The Real Bach

This week a CBC Radio 2 host asked listeners to spot the fake Bach--one not among JSB's platoon of kinder--in this group:  Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Johann Christian Bach, and Oscar Meyer Bach.  

A trick question, of course, as there are two impostors in this trio.  The real Bach, heir to his father's genius, was Oscar Meyer Bach.

Oscar Meyer Bach, best known for his Hot Dog Cantata (with the famous aria "Will You Have Onions or Sauerkraut With That?") was for several years kapellmeister in the Court of Friedrich the Fat and his consort, Griselda the Gross, in Frankfurt. Oscar Meyer soon became the world's most renowned Frankfurter.  

When Friedrich and Griselda were overthrown in the great Vegan Revolt and forced to go on a grapefruit and quinoa diet, Oscar fled to Nashville, Tennessee, where he composed the rock 'n' roll classic "You Ain't Nothin' but a Hot Dog."

Ultimately, Oscar Meyer Bach retired, having become too old to cut the mustard.  But his music lives on, and you may hear it hummed by curbside vendors everywhere.

I'll have Sauerkraut.  And a Lowenbrau.