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Thanks to his success as the longtime conductor and arranger for Tennessee Ernie Ford, Jack Fascinato also recorded a handful of albums under his own name, one of which -- Music from a Surplus Store -- is today among the Holy Grails of space age pop collectors. Born September 11, 1915 in Bevier, MO, he was raised in nearby Hannibal, teaching music at the local high school before serving in World War II. After his discharge, Fascinato settled in Chicago, playing piano in his own jazz trio. In 1947, he was named musical director of the hit children's television series Kukla, Fran & Ollie, earning great acclaim for ambitious productions including a performance of St. George and the Dragon featuring Arthur Fiedler & the Boston Pops as well as annual stagings of the Gilbert & Sullivan operetta The Mikado.

James Houston "Jimmie" Davis (September 11, 1899 – November 5, 2000) was a singer of both sacred and popular songs who served for two nonconsecutive terms from 1944 to 1948 and from 1960 to 1964 as the governor of his native Louisiana, USA.

Davis was a nationally popular country music and gospel singer from the 1930s into the 1960s, occasionally recording and performing as late as the early 1990s. He is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame.

Mussorgsky drew his text from scene five of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's verse play Faust, Part One. Mussorgsky utilized a Russian translation by A. N. Strugovshchikov; the proper title of this song being Mephistopheles' Song in Auerbach's Tavern (or Cellar). In the scene, Satan sings a lusty song about a king who lavishes extravagant attention towards a flea in his court. The king calls upon the royal tailor to fashion a velvet caftan and satin gown for the flea,

and names the flea to his circle of advisors.
( that sounds familiar)


Along with the flea comes his "train (of) henchmen," namely "all fleas that are." The ladies of the court have "not a minute's peace" and life at the king's court is ruined.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (German: [ˈjoːhan ˈvɔlfɡaŋ fɔn ˈɡøːtə]