[left that other site]

Yes it does!

Thank You for tonight’s series.

I am really enjoying it!

[Publius]

In 1852, the 26 year old Stephen Foster and his wife took a belated honeymoon via river boat from Pittsburgh to New Orleans and back. This was the only time that Foster actually saw the South, which has to be the greatest irony of his short life.

Foster did not knock out his songs in a slapdash manner. Like George Gershwin and Paul McCartney, he worked over the smallest details in his songs to get the idea down in a way that was immediately accessible to his audiences.

In 1853, Foster moved to New York to be closer to his publishers, and in that year he wrote one of his best songs. This version uses all the verses, politically incorrect and otherwise.

Foster: “My Old Kentucky Home”

This is Nelson Eddy singing one of the great sentimental weepers of the era about a man and his dog. I learned this song in grade school.

”Old Dog Tray”

In 1854, Foster relocated to Hoboken to make room for his wife, who had come out from Pittsburgh. Thomas Hampson does this classic justice.

Foster: “I Dream of Jeanie With the Light Brown Hair’