland Waltz, words and music by Robert William Larkin, arranged by Albert Holloway. Copyright, 1954.


• The 1846 edition of the Boston Musical Gazette makes reference to a Maryland Waltz by Mise Spreer.

And finally, a simplified score and lyrics for Bob Donaldson's Maryland Waltz are provided below.  Mr. Donaldson holds the copyright to the song which appear here with his permission.

Note: This is a simplified score. As you listen to Donaldson sing the song, you will note that considerable musical judgement is applied to the timing in phrases notated as three quarter notes per measure.

Lyrics:

The Maryland Waltz 

When I looked in your eyes as we walked by the bay

I knew you could never be false

No thoughts of the dark clouds that gathered that day

As we danced to the Maryland Waltz

Chorus:

You know I must leave tomorrow my dear

Wearing my coat of blue

Please wait for me and don’t shed a tear

You know I will come back to you.

Your brother wears gray and your father as well

Our state divided and lost

But hold me once more and we’ll dance through it all         

To the beautiful Maryland Waltz

Chorus

I’m sure to return before the first snow

Till then you’ll be e’er in my thoughts

As I write you each day, I’ll remember the glow

When we danced to the Maryland Waltz.

Chorus

Return to the Introduction and List of States

Maine

Maine does not have an official state waltz.  In fact, it appears that there have been no waltzes written containing the words "Waltz" and "Maine" in the title.  A state with no state waltz represents an opportunity for song writers but makes for a rather short blog entry.

There is a YouTube entry titled Maine Waltz but it is not in 3/4 time and thus, a waltz in title only.  It was written by Mike Golay and is available on his across the bridge CD first released in 2005 on Banshee Records but now available through the CD Baby label. You can listen to it here on YouTube.

A thorough YouTube search will also uncover a tune subtitled Maine Contradance Waltz with the main title being Eileen O'Donnell.  It is in fact the traditional Irish tune, Eibhlí Gheal Chiúin Ní Chearbhail.  You can listen to it here on YouTube.

A search of copyrights, various University sheet music collections and the Library of Congress reveals no 19th or 20th century songs titled Maine Waltz although some interesting waltzes with the word Maine in the title are found.  On of those is O'er the Hills of Dear Old Maine which was composed by E.H. Orne and popularized by Rudy Vallee in 1931. It is a ballad in 4/4 time but the refrain is a pleasant waltz. A computer generated version of that refrain is provided below.

The Maine Songwriters Association has been challenged to write a Maine Waltz and this blog posting will be updated if they succeed.

Return to the Introduction and Index of Waltz Across the States.