Wedding Wednesdays - John Fogerty - Joy Of My Life

Here's the second post about music for my upcoming nuptials. As longtime readers of the blog will know, I love love love John Fogerty. This is one of my two favorite songs from my favorite John Fogerty album, and a song that I've been known to listen to on repeat play for hours at a time.

Musically, this is so perfect for me, with the gorgeous slide guitar hitting me right in my country/blues sweet spot, the unexpected high fretwork about 1:30 (and the metallic clinking thirty seconds later), and the unabashed sweetness of the lyrics.

Fogerty isn't known as a guy who writes love songs, but this is about as perfect a love song as anyone could ask for. I don't want to delve too deeply into the man's personal life, but it seems to me that his wife Julie is mellowing him considerably, in all the right ways. (Granted, John's still able to access his anger lyrically, but the existence of this song shows that he's capable of a full range of emotions, which the CCR rock hits don't show off.) He's starting a short tour this week, and if you have a chance you should go.

This song always has the potential to choke me up if I'm in the right mood, and in fact right now I've been listening for about twenty minutes nonstop, and I'm on the verge. When this plays during my wedding, that might just be the point my eyes mist up. Thanks, John.

John Fogerty - Joy Of My Life
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Stagger Lee Saturdays - Ewen Forfar

Ewen Forfar is a local Edinburgh folkie. He plays a couple of days a week at the Royal Oak Folk club, which released a compilation CD last year. That CD is the source of today's recording of Stag.

This starts out, musically and lyrically, to be pretty much the same as last week's version of Stag, but the last verse is very different, with a brutally funny surprise, and the news of Stag's ecologically progressive transportation choice.

If you're in Edinburgh, apparently the Royal Oak is the place to hear folk music, and if you're in luck Ewen might play Stag for you.

Ewen Forfar - Stagolee
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Wedding Wednesdays - Stevie Wonder - At Last

So have I mentioned I'm getting married in January? I haven't? Sorry -- you folks need to keep up.

Naturally, I'm excited to choose music to play during the ceremony, and afterwards at the reception. So for a few weeks, I'll be putting up some of the choicest cuts, and talking about them here.

We've been working oh so slowly on compiling the music for our ceremony and reception. I personally have DJ'd one wedding, and "At Last" was the first-dance song there. Tiki and I both love the song, and Etta James in general. (Now, as you may know, I don't care for Beyonce, but that's neither here nor there as far as the original version of the song is concerned.) Our thinking is, everyone everywhere plays "At Last" during their wedding, and the lyrics are quite appropriate to both weddings in general and our relationship in particular.

Etta's version is the classic, of course, but Stevie Wonder's cover is just magical. It's fast, funky, and furious. This is not a first dance song. This is an upbeat song for walking down the aisle as man and wife.

(My cousin suggested that we should walk down the aisle to this, and though we both love everything about the song, and I know a lady who did just that [Hi, Martha! Love to all the Tough Pigs!], we won't be doing that either.)

This is heartfelt, triumphant, celebratory: everything we want our wedding to be. We haven't figured out what our first dance song will be, but there's no way I could dance to this song without spraining something.

Stevie Wonder - At Last
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Stagger Lee Saturdays - Mark Berenson

Mark Berenson (official AMG) is a local Colorado musician, who's recorded one album split between covers ("Trouble In Mind," "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out") and originals. (Plenty of samples on the official page -- check it out.)

This is the New Orleans version of the song, where every step you take, you're steppin' in Billy DeLyons' blood. But there's also information on Stag's duel of words with the sheriff, and his adventures in hell. (You'll hear another, very similar take on this next week.)

Mark Berenson - Stagolee
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Happy Halloween From Thurl Ravenscroft!

First, I need to get some housekeeping out of the way. Here is last year's Halloween post, with links to all of 2008's spooky stuff. This year, in addition to the stuff this week, I've posted 20 versions of "Season of the Witch" and ten more versions of "I Put A Spell On You." If the stuff I've put up this week is too goofy, and not horrific enough for you, why not try this post, with a cowboy ghost story? Or this post about crazed murderers? (Speaking of murder, there's no Stag post today, sorry. Stagger Lee Saturdays will return in one week.)

Now that that's out of the way, ladies and gentlemen, may I present a collection of spooky music from this blog's patron saint, Thurl Ravenscroft.

Last year I posted several different recordings of Thurl (and other people) singing "Grim Grinning Ghosts," the theme song to The Haunted Mansion. All those from Thurl are included here, but if you want the other versions, you should go there and download the newly reupped zipfile.

This also has clips from a lot of the LPs Thurl recorded for Disneyland records, including excerpts from the Pirates of the Caribbean story record, the Jungle Cruise record, and the gem of this collection, the newly rereleased Story and Song from The Haunted Mansion (where the buy link sends you today -- in addition to Thurl, the record features a pre-Happy Days-but-post-Andy-Griffith Ron Howard). You'll also hear from Spike Jones and, naturally, The Mellomen. I even threw in a track from the soundtrack to The Hobbit.

I usually upload individual files along with the zips, but not today. I've actually taken a few minutes to sequence this out, so just get the whole thing, all right? It's only 30 MB, and about 30 minutes long. Happy Halloween, everyone!

Zipfile

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Guestpost: Jumpin' Gene Simmons - Haunted House

Howdy, all. Today's spooky guestpost is by my good friend, The Chromium Swan (his previous guestpost is here). He sez:

Every holiday is, at least in part, an excuse. An excuse to party, an excuse to travel home to friends or family, or even an excuse to listen to seasonal music. Halloween is my excuse to listen to today's featured song ... "Haunted House," by Jumpin' Gene Simmons (wiki AMG obit). This is not the KISS Gene Simmons with a general disdain for all things civil , but Jumpin' Gene Simmons, who once handed a guitar to an unknown Elvis, and recorded 21 songs with Sam Phillips after that same Mr. Presley gave him a referral. For a little history on his career and why "Haunted House" became the only thing we know him for, see here. But I'd rather talk about the song itself.

To the untrained ear, this is just a wacky song about crazy spirits and their shenanigans; however, I submit for your approval that it is not only a brilliant horror story, but also a snapshot of times gone by. The song starts out with a man, clearly alone, who has just moved into a new home, and simply wants to rest. Anyone who has ever moved can attest to how terrible this experience can be, and how important it is that the post-move period be ghost free. It is therefore fact that any horror movie would be at least 47% more horrifying if it started with the main characters moving (Stephen King capitalized on the only setup that was potentially more horrifying -- having the main character shop for a new car). The guy in the song (we'll call him Gene, b/c 'guy in the song' gets old fast, and I like pretending Gene wrote it) is a rough and tumble guy who, after admitting that moving's tough, immediately follows up by assuring us that he has the situation under control. Gene hears some ringing bells and rattling chains, and demonstrates some training in -- or inclination towards -- recognizing paranormal phenomenon. While a modern guy would have called his home inspector back out to check if the noises came from improperly tightened (but responsibly harvested) ceiling lumber, in 1964 men were men and Gene immediately recognizes the signs of a haunting. All this in the first verse!

Gene decides he's already moved in, and he's not leaving, so he goes about his business. The spirits don't take to this kindly, and next thing you know, he's having a conversation with some kind of creature who threatens him by tapping its feet. Gene breaks out the chorus here and tells the creature that he has been lawfully deeded the position of boss on this property, and that no "haint"* is going to change that, especially after he just finished moving.

The song loses a bit of realism at this point, as Gene starts cooking on his new stove; I have moved many times, and I've never been able to find all my kitchen stuff the same day. However, if you suspend disbelief, you hear about a typical 1964 post-move dinner diet... consisting of coffee, grease and a hunk of meat. When his cooking is interrupted by another spirit, he actually tries to warn it! He's such a tough, two fisted (yet courteous) guy that he warns the ghost it might burn itself! The ghost pays him back by eating his dinner and drinking up all his coffee... which is kind of a jerk move, and qualifies as a truly horrific end to a difficult day.

What happens next? Does he leave the house? Does he do the Monster Mash? Or does he go all Ray Parker Jr. on them? I've listened 100+ times and I'm still not sure how it really ends ... listen and see for yourself.

* A haint is apparently a southern colloquialism for a ghost or spirit ... use of jargon like this further proves our hero Gene is an expert in the paranormal.

Jumpin' Gene Simmons - Haunted House
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Vincent Price - A Chilling Challenge

So this post requires a little backstory. Last year for Halloween, I hosted a party wherein we watched House on Haunted Hill, the original one with Vincent Price, and I recreated the original in-theater gimmick of "Emergo."

I was watching the movie a few days earlier in preparation, and two things struck me. First, the movie is a little like Scooby-Doo -- the "real" monsters never appear, and it's basically just an atmospheric crime thriller (or dark comedy, if you take the same attitude Price clearly did). And that's a lot of fun.

The other thing that struck me is that the characters are locked in a haunted house, one with "no windows, and no doors," leaving them the "chilling challenge" of finding a way out. As a budding Disneyphile, I thought, hang on, Vincent Price played host during the first years of Phantom Manor over at Disneyland Paris -- I wonder if he says those lines from the Ghost Host's spiel? Lo and behold, he does. So I quickly edited this together as an audio introduction to the film. Now, curious friends, you too can hear this.

Once you've listened to this, be sure to click here to see the original film in all its dark, hilarious, scary glory. And, be sure to come back Saturday evening, for more from the original Haunted Mansion in Disneyland.

Vincent Price - Phantom Manor Excerpts
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The Bonzo Dog (Doo Dah) Band - Monster Mash LIVE!

Here we go, kids, a special Halloween treat. This is an audio rip from the first episode of legendary British children's show Do Not Adjust Your Set. The show helped cement the TV careers of 2/3 of Monty Python, not to mention today's musical contributors, The Bonzo Dog (Doo Dah) Band (official wiki AMG).

The Bonzos included Vivian Stanshall (right) on guitar and lead vocals (he was known to do a killer Elvis impression, featured during the band's performance in Magical Mystery Tour) and Neil Innes on piano and vocals. The Frankenstein Monster in the middle of the picture is Sam Spoons, who plays a nice solo on the spoons in this song.

I have several other performances by the Bonzos of this song, but I'm fond of Viv's spoken interlude in this, and the chaos the song descends into at the end. More spooky stuff to come -- stay tuned!

The Bonzo Dog (Doo Dah) Band - Monster Mash
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Monster Mansion Ridethrough

So remember my longish post on Monster Mansion? It's the only dark ride at Six Flags Over Georgia, the one which until this year was called "Monster Plantation." If you don't recall it, the best thing to do is click through up there and read it.

Anyway, the park FINALLY released an official soundtrack CD, which is something I hadn't even bothered to hope for -- Six Flags doesn't do things like that, and in fact my tentative research indicates that the Georgia park hasn't put out an album since the early 70's.

I hadn't planned to post this ridethrough on the blog -- I bought the CD specifically to get the ridethrough, and I'd like other people to buy the CD too (incidentally, only available in the park, so if you don't buy it by November 1 you can't get it till next March -- I have one extra, so comment if you must have a copy). I'd planned to post the new area music, produced by these guys, but though it's great fun, the track is 15 minutes long, and I don't have the time or energy to edit it down tonight.

So, ridethrough it is. As I mentioned in the earlier post, nothing substitutes for actually being in the room with the singing robots and seeing/hearing/feeling all the 4D effects. So go, this weekend (I'll be there Sunday morning, the last operating day of the year) if you can, and if not, the next time you're in Atlanta.

Monster Mansion Ridethrough
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Multiple Mondays: Season of the Witch Volume Two

Here's a second helping of Donovan's atmospheric classic (click here to see Volume One).

In chronological order, here are ten versions. As always, I recommend the zip, but you can cherry pick. (I have many more versions, but they are mostly either terrible, or jambands, which -- sorry! -- tend to run together to me. If you wanna hear more, comment down below.)

Zipfile

Julie Driscoll and Brian Auger (1967) 1 2
Vanilla Fudge (1968) 1 2
Terry Reid (1968) 1 2
Pesky Gee! (1969) 1 2
Suck (1970) 1 2
Coupla Prog (1970) 1 2
Richard Thompson (2003) 1 2
David Gans and Bob Weir (live 2004) 1 2
The Strangelings (2007) 1 2
Blue Matter (2007) 1 2

Silly Sundays - Rose and the Arrangement - The Cockroach That Ate Cincinnati

It's less than a week to Halloween, so hang on to those hats and glasses -- we're going to hear some spooky, kooky, ooky things between now and then.

Here's my favorite song ever about horror films. With a title reminiscent of "The Eggplant That Ate Chicago," and a group of accomplished musicians and singers, Rose and the Arrangement (Dr. Demento loves them) serve up a delicious platter of horrendous rhymes and a catchy earwig of a tune. This was on the first Dr. Demento compilation I ever got, and it's a great novelty tune. Its greatness is largely due to a refusal to take anything seriously, even its own jokes. (I love that the singer has to apologize for one particularly bad pun, and that the background singers criticize the finale of the song.)

The title was borrowed for an otherwise unrelated micro-budget film in 1996, and I don't normally link to these things, but this fan video for the song made me laugh a lot.

Come back tomorrow -- more spoooooky recordings are on the way!

Rose and the Arrangement - The Cockroach That Ate Cincinnati
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Stagger Lee Saturdays - Johnny Moeller

Johnny Moeller (archived official wiki AMG) grew up in Texas listening to his father's blues collection, along with the standard rock and pop. He's best known these days as guitarist for The Fabulous Thunderbirds, but here's a version from a few years before he joined that band.

This is a strolling blues cover of Lloyd Price's version of the song, and is credited to Logan/Price on the CD. While Moeller is the artist of record, both the vocals and rockin piano duties were performed admirably here by Moeller's friend Shawn Pittman (official myspace).

Johnny Moeller - Stagger Lee
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Stagger Lee Saturdays - Merle Travis

Merle Travis (fansite wiki AMG) was a highly influential country guitar picker, born in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky (which "Paradise" would later be stripmined for coal) in 1917. He befriended Tennessee Ernie Ford, and even wrote "Sixteen Tons," which would become Ernie's biggest hit.

This is a loose, laidback version, recorded only two years before Travis' death. His voice is appropriately aged, warm and crackling. He improvises a few lyrics, such as Billy's unimpressive claim to have "one little chilluns." You'll note that this is a rare version of Stag where the gambling is over cards, rather than dice. It's also nice that in this version Billy has a gun too -- seems a little more honorable when Stag shoots him dead.

But all that pales in comparison to the real treasure here: the guitar picking. This is one man, on one guitar, but it sounds like at least two of each. I'm a supremely uncoordinated person (which is one reason I have no instrumental talent), but just think -- Travis is singing, and playing a melody line on the guitar, and a rhythm line on the guitar, all at the same time. I'm pretty sure that if I tried any two of those three things, my head would explode. Merle Travis does all three without breaking a sweat, at the age of 64 -- if I have half this much energy at that age, I'll be grateful.

Merle Travis - Stack O'Lee
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Multiple Mondays: Season of the Witch

It's October, so here's another ten spooky recordings for ya. Donovan Leitch (official myspace wiki AMG) wrote and recorded "Season of the Witch" in 1966. It's a perfect, almost obligatory garage jam -- only two chords, with incredible atmosphere and a perfect skeleton to hang your own improvisations and musical ideas on. (I spent some time at archive.org this week, and downloaded 21 live versions from 21 different artists, which should give you an idea of the popularity among jam bands.)

The covers of this song started right away -- here we have The Little Boy Blues' take from 1967, and Sam Gopal's magnificently fuzzy, amped-up version from 1968 (via). The Dedikation (via) were a New Zealand group, and their 1969 cover has the tastiest organ licks this side of Al Kooper. Speaking of Mr. Kooper, we're also hearing his version with Steven Stills and Mike Bloomfield, from their 1968 Super Session album (featuring Donovan's drummer "Fast" Eddie Hoh).

G. Love and Special Sauce want to play you a representative jamband version, Lou Rawls adds his distinctive jazzy soul touch to the song, and Jenny DeVivo turns the song into a techie dance groove, complete with obscure audio samples.

Finally, we're going to hear two of my ten favorite covers of all time. Luna's take on this song has one of the five best openings of any pop song ever (someday I'll write a post with the entire list) -- this is one of the peppiest records ever, and my favorite version of this song.

Then, my final mention of Dr. John (previously 1 2 3) for a while: his dirty, funky, greasy voodoo take on the song is not only the best thing about Blues Brothers 2000, it's quite possibly the best thing any human being did in the entirety of 1998.

I have about 30 more versions of this song, almost all of them good, so if I get any requests I'd be more than happy to put up a second volume of this song. As usual, I recommend the zipfile, but you can cherrypick if you feel like it.

Zip file

Donovan 1 2
The Little Boy Blues 1 2
Sam Gopal 1 2
The Dedikation 1 2
Steven Stills, Mike Bloomfield, and Al Kooper 1 2
G. Love and Special Sauce 1 2
Lou Rawls 1 2
Jenny DeVivo 1 2
Luna 1 2
Dr. John and The Blues Brothers Band 1 2

Stagger Lee Saturdays - Taj Mahal and the Hula Blues Band

Taj Mahal first recorded a version of Stag in 1969, and here's his take 31 years later. This is a lovely island version, with ukuleles and a full, Hawaiian-tinged band.

This is, if I'm not mistaken, the first version of the song I've posted which posits that Stag's hat is, in fact, magical. I read in Cecil Brown's masterful book Stagolee Shot Billy that quite a few versions indicate that Stag traded his soul to the devil for a magical hat which would give him good luck gambling, but at the time I couldn't think of any version in particular which did so. Here's one of them.

It's weird, kind of, to hear the New Orleans version of Stag ("...every step you take, you're stepping in Delyons' blood...") with this type of backing music, but this is great fun. I recently had to pass up on an opportunity to see Taj and Bonnie Raitt live (due to lack of funds and concert companion), and while it's unlikely he did a version of Stag at that show, I still mourn the lost opportunity.

Taj Mahal and the Hula Blues Band - Stagger Lee
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Multiple Mondays: I Put A Spell On You: The Threequel

Hi, folks. Sorry about the lack of Stagger Lee over the weekend -- I had a family daytrip to go on, and forgot to prepare a post ahead of time. Why? Well, I was working on this:

It's October, and people all over the world will be listening to "I'll Put A Spell On You" in a few weeks. Last year, I put up a total of 19 versions of Screamin' Jay Hawkins' classic voodoo howl. I just reupped the zip, and you can find Volumes One and Two here. Now, here are ten more versions of the song.

As Volume Two was mostly concerned with late-60's garage versions of the song, Volume Three is predominantly bluesy, and at some points even really mellow. (I particularly recommend Robben Ford's lovely, quiet instrumental version.)

My original, disastrous attempt to put together a collection involved weeding out all the artists we'd heard from already in the previous collections, and I found that a lot of the other versions I have... aren't fantastic. (I'm looking at you, Diamanda Galas!) So we're hearing a remix of the Sonique version we heard in Volume One, and the Woodstock recording from Creedence, whose version I put up in Volume Two. We've also got a live version from Gov't Mule, and a menacing 1980 rerecording from Screamin' Jay himself, with one K. Richards on guitar (via How Marvellous -- thanks!).

Mr. Richards' friend Bill Wyman is here too, as Beverley Skeete takes the Simone-ish vocal duties for his Rhythm Kings. You'll also hear from Tab Benoit, Jimmy Barnes, Leslie West, and The Black Elevators (with a version which I think frequent commenter CD emailed me last year).

I have about seven more versions of the song, but as I mentioned some aren't great, so you'll have to wait till next October for another collection. I've zipped them all up, and I'd recommend that, but you can cherry pick too if you like.

Zip file

Screamin' Jay Hawkins feat. K. Richards 1 2
Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings 1 2
Robben Ford 1 2
Tab Benoit 1 2
Leslie West 1 2
Jimmy Barnes 1 2
The Black Elevators 1 2
CCR live at Woodstock 1 2
Sonique (Full Vocal Remix) 2
Gov't Mule (live Chattanooga TN) 1 2

Stagger Lee Saturdays - Sleepy LaBeef

Hi there, folks. I'm worn out. In real life, I've been moving boxes full of books all morning, but in the interest of pretending this blog is my only life, let's say It's from cleaning up behind all those pirates. They can mess up anything. I've never seen so many apple cores and bones from various meats piled up before.

Since I'm tired, here's Sleepy LaBeef (official wiki AMG). Born to a Houston family of melonfarmers in 1935, he started recording in 1957, which means he's in his fifth decade as a professional musician. If you had to classify LaBeef, most people would call him either country or rockabilly, but he's got a lot of blues and straightforward rock in him too.

This is a great, full-steam-ahead rocking cover of Lloyd Price's take on Stag. Though LaBeef is a guitarist, his piano player is really high in the mix, which is a trait of a lot of great versions of Stag (for example, see here).

Sleepy LaBeef - Stagger Lee
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Aye, Pirate Week: Thurl Ravenscroft's POTC LP

Ye come seekin' adventure and salty old pirates, eh? Sure, ye've come to the proper place. Aye, har be the final post o' Pirate Week. Forty-some years ago, the Disneyland ride Pirates O' The Caribbean opened. Soon after they called on our patron saint, Thurl Ra'enscroft, t' narrate a record tellin' the story o' the attraction. I posted that record on Thurl's birthday this year, and ye may find it har.

The flipside o' the record war a bunch o' sea shanties, performed by Thurl, which I done uploaded today. (Ye can see the back co'er o' the disc har.) If ye can only lis'en to one o' these, I heartily suggest "Asleep In The Deep," which be the deepest Thurl has e'er sung. This disc be long out o' print, so the buy link'll send ye to a used copy.

I hope t' do Pirate Week again next year, but until then, mark well my words, mateys: Dead Men Tell No Tales.

...Dead Men Tell No Tales...

1) A Life On The Ocean Waves m1 m2
2) Asleep In The Deep m1 m2
3) A Capital Ship m1 m2
4) Shenadoah m1 m2
5) Tarpaulin Jacket m1 m2

Buy from GEMM

Aye, Pirate Week: Barrett's Privateers

Arrr, har be the next t' last post o' Pirate Week. Stan Rogers (official wiki AMG) were a Canadian folk singer, and the year were 1976 when he released this shanty about plunderin' American merchant ships, with extensi'e loss o' life and limb, largely from th' shabbiness o' the pirates' own ship.

Ahoy, sadly, Rogers suffered an ironic death several years later -- he too died in an untrustworthy craft: Air Canada Flight 797. (Hist'ry do not record whether Rogers called that plane the scummiest 'essel he'd e'er seen.)

Thar be an extremely detailed line-by-line notation on the song har, so simply steer your browser thar, and read yer fill. Meself, I done read all I can, and now I have a hankerin for a fine pork loin. I hope that pilferin pussycat ain't taken it!

(Lubbers beware: this song do contain a wee bit o' profanity.)

Stan Rogers - Barrett's Privateers
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Buy from Rogers' official site

Aye, Pirate Week: The Derelict

Ahoy, thar be no Stagger Lee today -- Stag will return next Saturday. (He who complains'll walk the plank! Be that clear, señor?)

Away back in 1883, Robert Louis Ste'enson published Treasure Island, and it contained parts o' a new shanty, "Dead Man's Chest." In 1891, poet Young Allison adapted and expanded the shanty int' a full-length poem, "The Darlict."

One hundred six years later, a band o' young musicians first recorded their 'ersion o' the poem, beginnin' with a quote from Ste'enson's no'el. The Jolly Rogers (official Myspace) be currently plyin' their trade at the Kansas City Renaissance Festi'al -- navigate festwards if ye be in a flat square state nearby.

The Jolly Rogers - The Derelict
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Buy from the band, matey

Aye, Pirate Week: Hoist The Colours

Aye, speakin' o' pirate mo'ies, har's the theme song t' ...At World's End, the third (but not last) POTC film. It war orchestrated by Hans Zimmer, who not coincidentally orchestrated that Tim Curry song we heard Sunday.

The lyrics war written by the film's writers and director, if this har 'pedia have any truth t' it. This be a fine shanty to sing whilst ye hoist yer own colours, ye blooming cockroachers!

More t'morrow, mateys.

Hans Zimmer - Hoist The Colours
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Buy from Amazon, matey -- Buy from Deep Discount, yarr.

Aye, Pirate Week: Nick Ca'e and Lou Reed.

Aye, ahoy, mateys. I been nearly swallowed up by Da'y Jones himself, but emerged t' send you more tunes from the likes o' some swank-bellied pirates like meself. Gar.

Arrr, in 2004, Johnny Depp and Gore 'erbinski, while workin' on the second and third Pirates o' the Caribbean mo'ies, thought it would be nice t' have some contemp'ry albums o' sea shanties t' help set the mood. Thar warn't any.

So they produced some.

Har be two tracks from Rogue's Gallery... (wiki liner notes), with two personal fa'orite artists o' mine (but just look at that tracklistin' -- if ye like She'll Grow Back, surely ye'll appreciate the talent har).

Nick Cave - Pinery Boy
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Lou Reed feat. Antony - Leave Her, Johnny
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Aye, Pirate Week :Tim Curry and The Muppets - A Professional Pirate

Psst! Avast there! It be too late to alter course now, mateys.

Aye, greetin's, friends. Welcome t' Pirate Week har on She'll Grow Back. Ahoy, in celebration o' International Talk Like A Pirate Day, I'll be pro'idin' some nautically-themed music all week. So keep your ruddy hands inboard -- that be the best way t' repel boarders!

Aye, as tis' Sunday, har's one o' the silliest thin's we'll lis'en at all week. Tis' Tim Curry and The Muppets, from Muppet Treasure Island. The song be written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, who also enscribed "On Broadway" and "We Gotta Get Out O' This Place," among others. Arrr, as the soundtrack be impossible t' find, the buy link today steers ye t'wards the movie.

Download with care -- thar be squalls ahead, and Davy Jones waitin' for them what don't obey. Aye.

Tim Curry and The Muppets - A Professional Pirate
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Buy from Amazon, Matey -- Buy from Deep Discount, Arr

Stagger Lee Saturdays - James Brown

James Brown was the Hardest-Working Man In Show Business -- you all know that, so I won't bother with the introductory links this week.

This is a tasty, horn-driven version from 1967, a perfect slab of Famous Flame-broiled goodness. This song is almost out of print on CD, but luckily I found a cheapish import for your buy link down there. Enjoy!

(I apologize for the peremptory nature of this post, but I have another theme week up my sleeve, which starts tomorrow morning.)

James Brown - Stagger Lee
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Stagger Lee Saturdays - Henry Gray

Henry Gray (official wiki AMG) has been playing professionally for almost 70 years -- he's worked for Bo Diddley, Howlin' Wolf, Jimmy Reed, Sonny Boy Williamson, Taj Mahal and so on. He was born in Louisiana, like so many of the best performers of Stag, and now lives there again.

This is a great, rockin electric blues version of Stag -- one of the few in my collection which include both fiddle and harmonica, come to think of it. Since Gray is a pianist by trade, the piano is nice and high in the mix -- lots of fun.

This is a live version from 1999, and five years later he'd record the song again; both albums include his cover of "Sweet Home Chicago," among others.

Henry Gray and The Cats - Stagger Lee
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Stagger Lee Saturdays - Stack O' Dollars

Here's the post on Stack A Dollar I promised several weeks ago. Since I have three versions of this song, all recorded within five years of each other, I decided to go all out and put 'em all up.

Before I start, I need to note that, despite a similarity in title, this song is almost entirely lyrically unrelated to the story of "Stag" Lee Shelton and Billy Delions. (You'll note a "rumbling underground," which occurs in a lot of versions of "Stag" when Stag is in hell, turning Billy upside down, but that's about it.) With that said, Stagger Lee and Stack O'Dollars are both pimps and baaad men. (At least, Stack O'Dollars offers money for sex -- it's close enough for the sake of this argument, anyway. I own a 70's novel entitled Stack A Dollar, which I haven't yet read, but it's about a young pimp who presumably took his name from this legend. Also, see this.)

(For more lyrically unrelated versions, click here and here and here and here.)

In the late 1920's Sleepy John Estes (wiki AMG discography) teamed up with James "Yank" Rachell (wiki AMG) to play dances and parties, and they eventually went into a studio to record in 1929. In 1930, they laid down "Stack O'Dollars."

Rachell recorded his own solo version in 1934. One year later, Big Joe Williams (wiki AMG) (best known as the original artist of "(Baby) Please Don't Go") recorded his take on it.

All three men worked together decades later, as Yank Rachell's Tennessee Jug-Busters, though sadly they didn't include this song on their only album. (However, please note that Mike Bloomfield, who did his own version of Stag, also worked on this record.)

Sleepy John Estes - Stack O' Dollars
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James "Yank" Rachell - Stack O'Dollars Blues
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Big Joe Williams - Stack O'Dollars
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Silly Sundays - Rupert Holmes - Psycho Drama

Here's a bit of fun from Rupert Holmes' 1973 album, Widescreen, a collection of songs Holmes conceived of as "movies in sound." This is the fullest exploration of that idea from the album, and is more or less a full-blown radio play.

In the liner notes to the expanded collector's edition (where the buy link goes, natch), Holmes writes:

"Had I But Known (as they used to say on such [old-time radio] programs) that in the nineteen-nineties I'd have the chance to write four years worth of such programs for Remember WENN ... I'd probably have traded in this cut for two more ballads."

But if he'd done that, this album would feel a little less special to me. File is ten minutes long and 23 MB -- download with care.

Rupert Holmes - Psycho Drama
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Stagger Lee Saturdays - Lonnie Donegan and Chas McDevitt

It's skiffle week on Stagger Lee Saturdays! Skiffle is a genre of British jazz-rock-folk-blues, with a lot of instruments like washboard percussion and washtub basses. The King of Skiffle, Lonnie Donegan (official wiki AMG) recorded his version for the Pye label in 1956, and labelmate Chas McDevitt (official wiki AMG) laid his version down the next year.

Donegan's version is a slow, lazy rambling blues take (lyrically similar to Woody Guthrie's), with a few improvisations along the way. McDevitt's version is a rockin' version which, sadly, removes Billy from the story and changes Stag from a murderer into a simple hat thief. With that noted, McDevitt's version is peppy and upbeat -- I love just about any upbeat version of Stag.

I have a third skiffle version around here somewhere, but I'll save it for later. Next week is our final week of double-Stag posts for this month -- we'll be looking at the story of Stack A Dollar.

Lonnie Donegan - Stackalee
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Chas McDevitt - Badman Stackolee
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Silly Sundays - Rupert Holmes - Beef Lo Mein

Here's a track from the soundtrack to Rupert Holmes' 2006 mystery Swing. You can read more about the novel, and listen to the soundtrack, at Holmes' semiofficial site.

The novel is a murder mystery (and, like his first novel Where The Truth Lies, also serves as a metamystery) set in 1940's Golden Gate International Exposition. I won't summarize the plot here, but it's smart and complex, twisty and turny, and simultaneously hilarious and dead serious. Despite the grim, uncomfortable aspects of the plot, there's plenty of time for fun exploration of the World's Fair and 1940's pop culture.

And so, here is a 40's-style novelty song, proving once again that it's hard to write a song about food that isn't funny. (And, funny as this is, the song also turns out to be tragic in the novel. Just go ahead and click the buy link down there, okay?)

Rupert Holmes - Beef Lo Mein
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Stagger Lee Saturdays - Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway

Today we're going to hear two oldschool jazzy bandleaders, and their versions of Stag.

Duke Ellington (official wiki AMG)recorded his take in 1927, and it's an uptempo, bluesy little swing instrumental. That's right, an instrumental. I don't post a lot of instrumental takes on Stag (in fact, this is the first one), but Ellington's a big damn name. At the time, he was headlining The Cotton Club.

Four years later, Ellington's replacement at The Cotton Club, Cab Calloway (official wiki AMG), took the same tune and put lyrics to it, which are all about crazy dancing. (I'd believe Cab a little more if he hadn't slowed the tune down so much.) Apparently, Calloway didn't know anything about the legend of Stag, or at least lyrics to fit the tune he liked so much.

Next week, we'll be back to songs about the Stagger Lee/Billy Lyons legend -- there are two more weeks of double posts left this month.

Duke Ellington and His Orchestra - Stack O'Lee Blues
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Cab Calloway - Stack O'Lee Blues
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Dr. John

Dr. John (previously here and here) is a N'awlins legend, who started his career as a voodoo hypnotist, turned mainstream funker, then a MOR standard jazz singer, and is currently a more political singer, whose albums include ties to all his previously visited styles.

I saw him in Atlanta two weeks ago, and he was desitively fan-tastic. Sadly, he held the opening slot, so I only got to see him play for a little over an hour (and also, no version of Stag), but he rocked my little world. (My concert companion, as is her wont, went in knowing little about him, but came out converted to fandom.)

Here are five of the songs I loved the most that night. Dr. John's version of "Saint James Infirmary" (like his version of "Goodnight Irene," which I haven't included here) is dirty and funky and swaggeringly rock-and-roll. His solo version (the studio cut includes Rickie Lee Jones) of "Makin' Whoopee" is outstandingly clean and crisp. Though, as it was played with his rock backup band, The Lower 911, it had a hefty backbeat to it as well.

Dr. John's only hit was "Right Place, Wrong Time," a funky 1973 confection that owes as much to its legendary NOLA producer, Allen Touissant, as it does to Mac himself. The live performance was an awful lot of fun -- we were all invited to stand up and dance, but the people waving their arms in the air at every "Whooo"? That was spontaneous.

My favorite Dr. John song is "I Walk On Guilded Splinters," from his first (and IMHO best) solo album, Gris Gris. Live, the rock band had to perform the backing vocals, and time has passed, so the live version didn't sound just like the record, but it was an excellent 8 minutes that also included an extended percussion-only break, along with a quick quote from "Danse Kalinda Da Boom," which pleased me no end.

After his scheduled onstage time was up, the audience refused to let Dr. John leave -- he played an encore of a song from his latest -- and angriest -- album, entitled The City That Care Forgot. "Save Our Wetlands," though it has an overtly enviro-political message, is as far from issue rock as you can get.

Sadly, I had to leave after the set, as I had to work. Dr. John's friends The Neville Brothers were the headliners (he's been working with them a lot lately). I haven't been able to find a review online anywhere, but if they had him return to the stage for a joint song, I'll kick myself all year.

I hadn't been to a live show in a long time (just click the "live shows" tag to see how long), and I'd forgotten how much fun live music is, how the bass kicks me in the belly and the crowd buoys me up. I need to get back in that habit. Thanks to Chris "CD" for prodding me to comb through concert listings for this show!

Dr. John - Saint James Infirmary
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Dr. John and Rickie Lee Jones - Makin' Whoopee
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Dr. John - Right Place, Wrong Time
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Dr. John - I Walk On Guilded Splinters
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Dr. John and Terrance Simien - Save Our Wetlands
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Buy Gris Gris. Do it now.

Silly Sundays - Rupert Holmes - Escape (The Pina Colada Song)

Here's our second post for Rupert Holmes month on Silly Sundays. In 1979, this was a massive #1 hit for Holmes, the song that really launched his career as a popular musician. The album, Partners in Crime, contains a lot of songs themed around unhealthy relationships and cheating, most with a tongue-in-cheek attitude belying the serious nature of the unhappiness chronicled therein.

Which is actually a clue to how Holmes works: he takes a truly unhappy situation and discusses it in a funny way, full of tiny, perfect details and human reactions, and makes you forget just how damned serious the subject can be. (For more, click here and scroll down about 3/5 of the way, for my review of his excellent first novel. In two weeks, we'll be hearing a song from the soundtrack of his excellent second novel.)

Which is why this was a pop hit: people listen to this song, hear the happy ending, and don't think about the fact that this relationship is clearly doomed. If both members of a relationship are trying to cheat, it doesn't matter if they end up cheating with each other -- that's not a very happy ending.

...

Well, that's a little serious for Silly Sundays. Maybe I should've posted something lighter instead. Anyway, come back next week for Holmes' first take on old-time radio, long before he got to create and write Remember WENN...

Rupert Holmes - Escape (The Pina Colada Song)
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Stagger Lee Saturdays - Bruce Jackson and Snatch and the Poontangs

This week we have two variations on the toast version of Stag. First, we'll listen to Bruce Jackson (official) read a transcription. Bruce Jackson is the compiler of Get Your Ass In The Water and Swim Like Me!, a book first published in 1974. (You can click on this link to read part of the book on Google Books.) The book was reissued in 2004 with a CD of readings; since this is just basically a book on tape, Jackson doesn't expend a lot of energy acting the toast. (For more energetic readings, click and listen to R. L. Burnside and Samuel L. Jackson do two VERY similar rockin' versions.)

Snatch and the Poontangs (myspace AMG wiki) are actually Johnny "Willie and the Hand Jive" Otis (official) and his son Shuggie "Strawberry Letter 23" Otis, along with The Johnny Otis Show's vocalist Delmar Evans. In 1969, they were releasing mainstream funk/rock/soul records, but they also pseudonymously released this gem of profane, obscene rants. As you might guess from the band's name, today's two tracks are totally NSFW. In fact, they're probably NSFHome too. Listen with headphones first.

Bruce Jackson - Stackolee
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Snatch and the Poontangs - The Great Stackalee
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Silly Sundays - The Buoys - Timothy

For the month of August, Silly Sundays will be devoted to some tracks written and performed by renaissance man Rupert Holmes (official wiki AMG), the only man to win a Tony and an Edgar for the same work. (We'll be hearing a song from that work later this month, methinks.)

In 1971, Holmes was writing and recording and producing songs with his friend Ron Dante (of The Archies fame/infamy), and his friends The Buoys (official wiki interview). The Buoys were signed for a major label single, but the label wouldn't set aside even a penny for promotion. As such, Holmes had to promote the single himself. He set out to write a song so offensive it would be banned and censored, thereby achieving fame. Inspired partially by Tennessee Ernie Ford's "Sixteen Tons," what he came up with was "Timothy," a dark tale of implied cannibalism.

Holmes' plan worked -- the song was quickly banned by some stations, and the record label issued two different censored versions (boo hiss for censorship!), but it slowly moved up the charts. Which means at one point Casey Kasem introduced the song when it entered the Top 40. The label also tried to defuse the controversy by announcing that Timothy was a mule, which claim was immediately denied by Holmes and the band. The Buoys went on to record two more albums, only one of which was released. The members have occasionally reunited in different formations, and here's a live video of the song from 2005. Holmes went on to record many more albums, write Broadway shows and novels and work with Barbra Streisand, of all people.

Most weeks, I provide a buy link for anything in print, but apparently the available commercial release is unofficial, and The Buoys, and Holmes, aren't getting any royalties, so I won't do it this week. Shame.

The Buoys - Timothy
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PS -- It's my mom's birthday today. She doesn't read this blog, but it's worth pointing out that once, she made the creepiest Donner Party joke I've ever heard. Happy birthday, Mom!

Stagger Lee Saturdays - Dr. John, Part Two

Sorry I crapped out on y'all last week -- it was just too busy for me to get anything done here. Luckily, I've got a lot lined up all this month. (Also, you'll wanna go back to the post of two weeks ago and read the comments -- new stuff has come to light.)

It's been a while since I did a month of double Stag posts, but it's time again, so I can keep the numbers up. Today, we're gonna hear two more takes from Dr. John (learn a little about Dr. John and find his first version here, or on this compilation).

In 1973, the year after his first release of "Stagger Lee," Dr. John recorded a live show on radio, which luckily is in wide circulation. (You can get the whole marvelous thing at Captains Dead -- don't forget to click the link at the bottom for the second half.) This live track is similar lyrically and musically to the version on Dr. John's Gumbo. We're going "tee-na, na-na!"

Thirty-one years later, Dr. John mixed up a new version of the Stag legend for his album N'Awlinz: Dis Dat or D'udda (which album includes guest performances from B. B. King, Randy Newman, Willie Nelson, etc etc). He wrote in the liner notes:

"There was a many a pimp named Stak, and many a card hustler named Stakdollar ... An epic saga of death and char-ack-ters."

As befits the new version, this song has an (apparently) original title spelling. We'll hear more about Stack A Dollar next week, too...

Now, before I give you links, here's what I have planned for the rest of this month. If I can manage it, each Saturday this month will have two versions of Stag for your listening enjoyment. Download 'em, trade 'em, collect 'em all! Each Sunday this month will feature a Silly Sunday track from the same artist -- swing by tomorrow to find out who it'll be! Finally, I got to see Dr. John live last week, and the show blew my ears off. Come by Tuesday or Wednesday, and I'll post a review and some more tracks from Mac. Now, those MP3s:

Dr. John - Stagger Lee (live 1973)
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Dr. John - Stakalee
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Stagger Lee Saturdays - The Wayside Trio

I can find next to no information about The Wayside Trio online. They only released one album, as far as I can see, and that was apparently a result of their winning a contest at the 1964 California State Fair Exposition. (The album was, appropriately, titled "Winners: The California State Exposition.")

If I had unlimited time and resources for this blog, I'd visit the California State Archives and see if I could find a picture or poster or something in the Fair's extensive files. Alas, I do not.

Anyway, this is a friendly, upbeat acoustic folk take on Stag, with a nice opening whistle. I tend not to like this early 60's well-scrubbed, inoffensive "folk" style, but this is peppy and I don't mind it at all.

The Wayside Trio - Stagger Lee
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Silly Sundays - Bowser and Blue - Polka Dot Undies

Boswer and Blue (official wiki AMG) are a Canadian comedy duo, and a real favorite of Dr. Demento, the king of novelty records. I should warn you that, despite that art to the right there, Bowser and Blue aren't really Lou Reed and Jim Belushi playing incognito. This song does, however, include contributions from a sizeable percentage of 80's stalwarts Katrina and the Waves.

This is one of the best of the many many parodies of Bob Dylan out there, with a twist. This one belongs to what I like to call the "Hello Operator, Give Me Number Nine" school of comedy. (You'll hear more of these songs on Silly Sundays to come, I'll bet.)

This song makes me uncontrollably happy, and it can still make me giggle like an eight-year old. Thanks, Bowser and Blue.

Bowser and Blue - Polka Dot Undies
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Buy from Bowser and Blue

Stagger Lee Saturdays - Bert Garvin, JP Fraley and Danielle Fraley

Here's a nice old-timey version from Bert Garvin, J. P. Fraley (AMG bio), and JP's daughter, Danielle (no links for her, as she seems to only appear backing her father).

This has a nice ringing banjo, and some lovely fiddle work that sounds at least 100 years older than the actual recording date of 1999.

As with so many of the Stagger Lees I present here, this album is currently out of print, and the used copies start at about 25 bucks, so the buy link is wishful thinking.

Bert Garvin, J. P. Fraley and Danielle Fraley - Stackolee
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Buy used from Amazon

Silly Sundays - Free At Last!

My legal and tax-filing status has been changed. And that's all I'm gonna say here, except that (despite what you may think if you don't listen to The Beatles all the way to the end) I'm a happy, happy boy.

Gabriel Mann and Maxayn Lewis - Free At Last
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The Beatles - Oh! Darling (early take)
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Stagger Lee Saturdays - Tom Rush

Tom Rush (official Wiki AMG) is a folk singer who's been a professional musician for 48 years. This is from an early album, recorded in 1963.

This version of Stag has a verse I've never heard anywhere else, wherein Stag's woman, Roberta, guesses that he's killed someone, and Stag replies that the sky does look foreboding, doesn't it. I know it looks silly typed up like that, but I swear the first time I heard this I shivered.

Remember last week when I was so down on Terry Melcher, and noted his version of "These Days" suffered from his delivery as much as his "Stag"? Well, Tom Rush recorded a version of "These Days" in 1970, and I'm happy to report that it is indeed excellent.

Tom Rush - Stackerlee
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Stagger Lee Saturdays - Terry Melcher

Terry Melcher (AMG Wiki) was a songwriter and producer who worked with The Byrds, The Beach Boys, Paul Revere and The Raiders, and also his mom Doris Day.

In 1968, Dennis Wilson introduced Terry Melcher to a friend of his, Charles Manson, and Melcher had Manson as a guest at his home several times, along with Melcher's then-girlfriend Candice Bergen. After Melcher (and Wilson) severed ties with Manson, he left that house, and it was leased to Roman Polanski and his young wife Sharon Tate. Shortly thereafter, Manson's group of followers went to that house. In an attempt to kill Melcher, they ended up murdering five people, including Tate.

This has been another history lesson brought to you by Stagger Lee Saturdays.

In 1974, Melcher continued to work as a musician and producer, and he also released his eponymous first solo album. (via) This has an easy-listening, country rock vibe I just can't warm up to, and Melcher's slow reading and attempts to imbue the material with emotional meaning put me off. (The album also includes a cover of Dylan's "The 4th Time Around," which I'm not sure Melcher realized was a joke, and the least emotionally affecting version of "These Days" I've ever heard.)

Though I don't particularly care for it, I've posted this version today for a reason. Next week I'm posting a really nice slow version, which may be the most moving version of the song I've heard lately. Stay tuned.

Terry Melcher - Stagger Lee
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Beck - Sunday Morning

Record Club: Velvet Underground & Nico 'Sunday Morning' from Beck Hansen on Vimeo.

I don't normally do this, embed videos without posting an MP3. But until I can find a nice clean file I wanted to go ahead and post this anyway. Here's the news article that led me this far. This is from Beck's website (which has been a source for a previous post here).

I'll post more once it comes across my desk.

Edited to add: I don't need to blog when I'm supposed to be sleeping. Had I been wide awake, I probably would've done the two-minute Google before I posted, not after. Here's the file:

Beck - Sunday Morning
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Stagger Lee Saturdays - Nathan Singleton and His Sideshow Tragedy

Here's another recent take on Stag. This one's from Nathan Singleton and His Sideshow Tragedy (official MySpace). This original version, from last year, reminds me of some of Bob Dylan's best long, rambling story-songs, like "Lily, Rosemary, and The Jack of Hearts" or "Bob Dylan's 115th Dream."* Musically, this is one of the rockingest, most driving versions of Stag I've ever heard.

Some people like this take on Stag; some do not. Me? I do, most definitely. I'll queue it up again in a minute, right after I listen to "Highlands."

(Oh, and greetings to all my high school friends who found their way over from Facebook. If you have no idea what this post is about, please click here to learn more.)

Nathan Singleton and His Sideshow Tragedy - The Ballad of Stagolee and The Preacher Man
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*Or "Tweeter and the Monkeyman" by Bob's distant cousin, Lucky Wilbury.

Johnny Cash and Joe Strummer - Redemption Song

Bob Marley, dying from cancer, wrote "Redemption Song" in 1979, borrowing some words from a speech by Marcus Garvey. Twenty-odd years later, another music legend in the last years of his life recorded a version of the song.

Bob and Johnny didn't share a religion, or a race, or a musical style. I think they would've liked each other, though, and Johnny's take on Bob Marley's original is haunting, moving, and uplifting.

I composed a twelve-hour mix of music for a friend's birthday party last week, and this is one of two songs I got specific raving compliments about. Here you go, Julian. I hope this makes up for us running out of corn.

Johnny Cash and Joe Strummer - Redemption Song
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Buy from Johnny's official site

Silly Sundays - Monster Mansion!

Back in 1981, Six Flags Over Georgia hired a former Disney Imagineer to put together a new dark ride, one that couldn't be found anywhere else in the world. That ride became known as Monster Plantation. Last month, the ride reopened as a new, refurbished version of the original, with a new name and a lot of new effects. (If any of those A J-C links want you to register, don't forget bugmenot.)

One thing that didn't change was the theme song (though it sounds better now, thanks to advances in speaker design during the intervening decades, and a new instrumental version plays near the queue area). Here is the original theme song, played in several different instrumentations, all of which can still be heard in the new version of the ride.

I hadn't been to Six Flags in years and years, but when I heard they were refurbing this ride, I bought a season pass. I also wrote this, in an email to my friends:

The first audio-animatronic robots I ever saw were at Six Flags Over Georgia, in The Monster Plantation. I remember almost every part of it, and if it hadn't been as good as it was, I'd probably care less about robots, and dark rides, and Disney parks (and their themed brethren).

Those of you who aren't near Atlanta can see the difference between the old and new versions of the ride on YouTube, but of course watching a dark-ride video is pretty unsatisfying. Anyway, enough talk. This song is insanely catchy, so I don't recommend listening more than twice in any given week.

Monster Plantation/Mansion Theme
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Stagger Lee Saturdays - Axe Masterson

Axe Masterson (MySpace interview) is a Vermont blues/folk musician who's been playing live and in the studio for over 25 years. In 2007, he recorded an album as tribute to the Lomax field recordings, with a version of "Death Letter Blues" (a song best-known recently for the White Stripes' version) and, of course, his version of Stag.

Musically, this is a peppy but stripped-down version, just Axe's vocals, harmonica, and some lovely slide guitar. The lyrics are similarly stripped down -- we don't get to hear about any gambling, or a bulldog, or Stag's adventures in hell, or how all the women weeped and moaned.

The CD is out of print, so the buy link down there goes to MP3 downloads at PayPlay, the MP3 downloading service I personally prefer, and one which sends a high percentage of proceeds back to the artists. (PayPlay has given me no money to say this; I just think they're great.)

Axe Masterson - Stack O'Lee Blues
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Buy from PayPlay

Stagger Lee Saturdays - Memphis Slim, Big Bill Broonzy and Sonny Boy Williamson

In 1947, Alan Lomax sat down with three blues musicians and asked them about the blues. The blues, they decided in a recorded discussion, came from trouble. Trouble came from oppression.

And oppression, it need hardly be said, came from white people.

It's been said better by other people, but Stagger Lee, no matter the spelling, is a story about oppression. Stag is a black antihero who fights back against a crooked game, and in most versions cannot escape retribution.

In this version of the song, Stag drags Billy down the street, which you don't hear in a lot of versions. The three men talking and singing on this album would've heard of, or even witnessed, identical acts in the American South of the time. Again, it need hardly be said, the victims would be black, the perpetrators white.

At the time of this recording, as you'll read in the first link above, the three artists wouldn't let Lomax release the album under their own names, fearing violent reprisals against themselves, and their families, for their brutal honesty. The album didn't get released for over a decade, and then under assumed names.

I'm not a person of color; I can't claim to know anything about racial oppression. What I do know is that music and friendships can give people the strength to survive unbearable situations, and fight against incredible odds. What you hear on this record are three men, honestly and openly talking through their political troubles, and singing songs which might help others deal with the same problems.

Memphis Slim, Big Bill Broonzy and Sonny Boy Williamson
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Buy from record label

Silly Sundays - Stan Freberg - Incident at Los Varoces

Our final post for Vegas/Canyon week here at She'll Grow Back also marks the introduction of a new feature: Silly Sundays. After this week's near-death of one of my favorite blogs, Dr. Forrest's Cheeze Factory, I've realized it's time to post or repost some of my favorite silly recordings. (This week's is more serious than most, and much longer too.)

If I had twelve hours to spend on this post, I would put up an additional webpage detailing all the cultural references in this fifty-year old recording, but I don't have anywhere near that long.* So let me just say this:

Stan Freberg was the son of a Baptist minister, and the voracious spirit of Las Vegas, even fifty years ago, bothered him no end. In 1957, network radio was dying, and sponsors were light on the ground. Despite the weak position he found himself as a network radio comedian, Freberg recorded a twenty-minute-long, all-out attack on Las Vegas. Like the best satire, it's just as funny and prescient today as it was at the time. (There have been, in the past week, at least two blog or forum posts tying North Korea's nuclear bragging into this piece.)

And, also like the best satire, it scared the crap out of the people responsible for distributing it to the masses. After hearing it pre-broadcast, weak-willed CBS Radio execs demanded a different ending for this, though I imagine they didn't expect God Himself to take an active role in the new version. (I've never heard the second version, and I don't think it's ever been released to the public after that first broadcast. Anyone out there wanna try to prove me wrong? Please? And, also, boo hiss for censorship!) Stan himself gives us all the details in his delightful autobiography, It Only Hurts When I Laugh.

In 1957, Freberg was at the top of his game. He wrote and produced 15 near-flawless half hours of radio, and it's an incredible shame that these CDs are out of print. Luckily, a best-of is available, via the buy link down there. Like all of the best of Stan's work, today's recording also features Daws Butler, Peter Leeds, June "Rocky" Foray and Peggy Taylor, with the Billy May Orchestra, and also Jud Conlon's Rhythmaires.

This track is 20 minutes long, and 50 MB. Download with care.

Stan Freberg - Incident At Los Varoces
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*If you're looking for extensively-researched blog posts on Freberg, look no further than this page here.

Stagger Lee Saturdays - Tom Jones

To quote the trailer for Mars Attacks!*, "Yes, Tom Jones." (This is another person you probably don't need the links for.)

I've had this version for a while, but I've been sitting on it because, well, it's not particularly good. It's not bad, either, but it's just so... mediocre. Tom's performance is okay, but I don't know if I'd classify it as "Rockin'."

Anyway, I had the opportunity to see Mr. Jones live in Las Vegas, and passed. (There were a lot of people I could've seen live in Las Vegas, but Tom's the only one I know of that's recorded a version of Stag.) I did get to hear, through an open theater door, Tom welcoming his audience to the MGM Grand. Does that count?

Anyway, here's another take on Lloyd Price's version of the Stagger Lee legend. More Vegas audio tomorrow, as I begin a new feature here on She'll Grow Back: Silly Sundays. Stay tuned!

Tom Jones - Stagger Lee
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Buy from Amazon

*Mars Attacks! is one of my favorite Vegas movies. Odd, I know, since you don't see much of it outside of Tom's show and the Neon Graveyard.

Thurl Ravenscroft and Stan Jones - Grand Canyon

Stan Jones (AMG wiki Disney-centric bio), if the back cover of this album can be believed (click through to read it, then click to the AMG link to read a different version of the story), was a simple park ranger, until one day he coincidentally met some Hollywood types. They suggested he seek fame and fortune, and the rest is history.

He's best known these days, of course, as the writer of "(Ghost) Riders In The Sky." Here's a track from his 1958 Disneyland Records album (via), with narration and some vocals from our patron saint, Thurl Ravenscroft.

(This record was only available at Disneyland and national parks, so it's pretty hard to come by these days. The buy link currently goes to one copy for $92, though you can get the whole schmear -- and another Jones/Ravenscroft album, plus lots of other things -- at that via link.)

Keep coming back, folks -- I still have more vacation-themed things for you this week.

Thurl Ravenscroft and Stan Jones - Grand Canyon
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