Letter

To Whom It May Concern:

I’m writing about an article I just discovered at the following link: http://magazine.clas.virginia.edu/x4550.xml.

The article concerns Guy Lombardo and the song “Auld Lang Syne.”

The writer of the article, Heather Ferngren, states that Guy Lombardo adopted the song as his theme song after having sung it at U.Va. in 1930.

This fact, which even Guy Lombardo disputes in his own autobiography, “Auld Acquaintance,” is wrong. The band did play the song at U.Va., but it DID NOT adopt the tune as its theme because of this fact.

Guy Lombardo had been playing “Auld Lang Syne” since his days traveling the Ontario countryside (in the early 1920s) which contained a very heavy Scottish population. However, it was not until 1929 that he began using it as his closing theme.

He was on CBS until midnight at which time he switched to NBC (this was December 31, 1929). This happened because he was in demand at both networks and they could work it no other way. To bridge the gap, the band played “Auld Lang Syne” and not only found its theme, but also gave us what we now know as the official New Year’s Eve song.

By 1930, he was opening his shows with another Scottish tune “Comin’ Through The Rye” and closing with “Auld Lang Syne.” It was about 1936 that he officially changed his opening theme to “Auld Lang Syne.” “Comin’ Through The Rye” had been his opening and closing theme prior to 1929.

While I am very happy to see Guy Lombardo’s name in print anywhere, I do feel the record should be straightened out.

Please do not let my e-mail discourage you from writing about him again.

Thank you for your time.

Musically,
Joe Enroughty
President
The Guy Lombardo Society