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BROTHER CAN YOU SPARE A DIME by Sondra Gorney
Scarecrow Press

In 1932, one out of every four Americans who wanted work could not find work. The banking system was near collapse. Record sales had plummeted because Americans did not have the money for such luxuries. No song captured the dark spirit of the Great Depression more than "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" a song was written for the Broadway musical, "New Americana. "  Jay Gorney created that tune that became an anthem for the Great Depression, and -little known fact - he discovered Shirley Temple.

You can feel the love in this touching and informative biography Sondra Gorney has penned about her life and adventures with one of America's most  prolific songwriters.  Born Abraham Jacob Gornetzsky in Bialystock, Russia on December 12, 1894. In 1906, Gorney witnessed the Bialystock pogrom in 1906 which forced his family into hiding for nearly two weeks, after which they fled to the United States. His family settled in Detroit, Michigan where Jay Gorney's father became an engineer at the newly formed Ford Motor Company. Jay's mother bought a piano for her children and after two years of lessons, at age 14, Gorney was offered a job as a pianist at a local nickelodeon.

Jay originally wanted to have a career in the Law. He studied Law at the Univ. of Michigan. Yet, he also studied such basic music theory as Harmony, Counterpoint and Orchestration, in the school's music department, with Prof. Earl V. Moore. Even while studying for the law, he found time to organize the school's jazz band. He graduated from the University of Michigan with B.A. and LL.B degrees, and did practice law for a year or so after graduation. At that point in his life, he realized that he really wanted to make music his career.

World War I broke out and Jay enlisted in the Navy. After graduating, he practiced law briefly, then returned to his love of music, relocating with his wife to New York City, where he began his song writing career on Tin Pan Alley. He contributed numerous songs to musicals by the Shubert brothers. Later, Ira Gershwin introduced him to lyricist Yip Harburg, who became a frequent collaborator. The pair's most famous song was "Brother Can You Spare A Dime," based on a lullaby that Gorney learned as a child in Russia. It first appeared in the 1932 Shubert production of ''New Americana'' and literally became the anthem of the Great Depression.

During the Depression and World War II, Gorney helped raise money for farm workers and joined such groups as the Hollywood Anti-Nazi League and the Hollywood Democratic Committee.   His activism made him a target of the House Committee on Un-American Activities. In the 50's, Gorney worked as a producer-composer for CBS-TV, and with the faculty of the American Theater Wing.   But, in 1953, he was summoned to appear before that panel. Gorney refused to inform on others and was ultimately blacklisted. He turned to teaching, where he was able to earn a modest living and get some satisfaction from helping young people.

Sondra Gorney says she wrote the book partly because her husband never got over being blacklisted.

"This wasn't just our story, it was a whole historical period. I find that young people today know nothing about it, and that disturbs me," she says. "This is the history of a country -- not just a memoir of two people, but how it fit into what was happening in the world, and our world here in America."

Gorney's daughter from his second marriage, Karen Lynn Gorney, is an well-known actress and dancer who was in the original cast of All My Children and is most remembered playing opposite John Travolta in ''Saturday Night Fever''.  One of her numerous music CD's is reviewed in our Music Section.  She has several films currently pending release in 2007.

Since life first evolved on our home world, the Earth has boasted billions of of different types of mammals, insects, crustaceans, et cetera. In every age species disappear and new species appear. In the air and the oceans’ depths, on land or under it, life teams in wonderous abundance.  Some creaturs are discovered each year in the most remote places on the planet and some in our own backyeards. Most are benign and harmless to humans. Most but not all.

This is a collection of speculative fiction covering the controversial world of cyrptozoology. Big Foot, The Loch Ness Monsters, El Chupacabra – these are names that stir the imagination; these are the creatures and monsters that millions of people are convinced stalk our world hiding from the ever inquisitive mind of mankind.

Award-winning editor Bruce Gehweiller has gathered some of the finest - and scariest - stories available today for this two-volume set set of tales which might be fiction and might not. This is the first volume in which he’s packed in award-winners like Teddy London creator C.J.Henderson and Punktown author Jeffrey Thomas, fan favorites like James Chambers and Scott Thomas, classic storyteller like screenwriter R. AllenLeider abd free-sty;le Wildman Patrick Thomas, and most interesting of all, zoology professor and former researcher at the J. B. Rhine parapsychology Laboratories Graham Watkins.

This is one teriffic collection and probably the only one you could possibly find to rival its’ upcoming companion volume!

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Kara O'Keefe had not realized, at the age of eight, how much her Grandda had left her at his passing. All she knew was what she had lost: Her beloved grandfather would no longer tell her magical tales of ancient Ireland and the Sidhe, the Fair Ones, beneath blanketing stars. He would no longer share with her nature's secrets or push her to find that brilliant swirling point deep inside that made her music almost magical. All she knew was...she had lost her greatest treasure.   At twenty-three, Kara O'Keefe will find that she was wrong as she is abruptly confronted with the wealth, and weight, of her fantastic and until then unrealized inheritance...and the threat of losing her father next.

Once destined for Julliard as a prodigy on the violin, Kara is now merely a very gifted music instructor--or as she sees herself. It is at Yesterday's Dreams, a pawnshop tucked away on a quiet New York back street, where Kara discovers her true legacy, her own inner power, and destiny and danger both begin to stalk her. Forced to give up Quicksilver, her cherished violin and only physical link with her long-gone Grandda, Kara's selfless sacrifice becomes the key to her destiny.  Confused by the sudden radical turn her life has taken and pursued by malevolent forces she does not understand, Kara O'Keefe must place her trust in a dead man she loved but never truly knew and the living myth that would teach her who she really was. Has she inherited the tenacious strength of her Celtic ancestors, or would she fall beneath the onslaught of uncompromising fate?

If you've ever haunted an antique shop or an antiquarian bookshop, if you have even a touch of Irish in you (or wish you did), or if you just enjoy a good read, "Yesterday's Dreams" will more than satisfy those itches. Kara O'Keefe, the heroine of this novel, is Everyone: an honest, decent young woman who does not realize her true potential. In her we can all see a bit of ourselves and as Ms. McPhail guides her Kara through this story Kara never loses her humanity, even when faced, at the end, with ultimate evil, Olcas, the inimical Power that haunts every page of this compelling story. "Yesterday's Dreams" is an elegantly written book, as deep as the River Shannon and as swift as Maggie's sprite.A hard book to put down, though not gripping in an action-packed way, it is a story that intrigues and fascinates as much with the plot as the well-drawn characters featured within.

Danielle Ackley-McPhail turns fantasy to plausible reality in Yesterday's Dreams. The characters in this story are so charming and alive they spring from the story to haunt and taunt like a soft Irish mist long after the final page is read. I found Yesterday's Dreams a delightful page turning adventure into imagination, and certainly look forward to reading more works by this author.

YESTERDAY'S DREAMS takes the typical fantasy theme of good vs. evil, but places it in modern times with modern day dilemmas as opposed to the usual medieval fare. The setting and Kara's disbelief make for a fabulously fresh tale that hooks the audience from the moment Lucien sees his prey. The prime characters appear real enabling the audience to believe that the magic is real in the music. Though changing narration perspective can become jolting at times, readers will appreciate Danielle Ackley-McPhail's wonderful novel.

About the Author
The youngest of five children, Danielle Ackley-McPhail devoured so many books from a very early age that naturally she bagan to find the seeds of her own stories. With this, her first novel, Danielle explores the rich mythology of her Celtic heritage and her long-time fascination with fantasy in general. While she grew up in a small town in New Jersey, she now lives in New York with her husband Mike, mother-in-law Teresa, and four extremely spoiled cats.

Finally, a collection that crosses all boundaries, that covers all genres to bring you the greatest new stories about bold and triumphant women in the marketplace today. A beautiful young shapeshifter must decide where her loyalties belong: with the parents she never knew, or the man who may have killed them both. A PR woman stands as the lone force against the Apocalypse. In a hardboiled sword and sorcery setting, murders must be solved, sometimes by the most unlikely of officers.

And that's just the beginning. Whether it's the last woman on Earth fighting to save what's left of civilization, or a flashy East Coast gal trying to save her gaming pals from a murder rap, this is a collection for you!

Editors Henderson and Thomas have gathered best-sellers like the irrepressible Keith R.A. DeCandido, Bram Stoker Award-winners such as the gracious Linda D. Addison, along with a host of today's finest established writers and one incredible young lady making her print debut in this volume!

So, whether your bag is fantasy or mystery, horror or science fiction, if you're looking for the best collection of stories about cool dames who are extra tough and don't take no guff, then join Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Linda D. Addison, Michael Amorel, James Chambers, Keith R. A. DeCandido, John L. French, Bruce Gehweiler, C.J. Henderson, Gerard Houarner, R. Allen Leider, Edward McFadden III, K.T. Pinto, Diane Raetz, John Sunseri and Patrick Thomas as they bring you an absolute treasure trove of the best, knock-your-stockings-off fiction written about the fairest sex in years!
 
 

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Featured Artists and Recordings

The Land of Beginning Again
Kathrin King Segal
with
Charlie Brown

Land of Beginning Again, brings together jazz, folk and country influences – and even a little classical. The CD is a collaboration with Charlie, with four of Segal's original songs, including the title song, and two of his, primarily instrumentals. He plays most of the guitars on the tracks, all lead guitars, plus electric bass, Dobro and lap steel. Brown and Segal met in New York a few decades ago, and he went on to a stellar career as a studio musician, as well as releasing two solo LP's on Polydor, and a CD, Ride in the Country. Segal's first CD, ''Better Late Than...'' is more folk oriented, while ''Land of Beginning Again'' has a more eclectic range of styles, and expresses some of  Ms. Segal's feelings of regret, time passing, second chances and 'never giving up on your dreams'.
 

1. Comes Love
2. Harry
3. Ships
4. Charlie's Blue in G
5. Women Be Wise
6. Beautiful
7. Jump
8. Lazy Afternoon
9. Hesitation Blues
10. Flower Duet
11. One More (Land of Beginning Again)
 
 

Click the CD to order this recording from CD Baby.   Click for KatGal web site

HOT MOONLIGHT

Trivia: ''Brother Can You Spare a Dime'' is one of the most recorded songs in history with more than 35 top artists having recorded it.

Right after filming ''Saturday Night Fever'', Karen begin recording her father's music. The CD result HOT MOONLIGHT is in stores now, so look for it!  The album contains Brother Can You Spare a Dime, You're My Thrill, Hot Moonlight, Ah! But Is It Love?, You And Your Broken Heart, What Makes My Baby Blue, When I'm Housekeeping For You, Adrift on a Star, He's The Hottest Man In Town, and What Wouldn't I Do For That Man.  All these are sung by Karen in her inimitable style. This a true collector's item and a great present for the music lover and historian in your circle.

Click the CD for Karen's web site to order this hot album.

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Temple of Echoes is a new group dedicated to restore to the music industry the disappearing art of intelligent and meaningful organic songwriting. The group is the brainchild of the writing team of Wesley Stanton, lead singer and rhythm guitarist and J./ Matthew Riva, great grandson of the reknown Dietrich. The two boys have been buddies since the age of six and though they drifted apart and came back together over the past 20 years, in 2002 they started to seriously work together to create something new.  Temple of Echoes is their creation, combining melodies from classical roots, driving ryhthms and hard blaring electric leads matched with Wesley's powerful voice.

The creators say their major influences were groups like Guns and Roses, Radiohead, Led Zepplin and Stone Temple Pilots. The resulting sound echoes the sounds of the great bands of the 1970's with delicate harmonies mixed with driving vocals and thunderous electric leads.  The group also benefits from John Mangin's 'caged animal' guitar work and drummer Lafrae Sci's driving backbeats. The 'band of four' comes off sounding more like an orchestra than a quartet.

Instrumentation
Wes Stanton - Lead Singer/Rhythm Guitar
Mangin - Lead Guitar
Randall Leddy - Bass Guitar/Backing Vocals
Lafrae Sci - Drums

Biography
“Temple of Echoes pulses with the blood of heavy hitters”
-Music Connection

“Temple of Echoes is a calling to a time when rock was rock, rather then encumbered with over marketed labels like “punk”, “emo”, “prog”, or whatever else the industry is labeling things these days.”
-The Rock and Roll Report

Temple of Echoes is a raging combination of hard blaring electric leads with a driving rhythmic core, coupled with melodies born from classical roots and Wes Stanton's powerful voice. This creates a unique blend of power and passion with influences ranging from the Doors to Guns N' Roses, Stone Temple Pilots, Alice in Chains and Led Zeppelin. Thus, Temple of Echoes generates a raw sound more like one of the great bands of the 1970's yet retains the relevance needed to succeed in today's music industry.

Temple of Echoes is the result of the writing team of Wes Stanton and J. Matthew Riva, great grandson of Marlene Dietrich. Wesley and Matthew met at the age of 6 in New York City. As their paths split years later, the two reunited after each experiencing disappointment due to a lack of synergy in previous projects. In 2003 they began to mold the individual sound that is Temple of Echoes and then proceeded to search for players that could help them deliver it to the public.

Temple of Echoes' songs are a careful and deliberate balance between Wesley's melodic and emotionally driven voice with Mangin's 'caged animal-like' lead guitar work. Live drummer Lafrae Sci, who plays with reckless abandon in sync with the thundering riffs of bassist Randall Leddy and Wesley's driving rhythm guitar, combine to form the Temple of Echoes emotional and rhythmic core. The result of this is a sound sure to fill the void of any stage Temple of Echoes plays on.

Sponsored by Paper Denim & Cloth, Temple of Echoes has finished recording its new full legnth album titled (Union)2 with the production team at Saturation Acres with drums provided by Kevin Miller, formerly of the band Fuel, and has scheduled its realease for October 2005.

Discography
(Union)2 (Due October 2005)
Four Songs (2004)
Besides (2004)
The Day I Awoke (2003)
3 Songs Live (2003)

Check with www.templeofechoes.com for updates and further news on these events.