Yiddish Curiosities: a library of wonderful but forgotten Yiddish songs from the late 1920s and after (includes Polish Jewish Cabaret). Have a listen!

It's been quiet here because I've been preparing 18 of these tracks for a cd which is ready now (digital only except for people who helped with the project).

This is one of the simplest songs on the new cd. It was supposedly composed by Pesach Burstein, but I don't think he recorded it. It was supposedly at Harvard's Judaica collection, and I pawed through all seven big boxes and only found orchestral parts, so I reconstructed this melody from fiddle lines. It might not be exactly right.

Now I think a recording of Sam Goldberg singing it exists at the Mayrent Collection in Wisconsin. I'll keep you posted!

I always ask myself: "Why was this particular song so thoroughly lost?" In this case the answer is clear. The protagonist, in the mid 1930s, went to America, found a sweetheart, got dumped, and then WENT BACK TO POLAND. Bad, bad idea. I'm sure that after the war nobody wanted to contemplate this.

Labels: songs for sale