Whistling Fifties

Our guest blogger Richard writes: 

This is intended to be the last of my whistling CDs. There is a 9th and a 10th. These contain on the one hand pure Dutch whistlers and on the other a mix of Classical and Jazz. Unless huge amounts of people want these published I will keep them to myself.

Can I come to a conclusion about the act of whistling. I have tried an answer earlier. Some of the reasons I found are straightforward.
* Drawing attention. As in movies, commercials, and the dog-wolf-builders whistles. The referee whistle is also in this category, though it is enhanced for greater effect to the metal whistle. And so we evolve from the attention to the next level of whistling
* Once we have your attention, what are we going to do with it.
* Communication: as in the sheepdog who is acting upon the calls and whistles, and secret societies use whistling as code.
* Replacement. When a flute or another instrument would need a third hand, you can always whistle.
* (Comic) Effect. Again the dog whistle serves this purpose. Like in Walking The Dog. I am sure you should keep a dog on a leash, so why whistle. Even so you should not have to whistle more than once. When you have your dog well trained (really? Isn’t it the owner that should be well trained?) the dog will follow you.
* Casual whistling, footloose and fancy free. This is the real mystery, when suddenly a tune pops up from the mist in the brain, people sometimes start whistling. In the morning, at work, on the bicycle, we do not start to whistle, we notice we are whistling.
* Annoying people. That can be a certain thing, the urge to continue the whistle after someone asks it to be stopped. Like a real rebel you whistle another few bars, until it’s better to stop and say sorry.
* The Joy of Whistling becomes an Art. As with a lot of human activity, practice makes talent perfect.
* Bird imitations, needs no further explanations.

Every insight, dear readers can give, is welcome

Now back to the fifties. Everything was beautiful and well organized. Boys got a bike and girls got a bra and it was all just swell.

Bing Crosby starts of singing Just A Little Loving (Will Go A Long Way) and The Prisonaires know it too. Loneliness can be whistled away. Whistling is a universal language whether you hear South Americans like Tito Puente, Carribeans like Harry Belafonte and Lord Melody, Europeans Ilse Werner, Walt Solek. And though the highly racist USA prevented Afro and Euro Americans to mingle, in music the unity is without parallel. Once people start whistling the only colour remaining, is the colour of the timbre.

Blues and country, light entertainment and all other genres are presented here.

Ilse Werner was a true virtuoso and one of the most talented whistlers.
Ronnie Renaldo brings a beautiful rendition of Ave Maria.
Brother Bones has an unusual whistle doubling himself.
Bob Davie is better know for writing Green Door.
Harpo Marx don’t need no introduction, suffice a mention.
Pat Boone is a long favorite, for this is the b-side of Bernadine (my Nan’s name).
Johnny Fuller, Professor Longhair, Louis Prima, Stan Kenton, Don Redman
Larry Williams , Sonny Burgess, The Chordettes, The Balladeers and The Bucks complete this set.

I hope you have fun with this set, and put your stereo to mono for maximizing the joy, Mono, through a transistor radio suits this music best.

Enjoy!