Josef Marais


Josef Marais was a folk singer and songwriter from South Africa who based himself in Britain, and then the United States, where he achieved notability. He performed with his wife as a duo called Marais and Miranda.

Early life

Marais was born to Jewish immigrants in Sir Lowry's Pass Village, a suburb of Cape Town, in 1905. His birth name was Joseph Pessach; due to the antisemitic climate in the 1920s, he decided to use the name Josef Marais.

Career

Marais left South Africa in the 1920s to study violin and viola in Europe, finally settling in London, where he studied at the Royal Academy of Music.
He toured as a concert violinist for several years, and when he heard that His Master's Voice was eager to record songs in Afrikaans for the South African market, he offered his services. Marais made a number of these recordings for HMV from 1930 to 1931, with more coming between 1935 and 1936.
The successful recordings were heard by the BBC, who approached Marais with the request that he translate and perform the songs for British audiences. These broadcasts were heard by the British representative of NBC, and Marais was invited to New York in 1939 to do a radio show for NBC.
During World War II, he worked at the U.S. Office of War Information. In 1945, he started singing with Roosje Baruch de la Bardo, a Dutch Jewish refugee who had fled the Nazis in Holland, and worked at the Office of War Information as a linguist. In time, they became a team and she adopted the stage name Miranda. They were married in 1947 and performed for more than 30 years as Marais and Miranda, recording many South African traditional folk ballads, and original songs such as "Zulu Warrior".
Several of their songs achieved popularity when recorded by high-profile American recording artists, such as "Sugar Bush", "A-round the Corner (Beneath the Berry Tree)" and "Ma Says, Pa Says".
Marais compositions recorded by other artists during this era included " Henrietta's Wedding" and "Cross My Heart, Madame" by Champ Butler, "The Cherries" by Doris Day, "Chow, Willy" by Laine and Stafford duetting, "How Lovely Cooks the Meat" by Laine and Day duetting, "Over the Mountain" by Percy Faith and his Orchestra and Chorus, "Counting Sheep" by Peggy King and "I'll Stay in the House" by Jimmy Boyd.

Personal life and death

Marais married Nance Elizabeth on October 16, 1934, in Paris, France. He went on to marry Rosa de Miranda on July 22, 1947, in California.
He died at Centinela Freeman Regional [Medical Center, Memorial Campus|Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital] in Inglewood, Los Angeles, California, in 1978, aged 72. He was survived by his wife, Miranda, son, Marcel de Miranda, and daughter, Yvonne de Miranda.

Legacy

In 2023, a musical about Marais and Miranda, Ver ''in die Wêreld Kittie'', premiered at the Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees in Oudtshoorn, South Africa.

Partial discography

Marais & Miranda

  • Josef Marais and his Bushveld Band - Songs of the South African Veld
  • Josef Marais and his Bushveld Band - Songs from the Veld
  • Josef Marais and Miranda - Songs Of Many Lands
  • Marais and Miranda - In Person Vol.1
  • Marais and Miranda - In Person Vol.2
  • Marais and Miranda - Christmas with Marais and Miranda
  • Marais and Miranda - Africana Suite and Songs of Spirit and Humor
  • Josef Marais and Miranda - Revisit the South African Veld
  • Josef Marais and Miranda - South African Folk Songs
  • Marais and Miranda - No Dolly No and Other Rare Folk Songs
  • Marais and Miranda - Nature Songs
  • Marais and Miranda - More Nature Songs
  • Marais and Miranda - ''Souvenir Album''