Americana: The Ditty
A handful of contemporary singer/songwriters are rediscovering the craft associated with the ditty, a clever lyric married to a short sticky tune. Classic ditties usually were homespun. They often include phrases or narrative imagery to capture experiences that are both personal and common: romance, family and life’s lessons. Ditties are heard throughout our various subcultures but are rarely recognized within the more sophisticated standards of the Great American Songbook. Attitudes are changing. Our best songwriters and retrospective analyses of enduring songs now acknowledge that popular music must be judged for its utility. Ditties are sung spontaneously by people; they serve as easily recalled anthems for happiness, healing and irony.
Glenn Williams is a statesman of this genre. There was not a time in his life when he was not singing somewhere: in the house, in the yard, in the halls of his schools. Glenn gave his first professional performance at the age of 12, well before he had developed his textured baritone. At age 14, he was cast in a network television variety program favored by families in the midwest. Glenn returned as a featured performer for over seven years, assimilating a variety of popular music and learning to play to a studio audience. As a side gig, Glenn also developed a solo act for the nightclub circuit at the age of 15, performing along the coast of Lake Erie from Cleveland to Erie. He learned the art of choosing material and pacing a show. The road also taught him to adapt his performance to a myriad of conditions and different arrays of musical accompaniment.
Glenn soaked up formal music lessons over ten years with renowned soprano and voice teacher Sylvia Jensen. He assembled his own band, toured and eventually brought his act to Nevada venues in 1982. Glenn’s show gradually became a staple in major casino cabarets. Following his first engagement at The Landmark Hotel, Glenn has been up and down the famed Las Vegas Strip many times over: The Desert Inn, The Dunes, The Stardust, The Maxim, The Tropicana, New York-New York, Mandalay Bay, MGM, Bally's, The Flamingo, The Imperial Palace, The Four Queens, The Golden Nugget, The Fremont, The Venetian, The Palazzo, and a three year engagement at The Riviera. He has entertained generations from the stage, absorbing and expressing the melodic nuances of show tunes, jazz, blues, folk and country.
I heard Glenn’s voice as authentic, intelligent and fun-loving. I asked him to help compose and to sing these original ditties. We kept the instrumentation straight and easy with ample room for spontaneity. It was a great collaboration but from my perspective it was Glenn who brought the delight.
—Ed Cornell, Fetching Stick Music
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