Phoebe Snow (born Phoebe Ann Laub; July 17, 1950– April 26, 2011) was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist, best known for her 1975 song "Poetry Man". She was described by The New York Times as a "contralto grounded in a bluesy growl and capable of sweeping over four octaves."
Personal life
She was born in New York City in 1950, and raised in a musical household in which Delta blues, Broadway show tunes, Dixieland jazz, classical music, and folk music recordings were played around the clock. Her father, Merrill Laub, an exterminator by trade, had an encyclopedic knowledge of American film and theater and was also an avid collector and restorer of antiques. Her mother, Lili Laub, was a dance teacher who had performed with the Martha Graham group.
Rail travel around 1900 was tough on the clothing of passengers. After a long trip on a coal-powered train, travellers frequently would disembark covered with black soot, unless the locomotives were powered by anthracite, a clean-burning form of coal. The Lackawanna owned vast anthracite mines in Pennsylvania, and could legitimately claim that the clothes of their passengers would remain clean after a long trip.
To promote this, the Calkins advertising department created, "Phoebe Snow", a young New Yorksocialite, and a frequent passenger of the Lackawanna. The advertising campaign presented Miss Snow as often traveling to Buffalo, New York and always wearing a white dress. Calkins said he based the campaign on an earlier series of Lackawanna car cards (advertisements displayed inside coaches) - All in Lawn - created by DL&W advertising manager, Wendell P. Colton. They had been built on a rather limiting nursery rhyme, The House That Jack Built, and featured a nameless heroine dressed in white. For his new campaign, Calkins adopted a form of verse inspired by an onomatopoetic rhyme, Riding on the Rail, that he felt offered endless possibilities.
Around 1900, DL&W launched a marketing campaign around the fictional character of Phoebe Snow to emphasize how the exhaust from its steam locomotives was cleaner than competitors' locomotives, as a result of using anthracite coal. The train took its name from the character.
The train operated for a few decades, then was suspended.
DL&W era (1949-60)
On November 15, 1949, the DL&W inaugurated a new streamlinedpassenger train named after its long-dormant promotional symbol. Launched by DL&W president William White, the new Phoebe Snow represented the DL&W's modernization of its passenger train fleet, and image, as it became Train No. 3 (westbound) and No. 6 (eastbound), which previously had been assigned the railroad's former premier train, the Lackawanna Limited. The Phoebe Snow ran on a daylight schedule between Hoboken, New Jersey, and Buffalo, New York, making the 396-mile (639-km) trip in about eight hours. Westbound, the sleepers and some coaches would continue on to Chicago, Illinois, over the Nickel Plate Railroad's Nickel Plate Limited and, on return, would be transferred in Buffalo from Train No. 10, the New York Mail.
We're children at the awkward stage With moods we can never show That's why it's best to turn this page and go Just go, just go, just go, just go You never stay around when I'm feeling fine You're back in time for pain And so my love some bad news Your ring fell down the drain You're staring so I turn my head My eyes give it all away It hurts to know we still have things to say To say, to say, to say, to say You never stay around when I'm feeling fine You're back in time for pain And so my love some bad news Your ring fell down the drain You're leaving but I'm not afraid Or lost without company I'll spend this time with someone new Me, it's me, it's me, it's me You never stay around when I'm feeling fine You're back in time for pain And so my love some bad news
As warmer winters melt the snow drifts that endangered Saimaa ringed seals use to raise their young, humans are giving them a helping handWords by PhoebeWeston... Eight hours shovelling snow in ...
In 2023, he appeared in two StanOriginal series - BlackSnow and Caught.Read More. Phoebe Tonkin shows off her huge diamond ring as she attends the 2024 WWD Honors Awards.
The Paramount in Huntington is about to be acquired by concert conglomerate Live Nation... 30, 2011. Live Nation has worked in tandem with The Paramount on its bookings for many years ... The Paramount was ranked the No ... John, PhoebeSnow and Keb’ Mo’ ... ....
PhoebeDynevor, star of the streamer's megahit Bridgerton, was pictured rugged up in Melbourne over the weekend ... An unrecognisable Phoebe Dynevor, star of the streamer's megahit Bridgerton, was pictured rugged up in Melbourne over the weekend.
Calkins’ answer was the creation of PhoebeSnow... “Says Phoebe Snow ... She recalled the famous passenger train and so became the final incarnation of Phoebe Snow, best remembered for her 1974 hit song, “Poetry Man.”.
How many truly great albums were released in 1974, and has that music endured? ... ‘Van the Man’ ... 1 ... 2 ... 3 ... 1 ... 2 ... 3 ... DaveChamberlin, TierrasantaPhoebeSnow. When I think of great 1974 albums, among the best for me is Phoebe Snow’s self-titled debut.
San Diego Union-Tribune
14 Jul 2024
San Diego Union-Tribune
14 Jul 2024