Mary's A Grand Old Name (George M. Cohan)

The Paragon Ragtime Orchestra; Rick Benjamin, director
This recording uses original period orchestrations, played with authentic style on vintage instruments.

from "You're a Grand Old Rag: The Music of George M. Cohan"
New World Records 80685-2

©2014 Anthology of Recorded Music, Inc., All Rights Reserved.

[mec]

In 2009 my aunt Mary passed away. My uncle was nearly blind & deaf and barely said a word to anyone all day the day of her services. Yet at her graveside, he began to sing this song. Stirring tribute

[maryh]

Yesterday was my grandmas birthday April 8th. She passed away 3 years ago. She used to sing this song to me growing up. I miss her a lot. I love you gram ❤️

[jbkeyz]

My mom is msry she is 95 and I play this for her.when in my car. I'm so blessed to still have my beautiful Mary. I know the day will come when it's bittersweet. To all who have lost their loved ones, you always have this sentimental song. ❤ to all who are not with us

[drewlou]

My Dad Would Sing This Song To Mary.
I will Always Rember When Dad Was Holding Her And Singing Her This Song.
AND with Age, He Still Broke Out In A Course.
I Miss You Sweetheart!!

[cynthex]

I remember hearing Fay Templeton do this on Broadway. Great Lady!

[gabachabonita]

MY MOM'S NAME WAS MARY VIRGINIA FLEMING! SHE WAS BORN 7/9/1923 AND DIED 1/28/1991! THIS WAS HER SONG!

[Jon-tirb]

Just finished watching Yankee Doodle Dandy. I love James Cagney's dance numbers. One of my favorite movies.

[ChristyOFaghan]

for years, that line "but is was mary, mary, long before the fashions changed" has been popping up in my head out of nowhere, possibly from a snippet of the song being used in film such as Garland's 'Meet Me In St. Louis'... and today i finally hunted it down and am very grateful to NWR for the upload

as an aside, this is a fascinating arrangement and i couldn't help but imagine Music Hall performances or Vaudeville acts having little choreographed moments of movement in between the choruses -- would surely have given the acts plenty of room for manoeuvre

[anndandy]

If I had a daughter her name would be Mary. It is a grand old name.🙂

[joshjacks]

I just saw Yankee Doodle Dandy with James Cagney for the first time. I was dazzled by the film and am now doubly dazzled by hearing these wonderful songs in their full format.

[catloverfl]

My mother's name really was Mary. Her father, Grampa, used to sing this song and "So Long Mary" He saw this show when it played in Philadelphia in 1906. He loved this name and when his first child, my mother, was born in 1911, he wanted her to be named Mary. My mother grew to be very beautiful and I have many photos of her framed on my wall. I love the name Mary too. You never hear it much anymore. It has a beautiful ring to it and I will never tire of the name Mary. If I had had a daughter, her name would be Mary.

[BarloggioJRT]

There has been a MARY in my my family tree, each generation, for the last 400 years

[TheTibmeister]

Such a beautiful song. Been in my family for generations. A timeless name too.

[blackswan]

My mother’s name was Mary. Her mother used to tell her it was a grand old name.

[johnnypastrana]

Wow, what a beautiful video...incredible ragtime band along with wonderful photos of George and all of the 4 Cohans...thanks for making this and uploading it. I never heard the second verse before...thanks a million!!!

[leananshae]

This is my song. Literally. It was written just for me. Or so I was led to believe. You see, my middle name is either Mary/Marie (no-one knows for sure) and, until my mom's death, my parents argued over how to spell and say my middle name... it's "Marie" on my state dept birth certificate (born overseas and dad was in charge of that) but it's "Mary" on my permanent stateside certificate (and mom was in charge of that one). Anyway, mom insisted it was Mary after her mom and dad insisted that "Mary" sounds stilted after my first name (Leanne) and should be said and spelled "Marie"... whenever she'd get fed up arguing with him about it, mom would always prevail by smiling and laughing and breaking out with this song at the top of her lungs, swinging me around in her arms, ignoring my dad's attempts at rebuttal. And so for all my childhood, I walked around truly believing that my mom had made this song up just for me... imagine my surprise, in my teens, when I found out the truth about Mr. Cohan's contribution! It was a hilarious shock, I'll tell you. ;) Miss ya, mom.

[artistphx]

Wonderful. Thank You for sharing this.

[Mary-Vintage]

My name is Mary, I was named after my great grandma 🙂

[maryb.]

Myself, my grandmother, and the Hebrew Mary in the Bible. Dynamic black women, not so plain at all.❤

[jacklynlopez]

I should send this to my sister...her name is MARY!!