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Song Fest Prefaces

The various IOCA Song Fest collections had a number of interesting prefaces. The "preface to the original collection" reveals a lot about the character of the outing clubs' members at the time. Later prefaces give clues to the evolution of the books.

Preface to the Original Collection

This preface, as printed in the 1948 edition of the book, comes from the original collection of songs, assumedly before they were professionally published. It appears in all subsequent editions of the book, through the "Song Fest Deluxe" in the 1970's.

"Because the fires of enthusiasm which kindle at a rousing songfest, roaring most heartily in the hinterlands of Colden, can't be artificially preserved for I.O.C.A. posterity, this song book is inevitably a mere woodpile. The motley crew, who haphazardly, and with occasional splurges of energy, have thrown the pile together, haven't bothered about a few knots and flaws in the grain. They've gone out of their way to select good rough logs, which haven't been cut, dried, and neatly sorted like those you find on any standard woodpile. They've tossed the big timbers in next to the small ones, but have tried to stack them up for easy reference. You'll find some of them won't burn very easily unless you corral an expert hand to touch them off, but plenty of room has been left on the pile for wood of your own choosing. In brief, the woodpilers here-with toss you the torch - and the tip that, not withstanding a random shot of smoke-in-the-eyes, which you may get in the early stages, no fire will burn more brightly than the one you concoct yourself.

P.S. A reward of one left-hand dungaree patch, guaranteed not to rip, run, rust, tear, split, melt, break, etc. is hereby offered for the pelt of the first bohunk caught surreptitiously using this book at a songfest.

Will Brown, Dartmouth '37
Gerry Richmond, Brown, '36"

Songs not included in the Original Collection

The section below was included on the preface page of the 1948 edition.

"The following songs should have been included, but had to be left out, due to copyright difficulties. They may be obtained from your local music dealer in sheet music form.
  Winter Song, I Learned About Women From 'Er, Wal I Swan, McNamara's Band, (Jerry Vogel Music Co., Inc)
  With Her Head Tucked Underneath Her Arm, Rolling Home, (Chappell & Co. Inc.)
  The Martins and the Coys, (Bourne Inc.)
  The Whiffenpoof Song, (Miller Music Corp.)
  Ai Paisano, (Leo Feist Inc.)
  Casey Jones, Prisoner's Song, (Shapiro, Bernstein & Co. Inc.)
  On the Road to Mandalay, (G. Schirmer, Inc.)
  Old Apple Tree in the Orchard, (M. Witmark & Sons)
  Stout Hearted Men, (Harms, Inc.)

Preface
(The New Song Fest)

This preface, as copied from the 1st printing of "The New Song Fest", combines some new text with the list of missing songs shown above (with a few edits). It appears as the preface in all of the "New Song Fest" editions, and the subsequent "New Song Fest Deluxe" editions.

  "New Song Fest is offered in an attempt to keep pace with the ever-changing group of songs sung by students in the I.O.C.A. Many songs remain favorites for years, and these we have kept in the collection; others have fallen somewhere along the way. In recognition of the present trend toward folk songs and ballads, many of these have been added, with an effort to include those best adapted to group singing.
  I.O.C.A., the Intercollegiate Outing Club Asc., was founded in 1932 to provide a way of exchanging ideas and organizing joint trips between clubs. Most of the colleges and universities at which member clubs have been formed are located in the Eastern U.S. and Canada.
  The following songs should have been included, but had to be left out, due to copyright difficulties. They may be ordered from your local music dealer in sheet music form. He will need to know the publisher, so that has been listd too.
  Winter Song, I Learned About Women From 'Er, Wal I Swan, McNamara's Band, (Jerry Vogel Music Co., Inc.)
  With Her Head Tucked Underneath Her Arm, Rolling Home, (Chappell & Co. Inc.)
  The Martins and the Coys, (Bourne Inc.)
  The Whiffenpoof Song, (Miller Music Corp.)
  Ai Paisano, (Leo Feist Inc.)
  Casey Jones, Prisoner's Song, (Shapiro, Bernstein & Co. Inc.)
  On the Road to Mandalay, (G. Schirmer, Inc.)
  Old Apple Tree in the Orchard, (M. Witmark & Sons)
  Stout Hearted Men, (Harms, Inc.)
  Hang on the Bell Nellie, (Leeds Music Corp.)
  The success of a collection of this type depends to a large extent on close contact between the editors and the users of the collection. Any new songs, or suggestions for the improvement of this book will be gratefully appreciated.

Dick and Beth Best
Cornell '44 and Radcliffe '47

Wayland, Mass.
1954"

Preface to the Present Edition
(The New Song Fest Deluxe)

This preface, as copied from the Deluxe edition of the book, published in the 1970's, was included after the "Preface to the original collection".

  "The preceding editions of The New Song Fest have all enjoyed wide acceptance because the 300-song contents gave comprehensive coverage to the great traditional songs of our past. The present deluxe edition is distinguished in that it offers the same rich selection of 300 songs of Yesterday - PLUS - 30 magnificent examples of Songs of Today: songs of unquestioned greatness which represent the mainstream of contemporary music that has gained the widest acceptance by the largest number of people.
  There are few thoughtful people who would disagree with the concept that popular music is every bit as representative of the feelings and concerns of our people as are the more time-honored selections found in previous editions.
  The New Song Fest Deluxe - with it's 300 PLUS 30 - then, represents a milestone in the process of knitting together the musical thought-life of a dynamic people whose restless search for individual liberty and personal happiness is reflected in note and lyric of their musical history."