"Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition!"
date: label: date made
content: 1942
name: label: composer
content: Loesser, Frank
label: depicted
content: Kyser, Kay
label: lyricist
content: Loesser, Frank
label: publisher
content: Famous Music Corp.
notes: label: Description
content: <P>This sheet music is for the sonfg “Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition!” with words and music by Frank Loesser. It was published by Famous Music Corp. in New York, New York in 1942.</p>
label: Description
content: <p>On a Sunday morning in December 1941, a chaplain had his most difficult assignment — to say a prayer to sailors aboard a U.S. navy ship actively under low–flying attack by the enemy firing from all directions. He quickly realized the best he could do was walk the ammunition line saying, “Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition!” Stories of the overheard phrase quickly turned into legend and passed between soldiers, eventually reaching the press and one Broadway composer and lyricist, Frank Loesser. He served in the Radio Productions Unit charged with mounting shows of popular guest stars for boosting morale of the troops.</p>
label: Description
content: <P>With the phrase as the song title, he combined the stories into one set of lyrics — fact mattered not as much as the need to inspire spirit. By 1943, the song, performed by Kay Kaiser and His Orchestra, had reached no. 1 on the Billboard chart, surpassing its peak of no. 8 the previous year when performed by the Merry Macs. Loesser donated his royalties for sale of the song to the Navy Relief Society. The chaplain originally quoted wished to remain anonymous, and the episode to remain legend. Many variations on the tale, the name of the chaplain, whether or not he himself manned a gun turret to participate in the battle, and the battle's whereabouts have existed over the years.</p>
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: New York, New York
topic: label: related event
content: World War I
setName: label: See more items in
content: Culture and the Arts: Entertainment
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content: Popular Entertainment
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content: Music & Musical Instruments
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content: Military
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content: Religion
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition
label: Related Publication
content: Lyrics to "Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition" transcribed by Ronald E. Hontz
label: Related Publication
content: Frank Loesser: The Official Website
label: Related Publication
content: Forgy, Chaplain Howell M.. And Pass the Ammunition
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1983.0424.108
label: accession number
content: 1983.0424
label: catalog number
content: 1983.0424.108
objectType: label: Object Name
content: sheet music
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: ink (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 12 in x 9 in; 30.48 cm x 22.86 cm