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Readers’ travel tips

Readers’ travel tipsBars, pubs and clubs

Celtic jams, Americana, jazz and post-punk all get the joint jumping at our tipsters’ favourite pub venues from the Highlands down to Cornwall

Guardian readers

Thu 28 Nov 2019 06.45 ESTLast modified on Thu 28 Nov 2019 06.47 EST

Winning tip: Greystones, Sheffield

The Backroom venue in the Greystones pub is such a small and intimate venue that the audience can converse with the musicians. Earlier this year we saw a Canadian folk duo Pharis and Romero who blew our socks off with their beautiful harmonies and banjo playing. We have also seen Wreckless Eric there and a singer-songwriter called Sarah Jarosz from Texas whose Americana and contemporary folk also blew us away. The added bonus is that Greystones is the flagship pub for a local brewery, Thornbridge, and so there is a wide range of delicious craft beers and ales to sup while enjoying the tunes.
• mygreystones.co.uk
Penny

Hare and Hounds, Birmingham

We were off to see the Bootleg Beatles. A number 50 bus from the city centre took us to the Hare and Hounds in trendy Kings Heath. On the wall is a plaque proclaiming that this was where UB40 played their first gig (9 February 1979). Downstairs a traditional, Victorian bar and a modern, minimalist bar serve craft beers and good choice of Purity IPAs. The atmosphere was friendly with an eclectic mix of punters, some there for the gig, others just to drink and chat. The music was in an upstairs room with another bar. The atmosphere was buzzing and the band superb. Gig tickets from about £7 – a small price to keep music live.
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The Grayston Unity, Halifax

This tiny venue with a superb atmosphere is where excellent local indie band the Orielles launched their debut album, Silver Dollar Moment, in 2018. My personal highlight was seeing post-punk Manchester band the Blue Orchids with the brilliant Martin Bramah (ex-the Fall). Most gigs are free and you can listen to the likes of blues rocker Tom Hingley, indie covers band Zenit and others a matter of inches away, while supping on a pint of Chinook or a gentleman jack cocktail.
• thegraystonunity.co.uk
Steve

Claghaig Inn, Glencoe, Highlands

This wonderful pub is my favourite for live music. There’s a large selection of real ales and over 400 whiskies. The bands usually play Scottish folk music and the audience joins in with the best-known songs. Surrounded by mountains – the west face of Aonach Dubh looms over the pub – the place is unsurprisingly popular with walkers and climbers. There is hotel and self-catering accommodation, a campsite and youth hostel nearby. It’s my favourite pub in Scotland – once discovered, never forgotten.
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Seona Stevenson

Duke of Cumberland, Whitstable, Kent

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When I moved to Whitstable I was so pleased to come across “Dukes”, which showcases original music in lovely surroundings. The Grade II-listed venue’s walls are covered in art by artist Chris How. The Sugar Hill Gang, Lee Scratch Perry, Roy Ayres and Sticky Fingers are just some of acts to have played here. Sunday afternoon gigs are always free, but the quality of the musicians never seems to drop. There is a lovely garden and restaurant, and the venue attracts some famous faces from the music world – I once bumped into Pink Floyd’s Nick Mason here.
• dukeinwhitstable.co.uk
Craig Avery

Blue Peter Inn, Polperro, Cornwall

Last summer we stayed in Polperro for a month, kept there partly by the energising atmosphere of the music nights at the 16th-century Blue Peter Inn. Local singers belting out Cornish sea shanties and folk music, with the participation of the customers – often involving some friendly coercing – created an irresistible, feelgood vibe. Gigs – some planned, some impromptu, sparked the cosy pub into life, even spilling outside in front of the quay.
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Nick

Charters, Peterborough

Just beyond the spires of Peterborough Cathedral, there’s an idyllic spot by the river alongside a bar on a moored Dutch barge named Charters. This venue has live bands throughout the year (outdoors in summer, on the barge now), with families, couples and hipsters young and old enjoying the music. The free gigs include covers bands and local bands such as Austin Gold blasting out their own infectious rhythms and tunes. The food is pretty decent too, with classic Thai and Indonesian dishes.
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Annie Carter

The Junction, south London

In a relatively unknown part of London, between Brixton and Camberwell, the Junction offers a wonderful array of live jazz, acoustic, latin and blues music every night of the week. During the jazz jams the musicians, always excellent, will usually be sitting in the pub among the crowd, only getting up for their turn, making it feel very spontaneous and friendly. The owners’ brilliantly eclectic jazz band plays on a Friday or you can pop down on other days to see musicians from across London. There is a lovely atmosphere, great tapas, board games on offer and it is dog-friendly. The pub is two minutes’ walk from Loughborough Junction station and there is no entry free.
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Emily

Chums, Bristol

Chums is a tiny, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it neighbourhood boozer bursting at the seams with character. The windows steam up, the locals stream in, and you can expect to have a thoroughly lovely evening. Couple this with Chums’ regular live folk, gypsy and bluegrass musicians and you’re onto a winner. Best of all is Ponchartrain – a gorgeously ramshackle seven-piece band playing Americana meets Hillbilly meets honky tonk meets blues. Chums, don’t ever change.
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Alice Howells

The Lismore, Glasgow

Every Monday at the Lismore, a folk band slowly assembles itself through the evening. You might start with a fiddle, an accordion and acoustic guitar – but by the end of the night a multitude of musicians will have assembled and be in full flow. It feels profoundly Scottish to be sipping a pint of Tennent’s lager at such a beautiful little local pub and listening to traditional music. The dark wood interior, many nooks and crannies and stained glass windows help create a traditional atmosphere but attract a really mixed crowd. As a bonus, each urinal is dedicated to one of the perpetrators of the Highland Clearances so the men, at least, can pee with pride.
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Thomas

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Bristol band team up with academics from Manchester University to share tour data

• Massive Attack: We’ve toured for years. Now we’ll have to change

Helen Pidd North of England editor Email

Thu 28 Nov 2019 07.19 ESTLast modified on Thu 28 Nov 2019 14.00 EST

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Last week Coldplay announced they were to stop touring until they were sure it would be carbon neutral; now Massive Attack are partnering with academics to map the carbon footprint of the music industry.

The researchers from Manchester University’s Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research will analyse data from Massive Attack’s touring and recording schedule to look at three key areas where CO₂ emissions are generated: band travel and production, audience transport and venue.

The aim is to provide information and guidance to the wider music industry so that it can reduce its negative environmental impact in light of the increasing climate emergency.

“In an emergency context, business as usual – regardless of its nature, high profile or popularity – is unacceptable,” wrote Robert Del Naja, AKA 3D, Massive Attack’s vocalist, in an article for the Guardian, explaining the collaboration.

He said the band had tried carbon offsetting for almost 20 years, paying to have trees planted, prohibiting the use of single-use plastics and travelling by train wherever feasible. But they had come to the conclusion that “offsetting creates an illusion that high-carbon activities enjoyed by wealthier individuals can continue, by transferring the burden of action and sacrifice to others – generally those in the poorer nations in the southern hemisphere”.

Del Naja said the band did not want to stop playing big shows or festivals, but that huge change was essential for the planet’s future.

“Given the current polarised social atmosphere, uplifting and unifying cultural events are arguably more important now than ever, and no one would want to see them postponed or even cancelled. The challenge therefore is to avoid more pledges, promises and greenwashing headlines and instead embrace seismic change,” he wrote.

Dr Chris Jones, a research fellow at Tyndall Manchester, said: “We will be working with Massive Attack to look at sources of carbon emissions from a band’s touring schedule. Every industry has varying degrees of carbon impact to address and we need partnerships like this one to look at reducing carbon emissions across the board.

“It’s more effective to have a sustained process of emissions reductions across the sector than for individual artists to quit live performances. It will likely mean a major shift in how things are done now, involving not just the band but the rest of the business and the audience.”

The collaboration will produce a framework based on data gathered from Massive Attack’s forthcoming tour.

This year, Glastonbury festival banned single-use plastic, and an increasing number of artists are taking steps to reduce their environmental footprint.

 Trees in the Amazon are the world’s sweat glands – and 10 other essential climate facts

Ariel Conn Read more

In an interview with BBC News last week, Coldplay’s frontman, Chris Martin, said the group were waiting to tour their new album, Everyday Life, so they could ensure such a tour was carbon neutral. “Our next tour will be the best possible version of a tour like that environmentally,” said Martin. “We would be disappointed if it’s not carbon neutral. We’ve done a lot of big tours at this point. How do we turn it around so it’s not so much taking as giving?”

The solo artist Billie Eilish’s next tour, in March, will feature the “Billie Eilish eco-village”, where fans can learn about their role in the climate crisis. Those who pledge to fight the climate emergency with the organisation Global Citizen can earn free tickets to the sold-out shows.

The 1975 are working towards making their tours carbon-efficient and have pledged to plant a tree for every ticket sold for their UK arena tour in February. The British band have also stopped producing new T-shirts, instead screen-printing a new design over old merchandise stock.

As the climate crisis escalates…

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We made a choice: to keep Guardian journalism open to all. We do not have a paywall because we believe everyone deserves access to factual information, regardless of where they live or what they can afford.

Our independence means we are free to investigate and challenge inaction by those in power. We will inform our readers about threats to the environment based on scientific facts, not driven by commercial or political interests. And we have made several important changes to our style guide to ensure the language we use accurately reflects the environmental catastrophe.

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Despite their precarious relationship, Daltrey and Townshend return for their first album in 13 years, snarling at the Grenfell disaster and hoping for world peace

Alexis Petridis

Thu 28 Nov 2019 07.00 ESTLast modified on Thu 28 Nov 2019 13.34 EST

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The first words you hear on the Who’s 12th studio album are Roger Daltrey, telling the band’s audience to get stuffed. “I don’t care,” the band’s 75-year-old frontman sings, “I know you’re going to hate this song.” There follows four and half minutes of agonising over whether there’s any point in making a new Who album at all – “this sound that we share has already been played” – before songwriter Townshend signs off on All This Music Must Fade with a muttered “who gives a fuck?”

This is obviously not the way heritage rock artists essaying their first album in 13 years are meant to carry on. Then again, it feels, well, very Who. No member of the rock aristocracy has ever seemed as troubled by the very notion of being a rock star as Pete Townshend. The Who weren’t even supposed to be a band, he said in 2006. As far as Townshend was concerned, they were a kind of art school project, complete with a thesis he’d written under the influence of Gustav Metzger’s concept of auto-destructive art, announcing that, as soon as they got famous, they were going to split up. Or worse: at one point, he suggested the band douse themselves in petrol and set fire to themselves on stage.Advertisement

In truth, Townshend ruined his own plan by being such an innovative songwriter and performer that giving up no longer seemed like an option. Instead, he settled for metaphorically thrashing about, seemingly in the throes of a perpetual existential crisis, writing songs that were, as writer Jon Savage put it, “at war”: with the older generation, with the class system, with accepted notions of gender, with the commodification of pop and, frequently, with the Who and their audience. Townshend was big on sending out peevish signals that music was not what it could be. Amid the innovations of 1966, he protested that pop’s innocence had been tragically lost. In 1972, he worked on an unreleased projected called Rock Is Dead. By the time punk arrived, he was declaring himself old and irrelevant: “Am I doing it all again? … We’re chewing a bone.” He was 32.

Forty years on, with half of the Who deceased and the relationship of its two surviving members in a precarious state – Who was recorded without Townshend or Daltrey actually meeting – Townshend seems more troubled than ever. Who certainly does some of the things that artists of their vintage are supposed to do, including make knowing references to their most beloved work. The fantastic Detour has a definite air of Magic Bus, as well as a titular nod to the name that the nascent Who plied their trade under in the early 60s. A Baba O’Riley-ish synth flutters around Street Song; an echo of Substitute’s intro haunts the acoustic guitar of I Don’t Wanna Get Wise.

But the most Who-esque thing about it might be the way its songs repeatedly pick at questions of the Who’s own relevance. I Don’t Wanna Get Wise views a rock career as one of inevitable decline – from “snotty young kids” to “over-full, always sated, puffed-up and elated” – while Hero Ground Zero and Rockin’ in Rage both pitch fears of superannuation against the continued desire to create: “I’m too old to fight … I don’t have a right to join the parade,” suggests the latter, before adding: “you know you must write, you know you must rage.”

If not everything here works – there’s nothing wrong with the political sentiment of Ball and Chain, it just feels a little lumbering and clumsy – there’s something exciting about hearing Townshend vacillating between declaring himself spent and readying himself for another charge. Inspired by the Grenfell disaster, Street Song carries a distinct hint of Won’t Get Fooled Again’s furious snarl; Beads on One String rather sweetly sticks fast to a hippy-ish notion of universal brotherhood and the potential for world peace. Moreover, the changing mood fits Daltrey’s vocals perfectly: gruffer and more weathered than it once was, his voice imbues the lyrics with a sense of hard-won experience, alternately weary and fraught.

Nor is Who afraid of assaulting its audience’s preconceptions. You get the feeling Townshend knows precisely who’s going to buy a new Who album in 2019, largely because he frequently seems to be having a high old time doing precisely the opposite of what they might expect. There are bursts of Auto-Tuned vocals. The sonic nods to “classic” Who sit alongside tracks that do things the “classic” Who would never have countenanced. I’ll Be Back is a lovely, Townshend-sung, harmonica-decorated bit of acoustic MOR that ruminates on dignity and reincarnation, while the folky stomp of Break the News, written by Townshend’s brother Simon, hymns the pleasures of old age, among them “watching movies in our dressing gowns”, which frankly seems like straight-up trolling of the kind of person who feels obliged to bring up My Generation’s thoughts about the relative merits of dying and ageing, whenever the Who’s name is mentioned.

Of course, half of the Who did get old, which means there’s a strong chance this might be their last album. If it is, then they’re going out the way they came in: as cussed and awkward and troubled as ever.

Black Crowes founding drummer Steve Gorman tells all on our Rolling Stone Music Now podcast

ByBRIAN HIATT 

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Hard to Handle: The Life and Death of the Black Crowes — A Memoir, by Steve Gorman, the band’s former drummer and co-founder (who co-wrote the book with Steven Hyden), is one of the most jaw-droppingly entertaining rock books in years, painting the recently reunited Chris and Rich Robinson as constantly at war, and tragically intent on destroying their own band’s potential. In a new episode of our Rolling Stone Music Now podcast, Gorman (who currently plays in Trigger Hippy) shares some of the most outrageous, tragic and drugged-out tales from his time with the Crowes – including their jealousy over grunge’s success, the time they turned down an offer from Jimmy Page to co-write songs for a new album, and much more.

To hear the entire discussion, press play below or download and subscribe on iTunes or Spotify.

Download and subscribe to our weekly podcast, Rolling Stone Music Now, hosted by Brian Hiatt, on iTunes or Spotify (or wherever you get your podcasts), and check out two years worth of episodes in the archive, including in-depth, career-spanning interviews with Bruce Springsteen, Halsey, Ice Cube, Neil Young, the National, Questlove, Julian Casablancas, Sheryl Crow, Johnny Marr, Scott Weiland, Alice Cooper, Fleetwood Mac, Elvis Costello, Donald Fagen, Phil Collins, Alicia Keys, Stephen Malkmus, Sebastian Bach, Tom Petty, Kelly Clarkson, Pete Townshend, Bob Seger, the Zombies, Gary Clark Jr. and many more — plus dozens of episodes featuring genre-spanning discussions, debates and explainers with Rolling Stone’s critics and reporters. Tune in every Friday at 1 p.m. ET to hear Rolling Stone Music Now broadcast live from SiriusXM’s studios on Volume, channel 106.

In honor of the country-music institution’s 94th year, we look at pivotal moments in its history, including Jerry Lee Lewis’s wild performance

BySTEPHEN L. BETTS 

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On November 28th, 1925, 94 years ago this week, the WSM Barn Dance was born. Fashioned after the already popular National Barn Dance, which premiered in April 1924 on Chicago radio station WLS, the show would later be christened the Grand Ole Opry, after host George D. Hay noted that a slate of performers playing hillbilly music, fiddle tunes, and the like would follow a just-completed classical music program. On a Saturday night in 1927, just before harmonica whiz DeFord Bailey played “Pan American Blues,” Hay told the radio audience, “For the next three hours, we will present nothing but realism. We will be down to earth for the earthy. We have heard grand opera from New York, but now we will be listening to the Grand Ole Opry.”

Countless musical memories have since been experienced on its legendary stages, from the WSM studios and the Dixie Tabernacle to the Ryman Auditorium and today’s modern Grand Ole Opry House. Here are the stories behind five of our favorites.

Hank Williams’ Opry Debut
By June 1949, Hank Williams, who had been a frequent performer on the Louisiana Hayride in Shreveport, was becoming a huge star nationally. On June 11th, he made his way to Nashville where he would appear on the Opry for the first time during Saturday night’s 9:30 portion, sponsored by Warren Paints and hosted by Ernest Tubb. Sandwiched between performances by Opry mainstays Bill Monroe and the Crook Brothers, Williams’ first song was “Lovesick Blues,” one he didn’t write. Although it’s the subject of some debate, by most accounts, the enthusiastic audience was immediately treated to an astonishing six encores from the singer. The Opry program notes that the first of his songs he performed was “Mind Your Own Business,” soon to be a hit. This took place during a later segment hosted by George Morgan, and Williams would, according to other accounts, appear again during a segment hosted by Little Jimmy Dickens. Williams took the Opry stage again the following week and became one of the radio show’s most popular cast members. Sadly, his battle with alcohol led to his firing from the program in August 1952. While the Opry intended the move as a wake-up call to the beleaguered entertainer, he never returned. Four months later, he was dead from heart failure at just 29 year old.

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Grand Ole Opry: How You Get Invited to JoinDolly Parton at the Grand Ole Opry: 5 Best Performances

Jerry Lee Lewis Break the Rules
“Let me tell ya something about Jerry Lee Lewis, ladies and gentlemen: I am a rock & rollin’, country-and-western, rhythm-and-blues-singin’ motherfucker.” With those words, uttered from the Ryman stage on January 20th, 1973, the music icon known as “The Killer” broke one Opry rule — no cursing on stage. Soon enough, he’d lay waste to another: a request not to perform any of his rock songs. After a single country hit, “Another Place, Another Time,” one of the songs that resurrected his foundering career and changed his musical direction, he proceeded to deliver a 40-minute set (instead of the generally allotted two songs per act) that included rock classics like “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” and “Great Balls of Fire.” Alongside covers of Merle Haggard’s “Workin’ Man Blues” and Kris Kristofferson’s “Once More With Feeling,” he shook, rattled, and rolled the audience with covers of Fifties staples “Rock Around the Clock” and “Mean Woman Blues.” He also invited Opry pianist Del Wood to join him on a version of “Down Yonder,” her 1951 instrumental hit.

The Birth of Bluegrass
In 1926, a band called the Bluegrass Serenaders appeared on the Opry, marking the first time a group with bluegrass in their name would play the Opry stage. (They were actually an old-time string band.) When Kentucky-born Bill Monroe joined the Opry in 1939, he was accompanied by his band, the Blue Grass Boys, named after Kentucky’s nickname. By December 1945, Monroe had recruited banjo player Earl Scruggs, who picked with a fiery and innovate three-fingered style, as well as skilled guitarist and lead vocalist Lester Flatt, along with fiddler Chubby Wise and Howard Watts (a.k.a. Cedric Rainwater) on upright bass. This extraordinary combination, a highlight of Opry shows and a popular touring act, would be credited with inventing the genre, playing what musicologist Alan Lomax would refer to as “folk music in overdrive.” Today, bluegrass is represented on the Opry by members including Alison Krauss, Dailey & Vincent, the Whites, and Del McCoury.

“Long-Haired Hippies” The Byrds Land Onstage
Culture clashes are a rare thing on the Opry stage, but in the late Sixties and throughout the Seventies, as the Opry outgrew the Ryman Auditorium and country music evolved, not every invitation issued to special guest performers was greeted with enthusiasm by the more musically conservative fan base. On March 15th, 1968, folk-rockers the Byrds, with new member Gram Parsons, were in Nashville for the final day of recording their roots-influenced Sweetheart of the Rodeo LP, and that night took the Opry stage. Introduced by future “outlaw” songwriter and music publisher Tompall Glaser, and featuring steel guitarist Lloyd Green, the Byrds performed a cover of Merle Haggard’s “Sing Me Back Home.” Mocked for their long hair (which they’d actually had cut for the occasion), with some in the audience deriding them with bird calls, they ditched another planned Haggard cover, “Life in Prison,” to perform the Parsons original “Hickory Wind” as a tribute to the singer-songwriter’s grandmother. It was a risky move that defied protocol, embarrassed Glaser, and further pissed off a number of Opry cast members.

The Godfather of Soul Goes Country
Although piano player Del Wood had performed with rocker Jerry Lee Lewis six years earlier, in March 1979 she wanted no part of another upcoming event that would cross musical genres: the appearance of “Soul Brother Number One” James Brown. “I could throw up,” Wood told the Nashville Banner at the time. “The next thing you know, they’ll be doing the strip out there.” While longtime Opry member Jean Shepard announced she would boycott that night’s show in protest, it was Opry legend Porter Wagoner who issued Brown the invite while he was in Music City recording a disco-flavored tune called “It’s Too Funky in Here.” The Saturday night 7 o’clock segment, which Wagoner hosted, first featured Skeeter Davis, herself no stranger to controversy. Earlier in the decade, Davis was temporarily booted off the Opry for her onstage criticism of the arrest of a group of “Jesus freaks” gathered at a local mall.

Then came Brown’s eight-song set, five of which were among his soul hits: “Get Up Off That Thing,” “Cold Sweat,” “Can’t Stand It,” and an extended version of “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag,” which also included a snippet of “I Got You (I Feel Good).” While the 30-minute set leaned heavily on Brown’s R&B classics, he also performed a trio of country-esqye tunes: “Your Cheatin’ Heart,” “Tennessee Waltz,” and “Georgia on My Mind.” In spite of the media attention and vocal protests, Brown would later insist he had been “treated like a prodigal son” during his Opry visit. Six months later, another R&B icon, Stevie Wonder, visited Nashville and performed on the Grand Ole Opry, singing Charlie Rich’s “Behind Closed Doors.” His appearance, however, was not accompanied by the same negative publicity.

In This Article: Grand Ole Opry

Six decades after “The Sound of Music” debuted on Broadway, it remains a cultural touchstone in community theaters, in books, on streaming services and inspiring an Ariana Grande video.

By Laura M. Holson

“Show About a Singing Family Arrives.”

That is what The New York Times said about a musical that opened on Broadway on Nov. 16, 1959. It was hardly just a “singing family,” though: It was the debut of “The Sound of Music,” which is celebrating its 60th anniversary this month, and went on to become an Oscar-winning blockbuster that starred Julie Andrews as Maria von Trapp.

The musical, about a plucky novice-turned-governess who fled Austria to escape the Nazis, remains a cultural touchstone. “7 Rings,” Ariana Grande’s recent ode to conspicuous consumption, was inspired by “My Favorite Things,” a song from the show. The original cast recording was recently re-released for the anniversary. And the musical continues to thrive onstage, with scores of performances this holiday season planned in theaters from Sarasota, Fla., to Fairbanks, Alaska.

Now, too, Ms. Andrews is back, this time promoting her new book, “Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years,” which has renewed interest in the 1965 movie. She recently told Graham Norton that one of the young actors almost died filming a boat scene because the girl couldn’t swim. (“I had to swim like mad to get to her,” Ms. Andrews said.) It’s no surprise too that “The Sound of Music,” a holiday favorite, is being promoted in ads for Disney Plus, the entertainment giant’s new streaming service.

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Tom Santopietro, the author of “The Sound of Music Story,” said the musical’s debut less than 15 years after the end of World War II “was very American.”

“It fit who we felt we were then,” he said. “We would roll up our sleeves, put our hands on our hips and we would solve our own problems, just like Maria. We believed in the happy ending.”

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The original Broadway musical was based on the memoir of Maria von Trapp and starred Mary Martin as Maria and Theodore Bikel as the stern patriarch, Capt. Georg von Trapp. In the musical, Maria takes a job as a governess in 1930s Austria, on leave from the abbey where she is training to be a nun. She grows close with her seven charges and, later, falls in love with the widowed Captain von Trapp. The couple wed and, after the captain is asked to join the German Navy, the family flees. In Maria von Trapp’s memoir, they end up in the United States.

The show won five Tony Awards, including best musical, and was created by the songwriting duo of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, who collaborated on some of Broadway’s most beloved musicals, including “South Pacific,” “Oklahoma!” and “Carousel.”

Some reviewers charged the play with being overly sentimental. But the soundtrack was a smash, with hits like “Do-Re-Mi,” “Edelweiss” and “Climb Ev’ry Mountain” that still endure. And fans adored it.

“You are likely to lose your heart to the seven singing children,” The Times wrote in 1959. It added: “The sound of music is always moving. Occasionally, it is also glorious.”

The story, too, propelled Austria into an uncomfortable spotlight. The musical was not performed in a large theater there until 2005, according to news reports, mostly because Austrians were offended by what some deemed as a lighthearted look at its Nazi past. Now, though, and because of the movie’s success, Salzburg revels in its cultural cachet, with “Sound of Music” tours, marionette shows and concerts.

In her memoir, Ms. Andrews said she was unmoved by the musical. Before she was cast in the movie adaptation, Ms. Andrews and the comedian Carol Burnett spoofed it in a sketch called “The Pratt Family Singers” during a 1962 television special. “I’m ashamed to admit that, at the time, we weren’t wildly impressed,” Ms. Andrews wrote.

The original production spawned interpretations over the years. It was revived on Broadway in 1998. In 2013, NBC aired a live television production of “The Sound of Music” that was panned by critics. It was remade again for television in 2015.

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Few, though, rivaled the original. Mr. Santopietro said the musical, which he saw as a boy, resonated with theatergoers because it symbolized freedom from oppression. “For Maria, it is freedom from the abbey,” he said. “The children are free of the rigid life with their father.” The family, too, escaped the Nazis for a better life in the United States. “It is honest sentiment,” he said. “I think today we are afraid of honest sentiment.”

Raymond Knapp, a professor of musicology at the University of California, Los Angeles, wondered whether the story behind “The Sound of Music,” if it were made for Broadway today, would reflect the Trump administration’s policies toward immigration. “These people were refugees and today it would be harder for them to come to the United States,” he said of the von Trapps. “In the 1950s and 1960s, America thought of itself as a welcoming place.”

Some people have embraced the play as humor for the Trump resistance. At least one past president was a fan of the movie: According to Richard Reeves’s biography of Ronald Reagan, the president once passed on reading a briefing book ahead of a Group of 7 summit meeting, telling Jim Baker, then his chief of staff, “Well, Jim, ‘The Sound of Music’ was on last night.”

Still, the story had staying power, Professor Knapp said, because the songs underscored “the importance of music to our culture and to ourselves.” Captain von Trapp rekindled his affection for his children when he played the guitar and sang with them. Music also evoked his love for Maria. “That has a particular resonance,” Professor Knapp said. “The music symbolized feeling and caring, a reawakening of the captain.”

Mr. Santopietro said he had attended a number of “Sound of Music” singalongs. There, attendees dress in campy costumes — nuns are quite popular, as is Maria — and embrace the movie’s show tunes. “They come with a sense of irony and, in about 30 or 40 minutes, people drop the irony and get caught up in the story,” he added.

And that is, perhaps, the main reason it endures. “People want to experience it,” Professor Knapp said. “For a few hours, they want to be that family.”

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