Stagger Lee Saturdays - Spencer and Spencer

Here's a tie-in post. This ties in Stagger Lee with my recent series of posts on Break-In Records. Spencer and Spencer were actually Dickie Goodman, king of the break-in records, and Detroit DJ Micky Shorr.

A bit of clarification before you download: This isn't actually a break-in record per se, using song lyrics as dialogue. In fact, it only samples two records: Lloyd Price's then-current hit version of Stag, and Stan Freberg's epic takedown of Lawrence Welk. The Freberg record was still very well-known in 1959, two years after its release, and in fact this uses a few of the same jokes ("The Lemon Sisters," a similarly deadly impression of Welk, and even the same sound effect to signify the crushing of Welk's accordion). This whole thing feels like Freberg Lite to me, reusing the diction correction of Stan's "Sh-Boom" and the running back into the studio of his "Day-O." But, in all fairness, even Freberg Lite is still funnier than the SNL parodies of Welk they've been doing lately.

So, to sum up, this isn't the funniest novelty record of 1959, or the funniest version of Stag. But it's good for a few giggles, and if you're a completist of Freberg, Stagger Lee, or even Welk parodies, it's essential listening.

Spencer and Spencer - Stagger Lawrence
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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.

Multiple Mondays: Heartbreak Hotel

In 1955, rock was young and unformed. It had been born of hillbilly and rhythm and blues and jazz, but it hadn't been encapsulated in any one person yet. Elvis Presley (you don't need the links today, I think) changed all that.

In 1955 (click here to read the full history of the song and the recording session -- highly recommended) a man named Glen Reeves (via) recorded a demo of a new song intended for Elvis, and so he mimicked Elvis's style. Elvis Presley made that song into a classic. That same year, my favorite musical satirist, Stan Freberg, was in his most productive phase. And, like Spike Jones before him and Weird Al Yankovic after him, he took the most memorable aspects of the original song and skewered them. Elvis had popularized organized musical chaos, and that's just what Freberg plays back for us, though he does it for laughs (even if it does come off as maybe a little superior in hindsight). For sheer chaos though, we have to move forward in time two decades to John Cale's deconstruction and reconstruction of the rhythm and the melody. He takes the desperation hinted at in the suicidal lyrics and brings it into the forefront of the song with his anguished screaming. Of course, the song still works well in its classic form too, as Willie Nelson and Leon Russell will gladly prove to you.

I'm kind of torn about all the remixing of classic songs that started a few years ago -- Elvis's most recent hit is a remix of "A Little Less Conversation," which of course made some money for the record company and poor little Lisa Marie, but it's also a fun dance number. So here we have two remixed takes on the song. First, we see that some of the impersonators are even getting into the remix action, as King Junior submits his own remixed take on the song. Then, we hear SpankOx's friendly remix of Elvis's original take.

Now let's hear from the ladies. The song has been recorded by some more famous females than these two, but I love these two versions. First, Possum Holler's (warning: autoplaying music!) lead singer Tori Anderson shouts the blues and Jan Shapiro follows that with a torchy jazz version.

Remember John Cale's terrifying version? Well, as he matured and quieted down (I originally used the word "mellowed" here, but I'm pretty sure it's inaccurate), his live performances of "Heartbreak Hotel" became less about anguished screaming and more about quiet desperation. We're going to close out this set with his 1992 version off Fragments of a Rainy Season, which I may possibly have listened to more than any other live album by anyone ever.

I've added a bonus track here, which isn't in the zip file: The Topsiders (via) perform the song in a Kingston Trio/Weavers early 60's folk style, which is... interesting. I've uploaded individual files, but I recommend just getting the zip file instead, plus The Topsiders individually. Don't forget to swing back by here Saturday, when I'll tie Stagger Lee into this whole mess.

Zip file

Glen Reeves (1 2)
Elvis Presley (1 2)
Stan Freberg (1 2)
John Cale (1 2)
Willie Nelson and Leon Russell (1 2)
King Junior (Rogue Valley Remix) (1 2)
Elvis Presley (Spankox Remix) (1 2)
Possum Holler (1 2)
Jan Shapiro (1 2)
John Cale (live) (1 2)
The Topsiders (1 2)