Lloyd Price. (official wiki AMG) I know it seems a little ridiculous, doesn't it? I've been posting versions of this song for almost a year now, and I've never posted Lloyd's from 1958. The first version I ever heard, the first version to become a hit.Sorry, Lloyd. To make it up to you a little, the entire month of February, I'm posting nothing but your versions of Stag. I have four excellent, each somewhat different, versions lined up. First, the classic 1958 original recording of Stag.
I have to admit -- I have no perspective whatsoever on this. This was the only version of Stag I heard until I was about 16, so for me, this version is, definitively, the song in its purest state. I know for a fact that that's silly and probably wrong, but I cannot step back from this at all to comment on it. Let me just say this: in 1958, African-American singers, with the sole exception of Nat King Cole, did not have Caucasian vocalists backing them up. That, plus the poppy jazzy instrumentation, helped make this upbeat murder ballad a huge success.
Next week, we'll hear the infamous "nonviolent" version...
11 comments:
So i saw the Black Keys this past Wednesday in Ballymore, and when they started up "Stack Shot Billy," i thought to myself, it's OK, she'll grow back.
Aaaaaaaaaand my filehost is down again.
Nice about your concert -- I haven't seen a concert since... um, July. Guess it's time to start checking the listings again every week.
Not sure if this is exactly the same problem you're having or not, but everyone's mp3 blogs are going to hell from "unknown sources" (including two i co-write). Check it out, though, as we might all be screwed:
http://www.laweekly.com/2009-02-05/music/google-39-s-new-killer-app-why-are-music-bloggers-39-posts-disappearing-and-who-is-deleting-them/
Yeah, I did see that. I thought Blogger was too simple...
My host is back up again, finally, as of this afternoon. The owner insists it won't happen again, so I'ma give him one more chance...
After that, it's nut punching time.
i hear ya.
Just found your blog, and the Stagger Lee and other posts are most interesting. I really love the elegant little haiku which opens Lloyd Prices' version of Stag!
The night was clear, and the moon was yellow
And the leaves came tumblin' down. . .
Yeah, this is the first version I heard too. Before I could read. :)
Y'know, I never realized it fit the scheme until just now.
Maybe because the phrasing puts the first "and" in the second line. But other than that, I believe it follows all the other rules I know of haiku.
In fact, I'm gonna go make a T-shirt with that on it, in haiku format.
I counted it out and it is 17 syllables. That's at least a start.
"The night was clear, and
The moon was yellow, and the
Leaves came tumbling down."
From what I can recall from high school, a haiku must be about the beauties of nature, each line must be a distinct thought, the syllables should number 5-5-7, and the whole point is for it to create a mood. I'd say that almost counts.
Um, 5-7-5
Remember, a real haiku purist would say it has to be in Japanese. . .
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