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Notable with Bob Morrison
"You could've knocked me over with a fender," said Jane Ace in frequent episodes of Easy Aces, a radio show that ran from 1930 to 1945, authored by Goodman Ace, humorist, who wrote scripts for dozens of comedians. Of course Jane meant "feather" instead of "fender," a typical malapropism for her. [She also said "time wounds all heels."] It was a favorite program of my mom and me! During a downtime, Goodman Ace wrote, "In case of a nuclear attack, come to my office. There's not much radio-activity there!"
I mention this because I received news that nearly knocked me off my feet. The president of Schulmerich Carillonic Bells called me to say they were installing a complete carillon system, "Generation IV", in my music room in Canton for me to record on their "Auto-Bel" cards which were included in each bell installation. Clients who had ordered the bells were invited to suggest music they liked for inclusion in an automatic playback system. Phyllis Hentz, Schulmerich's music director, instructed me in making the recordings: no mistakes allowed!
By this time, Schulmerich was no longer producing electro-mechanical systems in which rods of bell metal were struck by hammers and amplified. To this day, if you look in the east front vestibule of the downtown Methodist church, you will see five large metal cabinets, each containing an octave of these bells, which, incidentally, were refurbished a few summers ago by music teacher Rick Ruggiero of Queensbury NY (who has the original Schulmerich console from the Sellersville PA days iin his home.)
And, sure enough, a truck pulled up to my house, and the newest model of Schulmerich bells, now computerized, were placed in my music room. I couldn't believe my good fortune! And for ten years I enjoyed playing and recording on this exquisite instrument.
But then Schulmerich had another thought.
The famous Battle Hymn started life as a revivalist camp meeting song, "Oh Brothers" and "Glory, Hallelujah," with a text authored by abolitionist Julia Ward Howe, who was staying at the Willard Hotel in DC and, one morning, upon awaking, grabbed the stub of a pencil and penned the words. The setting we're using today comes from a book suggested to me by Sally Little, as arranged by the late Rev. J. Bert Carlson, who was quite a musician as well as a preacher.
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