There are parallels to be found in everything…in every age.
When I was a kid, vinyl was 45 rpm discs, one or two songs on each side. And, there were LPs, 33 & 1/3 rpm; long playing records with, typically, several songs on each side.
If you couldn’t afford to buy the hit “45” performed by a major artist, you could buy a version of the song by an unknown singer on a “bargain” label, specifically created to sell records at a cheaper price. It was like today’s pharmaceutical industry that sells a cheaper, generic version of a popular more expensive drug. Owning the hit version of a song rather than the generic version was, to my innocent senses, a status symbol.
Growing up in the 1950s, few ordinary families had TV sets, and there were no shows like American Idol or The Voice. Kids today can’t wrap their minds around what life was like with no TV, no iPod, no smart phone, and no streaming service. I try to stimulate the thinking and appreciation in my younger voice students, some of whose mouths fall open in disbelief when I show them an LP and a turntable.
In the mid 50s, a country singer, Bobby Bare, recorded a spoken word, bluesy rock-a-billy song called “All American Boy.” It was a huge hit. One day when I was 17, a large man decked out in white from head toe, including a white western hat, showed up at a recording studio in Utica, NY, where I was laying down a jazz performance. He was there to convince me to record the answer to Bare’s “All American Boy.” It would be, of course, “All American Girl.” (Another parallel: an early attempt at an entertainment franchise?)
I think the two men who were my managers arranged the meeting without telling me. The managers and the Texan in the white suit said I would have a hit record with “All American Girl.” I hated the idea, as I was a confirmed jazzer. (It would be another 20 years before I would open my ears to rock and R&B, thanks to my two musician sons, Steve and John Conte.)
As I write this, I’m listening to “All American Boy.” I wonder----what in the world of the 50s would “Girl” lyrics have to say. And, if I had recorded it, would it have found air play beyond Utica, NY!
Rosemary Conte is a singer, voice teacher, freelance writer, and clinical hypnotist in Matawan. She can be reached at [email protected]
Join us for McCarter at the Museum - renowned performing artists in one-night only events at the Princeton University Art Museum.
Jason Robert Brown is a four-time Tony Award-winning composer and lyricist of The Last Five Years, Parade, Songs for a New World, 13, The Bridges of Madison County, Honeymoon In Vegas and The Connector, has performed as a soloist or with his band in venues around the world, including sold-out shows at the London Palladium and Carnegie Hall. His albums as a singer-songwriter include Wearing Someone Else’s Clothes and How We React and How We Recover on Ghostlight, and Coming From Inside the House and Live In Concert with Stephen Sondheim on Concord.
With Special Guest Tony nominee Betsy Wolfe. Tony Award-nominated actress Betsy Wolfe is currently starring as Audrey in the acclaimed Off-Broadway production of Little Shop of Horrors, following her recent Broadway run as Madeline Ashton in the hit musical Death Becomes Her. She previously originated the title role in Joy, the new musical inspired by inventor Joy Mangano, and earned a 2023 Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her celebrated performance as Anne Hathaway in & Juliet. Other Broadway credits include starring as Jenna in Waitress, Cordelia in the acclaimed revival of Falsettos, Bullets Over Broadway, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Everyday Rapture, and 110 in the Shade, as well as her critically acclaimed performance as Cathy in the Off-Broadway revival of The Last Five Years. Wolfe made her Metropolitan Opera debut in Die Fledermaus and has appeared as a guest artist with more than 65 symphony, pops, and philharmonic orchestras worldwide, including the New York Philharmonic and BBC Symphony Orchestra, with performances at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center. Her screen credits include First One In, Estella Scrooge, CBS’s Instinct, and the film adaptation of The Last Five Years. Wolfe is also the co-founder of BroadwayEvolved, the acclaimed musical theatre training program she launched in 2018 to train and mentor the next generation of theatre artists.
A limited number of early access tickets for McCarter Director’s Circle members and members of the Museum’s Partner Circle are available, on sale Wednesday, September 16, 2026 at 12:00 PM. General public on sale begins Friday, September 18, 2026 at 12:00 PM.
Please be aware there is no public drop-off or parking at the Museum. For visitors with mobility needs, please contact the Museum at least three business days in advance of your visit to request special access to the Museum via Elm Drive. Call 609-258-3788 and select option 1 to speak to a visitor services staff member, or email Louise Barrett at [email protected].
