WILDERWORLD

Words by William Engvick, Music by Alec Wilder

Performed by the Four Vagabonds (Standard X-134)

"'The Amorous Poltergeist' describes the mood of a playful ghost - an 'innocuous phantasm' - who haunts in a 'harmless, flippant fashion' - and who, having fallen in love, feels the futility of his ectoplasmic state, and the realization that his love can never be consummated."

Words by Marshall Barer, Music by Alec Wilder

Words by Arnold Sundgaard, Music by Alec Wilder

Written in 1954

From LP Tom Kennedy On His Way (Golden Crest CR 3011)

Words by Dort DuBois (aka Bill Engvick), Music by Al Alder (aka Alec Wilder)

First Movement
Second Movement
Third Movement
Fourth Movement

Written in 1961

David Soyer cello, Harriet Wingreen piano

From LP Golden Crest RE 7009

Words by Fred Ebb, Music by Alec Wilder

Words by William Engvick, Music by Alec Wilder

The music was originally composed as Slow Waltz, or Sand Castle Waltz, for Jerome Hill's 1960 film The Sand Castle. It was used during the color dream sequence in the film, but was not included on the soundtrack LP, and lay dormant until words were added in 2005

Jimmy Bennett vocal, Dorothy Martin piano from the Friends of Alec Wilder Concert in New York on March 11, 2006

Dear World has just been published - along with three other freshly-minted Wilder-Engvick collaborations - for the first time in The Richmond Organization's brand new The Alec Wilder Song Collection Centennial Edition (pictured above), now available from Hal Leonard

Today marks one year since the launching of wilderworld, 100 records in 100 days to celebrate 100 years of Alec Wilder. So far over 21,000 visitors, from Denver to Beijing to Haifa to Caracas to Zagreb to just about everywhere, have stopped in to check out some of the most witty, poignant and profound music ever composed and committed to vinyl (or shellac). Thank you all! Special thanks to those who have contributed (sometimes unknowingly) to this podcast, thus furthering the noble cause of quality in a world that often has difficulty recognizing it

Alec Lives!! (see wilderworld 103)

Words by Alec Wilder, Music by Enric Madriguera

Recorded March 28, 1941

Alec Wilder Octet as on wilderworld 59

From LP Alec Wilder Octets (Mercury 25008)

On October 13, 1957 - 50 years ago today - NBC aired a live, nationally-televised production of Pinocchio featuring music composed by Alec Wilder. It is widely considered one of the classics from "the Golden Age of Television"

wilderworld recently asked Pinocchio lyricist William Engvick to share his recollections of the production. Here is some of what he related:

“I thought it was pretty good. The night of the broadcast I was in the studio. I watched it from a room - I wasn’t with the players. Mickey Rooney was friendly and nice. I can’t remember if Alec was there. Even if he was, he always pretended he wasn’t. They had never done it live before, and it had to be perfect because you couldn’t edit like you can today. There were a number of rehearsals of which I attended a few.

“It might have been a more pleasant experience were it not for the 'producer' [and scriptwriter], a terrible guy named Yasha Frank who resented us because he wanted to do it all himself. He’d been successful with Pinocchio in WPA days. The real producer was David Susskind of Talent Associates. He was a nice guy. He liked us. He also hired us for Hansel and Gretel [broadcast in April of 1958].

"I worked on Pinocchio from July to September. The Lullaby was something Alec and I had written a while before called Simple As ABC. I thought it would work in the show, suggested it and changed the words. Alec wrote all the music very quickly. It takes me longer to write, so Alec took off for Rochester - or wherever - and left me alone with these monsters! I felt like I was doing all the work. Sometimes he’d never say where he was. I think it was a real weakness of his: he simply couldn’t be tied down to anything, or own anything. Except for books. Bookstore owners loved Alec. He bought loads of books and gave most of them away.

“After Hansel and Gretel, Alec and I decided not to do anymore. We were offered a third program [Hiawatha] but turned it down. The drug company [Rexall] that sponsored them pulled out. Yasha Frank killed himself shortly after that. Several years later his son called me for permission to produce Pinocchio again. I said that would be fine, but nothing came of it.

“That was a long time ago. It’s all part of a dream.”

A video or DVD of the Pinocchio broadcast has never been released commercially, although a kinescope copy of it exists at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts

Listen to Your Heart, Happy News, Pinocchio's Song, Lullaby, The Fox's Pitch, The Jolly Coachman, The Birthday Song from LP Pinocchio (Columbia CL 1055); Sung by Fran Allison, Stubby Kaye, Mickey Rooney, Gordon B. Clarke, Martyn Green, Jerry Colonna and chorus

It's So Peaceful in the Country words and music by Alec Wilder (see wilderworld 15)

by the Delta Rhythm Boys (1941), Creed Taylor Orchestra from LP Shock Music in Hi-Fi (ABC Paramount ABCS-259 1958), Tak Shindo from LP Accent on Bamboo (Capitol ST-1433 1960) and Bill Mays from Alec Wilder Centennial Concert in New York April 29, 2007

Poor Mr. Flibberty-Jib words by Marshall Barer, music by Wilder; Anne Lloyd, Gilbert Mack, Dick Byron, The Sandpipers, Mitchell Miller and Orchestra (Golden Records R53A 1951)

A Month in the Country words by William Engvick, music by Wilder; Frank Baker vocal, Walter Gross piano (1939)

I'm Headin' West (For a Rest) words by Barer, music by Wilder; Dick Jurgens and his Orchestra (Columbia 1-628 1950)

Picture above is an excerpt from Alec Wilder's June 12, 1959 appearance before the House Judiciary Committee in Washington, D.C. where he spoke in favor of repealing the performance royalty fee exemption enjoyed by jukebox operators

On August 3 the majestic Harold Washington Library was the site of a marvelous tribute to the music and words of Alec Wilder. The brainchild of Chicago native Richard Wyszynski, conductor and friend of Wilder, the free concert featured orchestral pieces, selections from the Lullabies and Night Songs (see wilderworld 96) and a few Octets. Here are some highlights of that afternoon

All music by Alec Wilder

Air for English Horn (1945) was transcribed for and performed on clarinet by Gail Schechter, with the Cardinal Chamber Orchestra

Star Wish (words traditional), The Answers (words by Robert Clairmont), The Journey (words by William Engvick), and The Cottager to Her Infant (words by Dorothy Wordsworth) feature Alyssa Bennett vocal and Lisa Pustina piano; excerpts from Wilder’s Clues to a Life: Letters I Never Sent read by Wyszynski

The Children Met the Train written in 1940

While in Chicago be sure to visit the Alec Wilder display on the 8th floor of the Harold Washington Library through October 31 (pictured above)

Words and music by Alec Wilder

Recorded May 24, 1948

Many are familiar with I Wish I Had the Blues Again, the Alec Wilder-Loonis McGlohon song written in 1978 and memorably performed by Marlene VerPlanck. Fewer are aware that 30 years earlier Alec co-wrote a completely different song with the same title: I Wish I Had the Blues Again. With music by Eddie Finckel (see wilderworld 13), it was recorded by Nat King Cole and his trio on November 29, 1947 but rejected by Capitol Records. Alec, not one to let a good idea go to waste, scavenged the title and a line or two

From Nat King Cole 1947-1949 (Classics 1155 2000) Cole (piano), Irving Ashby (guitar), Johnny Miller (bass)

From LP Marlene VerPlanck Sings Alec Wilder (Audiophile AP 218) Loonis McGlohon (piano), Rick Petrone (bass), Mel Lewis (drums) Recorded March 1986

“Beguiner’s Luck is a seldom-heard composition from the pen of Alec Wilder. An exciting beguine strongly flavored by the incessant rhythmic sounds of the bongo drums with bass figures predominant in the low-pitched marimbas of the ensemble. An excellent yardstick to guage the low frequency response of any high fidelity system.”

From LP Leo Arnaud and His Orchestra Spectra-Sonic-Sounds!! (Liberty LRP 3009)

Recorded January 1955

Words and Music by Alec Wilder

Recorded September 18, 1939

Alec's first vocal record!

Words by William Engvick, Music by Alec Wilder. The first song they wrote together (see wilderworld 20)

Recorded August 20, 1941

Who Can I Turn To? by Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra with Jo Stafford on vocals (Victor 27701, September 18, 1941)

Hold On by Mildred Bailey and the Alec Wilder Octet (Columbia 35348, November 3, 1939)

Nostalgia was later re-arranged for woodwinds and recorded by the Alec Wilder Octet as Remember Me to Youth (see wilderworld 59). From the Mildred Bailey Show CBS radio broadcast of December 5, 1944

The Alec Wilder Centennial Concert in New York on April 29 was a phenomenal event. One highlight was the world premiere of this great song from the long-dormant unused score for the film Daddy Long Legs

Words by William Engvick, Music by Alec Wilder

Written in 1953

Thrillingly performed by Lily DePaula vocal and Aaron Gandy piano

We're back!

And now...From the Columbia, South Carolina lakeside living room of Mr. Dick Phipps,
it's Alec Wilder and Loonis McGlohon with a complete one hour episode of their great American Popular Song radio show! This episode, number 9, was recorded in March 1976, aired on November 28, 1976 and features guest vocalist Teddi King (photo left)

See wilderworld 40 for more about the American Popular Song radio series

It’s So Peaceful in the Country words and music by Alec Wilder (see wilderworld 15)

Many of the performances aired on American Popular Song were later released commercially on Audiophile Records; recordings from this episode can be found on Teddi King’s Lovers and Losers and Someone to Light Up Your Life LPs (AP 117 and AP 150 1976). With the exception of a generous excerpt featured on Thelma Carpenter’s A Souvenir CD (Audiophile ACD-111 1997), episodes of American Popular Song are not available. If you feel they should be, call the folks at NPR and request they blow the dust off a few reels of this superb, illuminating radio program

wilderworld would like to give a huge thank you to everyone who has offered kind words about and contributions to this website, and to all who have stopped by to sample the brilliant music of Alec Wilder. Please feel free to leave comments

To learn more, visit alecwildercentennial dot com and alecwilder dot org

100 years of obscurity is enough!!