Mockingbirds | Birdsongs

RALPH:

Subject: Mockingbird

Hi.

I just loved reading your page on the mockingbird, It's delightful. I have heard the song ["Listen to the Mockingbird"] when I was a child. My mother sometimes sang it to me, to put me to sleep.

I once heard that it was written by a black beggar, is that true?

Kind regards.

Our Editor Responds:

Recently, The Katy Times of Texas published an article on whistling, and the song you ask about.

"The all-time whistling tune, 'Listen to the Mockingbird,' was composed in 1885 by Septimus Winner, 27, a Philadelphia music teacher and music store owner. Winner composed Listen to the Mockingbird under the under the name 'Alice Hawthorne' for a street-whistler friend, and the song swept the nation.

"By 1905, an estimated 20 million sheet-music copies had been sold worldwide.

"Most amateurs favored 'Listen to the Mockingbird' because it had blank spaces that the whistler could fill in at his own performance level.

Go to the review in question

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RALPH:

I have read the two books of "My Bloody Life" and it has changed my thoughts about turning a Latin King. What you tells us in the book is real is no lies. What I'm doing now is doing good in school and go to college. If you can send me an e-mail I would appreciated a lot. My e-mail is mijo_shorty_57@yahoo.com

--- ChristVld@aol.com