Research and Recordings by...

Roger Lee Hall, Music Preservationist

 

 

 

Music Career

 

 

While in high school he wrote some song lyrics, including: "Bright Eyes"; "Story of Rock n' Roll"; and "Tears." But it was when he was in the US Army stationed in Germany that he began to write both words & music. He wrote his first song in 1961, "Dream World."His first demo record [shown in picture] was for another song he wrote while stationed in Germany and is an homage to The Beatles, titled: "The Soho Serenade."

During the 1960s he wrote a lot of pop and jazz songs. He began private piano and composition lessons with a very good teacher, Benjamin Hey Hissem.

Over the past four decades, Roger Lee Hall has composed well over 100 classical compositions and arrangements. To learn more about his music compositions, click on this link to PineTree Music

In 1977, he moved to Massachusetts and began teaching in the Boston area at Stonehill College and Brookline Adult & Community Education Program. He spent the next eighteen years teaching music courses to hundreds of adult students, including senior citizens. Here are a few of the many courses he taught include:

  • A Listener's Guide to Music
  • Great Composers Series (J.S. Bach, G.F. Handel, W.A. Mozart)
  • The Genius of George Gershwin
  • Music in the Movies
  • Masters of the American Song

 

 

 

 

He also has been an active speaker about music with over 100 lectures and workshops.

 


 

Read about Mr. Hall's extensive music activities
in this article from The Boston Globe newspaper

click here


Music Publications

 

Books and music collections by Roger Lee Hall based on song titles:

 

"Dream World" -
Songs, Poems and Stories

"Following the Stars" -
Music and Memories of Hopalong Cassidy

"Give Good Gifts" -
Shaker Music
in the 20th Century

"Glory, Hallelujah" -
Songs and Hymns of
the Civil War Era

"How Beautiful Upon The Mountains" -
Music by E. A. Jones

"The Humble Heart" -
A Forty Year Survey
of Shaker Music

"Lincoln and Liberty" -
Music from
Abraham Lincoln's Era

"Millennial Praise" -
Singing New Englanders

"Shake, Rattle and Roll"-
Electric Elvis and Bill Randle

"Simple Gifts" -
Great American Folk Song

Many of these publications may be ordered at the

AMP Store


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Director, American Music Recordings Archive (AMRA)

In charge of the extensive holdings of CDs, DVDs, music collections, audio tapes and other materials in this private archive -- click here

 

 

Director, Center for American Music Preservation (CAMP)

The goal of the Center for American Music Preservation (or CAMP) is to circulate to musicians, students, teachers and listeners the music from America's diverse musical past and also act as a clearinghouse for relevant research and recordings. You are invited to the CAMP --

click here

 

 

 

Album Producer, American Music Recordings Collection

See the current list of recordings
available on the AMRC label --

click here


 

 

 

Director, New England Music Archive (NEMA)

A focus on music from earlier New England from the 18th and 19th centuries --

click here

 

 

 

 

 

 

Managing Editor, Film Music Review (FMR)

In 1998 a new e-zine began: FILM MUSIC REVIEW, which is still available online. Every year Roger Hall chooses what he considers the best film music releases for the Sammy Film Music Awards, named after lyricist, Sammy Cahn, who was Oscar nominated more times than any other songwriter.

 

 

Shaker Music Scholar

One of his most detailed areas of research has been music of the Shakers, America's oldest surviving communal sect with over 10,000 tunes composed. He wrote his first article in 1975 titled, "Shaker Hymnody: An American Communal Tradition." He has written numerous other articles, music collections, and prepared CDs about this distinctive religious society. He has also presented many concerts and lectures on Shaker music. See his extensive accomplishments with Shaker music -- click here

 

Radio Producer and Program Host

During the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, Roger Hall was a frequent guest on WGBH radio in Boston, with programs devoted to film music and vintage popular songs. Every year, on the "Music America" program hosted by Ron Della Chiesa, Hall presented music segments, especially about film music. He also produced a "Great American Songs" series for a radio station in Brockton, Massachusetts. Later he was hired to host a nightly program titled, "IN THE MOOD," playing popular music from the 1930s to 1950s. On his first show he played Big Band favorites and did a memorial tribute to Elvis Presley. Also there were special theme shows, such as "A Night At The Movies" and "Songs from World War II."
To see the sample CDs from "IN THE MOOD"
and his other radio programs -- click here

 

Cable Television Producer and Host

Between 1986 and 1988, he worked as producer and host of two cable television series: "In Concert" and "Now and Then" both featuring local musicians. Also, he wrote, produced, and arranged the music for
a half-hour video of his one act play: "The Musical Telephone."

 

See additional biographical information about Roger Lee Hall

Click here

 

 

Who's Who in the World

Music preservationist from Bloomfield named Who's Who in World

APRIL 9, 2015 APRIL 9, 2015, 12:31 AM
BLOOMFIELD LIFE

 

Former Bloomfield resident Roger Lee Hall is named Who’s Who in the World 2015.

Hall is an authority on music from America’s past. He is a music preservationist and is currently director of the American Music Recordings Archive, an extensive collection of music from early America to the present day.
For his achievements in music preservation and education, including producing more than 40 CDs and DVDs, he has received the honor of being named to this directory of prominent individuals.

Editorial Director Fred M. Marks wrote this recent letter to Hall:

"Based on the reference value of your outstanding achievements, Marquis Who’s Who has selected your biographical profile for inclusion in the forthcoming Who’s Who in the World 2015 (32nd Edition). It is a testament to your hard work and dedication to success that you have earned a place in Who’s Who in the World. You should be proud of your achievements."

Hall grew up in Bloomfield and graduated from high school there in 1960. He also graduated from Rutgers University in 1970 with a bachelor’s degree in music. He currently resides in Massachusetts.

His areas of special interest include vintage choral music, popular songs from the Civil War to Cold War Eras, music of the Shakers(America's oldest religious communal society), and American classical composers.

In addition, Hall has been a film music critic and is managing editor of Film Music Review, an online e-zine since 1998. Each year he selects the best recordings of film music for his "Sammy Awards," named in honor of lyricist Sammy Cahn (1913-1993), who received four Oscars and an Emmy for his songs.

Hall is the web moderator for American Music Preservation.com.

http://www.northjersey.com/community-news/community-events-and-announcements/bloomfield-native-named-who-s-who-in-world-1.1305219

 

 

Music Memoirs


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These are the first two volumes of his memoir:

Volume One: "You Are My Sunshine" -
Memories of Bloomfield, NJ

Volume Two: "Free As The Breeze" -
A Songswriter's Songs and Sorrows

 

 

Here is one of Roger Lee Hall's
favorite poems...

Come, gentle peace, with smiling ray,
Beam on our land a cloudless day,
Beneath thy influence serene,
The oliver wears immortal green.

Come. gentle peace, resume thy reign,
With all thy virtues in thy train,
And then Columbia's soil shall grow
As verdant Paradise below.

-- Esther Talbot, 1814
(written during the War of 1812)


He set this anti-war poem to music and it is also the title of this CD --

 

Gentle Peace - A Sampler of Songs and Instrumentals (AMRC CD 0024)

 

 

To contact Mr. Hall for professional consultation or scheduling a lecture, workshop, a music commission, or other music event,
write to him at:

tunemaker3@aol.com

 

 

 

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