Love My Train

Not too long ago, on NPR's Fresh Air, journalist Peter Guralnick gushed over the way that Elvis, at Sun studios, had transformed Little Junior Parker's Mystery Train into a faster, more vibrant record. Peter's point: Elvis was no mere copycat. He was an artist with an uncanny ability to take any source material and make it his own.

Only problem is, Elvis' record was swiped from Love My Baby, the flip side of Little Junior Parker's Mystery Train. Nothing uncanny about that, I'm afraid. (Tip for aspiring pop-musicologists: when researching, always listen to both sides of a record.)

And, here, I've interspersed the two recordings--Elvis' 1955 Mystery Train, recorded at Sun, and its, um, inspiration: Little Junior Parker's 1953 Love My Baby, recorded at Sun. If the result is rock-sacrilegious... oh, well.

http://www.box.net/public/lee/files/164823.html


Lee

The Singing Dogs and "Supercalafajalistick," etc.

Most of us know the Singing Dogs from their classic howl-aday rendition of Jingle Bells ("Arf, arf, arf! Arf, arf, arf!" etc.). But how many of us know that the Dogs, determined to un-leash another hit, tried their paw at bark and roll in 1956? And all to no atail. To the best of my bowledge, few teens were wowed by Hot Dog Boogie and Hot Dog Rock and Roll, and equally few radio stations were hounded with requests for same. We can picture the Dogs, in a flea market, scratching their fur in wonder as stacks of their unplayed records are loaded onto tables like mere scraps. The once-hot Dogs considered putting the bite on RCA for another chance but decided they weren't going to beg.

Hot Dog Boogie, 1956: http://www.box.net/public/lee/files/162679.html

Hot Dog Rock and Roll, 1956: http://www.box.net/public/lee/files/162678.html

And here's Alan Holmes and His New Tones (who??), from 1950, with Supercalafajalistickespeealadojus, from Mary Poppins.

(Wait a minute--1950? Then it can't be from Mary Poppins. What's going on here??)

Supercalafajalistickespeealadojus, 1950: http://www.box.net/public/lee/files/162680.html


Enjoy! (Whoa. Spell Check just committed suicide....)

Lee

Crescent City Prison

So, Folsom Prison Blues used to be my favorite song by Johnny Cash--until, that is, I discovered he didn't write it. Turns out, as you might know, that Folsom was stolen from a Gordon Jenkins tune of 1952 called Crescent City Blues. And here it is....

http://www.box.net/public/lee/files/144228.html

Not that "I hear the train a'comin'" was Jenkins' invention--I have a 1925 recording of Rovin' Gambler that includes that very line. But, so far as I know, Jenkins' song is, otherwise, completely original. (Feel free to correct me, if I'm wrong!)

From Jenkins' "popular cantata"Seven Dreams, released in 1953 on the Decca label. Thus the intro, the sound effects, the choral chant, etc. Enjoy!

Lee

Memorial Day selections you might not hear elsewhere

Paul Lavalle's "Dwight D. Eisenhower March" from 1955. Lavalle conducts the Cities Service Band of America. Uses the notes D and E for the main motive(s), which would make the key G Major. In any key, it's a stirring patriotic piece--I wonder what Ike thought of it?

http://www.box.net/public/lee/files/142748.html (Please choose copy option.)

Next up is Ferde Grofe's "March for Americans," recorded by Meredith (76 Trombones) Willson and His Concert Orchestra in 1941. Ripped from a 12" Decca label 78 that used to belong to an album set. (Quite an ordeal for the poor record: not only separated from the pack but converted to digital.) Composer Grofe is best known as the composer of the Grand Canyon Suite and as the orchestrator of George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue.

http://www.box.net/public/lee/files/152427.html (Please choose copy option.)

This last Memorial Day selection is hard to explain. I can only guess that a glitch in time and/or space produced it. Somehow, somewhere, and at some point, The Carter Family's 1930 recording of When the World's on Fire met up with Woody Guthrie's 1944 (I think) recording of This Land Is Your Land. This is the document of that strange meeting and the resultant interspersing of verses and vocals. I guess we could call it When This Land's on Fire.

http://www.box.net/public/lee/files/153115.html (Choose "Copy" option so that this file can be your file.)


Enjoy!


Lee

From 1954: Huh?

A title that speaks for all victims of the Communication Age: Huh? This side was recorded by the Top Kicks (I have no idea who they were) in 1954 for the Guyden label. The "orchestra" was directed by Eddie Wilcox. Now we know.

Possibly (though not definitely) my favorite song title of all time. Actually, the complete title is Huh? (Boolya Botten Booten Baby), but I like the shorter version.

http://www.box.net/public/lee/files/154628.html (For best results, copy the file.)

After hearing this, you might exclaim, "What?" As in, "What in the heck was that?" I'm afraid I don't have an answer.


Enjoy!

Lee