Popular Music of the War

It is hard to overstate the effects of the war on the popular culture of that time.  With America's entry into the war, a torrent of patriotic songs, sheet music, and musical revues followed.

World War I sheet music provides a wealth of information about America's participation in the Great War.  Cover art on the sheet music of WWI is particularly striking.  The most famous is perhaps Norman Rockwell's cover for George M. Cohan's "Over There."  The famed sheet music illustrator provided many covers, including the amusing "How 'Ya Gonna Keep 'Em Down on the Farm (After They've Seen Paree?)."

Photographs of famous performers are featured on the covers as well.  Eddie Cantor ("Banjo Eyes") appears on "Would You Rather be a Colonel with an Eagle on Your Shoulder or a Private with a Chicken on your Knee?" and Al Jolson appears on the cover of "Hello, Central, Give me No Man's Land."  The noted African-American band leader James Reese Europe (of Harlem Hellfighter fame) is portrayed on the cover of "On Patrol in No Man's Land."