Rumors of War: The War before Pearl Harbor

The War's Voices

Broadcast and Commercial Recordings of Speeches and Interviews of World War II-era Personalities.

Winning the Home Front

War-related Entertainment, Propaganda, and Ads Targeting World War II-era Radio Listeners.

G.I. Jive

Popular and Topical Songs of World War II.

Boogie Woogie Bugle Boys

USO Shows, Armed Forces Radio, V-Discs, and Other Morale Efforts Targeting the Military.

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War Reports, News Flashes, and Informational Programs Regarding World War II.

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World War II-era Broadcast and Recording Technology.

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G.I. Jive

After the First World War and the Great Depression, many Americans followed foreign policy distantly, concentrating instead on domestic matters. Radio, however, swept up listeners during the mounting drama overseas and the prospect of another world war seemed inevitable. The home front braced itself as staunch isolationism gave way to political involvement. Music in general reflected this change as the topic of conversation shifted from the self-contained "America First" slogan to Hitler and Japan, war bonds, and the first peacetime conscription in United States' history.

The seven songs presented here come from the 78 rpm and LP disc collections in the Marr Sound Archives.

Song #1
From magazines to cartoons, war bond advertisements popped up everywhere. Combining pure entertainment and economic sensibility, radio played a significant role in this propagation, with songs like "Any Bonds Today" leading the charge. The Andrews Sisters' version was one of many, persuading Americans to buy "a share of freedom" to help the country prepare for the impending war.

Song #2
A March 10, 1941 recording session produced "Blitzkrieg Baby (You Can't Bomb Me)," a playful song "pleading neutrality and letting "that propaganda be." Vocalist Una Mae Carlisle and Lester Young's tenor sax offered a relaxed contrast to the lyrics, which expressed more of a gentle warning than impartiality. The song was among the first sides that Young made after leaving Count Basie's band in late 1940. The group Young assembled to back Carlisle touted trumpeter Shad Collins and Clyde Hart - a young pianist who, before his untimely death in 1945, appeared on early be-bop records with, among others, Charlie Parker.

Song #3
The contributions of John and Alan Lomax to music history have proven as vital as the evolution of radio. The father-son team traveled down dusty back roads, into churches, penitentiaries and labor camps, and onto the common man's front porch to give "a voice to the voiceless." A 1933 journey unearthed a still vibrant work song tradition among African-American prisoners in the Deep South. While at Angola State Penitentiary in Louisiana that summer, the Lomaxes discovered Huddie Ledbetter, who astounded them with his enormous repertoire of folk songs. Leadbelly - a nickname Ledbetter acquired in the prison system - would team up again with Alan Lomax in 1940 for a marathon recording session. The one-day project on August 23 yielded over 50 selections for the Library of Congress, including a topic-of-the-day tune: "Roosevelt Song."

Song #4
While signs increasingly pointed toward U.S. involvement, the diplomatic efforts of Roosevelt and the isolationism inherent in the "America First" motto encouraged people to remain devoted to issues at home. The anti-war song "Stop The War (The Cats Are Killin' Themselves)" represented such an opinion and examined the consequences of war with subtle humor soaked in a New Orleans-based groove. Recorded in the spring of 1941, the Bluebird release featured the one-armed trumpeter and vocalist Joseph "Wingy" Manone (misspelled "Wingie" on the label seen here), whose childhood streetcar accident prevented him from enlisting.

Song #5
Of all the topics in pre-war America, the country's first peacetime military draft arguably attracted the most discussion. Implemented on September 16, 1940, the government measure challenged the notion of isolationism as the country began recruiting men and women for military services. The October 1941 recording "He's 1-A In The Army And He's A-1 In My Heart," by Les Brown and his Orchestra, offered a wispy look at the realities of conscription. With vocalist Betty Bonney's proud declaration, "Now I've got a guy who never liked to fight / But for Uncle Sam he said all right," the song summed up the conflicting feelings of a nation on the brink of war.

Song #6
In his ten-year recording career, John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson cut over 120 sides for RCA's Bluebird label and inspired scores of blues musicians to follow (blues harpist Rice Miller, who hosted King Biscuit Time on Helena, AR, station KFFA, eventually adopted the same stage name). Before his murder in 1948, John Lee Williamson revolutionized the harmonica as a solo instrument by alternating vocal passages with pungent, harmonica fills. "War Time Blues" is an excellent example of this innovation and, with a recording date of May 17, 1940, stands as one of the earliest songs to hint at U.S. military involvement.

Song #7
With hits "If I Didn't Care" (#2), "Address Unknown" (#1), "Maybe" (#4), and "We Three (My Echo, My Shadow, And Me)" (#1) among its early successes, the Ink Spots enthralled white and black audiences alike during the war years. In the fall of 1941, the vocal quartet cracked the charts once again with a song first introduced by another African-American group - Harlan Leonard and his Kansas City Rockets. "I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire" (#4) carried poetic weight for Americans, as the song's success preceded Pearl Harbor by a matter of weeks. The innocent song title would assume a greater irony in the days after December 7th, when Horace Heidt's version bumped Glenn Miller's "Chattanooga Choo Choo" from the top of the charts.

Text by Kelly McEniry, Marr Sound Archives
Digital Audio by Scott Middleton, Marr Sound Archives

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