MP3:
Will To Fail (2:34)
Repressed Hostility Blues (2:22)
It Must Be Something Psychological (2:30)
I first discovered Katie Lee on the recently out-of-print RE/Search Records Incredibly Strange Music Vol. 1. A compilation of forgotten mid-century sounds, it includes plenty of garage sale gems: madcap xylophone covers of the "William Tell Overture", Bob Peck's "Sweet 16", (a tough, tongue-in-cheek ballad of juvenile delinquency), and Rajput & The Sepoy's singing sitars version of The Fifth Dimension's "Up, Up, & Away".
Katie Lee's "Will to Fail" stood out among these thrift-store singles as a pleasantly mental tune about a functioning ne'er-do-well. ("I have talents that I never use. I try to win but I love to lose because I've got the will to fail" and "I secretly am enjoying myself but slowly I'm destroying myself.") The original ode to apathy is on the also out-of-print album Songs of Couch and Consultation (Reprise Records, 1961). As this song was virtually my personal anthem throughout my college career, you can imagine my shrieking delight when I found the record ten years later, stamped FOR PROMOTION ONLY, with original cover art in near-mint condition among my grandfather's extensive collection.
Already known for Freudian folksongs on her earlier LP, Life is Just a Bed of Neuroses (RCA Victor, 1960) Katie recorded this a year later with composer Leon Pober and arranger Bob Thompson. Having studied with Burl Ives and Josh White, she elucidates the beatnik zeitgeist with this kooky chronicle of the couch.
Katie finally became a self-actualized woman sometime later, it seems, when she returned to her Arizona home and became an activist for preserving Glen Canyon and the Colorado River. She is equally known for this album and her efforts as impassioned environmentalist.
- Contributed by: Sara Johnson
Images: Front Cover, Back Cover, Side A, Side B
Media: 33 1/3 RPM LP
Album: Songs of Couch and Consultation
Label: Reprise Records
Catalog: R-6025
Credits: Arranged and conducted by Bob Thompson; Lyrics by Bud Freeman; Music by Leon Pober.
Date: 1961
Incredibly good post! -- Vol 1. of many to come I gather?
Find us more mental stuff!
Posted by: Bob | May 08, 2007 at 10:01 AM
Maybe you can post "Gunslinger"? That's my favorite.
Posted by: Pinball King | May 08, 2007 at 10:53 AM
Is it possible to get the complete album? I dig those themed albums from the 60s.
Posted by: Soilworker | May 08, 2007 at 11:52 AM
Our copy of that LP has a different cover that looks like
this.
Posted by: Krys O. | May 08, 2007 at 01:43 PM
Please post the entire album. I've been living with a very worn cassette of this for years! I'm certain that the copy I owned many years ago (with the cover pictured above) was on the Commentary label.
Also, I believe there was at least one more comedy album that I've never heard. She's terrific.
Posted by: DavidC | May 08, 2007 at 01:54 PM
Aha, just realized that our copy at home is on the Commentary label.
Posted by: Krys O. | May 08, 2007 at 01:54 PM
"Will To Fail" I LOVE THIS SONG!
Definitely one of my favorite song EVER.
Thanks a lot for sharing these gems!
Kisses from Toulouse.
... ahahaahaaah!!!
Posted by: phantomoftheradio | May 08, 2007 at 08:59 PM
i have this lp{but a differant cover, and label{commentary records} my personal fave would be schizophrenic moon, but repressed hostility blues rocks!
Posted by: johnny rankin | May 09, 2007 at 06:39 PM
i have this lp{but a differant cover, and label{commentary records} my personal fave would be schizophrenic moon, but repressed hostility blues rocks!
Posted by: johnny rankin | May 09, 2007 at 06:39 PM
I second the call for more posts from this weirdo gem! Please, Please. Having this album to escape into might make me more comfortable around my Mother.
Posted by: BenT | May 13, 2007 at 08:17 PM
oh lordy-lord, please post this entire album!
this is great!
Posted by: sjogro | May 31, 2007 at 07:17 AM
I remember Buster Poindexter used to cover "stay as sick as you are" with the Banshees of Blue whenever they played Tramps -- it seemed to have a permanent place in the set list.
Posted by: lou smith | June 04, 2007 at 08:35 PM
Here's a video I put together for 'Will to Fail' using footage from the Prelinger Archives:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MI5Z9B7dki4
Hope you enjoy!
Posted by: rc4rdo | September 15, 2007 at 08:34 AM
PLEASE post all the songs! Please please please.
Posted by: danadarko | September 15, 2008 at 11:44 AM
"Songs Of Couch and Consultation" AND the follow up "Life Is Just A Bed Of Neuroses" is being remastered/reissued on the Omni label, they do a beautiful job too.
http://www.worldwentdown.com/omni/omni131.php
Posted by: Rob Lett | September 09, 2009 at 01:21 AM