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The Mary's A Grand Old Name
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Although NOT a Celtic tune strictly speaking, this tune has the evergreen appeal to all Americans of Irish descent.
This grand old song comes from George M. Cohan's musical comedy Forty-Five Minutes from Broadway, which opened on Broadway in 1906. The Characters in the story, which was set in New Rochelle, a suburb north of New York City, included a chronic gambler and horseplayer, Kid Burns, and a housemaid with an inheritance, Mary Jane. Victor Moore, on his way to becoming one of Broadway's greatest comedians, played Burns, while opposite him was the vaudeville star Fay Templeton, making her musical comedy debut as the maid. When she introduced herself by singing "Mary's a Grand Old Name," the house came down, and an immortal tune was born. In 1942, the song achieved renewed popularity when it was featured in the Cohan film biography "Yankee Doodle Dandy," starring another immortal--James Cagney (who played the immortal George M. Cohan).
Words and Music by Geoge M. Cohan.
Note: Most MIDI
files are downloadable... ~ CLICK HERE ~!
