TO ALL MY ALABAMA FRIENDS AND FAMILY, and to all my Friends who love to read good, honest folk writing - I highly recommend a book I have had in my personal library for a number of years - "Stars Fell On Alabama" by Carl Carmer. In the mid-1980s, on a trip home to Alabama I stopped by Anderson Bookland, at that time the best book story in Florence, Alabama, to buy books about the Shoals area and Alabama in general which I could not find in California. One of those books I bought was "Stars Fell On Alabama."
The reason that book caught my attention back then was twofold: First, there really was an incident in November 1833, when folks really thought the stars were falling on Alabama. It was actually the Leonid Meteor Shower (which get their name from the location of their radiance in the constellation Leo) with the meteors appearing to radiate from that point in the sky and falling on Alabama.
And, second, when I was in high school in Sheffield, Alabama (1951-1955) all of our formal dances always ended with the playing of the song "Stars Fell On Alabama" - our last dance of the evening. The song is named after the actual incident which occurred in November 1833, the Leonid Meteor Shower seen brightly in the vicinity of Muscle Shoals, Alabama, my hometown area. The shower was so bright that people thought the sun had risen as thousands of meteors streaked across the skies.
In my young world of Alabama back then, the "National Anthem" and "Stars Fell On Alabama" stood side by side, one our national anthem and the other our state anthem, at least in my mind.
The song, written by Frank Perkins with lyrics by Mitchell Parish, was first recorded by Guy Lombardo's Royal Canadians on August 27, 1934. The song has since been recorded by virtually every singer and band worth the name - Billie Holiday, Nat King Cole, Doris Day, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Dean Martin, Patti Page, Jimmy Buffett, and many, many more. In other words, if you were a successful singer - you had to cover "Stars Fell On Alabama." And, it is still being covered by singers and groups today.
For me, one of the best presentations of this beautiful song was released as a duet byElla Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong in 1956:
So, influenced by those memories when I visited Anderson Bookland in the 1980s - the book "Stars Fell On Alabama" immediately caught my eye. And, like so many other good books, my first reading was to see what the author had to say. Then my second reading was more interesting and more fruitful for I began to mine the many golden nuggets found in such a book. My second reading of the book has been deeper, possibly because I am more aware of the incidents described in the book - and compare them to America today - because of the extreme racial bias and tension which was nurtured by the Obama administration and which flooded across America during Obama's years in office.
And, I will admit that one part of the book bothered me - even though it was true to the tone of life in Alabama in the 1930s. The author, in reflecting his conversations with local people, and even as he would use at that time in the 1930s when he reflected upon those meetings - he used the word we all avoid strenuously today, the "N" word. He often used the word in recording his interviews and conversations because that is what he heard. That was never done through prejudice, malice, or with forethought - only in recording what he, as a writer, heard.
I can relate to that, for growing up in Alabama in the 1940s and 50s, racial discrimination was prevalent and even though I was not prejudiced and I never heard a word of racial prejudice in my home - I am sure that back then I also used the word as part of my normal everyday conversation. I did not think of it as a derogatory word, only a word in common usage back then - and, in my mind then, a word used by all people, everywhere.
Let me share with you several excerpts about this book, a book which is a very worthwhile read.
And from "Carl Carmer" at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Carmer
The singing event described in the book excerpt above is very familiar to me. Even though I was a "city boy" my family and I did attend several of those singings. They were held in country churches among the agricultural folks and we called them an "All Day Singing and Dinner On The Ground." Every lady from every farm in that part of the county cooked her very best foods and at the All Day Singing their gourmet best was laid out on tables, truck beds, wagon beds, and anything that would hold food. And, like a good potluck today, we were free to walk around and sample all the great food from any table.
If I have whetted your appetite enough to want to read this wonderful folk history of my home state, Alabama, you can Google the PDF version and download it - or you can find this book on Amazon and other online sites, or in your favorite book store. Happy reading!
God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,
Bill
The reason that book caught my attention back then was twofold: First, there really was an incident in November 1833, when folks really thought the stars were falling on Alabama. It was actually the Leonid Meteor Shower (which get their name from the location of their radiance in the constellation Leo) with the meteors appearing to radiate from that point in the sky and falling on Alabama.
And, second, when I was in high school in Sheffield, Alabama (1951-1955) all of our formal dances always ended with the playing of the song "Stars Fell On Alabama" - our last dance of the evening. The song is named after the actual incident which occurred in November 1833, the Leonid Meteor Shower seen brightly in the vicinity of Muscle Shoals, Alabama, my hometown area. The shower was so bright that people thought the sun had risen as thousands of meteors streaked across the skies.
In my young world of Alabama back then, the "National Anthem" and "Stars Fell On Alabama" stood side by side, one our national anthem and the other our state anthem, at least in my mind.
The song, written by Frank Perkins with lyrics by Mitchell Parish, was first recorded by Guy Lombardo's Royal Canadians on August 27, 1934. The song has since been recorded by virtually every singer and band worth the name - Billie Holiday, Nat King Cole, Doris Day, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Dean Martin, Patti Page, Jimmy Buffett, and many, many more. In other words, if you were a successful singer - you had to cover "Stars Fell On Alabama." And, it is still being covered by singers and groups today.
For me, one of the best presentations of this beautiful song was released as a duet byElla Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong in 1956:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsePcLXZQV4
So, influenced by those memories when I visited Anderson Bookland in the 1980s - the book "Stars Fell On Alabama" immediately caught my eye. And, like so many other good books, my first reading was to see what the author had to say. Then my second reading was more interesting and more fruitful for I began to mine the many golden nuggets found in such a book. My second reading of the book has been deeper, possibly because I am more aware of the incidents described in the book - and compare them to America today - because of the extreme racial bias and tension which was nurtured by the Obama administration and which flooded across America during Obama's years in office.
And, I will admit that one part of the book bothered me - even though it was true to the tone of life in Alabama in the 1930s. The author, in reflecting his conversations with local people, and even as he would use at that time in the 1930s when he reflected upon those meetings - he used the word we all avoid strenuously today, the "N" word. He often used the word in recording his interviews and conversations because that is what he heard. That was never done through prejudice, malice, or with forethought - only in recording what he, as a writer, heard.
I can relate to that, for growing up in Alabama in the 1940s and 50s, racial discrimination was prevalent and even though I was not prejudiced and I never heard a word of racial prejudice in my home - I am sure that back then I also used the word as part of my normal everyday conversation. I did not think of it as a derogatory word, only a word in common usage back then - and, in my mind then, a word used by all people, everywhere.
Let me share with you several excerpts about this book, a book which is a very worthwhile read.
From the book foreward written by By Howell Raines:
Carmer thought of himself as a folklorist, and as such he relied less on careful documentation than on what he called “folk-say” - the oral tradition of legends, fable, and myth by which a people sustain and define themselves. Carmer’s fascination with the peculiarities of place and local character led him to a concept that was at once intellectually suspect and artistically ingenious. . . .
. . . Carmer offers the fanciful notion that Alabamians live under a “spell” or “enchantment” that dates back to the spectacular meteor shower that was visible in the skies of the Southeastern United States on Nov. 12, 1833. Other writers, including William Faulkner in The Sound and the Fury, have referred to “the years the stars fell.” But Carmer found in this cosmic phenomenon a controlling metaphor for all that was strange, individualistic, savage, and magical in Alabama life. . . .
The product of Carmer’s sojourn, Stars Fell on Alabama, speaks for itself as a work of literature. But a new generation of readers would profit, I think, from some additional information about its New York-born author and about Alabama as he found it upon his arrival more than 60 years ago. The Alabama of that era - that is to say, a social, political, and economic order whose outlines were still to be seen when I was a child growing up in the 1940’s and 1950’s - is fading into history now.
And from "Carl Carmer" at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Carmer
When Carl Carmer (from New York) arrived in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, one of his new colleagues (at the University of Alabama) warned him, ". . . if I knew you well enough to advise you, I'd say, 'For God's sake, get out of here before it's too late.'" This reference was evidently about the state of Alabama's racial relations at the time. Carmer, however, stayed at the University for six years, taking notes and writing what would become his most famous book, Stars Fell on Alabama.
In the book, Carmer recounted the time he spent traveling throughout the state. He wrote about the people, places, and events he witnessed, such as a Ku Klux Klan rally and interactions with ordinary Alabama men and women.
One example of the book's prose was this description of a Sacred Harp singing:
The church was full now. People stood along the walls and the doorway was packed. Crowds were huddled outside each window singing lustily. . . there were surely more than two thousand people. . . Hard blows of sound beat upon the walls and rafters with inexorable regularity. All in a moment the constant beat took hold. There was a swift crescendo. Muscles were tensing, eyes brightening.
Carmer also wrote about the myths, legends, and local superstitions of what he called "Conjure Country" (which was his nickname for southeast Alabama). He credited folklorist Ruby Pickens Tartt with providing some of the folklore and songs for this book, and he based the character Mary Louise on her.
First published in 1934, Stars Fell on Alabama hit the bestseller lists and established Carmer's reputation. Literary critic R. L. Duffus of The New York Times praised the book and said Carmer had a gift for "extracting from what he sees, hears, and feels, an essence which is fundamentally poetic."
The title of the book referred to a spectacular occurrence of the Leonid meteor shower that was observed in Alabama on November 12–13, 1833. As reported by the Florence Gazette: "[There were] thousands of luminous bodies shooting across the firmament in every direction. There was little wind and not a trace of clouds, and the meteors succeeded each other in quick succession."
The singing event described in the book excerpt above is very familiar to me. Even though I was a "city boy" my family and I did attend several of those singings. They were held in country churches among the agricultural folks and we called them an "All Day Singing and Dinner On The Ground." Every lady from every farm in that part of the county cooked her very best foods and at the All Day Singing their gourmet best was laid out on tables, truck beds, wagon beds, and anything that would hold food. And, like a good potluck today, we were free to walk around and sample all the great food from any table.
If I have whetted your appetite enough to want to read this wonderful folk history of my home state, Alabama, you can Google the PDF version and download it - or you can find this book on Amazon and other online sites, or in your favorite book store. Happy reading!
God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,
Bill
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