Bright Lights And Go Go Girls (MP3s)

   

I've been obsessively hoarding "country go go" records for several years now. 

Of course, given the fact that there were very few such records ever made, the hoarding opportunities are really pretty limited to begin with.  Still, there's something inherently fascinating about the absurdly improbable collision of two worlds which could scarcely be more different.

As with country twist records, country go-go records are propelled by the engagingly offbeat intersection of the world of country music with the youth pop culture explosion of the early 1960s and 70s.  For further explorations on the topic of country music's assessment of a rapidly changing world, check out the country songs about hippies here and here.  More of those are on the way, I promise.

Bernie Waldon  -  Bright Lights And Go Go Girls  (2:19)  No two ways about this record opens with the finest verse in all of country music:  "Bright lights and go go girls / Country music, that's my world / Lots of booze to start my night out right."  OK, I'm exaggerating....but only slightly.

The Great Pretender  -  Really Big Country Go-Go Shew  (3:25)  The Great Pretender was actually country singer Mitchell Torok.  Fortunately, Torok was not one to watch idly while a good bandwagon rolled by.  Really Big Country Go-Go Shew gave him the opportunity to impersonate not only Ed Sullivan, but also country greats such as Johnny Cash, Buck Owens, Tex Ritter, Hank Snow and Roger Miller.

Joanna Neel  -  Daddy Was A Preacher But Mama Was A Go-Go Girl  (2:30)  If you've ever caught Southern Culture On The Skids live, chances are pretty decent that you've heard them uncork this crowd-pleaser.  God bless 'em for keeping the country go-go sub-genre alive.  You can buy their version over on their web site. 

Betty Jo Bangs  -  Daddy Was A Preacher Mama Was A Go-Go Girl  (2:17)

The Norm Peterson Road Show  -  Daddy Was A Preacher But Mama Was A Go-Go Girl  (1:53)  This track was harvested from an LP released on the Jo-Mar label, which was based in the tiny town of Hebron, North Dakota, population 900.  The band doesn't look like much perhaps (see photo below) but they sure pounded out a pretty foot-stomping version of this classic.

Don Hagen  -  Bright Lights A Go Go  (1:51) I don't know about you, but I have nothing but admiration for anyone who recorded TWO country go-go numbers.

Don Hagen  -  I'm Gonna See The Go Go Girls Tonight  (2:20)  If I'm not mistaken, I procured this one in a long-ago cassette trade with Westex. 

Lonzo & Oscar  -  Ants-A-Go-Go  (2:43)  My wife likes to mock this song because it is, in truth, even goofier than the typical country go-go effort.  I suspect that she really likes it just as much as I do and that she's just messing with me. 

Leb Brinson  -  Hobo-A-Go-Go  (1:53)

Ben Hinds  -  All I Want For Christmas (Is A Go Go Girl)  (2:04)

Bozo Darnell  -  My Go Go Girl  (2:14)

Mary Price  -  Go-Go Girl  (1:53)

Arlen Kearce  -  Sandy The Go Go Girl  (2:05)

 

 

 

Comments

[Drew Miller]

Thanks for sharing the fruits of your obsession! Keep up the good (?) work.

[jeff gerhard]

Amazing collection! I think that first Don Hagen one about the country boy is gonna be my new theme song. Thanks!

[T. Tex Edwards]

I seem to remember Leona Williams (one of Haggard's exe's) had a go-go song also...

[Greg G.]

Tex, I think perhaps the song you have in mind is Country Girl With Hot Pants On?

I'm actually saving that one for a (less extensive) hot pants / mini-skirt post.

[Chip Ordway]

Of course, there are also the many attempts to "mix" the genre of country and pop from the '65/'66 period which also gave off some corn-pone "go-go" effects--if not in title then at least in sound. Hunt down Skeeter Davis' ever-so-twangily-groovy cover of Hank Williams' "I Can't Help It (If I'm Still In Love With You). Almost perverse in it's mix, but fun nonetheless. If you could ever mix Hank with chicks in birdcages, this would be the soundtrack.

[Richard]

Country as a living music always took a lot from the pop canon.The most obvious was the high school pop of the 60s which saw many high school poppers on the country charts in their own right.
Skeeter Davis is a great example of how to combine high school with country.
Later in the decade Sandy Posey would live forever in the high school era-truly lost in the 50s and maybe country music's only Pixie Girl

[Tom Smith]

Great, great, great...

TS

[Zach Neel]

The first original version of Daddy was a preacher but mama was a go go girl by Joanna and Bob Neel is in my opinion is the best. My grandpa is Bob Neel and he played percussion(drums)in that song so I think its kinda cool to hear my grandpa who is now deceased jam along in that song..