American Popular Song: Will Marion Cook's Lyrics and Life.
We continue the Monday rebroadcasts of our American Popular song series, with a program about composer Will Marion Cook. He was born in 1869 and was part of the first generation born after slavery. Cook was one of the innovators of ragtime song, and helped introduce ragtime to Broadway. Cook wrote “In Dahomey” the first full-length Broadway musical written and performed by African Americans. It opened on Broadway in 1903. Some of Cook’s songs reflect the racial stereotypes and dialect of the time. In this program we hear selections of his music performed by singers Vernel Bagneris and Terry Burrell, and pianist Dick Hyman. We also hear from Marva Carter who is writing a biography of Cook. She is the director of Graduate Studies at the School of Music at Georgia State University. (ORIGINAL BROADCAST: MAY 18, 2000)
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Other segments from the episode on July 17, 2000
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