They Call the Wind Maria
Encyclopedia
"They Call the Wind Maria" is an American popular song with lyrics written by Alan J. Lerner
and music by Frederick Loewe for their 1951 Broadway
musical, Paint Your Wagon, which is set in the California Gold Rush
. Rufus Smith originally sang the song on Broadway, and Joseph Leader was the original singer in London's West End
. It quickly became a "runaway hit", and during the Korean War, the song was among the "popular music listened to by the troops". Vaughan Monroe and his Orchestra recorded the song in 1951, and it was among the "popular hit singles at the record stores" that year. It has since become a standard, performed by many notable singers, such as Robert Goulet
, who considered it "a personal favorite".
wrote that the song "has a cowboy flavor", and commented that "In the lyric, its folk quality is accentuated." Engel concluded that "Lerner has invented an interesting kind of narration". Princeton University
historian Robert V. Wells wrote that it is "a sad and wistful song about being far from home" Theater historian Don B. Wilmeth called the song "haunting", and said that it evokes "emptiness".
. In 1959, it was included on the Kingston Trio's first live album, ...from the Hungry i
, which reached #2 on the Billboard Pop chart, and won a RIAA gold record in 1960. It was also included on the Smothers Brothers
first album, The Songs and Comedy of the Smothers Brothers! Recorded at the Purple Onion, San Francisco, released in 1961. Other folk singers who performed the song included Josh White
and Burl Ives
. Musical historian John Bush Jones wrote that the song "so evokes the American West that during the folksinging craze of the later 1950s countless Americans thought "They Call the Wind Maria" was a folksong, not a show tune!"
The Smothers Brothers performed the song on their TV variety show, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
, in 1968. The brothers jokingly introduced the song by arguing about whether it was an Israeli folk song or a Dutch folk song. Tommy Smothers concluded that the song had come from the Israeli section of Holland. He then told a story that the song had originated when a young couple were having a picnic beneath a windmill, when the girl got caught in a windmill blade, but said that she is OK now. They then performed the song straight.
, starring Lee Marvin
, Clint Eastwood
and Jean Seberg
. In the film, the song was performed by Harve Presnell
. The New York Times said that Presnell's role in the film "delivered the golden opportunity to sing the unforgettable ballad." Theater writer Thomas Hischak said that "in one of the film's few pleasing moments, Harve Presnell gave full voice to 'They Call the Wind Maria' and it was lovely to hear". Referring to Eastwood and Marvin, film reviewer Brian W. Fairbanks wrote that "Harve Presnell steals both stars' thunder with a knockout version of the best song."
In a promotional tie-in with release of the film, recorded versions of the song were issued by seven singers and groups, including Presnell, Ed Ames
, Burl Ives
, Jim Nabors
and the Baja Marimba Band
. Several record labels participated.
, he gives the storm which is the protagonist of his story the name "Maria". In 1947, Stewart wrote a new introduction for a reprint of the book, and discussed the pronunciation of "Maria": "The soft Spanish pronunciation is fine for some heroines, but our Maria here is too big for any man to embrace and much too boisterous." He went on to say, "So put the accent on the second syllable, and pronounce it 'rye'".
The success of Stewart's novel was one factor that motivated U.S. military meteorologists to start the informal practice of giving women's names to storms in the Pacific during World War II. The practice became official in 1945. In 1953, a similar system of using women's names was adopted for North Atlantic storms. This continued until 1979, when men's names were incorporated into the system. Although Stewart's novel is set in 1935, the novel and its impact on meteorology later inspired Lerner and Lowe to write a song for their play about the California gold rush, and like Stewart, they too gave a wind storm the name Maria, which is pronounced məˈraɪ.ə. The lines throughout the song end in feminine rhyme
s mostly using the "long i" sound /aɪ/, echoing the stress pattern and vowel sound of the name Maria.
Singer Mariah Carey
was named after this song.
Alan Jay Lerner
Alan Jay Lerner was an American lyricist and librettist. In collaboration with Frederick Loewe, he created some of the world's most popular and enduring works of musical theatre for both the stage and on film...
and music by Frederick Loewe for their 1951 Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
musical, Paint Your Wagon, which is set in the California Gold Rush
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...
. Rufus Smith originally sang the song on Broadway, and Joseph Leader was the original singer in London's West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
. It quickly became a "runaway hit", and during the Korean War, the song was among the "popular music listened to by the troops". Vaughan Monroe and his Orchestra recorded the song in 1951, and it was among the "popular hit singles at the record stores" that year. It has since become a standard, performed by many notable singers, such as Robert Goulet
Robert Goulet
Robert Gerard Goulet was a Canadian American entertainer as a singer and actor. He played the role of Lancelot in the Broadway musical Camelot of 1960.-Early life:...
, who considered it "a personal favorite".
Critical reception
It has been called "the show's best known song" and "rousing but plaintive" Musicologist Stephen Citron wrote, "Perhaps the most unusual song in the score is a beautiful ballad of lonely prospectors hungering for their women, "They Call the Wind Maria" — not chauvinistic in this case, for each man is yearning for his own girl. Composer and conductor Lehman EngelLehman Engel
Lehman Engel was an American composer and conductor of Broadway musicals, television and film.-Work in theatre, television and films:...
wrote that the song "has a cowboy flavor", and commented that "In the lyric, its folk quality is accentuated." Engel concluded that "Lerner has invented an interesting kind of narration". Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
historian Robert V. Wells wrote that it is "a sad and wistful song about being far from home" Theater historian Don B. Wilmeth called the song "haunting", and said that it evokes "emptiness".
Folk music revival
The song gained renewed popularity during the American folk music revivalAmerican folk music revival
The American folk music revival was a phenomenon in the United States that began during the 1940s and peaked in popularity in the mid-1960s. Its roots went earlier, and performers like Josh White, Burl Ives, Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, Richard Dyer-Bennett, Oscar Brand, Jean Ritchie, John Jacob...
. In 1959, it was included on the Kingston Trio's first live album, ...from the Hungry i
...from the Hungry i
-Personnel:*Dave Guard – vocals, banjo, guitar*Bob Shane – vocals, guitar*Nick Reynolds – vocals, tenor guitar, bongos, conga*David "Buck" Wheat – bass-Chart positions:-External links:* *...
, which reached #2 on the Billboard Pop chart, and won a RIAA gold record in 1960. It was also included on the Smothers Brothers
Smothers Brothers
The Smothers Brothers are Thomas and Richard , American singers, musicians, comedians and folk heroes. The brothers' trademark act was performing folk songs , which usually led to arguments between the siblings...
first album, The Songs and Comedy of the Smothers Brothers! Recorded at the Purple Onion, San Francisco, released in 1961. Other folk singers who performed the song included Josh White
Josh White
Joshua Daniel White , better known as Josh White, was an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor, and civil rights activist. He also recorded under the names "Pinewood Tom" and "Tippy Barton" in the 1930s....
and Burl Ives
Burl Ives
Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives was an American actor, writer and folk music singer. As an actor, Ives's work included comedies, dramas, and voice work in theater, television, and motion pictures. Music critic John Rockwell said, "Ives's voice .....
. Musical historian John Bush Jones wrote that the song "so evokes the American West that during the folksinging craze of the later 1950s countless Americans thought "They Call the Wind Maria" was a folksong, not a show tune!"
The Smothers Brothers performed the song on their TV variety show, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour is an American comedy and variety show hosted by the Smothers Brothers and initially airing on CBS from 1967 to 1969.-History:...
, in 1968. The brothers jokingly introduced the song by arguing about whether it was an Israeli folk song or a Dutch folk song. Tommy Smothers concluded that the song had come from the Israeli section of Holland. He then told a story that the song had originated when a young couple were having a picnic beneath a windmill, when the girl got caught in a windmill blade, but said that she is OK now. They then performed the song straight.
1969 film version
The song was featured in the 1969 Hollywood film Paint Your WagonPaint Your Wagon (film)
Paint Your Wagon is a 1969 American musical film starring Lee Marvin and Clint Eastwood. The movie was adapted by Paddy Chayefsky from the 1951 stage musical by Lerner and Loewe, set in a mining camp in Gold Rush-era California.-Plot:...
, starring Lee Marvin
Lee Marvin
Lee Marvin was an American film actor. Known for his gravelly voice, white hair and 6' 2" stature, Marvin at first did supporting roles, mostly villains, soldiers and other hardboiled characters, but after winning an Academy Award for Best Actor for his dual roles in Cat Ballou , he landed more...
, Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
and Jean Seberg
Jean Seberg
Jean Dorothy Seberg was an American actress. She starred in 37 films in Hollywood and in France, including Breathless , the musical Paint Your Wagon and the disaster film Airport ....
. In the film, the song was performed by Harve Presnell
Harve Presnell
Harve Presnell was an American actor and singer. He began his career in the mid 1950s as a classical baritone, singing with orchestras and opera companies throughout the United States...
. The New York Times said that Presnell's role in the film "delivered the golden opportunity to sing the unforgettable ballad." Theater writer Thomas Hischak said that "in one of the film's few pleasing moments, Harve Presnell gave full voice to 'They Call the Wind Maria' and it was lovely to hear". Referring to Eastwood and Marvin, film reviewer Brian W. Fairbanks wrote that "Harve Presnell steals both stars' thunder with a knockout version of the best song."
In a promotional tie-in with release of the film, recorded versions of the song were issued by seven singers and groups, including Presnell, Ed Ames
Ed Ames
Ed Ames is an American popular singer and actor. He is best known for his pop and adult contemporary hits of the 1960s like "When the Snow is on the Roses" and the perennial "My Cup Runneth Over." He was part of a popular 1950s singing group called The Ames Brothers.-Early life:Born in Malden,...
, Burl Ives
Burl Ives
Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives was an American actor, writer and folk music singer. As an actor, Ives's work included comedies, dramas, and voice work in theater, television, and motion pictures. Music critic John Rockwell said, "Ives's voice .....
, Jim Nabors
Jim Nabors
James Thurston "Jim" Nabors is an American actor and singer. Born and raised in Sylacauga, Alabama, Nabors moved to Southern California because of his asthma. While working at a Santa Monica nightclub, The Horn, he was discovered by Andy Griffith and later joined The Andy Griffith Show, playing...
and the Baja Marimba Band
Baja Marimba Band
The Baja Marimba Band was a popular musical group led by marimba player Julius Wechter, initially intended by producer Herb Alpert to cash in on the "south of the border" craze started by his own Tijuana Brass...
. Several record labels participated.
Background and pronunciation of "Maria"
In George Rippey Stewart's 1941 novel StormStorm (novel)
Storm is a novel written by George Rippey Stewart and published in 1941. The book became a best-seller and helped lead to the naming of tropical cyclones worldwide, even though the main character of the book was an extratropical cyclone.-Plot summary:...
, he gives the storm which is the protagonist of his story the name "Maria". In 1947, Stewart wrote a new introduction for a reprint of the book, and discussed the pronunciation of "Maria": "The soft Spanish pronunciation is fine for some heroines, but our Maria here is too big for any man to embrace and much too boisterous." He went on to say, "So put the accent on the second syllable, and pronounce it 'rye'".
The success of Stewart's novel was one factor that motivated U.S. military meteorologists to start the informal practice of giving women's names to storms in the Pacific during World War II. The practice became official in 1945. In 1953, a similar system of using women's names was adopted for North Atlantic storms. This continued until 1979, when men's names were incorporated into the system. Although Stewart's novel is set in 1935, the novel and its impact on meteorology later inspired Lerner and Lowe to write a song for their play about the California gold rush, and like Stewart, they too gave a wind storm the name Maria, which is pronounced məˈraɪ.ə. The lines throughout the song end in feminine rhyme
Feminine rhyme
A feminine rhyme is a rhyme that matches two or more syllables, usually at the end of respective lines, in which the final syllable or syllables are unstressed.-English:...
s mostly using the "long i" sound /aɪ/, echoing the stress pattern and vowel sound of the name Maria.
Singer Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. She made her recording debut with the release of her eponymous studio album in 1990, under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, whom she later married in 1993...
was named after this song.
Cover versions
Notable acts who have performed the song include:
|
Frankie Laine Frankie Laine, born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio , was a successful American singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spanned 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to his final performance of "That's My Desire" in 2005... Jim Nabors James Thurston "Jim" Nabors is an American actor and singer. Born and raised in Sylacauga, Alabama, Nabors moved to Southern California because of his asthma. While working at a Santa Monica nightclub, The Horn, he was discovered by Andy Griffith and later joined The Andy Griffith Show, playing... John Raitt John Emmett Raitt was an American actor and singer best known for his performances in musical theater.-Early years:... Pernell Roberts Pernell Elvin Roberts, Jr. was an American stage, movie and television actor, as well as a singer. In addition to guest starring in over 60 television series, he was widely known for his roles as Ben Cartwright's eldest son, Adam Cartwright, on the western series Bonanza, a role he played from... Zoot Sims John Haley "Zoot" Sims was an American jazz saxophonist, playing mainly tenor and soprano.-Biography:He was born in Inglewood, California, the son of vaudeville performers Kate Haley and John Sims. Growing up in a performing family, Sims learned to play both drums and clarinet at an early age... Smothers Brothers The Smothers Brothers are Thomas and Richard , American singers, musicians, comedians and folk heroes. The brothers' trademark act was performing folk songs , which usually led to arguments between the siblings... Bryn Terfel Bryn Terfel Jones CBE is a Welsh bass-baritone opera and concert singer. Terfel was initially associated with the roles of Mozart, particularly Figaro and Leporello, but has subsequently shifted his attention to heavier roles, especially those by Wagner.... Josh White Joshua Daniel White , better known as Josh White, was an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor, and civil rights activist. He also recorded under the names "Pinewood Tom" and "Tippy Barton" in the 1930s.... Earl Wrightson Earl Wrightson was an American singer and actor best known for musical theatre, concerts and television performances. His regular singing partner was the soprano Lois Hunt.-Early life and career:... |