miracle of miracles

While Europe was ripping its hair out during the first half of the Second World War, there was plenty to sing about in America. Far removed from the bloodshed and strife suffered by their cousins across the Atlantic, the American people enjoyed their sheltered existence with some of the best songwriting in musical theater history. In 1940 Kurt Weill wrote Lady In The Dark, Leonard Bernstien became a celebrity overnight in 1944 with his hit On The Town, and in 1942, actor/ composer/ school teacher Herbert Houston wrote his swan song The Bottle And The Blonde, for which “Miracle Of Miracles” served as the finale. Houston’s lead character, Lee Kurchowski, a sort of Marlon Brando prototype, leaves his family business to try out life on a bar stool after being dumped by his fickle young girlfriend. "I guess it's time to grow up and be a real man," Kurchowski says more than once. The plot really gets going when an attractive golden-haired lady named Lucy Miracle decides to "save his soul". Of course, Kurchowski abandons the bar and sinks into "the good life" with his new lady. In a peculiar twist, Lucy converts Lee to Christianity and they become do-gooders. The bold move of ending his musical with a ballad, rather than a showstopper, earned Houston disfavor among critics. Several critics also had a hard time swallowing its preachy premise and the play became Houston's last. Later

Vocals: Adam Selzer
Piano: Michael Johnson
Drums: Derrick Trost
Bass: Nate Halloran
Trumpet: Cory Gray

Recorded in 2002 at Type Foundry in Portland, OR. Engineered and mixed by Adam Selzer. Mastered by Michael Johnson and Chad Crouch.