This is a collection of songs written by Robert Schmertz during the last year
or two, some of them serious, some of them whimsical and all of them delightful.
They are being presented now, during Pittsburgh’s Bicentennial celebration, as
a 2OOth birthday gift to Pittsburghers and to all the people who love their city
as much as Bob Schmertz does.
Through his songs, you will hear a fascinating and many-faceted story . . . of
the Indians, who were here first, of the missionaries and the trappers . . . of
the French, Scottish and English soldiers who struggled for possession of this
beautiful valley watered by the river which the French called La Belle Riviere.
The Forks of the Ohio, formed by the joining of the Monongahela and the
Allegheny Rivers, are today’s boundaries of Pittsburgh’s Golden Triangle.
First a trading outpost, then a French-held fort (Fort Duquesne). In this
strategic point was the key to the western frontier. On November 27, 1758
General John Forbes captured the fort and named the city Pittsburgh.
Such courageous and fascinating people as Celoron, Washington, Gist, Father
Baron, Queen Aliquippa, Braddock, Forbes and Bouquet made the history of which
we now sing.
The colorful dress of the Indians, the trappers, the French, Scottish,
English and Colonial soldiers sparkled against the somber background of the
primitive forest. Braddock’s red-coated Grenadier Guards, fresh from the
formalities of London parades, and Forbes and Bouquet’s kilted Highlanders
with their skirling bagpipes surely must have startled the Indians and the timid
beasts who watched them crashing through their densely wooded domain.
Some of the people you will meet in this album (the French cook at Fort
Duquesne, the Lonely Grenadier at Fort Pitt and Flintlock Finnegan) were born in
Mr. Schmertz’s imagination, but all of the songs are based on actual history.
Vivien Richman - 1959
ABOUT THE ARTISTS AND THE ORIGINAL 1959 RECORDING
ROBERT SCHMERTZ:
The composer-singer-banjo-player is an Associate
Professor of Architecture at Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie
Mellon University) and a partner in the architectural firm of Schmertz and
Erwin. This is his third album. He is a member of the American Society of
Composers, Authors and Publishers and some of his songs have been recorded by
other artists including Burl Ives, Gary Crosby, Tennessee Ernie Ford.
GRETCHEN SCHMERTZ JACOB:
Bob’s daughter is an accomplished singer who
has appeared throughout the tri-state area in folk music programs. She is a
painter and a teacher of art and has worked for some time with WQED, Pittsburgh’s
educational TV station.
JACK SCHMERTZ:
Bob’s son, formerly a flautist and piccoloist with the
Harvard Band (later with the U.S. Army Band) provides the delightful wind
obbligatos in the album. He is now an engineer in Boston.
VIVIEN RICHMAN:
A professional folk singer, her own album of folk songs
and ballads of Western Pennsylvania also appears under the Folkways label. She
has performed in concerts throughout the Midwest at National Folk Festivals,
was twice recorded for the "Voice of America" and has made countless radio
and TV appearances.
EERO DAVIDSON:
For many years, a teacher of instrumental music, this ’cellist-singer-square dance caller arranged all the songs in this album. A
past-chairman of the Folk Arts Leadership Committee and the founder of the
Callers’ Association of Western Pennsylvania, he is now working in the field
of educational administration.
JO DAVIDSON:
Perhaps the most versatile musician in the group, Jo, who is
Eero’s son, plays guitar, banjo, bagpipes, and sings too. He has performed at
National Folk Festivals, at the YM-WHA in Pittsburgh and at National Folk Camp.
(Heard here only in “Forks of the Ohio”).
Recorded by George Reid Productions, Pittsburgh, Pa. George Reid, Production
Supervisor.
Record Label: Smithsonian Folkways
Cover by: Robert Lepper, Professor in Industrial Design. College of Fine
Arts, Carnegie Institute of Technology.
The authentic map in the background was obtained through the kind offices of
Charles M. Stotz, a foremost authority on early Pittsburgh and its forts and
co-author of “Drums in the Forest”.
Songs arranged by: Eero W. Davidson
