Luke Upward had a secret weakness for James J (“Gentleman Jimmy”) Walker, the gladhanding, largely nocturnal Mayor of New York during the Prohibition Era. He forgave Walker’s composition of the sickly ballad “Will You Love Me In September As You Did In May?” and admired him for his resolute loyalty to spats. During the Depression Walker begged fellow songwriters to compose only happy songs and instructed New York’s movie houses to show only happy endings – economic remedies which Upward urged on several Chancellors of the Exchequer, particularly the piano-playing Denis Healey. Walker fled his city to avoid corruption charges and holed up in the French Riviera for several years, where he continued to sport his spats. However, he made a successful comeback as an after-dinner speaker, with a spotless but never spatless reputation. Inspired by the late Mayor, Upward composed a latter-day fable. “The grasshopper sang all summer long, while the ant rolled a giant ball of dung for the winter. Came the winter and the grasshopper had nothing to live on – but neither did the ant, when his ball of dung was wiped out by a crashing tree. The other insects had a little food for themselves. They sometimes invited the grasshopper to sing for them and share their supper. But none of them remembered the boring old ant.” Since fables require a moral, even when they are obvious, he added “amity is the most reliable form of capital.” (The Mayor in spats appears herein, greeting Tom Mix) westernclippings/treasures/westerntreasures_gallery_23.shtml
Posted on: Tue, 09 Jul 2013 10:19:03 +0000
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