WFMU's Beware of the Blog

Please Pass The "Please Pass The Biscuits" Records (MP3s)

   

Here are five versions of Please Pass The Biscuits, the timeless story of one hungry kid's desperate attempt to snag some nourishment. 

From my perspective, the definitive version is the one recorded by Andre Williams for the Fortune label in Detroit in 1958, the year after the original version, by author Gene Sullivan, landed in the Top Ten on Billboard's Country chart.  Williams, a pioneer of R&B sleaze, is still out there hustling.  His most recent album came out just last year and this month his first book, a semi-autobiographical tale of pimps, gangs, and drug running, was published by Kicks Books.

Gene Sullivan  -  Please Pass The Biscuits  (2:52)  1957

Andre Williams  -  Pass The Biscuits Please  (3:19)  1958

Jimmy Dean  -  Please Pass The Biscuits  (2:57)  1962

Norval & Ivy  -  Please Pass The Biscuits  (2:56)  1967

And to wrap things, up we'll check in with an unforgettable live performance from the Collins Kids featuring a great vocal performance by young Larry.  Tex Ritter provides the introduction and somehow manages to keep a straight face while he observes, "You show me a growing boy and I'll show you a biscuit eater."

Frank Sutton Appreciation Society

What the hell, I'm going to presumptuously nominate myself to be president of the Frank Sutton Appreciation Society.   In his role as the bombastic Sgt. Carter on the CBS program Gomer Pyle - USMC, Sutton produced a richly hilarious body of work that deserves to be remembered. 

I know the reference books all list Jim Nabors as the star of the show, but I'm going to have to disagree and assert that Sutton was main reason to tune in.  I don't want to slam Nabors, who did a fine job with his role as an irritating moron with a good heart, but I think Sutton's contributions to the program cannot be overestimated.  Without Sutton's blustery and explosive reactions to Pyle's relentless stupidity, the show would have been lifeless and dull.  But Sutton was nothing if not versatile within the limited confines of the Sgt. Carter role.  Witness one of his trademark slow burn double-takes in the clip below.

And since Friday will mark the 85th anniversary of Sutton's birth I figured that this would be a fine time to salute him by sharing a bunch of magazine and newspaper clippings about him that I acquired via eBay.  Seems that some guy was auctioning off his dad's archives and his father just happened to have been in the publicity business in the 1960s and 70s, so he was making room for what I can only imagine was clutter of a far lower caliber.

"Some Of Their Material Is Fine..." (Nashville considers the Beatles)

In August 1964, with an epidemic of Beatlemania sweeping the nation, COUNTRY SONG ROUNDUP asked 13 of Nashville's biggest hit-makers what they thought about the Beatles. 

Since their answers were surprisingly free of rancor and disdain, my guess is that the the whole thing was basically fiction and the stars in question were never actually asked the question at hand.   Of course I could be wrong but, really,  I'm having a hell of a hard time believing that Ray Price judged 'em to be "good and country."

Free James Brown (MP3)

Robert Lusson & Some Cast Of Characters  -  Free James Brown  (3:41)

On September 24, 1988 James Brown went kinda nuts in Augusta, Georgia resulting in a total of 11 charges, including assault and battery with intent to kill, drunken driving, and a host of traffic offenses.  According to JET magazine, the incident began when Brown dropped in on an insurance seminar in an office building he owned and demanded to know who had been using his restroom. 

Brandishing a shotgun, Brown emphatically made clear his displeasure at the idea of the public using the bathroom in his office building and ordered the seminar attendees outside.  One of them called the police and when they arrived, Brown fled in his 1987 Ford pickup truck.  The police pursued him into South Carolina, where they shot out the truck's back tires.  Despite this, the chase continued for another six miles and back into Georgia at which point Brown, driving on his rims, finally steered his truck into a ditch.

In December 1988, the Godfather Of Soul was sentenced to 6 years in the State Park Correctional Institution near Columbia, South Carolina.  The groundswell of love and support from writers, DJs, fans, and his peers came to be known as the "Free James Brown" movement.

Brown was released on February 27, 1991 after serving approximately 26 months.

They Laughed When Bill Took Music Lessons By Mail

Silver Bridge Disaster - Part 2 (MP3s)

One of my earliest posts here on Beware Of The Blog featured two MP3s about a deadly 1967 bridge collapse.  In case you're fuzzy on the details, I'm referring to the collapse of the Silver Bridge (into the Ohio River) on December 15, 1967 which resulted in 46 deaths.  The bridge, which connected Kanauga, Ohio to Point Pleasant, West Virginia, was built in 1928.  More details can be found in the original post.

Since then, through some magical combination of fate and good fortune, I've somehow rounded up an additional four 45s about the collapse of the great Silver Bridge, so here they are. 

Charles Alexander with The Carolina Five  -  The Great Silver Bridge  (2:50)

Little Hot Rod and The Fire Blazers  -  Grey Silverbridge  (2:48)

Cecil Pigott  -  The Fate Of The Silver Bridge  (2:56)

Ray Anderson  -  The Silver Bridge Disaster  (4:00)

       

And for the sake of convenience, the two MP3s posted earlier are included below.

Jim Stout  -  Silver Bridge History  (3:52)

Three J's  -  Silver Bridge Disaster  (2:13)

Keep America Beautiful, Get A Haircut! Part Three

Had about enough of those swooning, weak in the knees eulogies devoted to the endless commemoration of the 40th anniversary of Woodstock? 

The reactionary records below, made with the intention of countering the counterculture, are offered as an antidote.

C. Dean Draper  -  I'm The Only Hippie In Muskogee  (2:46)

Sheb Wooley  -  The Love-In  (2:14)

Lester Flatt  -  I Can't Tell The Boys From The Girls  (2:32)

Howard Barnes  -  Helluva World  (2:04)

Ace Ball  -  Country Boy At College  (2:19)

         

Other Beware Of The Blog explorations of hippie-mocking records can be found here, here, and here.

Don't Mess With My Popeye's

 

Fats Domino and Doug Kershaw  -  Don't Mess With My Popeye's  (2:49)

Here's an irresistible 1985 recording by Fats Domino and Doug Kershaw, heralding the indisputable joys of Popeye's fried chicken.  If it sounds familiar, that's because it's based on My Toot Toot, which was written and originally recorded in 1984 by Louisiana zydeco artist Rockin' Sydney.

Believe it or not, though, this monumentally great recording does not necessarily represent the apex of fried chicken music.  Nope, that honor probably goes to Pat Kaye and The Colonels for a piece of countrified excellence called Hello, Colonel Sanders.

To hear that fine song, pilot your browser over to a post on Brandan Cook's indispensable Country. & Western blog.  Not content to run just one fantastic music blog, he's also responsible for Lone Star Stomp, which concentrates on music from west Texas and the surrounding area and the enjoyable Diggin' It, where all kinds of miscellaneous gems are cataloged.  Where's he get all this energy?  I have no idea, but do yourself a favor and bookmark 'em all.

And while I am running my mouth about excellent music blogs authored by music-crazed Texans, I need to mention one I just learned about yesterday, Wired For Sound.  Brought to you by Andrew Brown, a first-rate musicologist and (thankfully) former Luddite,  Wired For Sound provides in-depth stories, lost photos and forgotten songs from the margins of country music.  Check it out.  Really.

Happy Birthday, Buck And Porter!

Without a doubt, today's a festive day.  August 12th happens to be the birthday of two monumental country music talents:  Buck Owens (1929 - 2006) and Porter Wagoner (1927 - 2007). 

The celebration starts with a 1966 Buck Owens tribute disc recorded by Ronnie Sessions for the Mosrite label, run by the famed guitar maker Semie Moseley.

Ronnie Sessions  -  Big "O"  (2:17)

These Songs Have Words???

Here are a few vocal renditions of songs that are usually delivered instrumentally.

Margie Singleton  -  Magic Star (Tel-Star)  (1:47)  -  Believe it or not, Bobby Rydell also cut a vocal version of this one.

Sonny James  -  Apache  (2:37)  -  For the unadulterated story of Apache and all its cultural implications go check out the amazing write-up posted on Soul Sides a couple of years back.  The one Apache wrinkle that goes unexplored there, though, is the lyrical approach taken by Sonny James on this 1961 RCA release.

Bill Doggett  (with vocal by Tommy Brown)  -  Honky Tonk  (2:25)  -  Tommy Brown was a major player on the R&B scene in Atlanta in the early 1950s, right alongside legends like Little Richard and Billy Wright.  Angel Baby and Dick Blackburn did a mighty fine interview with vocalist Brown for a Lost In Paradise podcast, which you can listen to over here.

                   

Ted Kennedy & The Bridge At Chappaquiddick (MP3s)

July 18 (Saturday) will mark the 40th anniversary of the death of Mary Jo Kopechne.  Kopechne left a party with Senator Ted Kennedy who piloted  his Oldsmobile 88 off the side of a nearby bridge and into the water below.  He managed to escape, but Kopechne drowned in the car.  In an act of indefensible cowardice, Kennedy fled the scene and did not bother contacting the police until 10AM the next morning.

Kennedy's account of the evening is full of inconsistencies and raises a great many questions.  Earlier this year, the Boston Globe published a detailed account of the tragedy, which can be found here.

        

Don Eddings  -  Chappaquiddick Bridge  (2:47)

Voices Of Cape Cod  -  The Ballad Of Mary Jo  (3:47)  The Ballad Of Mary Jo was written by Doctor Ludmil Chotkowski, an internist who earned his medical degree at Yale University School Of Medicine.  In addition to this song, he is also the author of a 2002 book titled Chiropractic: The Greatest Hoax Of The Century?  He died in 2006 and his obituary can be read here.

Papa's Got a Brand New Patriotic Bag (MP3s)

Happy Independence Day.

James Brown & The Famous Flames  -  America Is My Home Pt. 1  (3:20)

James Brown & The Famous Flames  -  America Is My Home Pt. 2  (3:28)

Wild Oates: A Conversation With Warren Oates' Biographer

          

Writer Susan Compo recently authored an enormously entertaining Warren Oates biography and Oates fans who have not yet read the book can look forward to it with great anticipation.  For my money, Warren Oates: A Wild Life is the finest biography since 1998 when Ronnie Pugh's Ernest Tubb biography hit the shelves.  The book offers a richly-detailed and definitive portrait of Oates' intriguing life and career and upon finishing it, I decided it might be interesting to talk to the author about Warren Oates and how she came to write the story of his life.  I'd like to thank Susan for sharing several unpublished Oates photos (including above right, showing Oates in makeup for The Brink's Job) and for indulging me while I fumbled through my Brian Lamb impersonation.

Oates died of a heart attack in 1982, but if he were still with us he'd celebrate his 81st birthday on July 5.

Greg:  Let's start things off with a question about the title of your book, Warren Oates: A Wild Life.  Who chose that title?

Susan Compo:  The publisher, as happens sometimes in the book world.  I had Wild Oates, but they just didn't go for that.

(NOTE: I didn't want to see a good title go to waste, so I borrowed it for this post).

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.

Kramer

Ever scratch your head and wonder if Kramer was a Gomer Pyle fan? 

Yes, he was.

Sharon Tate, Commie Cheesecake

This Sharon Tate pictorial, shot by photographer William Helburn, appeared in the December 1967 issue of Esquire.  Is this the birth of the appalling communist chic movement?  Probably not, but I really don't know.

Unenlightened rube that I am, I've never been able to grasp the kitschy appeal of the symbols of a brutally repressive totalitarian movement.

        

More semi-risque photos after the jump.....

The Ballad Of Patty Hearst (MP3s)

  

Here are a couple of songs that serve as sort of a thematic follow-up to my recent post on the kidnapping of Peggy Ann Bradnick in Pennsylvania in 1966.

Al Cartwright  -  Patty  (2:31)

Sue Lloyd & William O'Donnell  -  The Ballad Of Patty Hearst (Listen To Tania)  (3:32)

Today's selections, however, concern a far more notorious kidnapping, that of Patty Hearst, granddaughter of publishing tycoon William Randolph Hearst.   On February 2, 1974 Hearst was abducted in Berkeley, California by several members of the Symbionese Liberation Army, a group of revolutionary left-wing radicals.  Members of the SLA would later be convicted of a wide variety of crimes in addition to kidnapping: first degree murder, second degree murder, possession of explosives with intent to murder and various passport crimes, among other offenses.

After Hearst participated in an SLA bank robbery on April 15, 1974 a warrant was issued for her arrest.  Along with several other SLA members, she was arrested in a San Francisco apartment in September 1975.  She was eventually tried and convicted of bank robbery and sentenced to 35 years in prison, though she served less than 2 years of that time before President Carter commuted her sentence.

By the way, I should probably apologize for the second of the two MP3s above: not only is the record in horrifically mangled condition, the song is pretty damn irritating to boot!  You've been warned.

Songs We Taught The Blasters

Johnny Paycheck - I'm The Only Hell My Mama Ever Raised
Bill Haley & The Comets - Real Rock Drive
Tani Allen - Tennesse Jive
Little Junior Parker - Barefoot Rock
The Rockin' R's - Crazy Baby
Bob Wills & The Texas Playboys - Never No More Blues
The Hollywood Flames - Buzz Buzz Buzz
Little Willie John - I'm Shakin'
Sunnyland Slim - Highway 61
Bo Diddley - I Love You So
Bob Ehret - Stop The Clock
Jerry Lee Lewis - High School Confidential
Magic Sam - 21 Days In Jail
Little Richard - Keep a Knockin'
Roy Orbison - Go! Go! Go! 
Billy Boy Arnold - I Wish You Would
Big Joe Turner - Roll 'Em Pete                             
Frankie Lee Sims - What Will Lucy Do?
Rocket Morgan - Tag Along
Lee Allen - Walkin' With Mr. Lee
Honey Bears - One Bad Stud
Staple Singers - Samson & Delilah
Elmore James - Cry For Me
Don & Dewey - Justine 
Jerry Byrne - Lights Out
Jimmy Ricks & The Raves - Daddy Rollin' Stone
Joe Jones - California Sun
Stick McGhee & His Buddies - Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee
Chuck Willis - What Am I Livin' For?
Tarheel Slim - Number Nine Train
Charlie Rich - Rebound
Bobby Lee Trammell - It's All Your Fault
George Jones - Window Up Above
Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown - Okie Doke Stomp

Thanks To Listener Greg G for sending this one in!

Truckers Shuckers Freeks & Geeks

Since keeping track of all the millions of podcasts out there is a hopeless task, I thought I'd put together a post hyping an outstanding show that might otherwise escape your attention.

For quite some time I've been immensely enjoying Truckers Shuckers Freeks & Geeks, produced and hosted by a hardcore record maniac named Mark Lee Allen (not to be confused with Beware Of The Blog contributor Mark Allen).  Over on his myspace page, Mark Lee Allen describes himself as a "record collector, idiot, DJ, and all-around geek" and he's certainly got discs to prove it.  His massive collection of original issue rockabilly, hillbilly, rhythm and blues, and doo-wop 45s and 78s, seems pretty close to endless.

Originally from Portsmouth, England and now living in Oregon, Mark's been in the US only about 5 years.  Unfortunately for the rest of us record hunters here in America, it seems he's wasting no time in his efforts to acquire every cool disc ever waxed.  Listening to his show is always a blast.  On mic, his between song ramblings absolutely brim with enthusiasm, humor and arcane record collecting details that invariably ring true.

The shows themselves usually (but not always) have themes, frequently centering on a specific record label or topical theme. 

His "record label" shows usually involve diving incredibly deeply (really, where does he find these discs?) into the hillbilly-flavored obscurities released by a given label.  Examples include, but aren't strictly limited to, Columbia, Starday, Mercury, Coral, Goldband, and King.

His topically-themed shows are all over the place and have included subjects like truck driving, guitar blues, Johnny Cash soundalikes, and Elvis Presley tribute records.  And any show with "Trailer Park" in the title is sure to be a winner as that's where Mark spins some of his most deranged discs covering subjects like hippies, beatniks, gambling, oddball trucker songs, murder, suicide, alcoholism, all-purpose oddities,  assorted parodies and demented novelties. I'm told that tomorrow he'll be uploading a show called Garage Sale At The Trailer Park.  I'm there.

Don't know where to start?  You could always check out his January 8, 2009 show, which kicks off with Pee Wee King's soaring version of Dragnet, recorded in 1955.  That's right, Dragnet - with steel guitars,  fiddles and cowboy hats!  And for some additional fun, hang in there until at least 47 minutes in (or cheat and move the positioning bar) and listen in as Mark gleefully mangles his repeated attempts to pronounce Nuevo Laredo when back-announcing an Elton Britt recording by that name.

The Kidnapping Of Peggy Ann Bradnick (MP3)

     

Russ Edwards  -  Eight Days At Shade Gap  (3:13)

On May 11, 1966 17-year-old Peggy Ann Bradnick, a high school junior from rural Shade Gap, Pennsylvania got off the school bus and started walking home with her five brothers and sisters. 

Before they made it to the house, they were approached by a shotgun-toting man known locally as the Bicycle Man, in reference to his normal mode of transportation.  He took Peggy at gunpoint and warned her siblings that he'd kill all of them if they tried to help her.  With that, he dragged Peggy into the woods of the Tuscarora Mountains and disappeared.  The kidnapper, 44-year-old former mental patient William Hollenbaugh, had  spent 6 years of his life in prison and an additional 13 years in Pennsylvania's hospital for the criminally insane after being diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic.

More details (and a slew of photos) after the jump.