New York - Folk, Bawdy, Novelty
Oscar Brand
At 90 years young, this legend of the North American Folk scene is returning to Mariposa Folk Festival where he first graced the stage back in 1963. Among his many accomplishments, Oscar wrote the Canadian patriotic song, Something to Sing About : This Land of Ours; hosted the CBC television show, Let’s Sing Out; recorded countless albums of bawdy songs and novelty music; and is in the Guinness Book of Records for having the longest-running radio show with the same host (65 years, and running). Oscar was also on the board that led to the creation of Sesame Street.
Oscar Brand is appearing in
A Celebration of the Music of Oscar Brand Sunday at 3:45pm
Born in Winnipeg, Oscar grew up in the States, played his part in the US army during World War II and arrived back in New York in 1945 where he started what is now the oldest continuous radio show in history, “Folk Song Festival” on New York public radio.
He has collected Peabody, Ohio State, Edison, and Emmy Awards for his hundreds of television shows, and was for four years host the top-rated Canadian series, "Let's Sing Out". He was Music Director of NBC-TV's "Sunday Show", "Exploring", "Treasure Chest and was host and composer for "The First Look" and NBC's syndicated "Spirit of '76". As a leading performer for children on TV, records, and films, he was on the advisory panel that created the series known as "Sesame Street".
He has scripted and scored ballets for Agnes DeMille and John Butler, commercials for Rival, Log Cabin, Maxwell House, Oldsmobile, etc. and was responsible for the songs in the films "The Fox", "Sybil", "The Long Riders" and "Blue Chips". He created music for the critically-acclaimed "In White America" and the score for "How To Steal An Election". With Paul Nassau he wrote the lyrics and music for the Broadway show "A Joyful Noise" with John Raitt (Bonnie’s dad).
Brand is the Curator of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, author of seven best-selling books, has recorded 90 LPs, written songs for Doris Day, Ella Fitzgerald, Harry Belafonte, the Smothers Brothers, and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. He has been on the faculty of The New School, New York University, and Hofstra University. He has a BS in Psychology from Brooklyn College, a Laureate from Fairfield University, and an honorary Doctorate from the University of Winnipeg.
It is an honour to have such an icon as Oscar Brand back at Mariposa. Please join us for the “Celebration To Oscar Brand.”