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Meredith
Willson: The Unsinkable Music Man
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by John
C. Skipper
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Did you know that in the early 1900s,
a young mother and father in Mason City tried to pre-determine the occupation
of their child, even before he was born? They wanted him to be a musician.
While the mother was pregnant, they filled the house with music and
with pictures of musicians. They talked constantly about music. And
on May 18, 1902, John and Rosalie Willson became the parents of a little
boy, Meredith Willson. That little boy from Mason City grew
up to be one of his generation's finest musicians: author of "The
Music Man," composer of the music for "The Unsinkable Molly
Brown" and author of 400 songs. The remarkable story of Meredith Willson
is recounted in a book entitled Meredith Willson: The Unsinkable
Music Man by John C. Skipper, a Mason City newspaperman. The
book chronicles Willson's early days in Mason City, his 30-year career
in radio in which he |
was the musical director for NBC Radio and a regular on the Burns and Allen comedy show. Willson had an uncanny ability to associate himself with greatness, even at an early age. |
In 1940, he wrote the music for Charlie Chaplin's first "talkie" - and earned an Academy Award nomination for his music. In 1949, he was musical director for a radio program called "The Big Show." The show needed a closing number. Willson sat down and wrote "May the Good Lord Bless and Keep You, " a song that 52 years later is still on of America's favorites. And, then came "The Music Man," the 1957 smash Broadway hit that ran for 1,375 performances and was later made into a hit movie. Skipper's book chronicles the successes, but also documents some of the bumps In the road: Willson's parents' bitter divorce, his own divorce after 26 years of marriage; his second wife's death from cancer. Skipper says his book is not an encyclopedia. "It is one man's account of another man's time on God's earth."
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When he was 17, he left Mason City, took a train to New York and within two years was playing first flute in the greatest band in America, directed by John Philip Sousa. Before long, he was playing in the New York Philharmonic Orchestra directed by Arturo Toscanini.
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