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Cristin Coppess: One of Saginaw's biggest claims to fame is being the birthplace of Motown legend Stevie Wonder.
But aside from Wonder, many notable musicians have called Saginaw home. Among them is Sonny Stitt, a saxophonist best known for his contributions to bebop jazz.
From the 1940s to the ‘80s, Stitt played on over 100 jazz albums. He earned the nickname Lone Wolf because he rarely worked with the same musicians for long, despite the fact he was constantly in the studio and on stage.
Saginaw has also served as a muse for songwriters. In 1964, Honky-tonk pioneer Lefty Frizzell put the city on the map with his song, Saginaw, Michigan, which topped the country charts for 23 weeks and even earned a Grammy nomination.
CC: Fred Reif is the author of several books that explore Saginaw's music history. He says he doesn't know why Frizzell referenced the city because the Texan had no connection to it.
Fred Reif: Well, I hate that song, "Saginaw, Michigan," because it has nothing to do about Saginaw. To me, it's more about Bay City.
CC: Four years later, in 1968, Simon and Garfunkel played a concert at the Saginaw YMCA. Their stint in the city later influenced the lyrics for "America." While not a chart-topper, the song is beloved for the sense of nostalgia it invokes.
CC: According to previous reporting from NPR, the lyrics were spray painted across city structures by a group of artists in 2010.
Saginaw also shows up in The Monkees discography.
Their song, "If I Ever Get to Saginaw Again," was originally recorded in 1968. However, it went unreleased for decades until landing on a 1990 album chocked full of the band's unreleased songs. The track was never a mainstream hit, but over time has gained popularity among the band's fan base.
CC: The historians I spoke with can only speculate why Saginaw became a common denominator in several popular songs. There's no evidence that Lefty Frizzell or the Monkees ever came to the city. Maybe Saginaw's rich industrial history made it seem alluring. Maybe the artists were trying to convey their own versions of the American dream, or maybe Saginaw just fit the rhyme scheme.
From Saginaw, I'm Cristin Coppess, WCMU News.
