On September 5th, 1929, my father was born. On Oct. 29, 1929, the U.S. stock market crashed. America's economy collapsed, pulling many international markets down with it. It was the beginning of the Great Depression: an era of long bread lines, bankruptcies and hungry Dust Bowl sharecroppers that would last through most of the 1930s.

In 1932, a young New York City lyricist named E.Y. "Yip" Harburg, together with composer Jay Gorney, wrote what is considered the anthem of the Great Depression, "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?"

National Public Radio did an excellent piece on the song. Read all about it at the links below. You can also hear several versions of the song, by Tom Waits, Abby Lincoln with Stan Getz, Bing Crosby, Rudy Valee, and even an a capella version by political commentator Daniel Schoor.

For my money, the best version is by Paul Desmond and Dave Brubeck. Desmond played alto sax with a tone that was akin to a dry martini. His best known tune is "Take Five," written in an odd 5/4 time signature. He attended San Francisco State, my alma matter. He played a Selmer 'Super Balanced Action' saxophone - serial number 43xxx manufactured in 1950. His saxophone was fitted with either a Gregory Hollywood Model A, 4A18M or Claude Lakey 5*3[1] mouthpiece fitted with Rico 3.5 hardness reeds. My dad played the piano, and later when he retired, the soprano saxophone. I remember the album, Brubeck Time, that features "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" and associate it with my father.

Composer Jay Gorney based the plaintive minor melody on a Polish lullaby from his grandmother. Lyricist E.Y. "Yip" Harburg is perhaps best known for "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" that he wrote with composer Harold Arlen. "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" would seem to be quite a topical tune as relevant as ever, were it not for inflation and the fact that a dime wouldn't get very far in today's economy. 

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