WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.880 --> 00:00:04.200 All right, Maria, I know that you and I share 2 00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:07.920 a love of old music, so I know that you 3 00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:08.920 know this song. 4 00:00:09.000 --> 00:00:17.599 What a Difference a Day May Maria, Yes, name that tune, 5 00:00:17.800 --> 00:00:20.520 What a Difference to Day makes. 6 00:00:21.760 --> 00:00:25.040 Good job? That was released by Dinah Washington in nineteen 7 00:00:25.120 --> 00:00:25.680 fifty nine. 8 00:00:26.280 --> 00:00:30.200 The thing is is that Dinah Washington was somebody that 9 00:00:30.280 --> 00:00:31.840 I grew up hearing. 10 00:00:32.440 --> 00:00:36.360 Well, the story is not about Dinah Washington. Okay, did 11 00:00:36.440 --> 00:00:39.360 you actually know that that song was written by a 12 00:00:39.400 --> 00:00:43.360 Mexican woman composer in nineteen thirty four, and she was 13 00:00:43.560 --> 00:00:49.199 actually huge. Maria Griever wrote upwards of like eight hundred songs, 14 00:00:49.400 --> 00:00:52.280 and she was in Mexico. She was Mexican. Okay, there's 15 00:00:52.320 --> 00:00:56.520 so much more. She wrote for Paramount Pictures, Fox MGM, 16 00:00:57.120 --> 00:01:00.400 she wrote musicals and operas like literally she was huge. 17 00:01:00.440 --> 00:01:01.600 But have you ever heard her. 18 00:01:01.600 --> 00:01:04.759 Name Maria Griever? No? 19 00:01:04.760 --> 00:01:08.520 No, it wasn't never Maria Greb or Maria Griver No, no, 20 00:01:08.520 --> 00:01:09.760 no idea who she's interesting? 21 00:01:09.800 --> 00:01:10.920 I mean, I feel like I need to. 22 00:01:10.840 --> 00:01:13.200 Call it mom phone a friend, not write the second Okay, 23 00:01:13.240 --> 00:01:15.560 all right, and now the interesting thing is is that 24 00:01:15.760 --> 00:01:19.039 the version of the song that I know best is 25 00:01:19.520 --> 00:01:21.399 Idie Gourmet singing with. 26 00:01:21.440 --> 00:01:22.840 Los banchos. 27 00:01:28.200 --> 00:01:35.800 Is de sologo las cosasque de vigo nola repeatas hummas 28 00:01:36.120 --> 00:01:41.119 Borg Bason. That song was played in my house over 29 00:01:41.200 --> 00:01:44.600 and over and over again on Sunday mornings, which. 30 00:01:44.400 --> 00:01:45.800 Is why I know all the lyrics. 31 00:01:45.920 --> 00:01:52.080 Good one So was originally written in nineteen thirty four, 32 00:01:52.600 --> 00:01:56.760 translated into English by Stanley Adams as Dan D Dan. 33 00:01:57.000 --> 00:01:58.080 What a difference a day? 34 00:01:58.120 --> 00:01:58.400 Mikes? 35 00:01:58.760 --> 00:02:01.280 What's funny is that, like, I know that song. 36 00:02:01.760 --> 00:02:04.040 And it's not going to be the last song you recognize. 37 00:02:04.240 --> 00:02:07.840 She is like the most famous unknown person you didn't 38 00:02:07.880 --> 00:02:08.840 know you knew. 39 00:02:09.639 --> 00:02:11.880 Why don't we know more about her? 40 00:02:12.240 --> 00:02:16.080 That was my question. After researching this story, I realized 41 00:02:16.240 --> 00:02:20.359 she was pretty prolific. She remained active until she passed 42 00:02:20.360 --> 00:02:23.280 in nineteen fifty one, and they even made a biopic 43 00:02:23.320 --> 00:02:25.679 about her in nineteen fifty four with a fairly well 44 00:02:25.680 --> 00:02:30.400 known Mexican Argentine actress, Live Tad la Marque. So what happened? 45 00:02:30.919 --> 00:02:34.640 And so began my quest. I bought a book, which 46 00:02:34.720 --> 00:02:37.360 was great, but then when it came to find a 47 00:02:37.440 --> 00:02:42.560 voice Nada. The more I started to dig, the more 48 00:02:42.600 --> 00:02:46.000 I couldn't believe what I found, like the Cliffsnes version 49 00:02:46.360 --> 00:02:48.520 is she was alone in New York City with two 50 00:02:48.639 --> 00:02:51.079 kids and had a career starting in the late twenties 51 00:02:51.160 --> 00:02:53.840 up until nineteen fifty one. And this is a time 52 00:02:54.240 --> 00:02:56.480 when women didn't do those things. 53 00:02:56.720 --> 00:03:00.600 See, there's this whole element of Mexican women who are 54 00:03:01.280 --> 00:03:02.560 okay badasses. 55 00:03:03.240 --> 00:03:04.320 Muchis in. 56 00:03:06.680 --> 00:03:09.480 Right. So this is why I knew I had to 57 00:03:09.520 --> 00:03:12.800 tell this story. But also where I kept coming to 58 00:03:13.000 --> 00:03:16.560 a literal dead ends. Well, I found a bunch of 59 00:03:16.600 --> 00:03:19.360 information in the book I bought. I couldn't find much else, 60 00:03:20.280 --> 00:03:23.720 but I keep going. My days would consist of finding 61 00:03:23.760 --> 00:03:26.600 a name, going back and forth from Webb to book 62 00:03:26.680 --> 00:03:29.720 to public records to obit. And then one day I 63 00:03:29.960 --> 00:03:34.040 finally found a name that matched and a confirmed a 64 00:03:34.160 --> 00:03:38.280 great grandson. So I wrote him an email and so 65 00:03:38.480 --> 00:03:41.440 he writes back, not right away. So I called him 66 00:03:41.440 --> 00:03:42.600 on the phone and I left him. 67 00:03:43.360 --> 00:03:45.360 Oh gosh, so does he call you back? 68 00:03:45.480 --> 00:03:49.200 On a Friday afternoon when I was feeling particularly defeated, 69 00:03:49.400 --> 00:03:52.640 this is Lee Straat, grandson Maria Griever. 70 00:03:53.040 --> 00:03:57.480 Oh my god, so the great grandson of Maria Griever. 71 00:03:57.760 --> 00:03:58.600 It's amazing. 72 00:03:59.280 --> 00:04:02.680 Yes, Oh, I was starstruck. 73 00:04:02.880 --> 00:04:04.520 I want to know all of the details. 74 00:04:04.640 --> 00:04:07.080 I'm going to tell you everything that I've learned, as 75 00:04:07.080 --> 00:04:09.360 well as the roller coaster that has been to research 76 00:04:09.400 --> 00:04:09.880 this story. 77 00:04:10.040 --> 00:04:18.720 Okay, well, let's go from Fudro Media and PRX. It's Latino, USA. 78 00:04:18.920 --> 00:04:22.839 I'm Maria no Josa. Today we start hen Yes, a 79 00:04:22.960 --> 00:04:27.240 series remembering notable women in music. First up, the prolific 80 00:04:27.320 --> 00:04:28.919 composer Maria Griever. 81 00:04:32.440 --> 00:04:34.520 I obviously wish I had gotten to meet her. 82 00:04:34.640 --> 00:04:36.280 She seemed like a total badass. 83 00:04:36.520 --> 00:04:39.159 She's just seemed like a very strong person, and so 84 00:04:39.640 --> 00:04:41.880 I can only imagine the challenges she had along the way. 85 00:04:42.320 --> 00:04:47.440 Okay, Jeanie, so Lee Griever calls you, that is Madia 86 00:04:47.480 --> 00:04:52.520 Greaver's great grandson, and you're kind of like, oh my god, 87 00:04:52.640 --> 00:04:53.520 you're starstruck. 88 00:04:54.080 --> 00:04:58.120 Yep. I honestly thought I would not hear back, but 89 00:04:58.480 --> 00:05:01.239 I also knew I would find way to tell this story. 90 00:05:01.480 --> 00:05:03.320 So we'll hear more from the family later on. 91 00:05:03.760 --> 00:05:07.560 Do you have any idea what was her story before 92 00:05:07.800 --> 00:05:09.239 you were pitching this story? 93 00:05:09.600 --> 00:05:12.680 I actually did not, Like I said, she was ultra famous, 94 00:05:12.760 --> 00:05:16.719 like Google did a doodle last February. She's Google doodle famous. Wow, 95 00:05:17.080 --> 00:05:20.400 it's actually super random how I fell upon Maria Griever. 96 00:05:20.480 --> 00:05:24.280 And it was before the Doodle, during the pandemic. We're 97 00:05:24.320 --> 00:05:26.680 FaceTime in with my family a lot, and my mom 98 00:05:26.720 --> 00:05:30.039 starts singing this lallabyte mating. My son, who has this 99 00:05:30.160 --> 00:05:33.039 insane ability to pick up music and lyrics, learned the 100 00:05:33.120 --> 00:05:35.720 song and I had to look up the song online 101 00:05:35.760 --> 00:05:37.720 so that I could sing the song with my then 102 00:05:37.760 --> 00:05:41.239 two year old. Okay, and so I'm digging and digging 103 00:05:41.360 --> 00:05:46.880 and I can't find anything, and finally there it was, 104 00:05:46.960 --> 00:05:55.080 in all its glory, the ghetto, the HOASTI also known 105 00:05:55.240 --> 00:06:04.280 as Muniki de So I read and I'm like music 106 00:06:04.320 --> 00:06:06.200 and lyrics by Maria Griever. 107 00:06:06.680 --> 00:06:07.000 Huh. 108 00:06:07.040 --> 00:06:10.960 And I was like, oh, cool a woman. And then 109 00:06:11.000 --> 00:06:15.240 I was like, wait, she's Mexican. Wait she composed eight 110 00:06:15.320 --> 00:06:19.000 hundred songs in the nineteen thirties. Wait for Paramount. Wait 111 00:06:19.160 --> 00:06:21.560 she wrote what a Difference of Daymakes? And then like 112 00:06:22.080 --> 00:06:26.560 literally my mind exploded because Maria, I am a music engineer. 113 00:06:26.960 --> 00:06:29.400 It's hard to be a woman in music today. So 114 00:06:29.440 --> 00:06:30.440 I just couldn't get enough. 115 00:06:31.240 --> 00:06:33.520 So take a step back and tell me a moment. Now, 116 00:06:34.080 --> 00:06:35.760 So who was buddy at. 117 00:06:35.600 --> 00:06:41.560 Griever Maria joaquinell La Portia Torres was born in eighteen 118 00:06:41.600 --> 00:06:45.960 eighty five in Mexico, half Mexican and half Spanish. She 119 00:06:46.040 --> 00:06:49.160 had dark hair and light skin, more leaning towards her 120 00:06:49.160 --> 00:06:52.919 Spanish ancestry. In European features. Her record state that she 121 00:06:52.960 --> 00:06:55.640 wrote her first song at a very young age, a 122 00:06:55.680 --> 00:06:56.640 simple Christmas song. 123 00:06:57.520 --> 00:07:00.120 You have to remember she was a child prodigy. She 124 00:07:00.160 --> 00:07:02.080 started writing when she was seven years old. 125 00:07:02.400 --> 00:07:05.359 This is Bob Greever, her grandson, in an interview with 126 00:07:05.400 --> 00:07:08.800 the San Antonio News right before he passed in twenty sixteen. 127 00:07:09.160 --> 00:07:13.160 Wow, I'm fascinated by child prodigies. Was she a child star? 128 00:07:13.600 --> 00:07:15.960 Well, not a child star in a published sense, but 129 00:07:16.400 --> 00:07:18.200 it just kind of goes to show how the family 130 00:07:18.240 --> 00:07:20.720 recognized that she had talent at a very young age, 131 00:07:21.080 --> 00:07:23.280 and because they were a wealthy family, they had the 132 00:07:23.360 --> 00:07:24.120 means to travel. 133 00:07:24.760 --> 00:07:27.480 She went from Spain and that she studied in France 134 00:07:27.520 --> 00:07:31.000 and then she studied in Italy. They sent her all over. 135 00:07:31.720 --> 00:07:37.520 Maria actually took classes with Claude WC. Debussy, Like yeah, whatc. 136 00:07:38.200 --> 00:07:40.480 She went back and forth from Mexico to Spain until 137 00:07:40.520 --> 00:07:43.520 she was about fifteen. Her father passes away and they 138 00:07:43.560 --> 00:07:45.800 moved back for good. This is right around the turn 139 00:07:45.840 --> 00:07:49.559 of the century. Flashed forward to nineteen oh seven, where 140 00:07:49.560 --> 00:07:52.760 Maria marries Leon Griever, a businessman who was the best 141 00:07:52.840 --> 00:07:56.000 man at her sister's wedding. They have four children, only 142 00:07:56.080 --> 00:07:59.920 two of which survived past childhood. She's writing in Mexico 143 00:08:00.240 --> 00:08:01.800 music that would get published later. 144 00:08:02.440 --> 00:08:04.920 Okay, so she's getting her name out there, right. 145 00:08:05.000 --> 00:08:08.600 So we're now in nineteen sixteen, So this is where 146 00:08:08.600 --> 00:08:12.480 things start to get hazy. The widely published story is 147 00:08:12.480 --> 00:08:15.120 that Maria Griever and her children were sent by her 148 00:08:15.200 --> 00:08:17.720 husband to live in New York City due to political 149 00:08:17.720 --> 00:08:21.480 instability during the Mexican Revolution. She would have been probably 150 00:08:21.520 --> 00:08:22.840 around thirty one years. 151 00:08:22.680 --> 00:08:26.400 Old and her husband Leon, so he stays behind. 152 00:08:26.400 --> 00:08:29.640 Yeah, for work. So in this book that I bought, 153 00:08:29.840 --> 00:08:35.160 it's called Maria Griever Boeta and it's by Maria Luisa 154 00:08:35.240 --> 00:08:41.040 Rodriguez Lee, Charles Griever, Maria's son, details having fled amidst 155 00:08:41.040 --> 00:08:43.800 the revolution. But there's more to this which I found 156 00:08:43.800 --> 00:08:47.199 out from the family. For now, we know Maria Griever 157 00:08:47.400 --> 00:08:53.000 is heading alone with her two kids to the Big Apple. Remember, 158 00:08:53.080 --> 00:08:56.400 Maria was a child prodigy so she sang, and she 159 00:08:56.480 --> 00:08:59.559 played several instruments. She was a soprano, so it's a 160 00:08:59.600 --> 00:09:01.800 person who sings at the top of the vocal range. 161 00:09:02.160 --> 00:09:05.160 But her future really was as a composer. I found 162 00:09:05.240 --> 00:09:07.800 a newspaper clipping of a recital as far back as 163 00:09:07.920 --> 00:09:10.840 nineteen nineteen. It was a review of a performance at 164 00:09:10.840 --> 00:09:12.880 the Princess Theater and it states. 165 00:09:12.960 --> 00:09:15.400 Her voice was not well controlled and in a moment 166 00:09:15.480 --> 00:09:18.960 of greatest intensity, the tones were spread. Miss Griever needs 167 00:09:19.000 --> 00:09:20.680 more technique, less emotions. 168 00:09:21.120 --> 00:09:23.760 Oooooo yikes, not good. 169 00:09:24.320 --> 00:09:26.840 You know, she wasn't really singing her songs just yet, 170 00:09:26.880 --> 00:09:28.520 but it was kind of a way to get yourself 171 00:09:28.559 --> 00:09:30.720 out there and known. And what do people in New 172 00:09:30.760 --> 00:09:34.400 York City do when they want something, Well, they hustled, exactly. 173 00:09:34.520 --> 00:09:37.240 You and I both know that if you don't hustle 174 00:09:37.280 --> 00:09:40.080 in New York City, you don't go anywhere. And Maria 175 00:09:40.120 --> 00:09:44.160 Griever hustled. In this book, there's articles where she's quoted 176 00:09:44.160 --> 00:09:46.520 as being a great conversationalist, and she knew how to 177 00:09:46.559 --> 00:09:50.080 make friends, and she obviously knew how to network. The 178 00:09:50.120 --> 00:09:51.040 Brooklyn Daily. 179 00:09:50.840 --> 00:09:53.720 Eagle Mary agreed that is one of the busiest women 180 00:09:53.760 --> 00:09:54.480 in all New. 181 00:09:54.400 --> 00:09:58.400 York, which is interesting because it was a time that 182 00:09:58.480 --> 00:10:02.240 was pretty unforgiving to women who were kind of owning 183 00:10:02.320 --> 00:10:04.439 their voice their power exactly. 184 00:10:04.760 --> 00:10:08.839 Yeah, this is doctor Leong Garcia Corona. He's a doctor 185 00:10:08.880 --> 00:10:12.479 in musicology and assistant professor at Northern Arizona University. 186 00:10:12.920 --> 00:10:16.640 So when Maria Griver moved to the States, she was 187 00:10:16.800 --> 00:10:18.880 in the middle of the development of mass media. We 188 00:10:18.920 --> 00:10:23.680 have the radio, we have records, and we also have movies. 189 00:10:24.120 --> 00:10:25.920 You have to know people and you have to be 190 00:10:26.600 --> 00:10:29.559 within the network of people who are part of. 191 00:10:29.520 --> 00:10:32.720 It, and that network pays off. When Maria Griever gets 192 00:10:32.760 --> 00:10:36.240 published by G. Schrmer, a big publishing house in nineteen 193 00:10:36.280 --> 00:10:39.040 twenty six, it wasn't the first, but it was the 194 00:10:39.080 --> 00:10:40.760 first one to make big waves. 195 00:10:41.000 --> 00:10:44.760 So this term published, I mean, that's not exactly how 196 00:10:44.840 --> 00:10:45.760 music works today. 197 00:10:45.880 --> 00:10:47.880 So what does that mean publishing? 198 00:10:48.360 --> 00:10:51.559 So sheet music was how you sold your music. Sheet 199 00:10:51.640 --> 00:10:54.880 music was the LPCD or MP three of that time. 200 00:10:55.200 --> 00:10:57.880 So that's like actually on paper, right, it's where you're 201 00:10:57.960 --> 00:11:00.559 seeing the notes charts. 202 00:11:00.679 --> 00:11:03.240 You use that to play music exactly. 203 00:11:03.320 --> 00:11:05.439 So in order to get your music heard, you had 204 00:11:05.480 --> 00:11:08.600 to have your music published by a publishing house, right. 205 00:11:08.480 --> 00:11:11.720 And so basically people buy the sheet music and then 206 00:11:11.760 --> 00:11:14.520 it's played at a recital or a concert or a party. 207 00:11:15.200 --> 00:11:19.640 Because this was the decade where theater actually was king, and. 208 00:11:19.640 --> 00:11:21.680 One of the experts I spoke with about early New 209 00:11:21.760 --> 00:11:23.920 York City said that theaters were how people in those 210 00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:26.800 days were exposed to other cultures and saw what was 211 00:11:26.840 --> 00:11:29.840 relevant in pop culture. If you got a theater gig, 212 00:11:29.880 --> 00:11:32.239 you basically made it. It was like peak celebrity. 213 00:11:32.520 --> 00:11:35.480 And Maria got into the theaters in New York City 214 00:11:35.480 --> 00:11:36.960 and was doing that kind of work. 215 00:11:37.040 --> 00:11:40.200 Right, She's out there making things happen. The song she 216 00:11:40.240 --> 00:11:50.719 publishes is huamh, which Maria, I'm pretty sure you've heard 217 00:11:51.240 --> 00:11:52.880 little Luis miguh ju. 218 00:11:54.280 --> 00:11:55.319 I'm so right there. 219 00:11:55.480 --> 00:11:59.400 I mean, it's just like memories, memories, and Hudam is 220 00:11:59.440 --> 00:12:01.719 basically saying, swear to me, swear to me that you 221 00:12:01.840 --> 00:12:03.560 love me, swear to me, swear to me that you 222 00:12:03.600 --> 00:12:04.080 won't leave. 223 00:12:04.320 --> 00:12:06.400 Very dramatic, super dramatic. 224 00:12:06.760 --> 00:12:09.600 And so are you saying that the song was a 225 00:12:09.800 --> 00:12:14.600 major success, even though the song was performed always in Spanish. 226 00:12:15.200 --> 00:12:18.839 Yeah, it was well received. Here's doctor Garcia Corona again. 227 00:12:19.240 --> 00:12:23.280 And it was received in beyond the constraints of language, 228 00:12:23.280 --> 00:12:25.440 because I mean she will compose something in Spanish. But 229 00:12:25.920 --> 00:12:30.960 again the melody, the lyricism of the music transcended political 230 00:12:31.000 --> 00:12:33.679 boundaries and transcended also language. 231 00:12:33.679 --> 00:12:40.280 Parriners, Maria Griaver wrote tangle as well, It's as Balero's 232 00:12:40.520 --> 00:12:42.520 and all of that. Tried to keep as much of 233 00:12:42.559 --> 00:12:46.880 her roots as possible, and so although Maria Griver left Mexico, 234 00:12:47.679 --> 00:12:52.080 Mexico never left her as cliche as said, she was 235 00:12:52.240 --> 00:12:55.400 very adamant about being Mexican and showcasing her Mexican music 236 00:12:55.440 --> 00:12:58.920 and pride. From an interview printed in the Rodriguez Lee Book, 237 00:12:59.120 --> 00:13:02.600 Maria's quoted to saying the following statement read by one 238 00:13:02.640 --> 00:13:06.320 of our fellow producers, Victoria Estrada, I. 239 00:13:06.200 --> 00:13:09.280 Am interested in your American jazz, and I'm interested in 240 00:13:09.280 --> 00:13:12.320 modern music, but I'm interested most of all in my 241 00:13:12.400 --> 00:13:15.160 own Mexican music, and I want to try and present 242 00:13:15.200 --> 00:13:17.959 it for the Americans. I do not think that they 243 00:13:18.040 --> 00:13:20.640 know very much about it, and it is worth knowing. 244 00:13:21.520 --> 00:13:23.640 There is a wealth of song culture in Mexico. 245 00:13:25.920 --> 00:13:30.000 All right, So I'm following along, But you know, from 246 00:13:30.040 --> 00:13:34.720 getting your sheet music published on paper to uramy becoming 247 00:13:34.760 --> 00:13:35.439 a big hit. 248 00:13:35.840 --> 00:13:36.640 How does it happen? 249 00:13:37.200 --> 00:13:41.120 So, as the story goes, Jose Mohica, who became a 250 00:13:41.320 --> 00:13:45.560 very famous Mexican tenor, randomly picked up the sheet music 251 00:13:45.640 --> 00:13:48.920 at a music shop with this pianist and recorded Houram 252 00:13:49.080 --> 00:14:06.240 in nineteen twenty seven. With the success of Hua Men, 253 00:14:06.840 --> 00:14:09.520 she starts to get published even more. And like we 254 00:14:09.600 --> 00:14:12.840 heard in the beginning, Maria writes guando batulado or what 255 00:14:12.920 --> 00:14:15.880 a difference to day makes in nineteen thirty four, and 256 00:14:15.960 --> 00:14:18.360 she starts to get contracts from the big movie houses. 257 00:14:18.720 --> 00:14:25.280 She scores for Paramount MGM Box. This is the nineteen thirties, 258 00:14:25.680 --> 00:14:29.160 the golden age of radio, and Maria Griever was everywhere. 259 00:14:29.360 --> 00:14:32.240 Aside from radio plays, she's also playing at Carnegie Hall. 260 00:14:33.280 --> 00:14:37.000 Here's the transcriptions of old radio programs and newspaper clippings 261 00:14:37.000 --> 00:14:38.320 in the late thirties and forties. 262 00:14:38.560 --> 00:14:42.520 A song from the panel Latin America's favorite lyric composer 263 00:14:42.800 --> 00:14:46.080 Maria Green, the best known composers living today, who was 264 00:14:46.120 --> 00:14:49.240 born and brought up in Maria Greever a composer of 265 00:14:49.280 --> 00:14:51.480 the suddenly tentational hit Tippy Keen. 266 00:14:52.120 --> 00:14:56.600 The biggest blockbuster hit for her comes in nineteen thirty eight, 267 00:14:56.960 --> 00:15:02.000 and it's a song called Dippy Thing, Deep Dip Dip 268 00:15:02.120 --> 00:15:08.440 Dip dn T, dog Bones, dealing adage satisfying. Here's a 269 00:15:08.520 --> 00:15:11.440 quote from an interview with Maria Griever in the Cincinnati 270 00:15:11.520 --> 00:15:13.560 Inquirer from April nineteen thirty eight. 271 00:15:14.400 --> 00:15:17.480 Critically ill and in great pain, I had just received 272 00:15:17.480 --> 00:15:20.880 a sedative. The effect made me faint, and I remarked 273 00:15:20.920 --> 00:15:24.720 to the doctor, I feel tippy. The word tippy caught 274 00:15:24.760 --> 00:15:28.440 my fancy. Somehow, it seemed to have a happy message. 275 00:15:28.920 --> 00:15:32.560 The piano was at my bedside within three minutes time. 276 00:15:32.960 --> 00:15:34.200 I had composed the song. 277 00:15:36.320 --> 00:15:39.560 That song spent six weeks at the number one spot 278 00:15:39.560 --> 00:15:41.880 on what was known as your Hip Parade, so kind 279 00:15:41.920 --> 00:15:45.480 of like the Billboard Hot one hundred right exactly. The 280 00:15:45.640 --> 00:15:48.360 interesting thing here is that even though Marie had several 281 00:15:48.440 --> 00:15:51.000 hits to her name at that point, publishers didn't want 282 00:15:51.040 --> 00:15:54.360 to publish the song. From a newspaper interview documented in 283 00:15:54.440 --> 00:15:57.000 the rodriez Lee book, Maria Griever says. 284 00:15:57.520 --> 00:16:00.120 I had such a strong faith in the song, but 285 00:16:00.200 --> 00:16:03.400 the publishers thought I was crazy. I had been twenty 286 00:16:03.560 --> 00:16:06.960 years before an audience, and as a sensitive artist, I 287 00:16:07.040 --> 00:16:10.280 feel the vibrations of the public. I knew the song 288 00:16:10.280 --> 00:16:13.600 would be a success, so I published it myself. 289 00:16:14.080 --> 00:16:17.160 And then Fortida Music Publishing Company was born. 290 00:16:17.520 --> 00:16:20.000 You know, sometimes when you say no to a Mexican woman, 291 00:16:20.160 --> 00:16:22.320 she'll just say, well, I'll do it on my own. 292 00:16:24.880 --> 00:16:28.080 So Maria Griever is now a household name. She's translated 293 00:16:28.200 --> 00:16:31.760 lyrics for cole Porter. She wrote music for a Broadway 294 00:16:31.800 --> 00:16:35.720 show in nineteen forty one called Viva O'Brien. It didn't 295 00:16:35.760 --> 00:16:39.200 do well, but the music was praised, and in nineteen 296 00:16:39.280 --> 00:16:41.560 forty four they use one of her songs as the 297 00:16:41.640 --> 00:16:44.680 main theme for a movie called Bathing Beauty starring Esther 298 00:16:44.800 --> 00:16:50.200 Williams in Red Skelton. The movie was a commercial success, 299 00:16:50.640 --> 00:16:52.720 and the song isn't just like one of the songs 300 00:16:52.760 --> 00:16:55.600 from the movie. It's the main melody. It's the theme 301 00:16:55.720 --> 00:16:58.760 that's played over and over throughout. She's fun to be people, 302 00:17:00.160 --> 00:17:08.680 and you're going to recognize the song because Kitai, we're 303 00:17:08.840 --> 00:17:09.199 back to. 304 00:17:09.240 --> 00:17:14.000 The lullaby Munyikita Linda. Oh my god, she really did 305 00:17:14.080 --> 00:17:16.040 it all, she really did. 306 00:17:16.440 --> 00:17:19.719 And think about who her competition was back then. Her 307 00:17:19.800 --> 00:17:24.840 contemporaries were Irving Berlin, Coleporter Gershwin, l Guana from Cuba, 308 00:17:25.240 --> 00:17:28.720 Gaavel from Argentina. She was one of the very few 309 00:17:28.800 --> 00:17:32.480 women or even men composers who wrote the music and lyrics. 310 00:17:34.720 --> 00:17:36.720 So in nineteen forty eight, when she was in her 311 00:17:36.840 --> 00:17:40.800 early sixties, Maria Griever suffered a stroke and that left 312 00:17:40.840 --> 00:17:44.000 her paralyzed on one side, she still managed to be 313 00:17:44.119 --> 00:17:47.800 a huge force. Here's Bob Griever, Maria's grandson, from the 314 00:17:47.880 --> 00:17:49.320 San Antonio News interview. 315 00:17:49.359 --> 00:17:52.800 Again, I remember we were in Carnegie Hall and she 316 00:17:52.880 --> 00:17:57.000 couldn't walk, so will in a wheelchair. And when they finished, 317 00:17:57.320 --> 00:18:01.280 they started yelling at your her, where's Maria Griever? We 318 00:18:01.440 --> 00:18:05.040 want to see Maria Griever by bye. Our place is 319 00:18:05.160 --> 00:18:09.040 jammed and she couldn't get up, but she forced herself 320 00:18:09.200 --> 00:18:11.560 up and turn and face the audience. 321 00:18:13.280 --> 00:18:14.080 That's a strong woman. 322 00:18:14.160 --> 00:18:16.359 I love that. I love the story. I love her strength. 323 00:18:16.920 --> 00:18:19.800 So I guess what I'm not understanding is that Maria 324 00:18:20.080 --> 00:18:25.280 Griever was doing pretty big like into the nineteen fifties. 325 00:18:26.160 --> 00:18:29.040 So again, when does she kind of fade into the darkness? 326 00:18:29.840 --> 00:18:33.160 Well, Maria, while I finally got some answers, I had 327 00:18:33.320 --> 00:18:36.800 so many more questions. What happened to her husband? Why 328 00:18:36.840 --> 00:18:39.000 did he send her to New York City? How did 329 00:18:39.040 --> 00:18:42.120 she make it work? Why don't we all know her name? 330 00:18:42.680 --> 00:18:45.800 So we're going to find out more about Maria Griever's 331 00:18:46.000 --> 00:18:50.520 interesting life and what happened to her legacy. And we're 332 00:18:50.520 --> 00:18:53.800 going to find that all out when we return. Remember, yes, 333 00:18:54.000 --> 00:19:54.360 stay with us, Hey, we're back. So when we left off, 334 00:19:54.560 --> 00:19:58.159 producer Genie Montago had just given us the breakdown on 335 00:19:58.520 --> 00:20:02.760 Maria Griever's life. But Ginni, I get the timeline, and 336 00:20:03.200 --> 00:20:06.680 I understand that she was successful, but I guess I'm 337 00:20:06.720 --> 00:20:09.640 really interested about the struggles and the challenges, the ones 338 00:20:09.720 --> 00:20:13.080 that her great grandson Lee Greaver mentioned when you were 339 00:20:13.160 --> 00:20:16.480 finally able to get someone from the family to speak 340 00:20:16.520 --> 00:20:16.680 with you. 341 00:20:17.200 --> 00:20:20.000 Yes, Maria, I also wanted to know more because on 342 00:20:20.119 --> 00:20:23.680 paper she was married and all we see is success 343 00:20:23.880 --> 00:20:27.520 and how prolific. She wasn't composing, but something was missing 344 00:20:27.560 --> 00:20:30.320 for me, and that was New York City as a destination. 345 00:20:31.840 --> 00:20:32.000 Yeah. 346 00:20:32.080 --> 00:20:33.840 I mean, the thing is is that New York City 347 00:20:34.000 --> 00:20:36.960 has always been expensive, and it was expensive back then too. 348 00:20:37.560 --> 00:20:41.200 Yes, And as a woman with two kids, it didn't 349 00:20:41.200 --> 00:20:44.040 make any sense if, like all you wanted to do 350 00:20:44.400 --> 00:20:47.640 was leave political turmoil. You know, we mentioned in part 351 00:20:47.720 --> 00:20:50.280 one that Maria Griever left amidst the Mexican Revolution. 352 00:20:50.760 --> 00:20:53.160 Yeah, so it would be logical that you would move 353 00:20:53.240 --> 00:20:55.360 somewhere where you had family so you could have help, 354 00:20:55.440 --> 00:20:58.040 because no, we didn't have a lot of rights back 355 00:20:58.080 --> 00:20:59.160 then in nineteen sixteen. 356 00:20:59.359 --> 00:21:01.280 You know, white just got the right to vote. 357 00:21:01.280 --> 00:21:07.200 In nineteen twenty, Madia Griever, a Mexican immigrant, more than likely. 358 00:21:07.280 --> 00:21:10.240 Would not have even been able to work bingo. 359 00:21:10.920 --> 00:21:13.720 So if you want to make it in New York City, yes, 360 00:21:14.240 --> 00:21:17.919 but as a random choice to flee the revolution, New 361 00:21:18.040 --> 00:21:21.000 York City is a super tough place to target. And 362 00:21:21.200 --> 00:21:23.480 so I began to read between the lines. 363 00:21:25.840 --> 00:21:29.800 Well, New York City was in many ways a cultural hub. 364 00:21:30.240 --> 00:21:33.440 This is doctor Leong Garcia Corona, again, the doctor of 365 00:21:33.560 --> 00:21:35.200 musicology we heard from in part one. 366 00:21:35.560 --> 00:21:37.400 If you wanted to make it in the music industry, 367 00:21:37.520 --> 00:21:39.240 you have to go to New York City because this 368 00:21:39.440 --> 00:21:43.640 is where you have the Timpan Ali, you have the publishers. 369 00:21:44.240 --> 00:21:46.960 Tinpan Alley was a street in the early twentieth century 370 00:21:47.040 --> 00:21:50.400 that basically was a hub for music publishers. In those days, 371 00:21:50.440 --> 00:21:52.600 it was typical for businesses to kind of group together 372 00:21:52.720 --> 00:21:55.080 in certain areas. So if you wanted to get your 373 00:21:55.160 --> 00:21:57.919 music published, you'd try at one and. 374 00:21:57.960 --> 00:21:59.680 Then if it didn't work out, you'd just like walked 375 00:21:59.680 --> 00:22:00.360 down this street. 376 00:22:00.960 --> 00:22:03.000 If you wanted to make it, you have to be there. 377 00:22:03.080 --> 00:22:04.920 You have to be talking to the publisher, you have 378 00:22:05.000 --> 00:22:06.879 to be talking to the producers, you have to be 379 00:22:07.720 --> 00:22:11.280 within the musicians. So everyone was there, the companies like RCA, 380 00:22:11.480 --> 00:22:14.520 Victory Columbia Records copyrighting a lot of music. 381 00:22:16.800 --> 00:22:19.560 New York City is definitely where her career blossom. Didn't 382 00:22:19.560 --> 00:22:22.400 reach New Heights because, as we've been seeing, New York 383 00:22:22.520 --> 00:22:25.680 is where everything was happening. And Maria further making my 384 00:22:25.880 --> 00:22:29.280 case was when I realized that Leon Griever, her husband, 385 00:22:29.560 --> 00:22:32.840 was not from New York. He was from Ohio. So 386 00:22:33.200 --> 00:22:36.600 as a mother myself, like you said, I would obviously 387 00:22:36.680 --> 00:22:40.280 go somewhere I knew someone and had help, unless, of course, 388 00:22:40.440 --> 00:22:44.200 you had other motives. That makes sense, and Maria Griever 389 00:22:44.359 --> 00:22:47.080 navigated the city. In a difficult period of US history, 390 00:22:47.520 --> 00:22:48.199 the world was. 391 00:22:48.280 --> 00:22:51.399 Going through a lot of very important transformations and a 392 00:22:51.440 --> 00:22:56.640 lot of vulnerability was in the air, either economic vulnerability 393 00:22:56.920 --> 00:22:58.879 or also political vulnerability. 394 00:22:59.440 --> 00:23:01.480 What was happening in the world also gave me a 395 00:23:01.520 --> 00:23:05.159 glimpse of understanding how her music blew up. Obviously, there 396 00:23:05.240 --> 00:23:08.560 was the Mexican Revolution, which was primarily a civil war, 397 00:23:08.840 --> 00:23:11.520 and of course the US got involved, as they often do, 398 00:23:12.200 --> 00:23:14.720 so there's a lot of tension between the US and Mexico. 399 00:23:15.240 --> 00:23:17.960 You've got the stock market crash of nineteen twenty nine. 400 00:23:18.200 --> 00:23:19.560 Right, the Great Depression. 401 00:23:20.000 --> 00:23:25.280