SAMPLER OF AMERICAN SONGS

More trivia about national monuments -- this time in the form of landmark American songs. Mrs. Krythe -- who by now should have won her letters in these exercises many times over -- leads off with anecdotes and incidents attesting to each song's claim to immortality, reconstructs as far as possible the circumstances of its birth and the lives of its author or authors. From Yankee Doodle to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, there is nothing particularly new in the way of research, but at least it's all in one place. It is pleasant to note that ""Jingle Bells is the product of one James Pierpont of Medford, Massachusetts, who in the 1850's just sat down at the piano one evening to play for an acquaintance, but alas, led ""an obscure, otherwise unsuccessful"" life. Let's make this one a Pierpont Christmas. Melody lines, words and guitar chords are promised for sing-alongs.