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Tom Glazer |
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(9/3/14, Philadelphia, PA - 2/21/03, Philadelphia, PA) |
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| Tom Glazer, Folk Singer, Is Dead at 88 February 26, 2003 By DOUGLAS MARTIN Tom Glazer, a folk singer and songwriter best known for his whimsical children's songs - particularly one about a mountain of spaghetti - died on Friday, 2/21/03, at his home in Philadelphia. He was 88. Along with Leadbelly, Woody Guthrie, Josh White and Burl Ives, Mr. Glazer was a Big City folk singer, one of a loose coalition of performers who made folk music a national phenomenon in the 1940's, presaging its commercial popularity in the 1960's. Pete Seeger, a member of the group, remembered Mr. Glazer yesterday as a solid performer who worked well with entertainers of different styles and political beliefs "He wasn't fancy," Mr. Seeger said in an interview. "He was just straightforward. He had a good sense of humor." Oscar Brand, who also sang with Mr. Glazer and who is curator of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, said Mr. Glazer was such a fine guitarist that he played chords other folk musicians hardly knew existed. Mr. Brand said Mr. Glazer, who was formally educated in music, had "a soft, easy voice that did not sound trained." As well as performing and recording, Mr. Glazer wrote books, most about music; composed songs recorded by Frank Sinatra, Perry Como and the Kingston Trio; and was the host of music programs on New York radio stations. But his best-remembered achievement - though not Mr. Glazer's favorite - was writing "On Top of Spaghetti," a hit novelty song in 1963. Sung to the tune of "On Top of Old Smoky," it featured a chorus of children singing lines like "On top of spaghetti all covered with cheese." A wayward meatball is the star. Thomas Zachariah Glazer was born in Philadelphia on Sept. 2, 1914, his son Peter said. His father, Jacob, left Russia for the United States to avoid the draft, but returned to find a wife, Sophie. They settled in Philadelphia, where Jacob worked as a carpenter in a shipyard. Jacob died in the influenza pandemic of 1918. Thomas and his two brothers lived with their mother and other relatives, as well as in an orphanage. Thomas hitchhiked to New York when he was 17 and got a job at Macy's. He finished high school at nights and then attended City College for three years. He went to Washington, where he worked at the Library of Congress and befriended Alan Lomax, who established the library's Archive of American Folk Song. Mr. Glazer bought a cheap guitar, learned some strums from Lomax and began to perform. Eleanor Roosevelt invited him to play at a White House concert for soldiers working there as guards. Mr. Glazer's formal debut came on Jan. 8, 1943, at Town Hall in Manhattan. In 1945 he started a show on ABC Radio, "Tom Glazer's Ballad Box," and in the 1960's he was host of a weekly concert show for children on WQXR radio in New York. In 1957 he composed songs and background music for "A Face in the Crowd," a film directed by Elia Kazan. His song "Talking Inflation Blues" was recorded by Bob Dylan on his "Minnesota Party Tape" in 1960. Mr. Glazer is survived by his sons Peter, of Berkeley, Calif., and John, of Rochester; his sister, Victoria G. Tovim of Philadelphia; and two granddaughters. His marriage to the former Miriam Reed Eisenberg ended in divorce in 1974. His brother, who spelled his name Sidney Glazier, died in December. He produced the 1968 movie version of "The Producers." Tom Glazer occasionally speculated about meeting St. Peter at the Pearly Gates and being asked what he accomplished in music. Mr. Glazer mumbles that he wrote "On Top of Spaghetti." "Sorry, buster, you can't enter," the imagined St. Peter replies. |
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