My Musical Musings Blog | betsyleebaileymusic.com - The Music of Betsy Lee Bailey

Why Don't You Sing the Rest of the Song?

12/24/2024

Certain traditions are so important in families. For Christmas, singing is probably our family's most important tradition. And because in our family we have had special arrangements of Christmas songs that we have sung since birth, we tend to wonder why other people don't know those arrangements, too.

For example, Bonnie, my littlest sister really wondered why the kids at school would sing "Jingle Bells" or "Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and leave out the best parts. She'd come home complaining, and we had to help her understand that they just didn't grow up singing with our mother Carolyn Lee or Aunt Janie Thompson. (She'd walk away with a grumpy look on her face.)

When my husband and children lived in Maryland for 12 years, we had the opportunity to sing on lots of shows for Christmas. A few of our musical friends and their children sometimes joined us, too. We were the Bailey, Bullock, and Perry Families and Friends. We actually did a show every Christmas for five years at the Washington D.C. Temple Festival of Lights. Together we had seventeen children and a growing number of grandchildren and friends join us, too.

We had so much fun singing together. That gave me the chance to teach my family and the others to sing some of those great arrangements Janie wrote for her BYU shows.

One of the favorites is "Jingle Bells." My kids have been singing this arrangement practically since birth, too. We always sing it when we go Christmas caroling. Some our newer family members (married in's) get a little confused when we break out singing a different ending (with choreography) to a traditional song, and we have forgotten to clue them in. Oh well, they'll get used us someday.

Enjoy our family version of "Jingle Bells."

Of Christmases Past

12/16/2024

Many of us are of an age to spend time thinking about times gone by. We often marvel at how the days may seem slow, but the years go by so quickly. Just a few days ago, one of my daughters was saying this very thing. She can't believe how busy their family is during this season with rehearsals, concerts, shows, matches, games, and even auditions for future events. (Understandable. She does have 8 children.) How will it all be accomplished? In her household, they must divide and conquer. Not everyone can go support everything, but they try to do what they can.

Here in my sphere, I am trying to go to as many of my grandkids performances as I can. Sometimes my own rehearsals and performances get in the way. I am happy when my children come support me in my concerts, too. Christmas is just a busy time. But I wouldn't have it any other way.

Thinking back on the earliest memories I have of performing in Christmas shows, I have to thank my mother and Aunt Janie Thompson. My mother had me singing on shows since I was a toddler. But they were simple affairs, mostly at Church or in homes. Apparently I had to have a stage and a costume. In our living room, the coffee table was my stage and I would only perform wearing my "fluffly" white petticoat. Sometimes Mom would pin decorations on it such as little snowflakes or hearts or shamrocks or something to match the holiday, then I would sing my songs.

By the time I was four Janie decided that I could be on her shows. Janie was constantly being asked to provide entertainment, especially at Christmastime, for social gatherings all over the place. Performances were in fancy homes or well decorated halls or office buildings. She usually worked with BYU college students, but many would go home for the holidays, so she had to get more creative with who would be in her shows. She often created numbers for her family members to fill out the ranks of her performers. It was especially exciting when we would go do a show for the General Authorities of the LDS Church in Salt Lake City.

She first put me in a children's trio with two other kids, Tanya and Cory. They were older and taller than little me. I remember standing eye-level to the keyboard while Janie taught us the songs at her piano. She told me to watch her little finger on her right hand and sing those notes. So I did. I remember we were learning her arrangement of "Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and I needed to sing the harmony part above the melody. We learned our 3 or 4 songs and sang them all over the place that Christmas and other Christmases as part of Janie's larger shows. It was so exciting. (By then I would agree to wear dresses as costumes.)

Those were such formative days for me. Performing became just a part of my life. I don't remember ever being afraid. I loved the lights, the music, the energy in the rooms, the applause, and the excitement of just being able to sing those wonderful songs. I am so grateful for people who believed in me and for all the music in my life!

Here's one of the songs we sang on shows, "The Christmas Alphabet." We sang it as a trio back in the early 1960's. This recording was of my family and our friends and children singing my arrangement for SATB and children in 2006 for a show at the Washington D.C. Temple Visitor's Center.

Getting the Band Back Together

12/10/2024

My brother Bob Lee and his wife Penny celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary a couple of weeks ago. For the celebration, they decided to present a show.

Bob had been a member of the Young Ambassadors while at BYU. He even toured with them to Europe. He met some fine musicians in that group who later joined him playing in a dance band in college. Then later, while Bob was on his mission in Argentina, he organized a band that traveled and entertained throughout the mission. Penny, also a missionary, was assigned to go with them as the girl singer. Bob did the arrangements, sang, played any instruments needed, and was the master mind. Soon after returning from their missions, they got married.

One of the hopes for the anniversary celebration was to get Bob's dance band back together from college days to do a few numbers. Bob, again, was the mastermind. He did most of the arrangements, sang and played bass, flute, horns and sometimes even piano. Doug Clark was the drummer. Dave Hocking was the guitarist. And I was the token girl singer and played keyboards. Little brother Ben Lee sometimes joined us and sang and played horns. Penny sometimes came along and sang, too. We had a lot of fun as well as earning money to fund our schooling.

Cornerstone band in the 1970's, Ben, Bob, Doug, Betsy, and Dave. (I held the flute because I couldn't carry my keyboard up the mountain to take the picture. I don't actually play the flute.)

Well, not all of us could come to the 50th wedding. Dave and Ben had some health issues, so they didn't fly to Utah from either coast. But Bob, Doug, and I were there rockin' out to tunes by Chicago, James Taylor, the Carpenters and many others. My talented son Matthew played guitar, and several of Bob's kids and grandkids played horns for the big numbers. It was good to play the old songs again.

We also did a few of our Aunt Janie's songs as a big extended family group: "The United States of America," and "Families to Match the Mountains." My sisters, Barbara and Bonnie, joined me in singing Janie's arrangement of "I Want a Little Bungalow" that we had sung back in 1974 at their wedding reception (Bonnie was just 7 years old!). And then I sang a parody song Janie wrote for Bob and Penny when they got married. The words to the old Ella Fitzgerald song "Makin' Whoopie" were rewritten to tell the story of Bob and Penny's romance in "Gettin' Married."

Don't think anyone recorded our efforts at the 50th Anniversary, but just for kicks and giggles, here's a recording we did as Cornerstone in the mid 1970's to advertise our band. This is a Chicago cover "Call on Me."

The Psychology of Genealogy

10/4/2024

Apparently, the 1950s were a time when advertising on television was very new. In fact, recording at the time was still in its infancy, so many of the celebrities who had variety or talk shows had to do some of their own advertising. In fact, some of the jingles they sang became very famous. For example, in 1951, Dinah Shore signed a contract to be sponsored by Chevrolet. She sang this song "See the USA in your Chevrolet" at the end of her program for a decade and always ended with her signature sign-off, throwing a kiss to the audience.

Some of these advertising songs were so catchy that nearly everybody went around singing them.

My Aunt Janie Thompson did some jingle writing herself for an advertising company in New York. I don't know if any of her jingles were nationally known. But, because she rewrote the lyrics to so many different songs, I thought she had originally written the music and lyrics to some of the more famous jingles herself.

When I was very young, I was starstruck by Janie when she'd perform on shows. She'd wear sequined evening gowns and sparkly jewelry. She looked and sang like a movie star, so my 5-year-old self thought she was a movie star.

Then she started performing a number that became her signature song for many years, "The Psychology of Genealogy." That was a time when Janie did a lot of shows for LDS audiences. Encouraging people to do genalogical research and fill out their four generation family group sheets was a big deal through the 1950s and 1960s. Since I knew she rewrote lyrics to songs to fit the event she was entertaining for, I just assumed she had written the music, as well.

Years later I became aware of, in this case, the jingles and commercials she used to put this act together. I think that part of the impact of the new words to the very famous jingles was part of the entertainment fun. Here she took the Dinah Shore jingle "See the USA in your Chevrolet" and changed it to "The Psychology of Genealogy is when you trace your family line..." Janie modeled her delivery after Dinah Shore. She even used, quite out of character for her, two famous jingles for vices -- one a cigarette commercial and one for coffee. ("Winston tastes good like a 'knock knock' cigarette should" and "Chock full of nuts is that heavenly coffee...")

When I learned about the real words to the real commercials and the real products they were advertising, I couldn't believe that my Aunt Janie would even think about using those little songs in her big number!

I have to admit, though, that the lyrics about genealogy are much funnier if you know the lines from the commercials.

Enjoy this gem of Janie singing "The Psychology of Genealogy" from a home recording on a little reel to reel done in the early 1960s.

The Psychology of Genealogy

The Psychology of Genealogy
Is when you trace your family line.
You are bound to see that your pedigree
To you will be a document divine.

When you finally find first one name then another,
You keep on writing, and it gets exciting
When one turns out to be your great grandmother.
So come along with me, do genealogy.
Get busy on your family line.

And fill your family group sheets, do a little everyday,
And get it done (What a feeling!)
You'll shout and say:
My line looks good like a (knock knock) pedigree should.
You'll soon be way back to (knock knock) Adam who'll say:

"The secret ingredient in Genealogy is ------------ people.

Chock full of folks is your heavenly family,
Heavenly family, heavenly family.
Chock full of folks is your heavenly family,
With an eternity of happiness money can't buy.

So, come along with me do genealogy.
Get busy on your family line ---- "smack" (blows kiss to audience)

Music Keeps Life Exciting

8/17/2024

Inviting Music Room door decor

Fall is in the air...

Well, the cooler weather isn't actually here yet, nor are the changing colorful leaves, but school has started up again in many areas, including mine.

One of my friends has been teasing her Facebook followers by advertising little bits of her fall semester choral classroom decor. Now that it has been revealed, it is impressive. Those students will be singing in Camelot every day. So cool! I envy those students who get to be involved in the music, the activities, and the classroom environment that is awaiting them this semester.

Yes, I was that type of student who loved to ride the waves of excitement provided by a few of my wonderful teachers. And yes, you guessed it, they were mostly my Music teachers. I loved singing, playing, and listening to music of all kinds. Preparing for concerts was the kind of excitement that kept my spirits up. I could stand the dreariness of listening to lectures on subjects I wasn't interested in or doing endless math problems when I knew that I would be going to music class later in the day.

In fact, I directly credit being involved in music classes with making good grades through Elementary school (and beyond). If I finished my work early and correctly, I got rewards like getting to spend extra time helping down in the Music Room. By Fifth Grade, my friend Judy and I were basically Mrs. Richardson's aides in her Music classroom. We built her bulletin boards, helped the younger classes do their assignments including demonstrating the harmony parts, and even assisted with folk dancing on Fridays. I loved getting hands-on experience teaching music from that very young age.

Janie and Carolyn practicing with BYU students on tour bus circa 1960

But my aunt and my mother were the real experts at keeping life exciting through musical activities. My aunt Janie was always doing shows. She worked for Brigham Young University (BYU) and was always being asked to provide entertainment. When the college students couldn't get away from their studies to go do a show, Janie would fill in with her family. I was even on a lot of shows when I was a child. ( I fancied myself a little Shirley Temple.)

When I was 8, our family moved to Texas. My mother kept up our family tradition of providing entertainment for almost any type of event around our area. She was the professional singer who could also accompany herself while she sang at the piano. Once my music teachers at school learned about my mother's abilities, she became a fixture at the schools, too. A woman of her talents was a valuable commodity anywhere we lived. And that was a lot of places --- 36 moves over 50+ years.

Bailey children singing for Christmas 1991

Here's a song Janie taught us to sing when my siblings Bobby, Betsy, Benny, Barby, Billy and Bonnie were little. I also taught it to my my family as well as many an elementary school chorus over the years.

"Don't Wait 'til the Night Before Christmas to Be Good"

For years I thought that my aunt Janie wrote this song. Turns out that she only borrowed it and put her own stamp on it. I finally wrote out her version so that we other mere mortals could enjoy performing it, too.

Called to Serve

7/12/2024

"Stop the presses!"

After hearing, and watching, the missionary choir come in singing "Called to Serve" at the new Mission President's Training Seminar in April of 1985, Elder Boyd K. Packer instructed that children's song be included in the new LDS Hymnal of 1985.

Early in the morning several months earlier, my little sister Bonnie Lee answered the phone. At the time she was attending BYU and living in the house of our Aunt Janie Thompson. The voice at the other end of the line said, "Hello. This is Elder Packer. I have something that needs the Janie Thompson touch. Is she available to come to the phone?"

It's not every day you take a phone call from an Apostle. A little star-struck, Bonnie swallowed, found her voice, and said, "I'll go find her."

When Janie picked up the phone, Bonnie stayed nearby to listen. Elder Packer asked Janie to prepare a special number as a Finale to the upcoming Mission Presidents' Training Seminar in April of 1985. He expected a rousing choral number arranged and directed by Janie. But, being Janie, she said she had different idea. She had the idea of many missionaries marching into the Assembly Hall on Temple Square carrying flags of many nations and singing a great, inspiring, missionary anthem. Elder Packer invited her to come give his committee a preview of her idea in a week or so.

Madly writing for the next few days, Janie whipped up one of her most moving arrangements. At first, after pouring through all of the hymnals she couldn't find anything suitable. Then, she looked in the Children's Songbook. "Called to Serve" literally jumped off the page. She knew instantly that this was the song she was to use.

"Called to Serve" was not of LDS origin. It was copyrighted in 1914 by the Adam Geibel Music Company, and initially published in The Song of Praise: A Sunday-School Service for Children’s Day. It was borrowed and included in the 1920 Primary Songbook, with a few modifications to the text. It has been in every LDS Children's Songbook since. The altered words definitely have a missionary meaning for Latter-Day Saints.

Janie took my brother Ben and sister Bonnie with her to the meeting with Elder Packer's committee. Our mother Carolyn Lee went along to accompany them. (Janie tended to write her arrangements in a kind of short-hand, especially when rushed. She didn't have to write out the full accompaniment because she knew my mother could just make up the piano part as they went along.) Janie, Ben, and Bonnie sang the brand new arrangement and impressed the committee. Janie got the go-ahead to work with missionaries from the Mission Training Center to get them ready for this extravaganza.

As the day approached, Janie became aware of a logistics problem. She wanted to direct the missionary singers from the back of the auditorium by the door where they would enter carrying the flags. The problem was that the organ console where my mom would play faced the wall of pipes up by the choir loft. She had no hope of seeing Janie as she directed. Also, because Janie's arrangement included changes in tempo and grand fermatas, it became clear that they needed a relay-conductor. So, since I happened to be in town during Easter Break, I was elected to stand by the organ console and watch Janie to give my mother her cues during the song.

At the end of the service, my mother slipped onto the organ bench and I took my place beside her at the console, trying not to look too conspicuous. (However, I was in full view to everyone!) Janie walked out from the back of the auditorium under the balcony and gave the preparatory beat. I relayed that to my Mom. I know I must have looked to the audience like I was conducting. Then, they became aware of the missionaries marching down the aisles with their flags. All heads turned! Then the missionaries started singing! I could barely see Janie through the flags and commotion, but I had practiced, so I knew what she was doing.

The singers marched up in front of the podium and stood in a choir formation. The flag holders stood on the back row and waved their flags in a carefully choreographed routine. By the first climax, I started to feel a prompting from the Spirit. "Direct the audience!" it encouraged me. "But that's not my job" I told myself. So, I kept relay-directing to my mother through the final reprise and last high notes. The powerful message was being felt by the audience like electricity. The Spirit filled the room so thick it couldn't even be cut with a knife!

After the closing prayer, there was a mad rush to congratulate the missionary-singers, and Janie (who had made her way up front). Mom and I wove our way down to stand by Janie. As people waited in line to talk to Janie, they passed me. All they had to say to me was, "Why didn't you conduct us? We wanted to sing, too!" (That was an emotional learning experience. Always obey the Spirit!)

Elder Packer told Janie that because of this incredible experience, he would make sure that "Called to Serve" was included in the new hymnal. And that's how this Primary song became the last hymn to be entered in the 1985 LDS Hymnal. I wonder if it will be selected for the 2026 Hymnal.

A simplified version has been published through Jackman Music.
https://jackmanmusic.com/products/called-to-serve-satb-thompson

Grown-Up Pop Bottle Band

3/28/2024

As I entered the Building, I could hear the music "A Silly Song" from Disney's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" playing. I followed the jovial sounds and found the room where my friend had invited me to watch a pop bottle band group.

She had told me a little bit about this group. They were six men who had met in college and formed a pop bottle band for fun. They performed so much that they built up a broad repertoire. They finally got brave enough to audition to go on a tour with the Program Bureau in the early 1960's. They were accepted by the director, Janie Thompson, and that changed everything. Janie taught them how to become entertainers. She even helped them create an act complete with jokes and banter. They performed their own shows as well as going on several tours with the Program Bureau. Now they are cutest older men and still play well and are quite entertaining. Janie certainly recognized talent.

Instead of each being relegated to playing one note of the scale, these guys play several bottles as their individual "instrument", and NOT just pop bottles. The guy on bass has three big, deep-toned bottles he has to hold on a wooden tray. Sometimes the melody players pick up recorders or penny whistles so they can play really fast music. They could play sophisticated music with many parts. Their act was quite a step up from what my Cub Scouts could ever do!

We in the audience enjoyed an hour's worth of very fun music and comedic banter with the requisite number of "Dad Jokes." Near the end of the evening, Tom, the main MC, changed the mood a bit, and knowing a niece of Janie Thompson's was in attendance, he wanted to pay Janie tribute. He said that they owed Janie Thompson so much. She made them into the group they became. She taught them everything. He said that he always thought that "Janie did more for BYU than anyone else. She took shows EVERYWHERE. Her tours helped BYU become well-known around the world."

They were so happy to have been part of Janie Thompson's tours. What a fun show!

Curious, But Nice

2/15/2024

It's a bit curious, but nice when you sell something that is marketed mainly to family but then sells to other people. The other day, seven of my "Janie Thompson: The Girl from Nowhere Who Went Everywhere" storybooks were sold.

Three of these people knew who Janie was, but had never met her. They were just curious about her life story. The other person (who bought 4 books) might have been one of Janie's "kids" from the Program Bureau at BYU. She may have performed in her shows. I don't really know.

What I do know is that it is very gratifying that people remember Janie and want to buy this book about her. (I hope they share it with their grandchildren.)

My cousin Tamina was right. If we had done nothing, our grandchildren and great grandchildren might grow up never knowing their great Aunt Janie. They might never know what a force for good she was or what a great example she continues to be. Many articles and chapters in books have been written about Janie Thompson. These have been written for and will likely be read only by interested adults. My storybook has been written for children, to help them know from someone's real life example, that it is possible to live your life sharing your talents as well as holding true to your standards.

She could have continued a glamorous life of singing and touring all over the world in the entertainment industry. She certainly had her chance. She sang with a big band that also featured world-renown singer Tony Bennett. When they sang together in Ike Carpenter's Big Band, Janie said that "Tony was the crooner and I was the red, hot mama."

The girl who was born in a dugout cabin in southern Idaho, later traveled all over the world singing the music she loved and feeling the adulation of audiences. For an entertainer, that is the height of success. When she accepted the job at BYU, she thought she would never feel that again. However, she was able to use her talents to help young students hone their own talents and hold to their high standards. And from her contacts and experience, she built a program that helped launch many careers. With these student shows, Janie got to travel even more extensively around the world. She still got to share the music she loved and feel the cheering ovations of the crowds.

In her later years, she was often asked to perform. It surprised her that into her late 80's she was still appreciated as a singer. Even at the time of her death, she was planning shows and writing music. Let that be an example to us all of enduring to the end --- with ambition and style!

Grandchildren's Reactions to Storybook About Aunt Janie

12/29/2023

For Christmas 2023 I gave out copies of my storybook about Aunt Janie. Because I have a large family, my children have encouraged me not to spend a fortune on presents. So I write and illustrate a book highlighting a story about someone in our family each year and give it out to all of my children and their families. I try to focus the storytelling to suit a readership of children ages 5-10 years old.

So far, I have only heard reactions from one of my families. In that family are four children ages 9-16. Their mother (my daughter) read them out the story "Janie Thompson: The Girl from Nowhere Who Went Everywhere" while they were all together. She said that the children were very curious about their great, great aunt. My daughter actually knew Janie and performed on some of her Family Shows. So she was able to answer many of her children's questions from first hand authority. That led to them watching a TV movie documentary "Janie Thompson: A Performance of Faith" produced by BYU in 2009. (My daughter had a copy in her home video library.)

Janie Thompson about 1954

My cousin Tamina was right. We absolutely needed to do something to keep Aunt Janie's memory alive in the family. Janie lived a long life and died at nearly the age of 91 in 2013. Most of the grandchildren in our family were barely born since the 1990's. Janie did not have the influence in her later years as she did when she was in her prime, especially in our family which by the time Janie was 80+ the extended family had spread out all over the world. How quickly the illustrious lives of famous people can be forgotten if we don't actively work to keep their memories alive.

Through the years after Janie retired in 1984 from working at BYU, Janie still had many opportunities to perform. She insisted on creating shows featuring herself as well as her family and close friends. Those of us lucky enough to live near Utah were included in those shows. My 3 older children got to perform in a show for BYU Education Week in 1985 called "Say It With Music." That was so fun because 50+ members of our extended family got to sing together in a performance that was not a funeral.

Sam, Bob, and John Thompson in 1957

We got to hear uncles John, Bob and Sam sing some of their songs Janie arranged especially for them from years past. What a thrill to hear their huge operatic voices! It was also fun for some of us cousins to sing the "girls trio" stuff like my mom and her sisters sang in the 1950s and 60s. (We lost Aunt Dot in 1974.) Plus, we all got to sing the huge production numbers Janie is known for. What a great way to get to know our extended family!

Dorothy (Dot), Carolyn, and Janie in the 1960s

Those family members who lived close to Janie got a lot more opportunities to sing on her shows including two other big ones: the 1987 "Constitution Ball" and "We the People" for the city of Provo's 4th of July Freedom Festival in 2008. (My husband and I and some of my children and grandchildren also got to perform on that show!)

I am so happy that many of our extended family members ordered my picture book about Janie, and many more of Janie's Program Bureau "kids" have also ordered the book. Let's keep our memories of Janie alive for future generations!

Janie Thompson: The Girl From Nowhere Who Went Everywhere

12/4/2023

Janie Thompson 1921-2013

Printed and now ready to distribute! Janie Thompson: The Girls from Nowhere Who Went Everywhere is a children's picture book story about the BYU performing groups' legend. Many people remember Janie from being in her traveling show groups such as the Young Ambassadors, the Lamanite Generation (now Living Legends), Brigham Youngsters, Holiday in the U.S. and Curtain Time U.S.A. or watching them perform. She launched many careers and was beloved for her attention to developing talent wherever she found it.

Janie was a powerful force for good. She insisted that her shows were filled with clean entertainment, presented in a polished way, and always packed with "heart." When taking one of her first collegiate shows to entertain troops around the world in the early 1950's, she was told that if she didn't include off-color jokes and and plenty of scantily clad women, her performers would be jeered and booed off the stage. She just replied that they would in no way present that kind of show, in fact, she said that they would be heartily applauded and cheered wherever they went, and even be asked to return. That happened many, many times!

Much has been written about Janie's professional life, but the story I wanted to tell was about her formative life. She is a model of someone who lived by her standards and never compromised them.

Books are available now to order online or, if you live within driving distance to BYU (near where I live), you may private message me to make arrangements to pick up your copies.

This keepsake book may help you tell the story of a marvelous lady to your grandchildren!

The Music of Betsy Lee Bailey copyright 2020