Wake-up music for Saturday (no thanks to Box.net!)

So, out of eight uploads, two arrived alive. The rest brought up some message like "File not here." Welcome to the better-than-ever Box.net!

So, I've got two wake-up selections for you this morning--they'll have to do. And if they don't wake you up, these images of Creepy Bunny (thank you, Evelyn) will probably bring you into the moment but fast:


















"Buwa-ha-haaaa! I feel creepy, Oh so creepy!"


















"Put 'em up! C'mon! What're you afraid of?"















"Come play with me! Forever, and ever, and ever, and...."

















"I'm Creepy Bunny's brother, Scary Bunny!"


















"Of course, I don't look the least bit scary, do I? Er... do I?"

Anyhow, here are the two tracks that got here:

Alabama Jubilee (Yellen-Cobb), The Ferko String Band, 1956. From the Media label single.

Promenade Indian Style (Robison), Carson Robison and His Pleasant Valley Boys, 1952. From MGM single.

If that second one doesn't bring back memories of politically-incorrect TV and movie Westerns, nothing can! As for the first side, it was a 1956 hit. No chart info handy, but it sold a lot of copies. The song, written by Jack Yellen and George L. Cobb, dates back to 1915. The original lyrics are even less p.c. than the Robison verses....

Anyway, I hope Box.net becomes more accepting of files. And.... Oh, no. Creepy and his brother Scary have crowded into the same frame. Say "Cheese!" ("Carrot"?)

"Mutants? Who? Little ol' us??"

Meet the gang

Nothing says "Easter is coming!" quite as loudly as a group of cute plastic, rubber, and ceramic bunnies. Odd thing is, I started out with only two. Somehow, the group got larger, and fast.

Somewhere, I have a long and lanky candy-holder Easter bunny, but it hasn't turned up. I hope the cats didn't get him (ugh).

Anyway, from Lee and his Easter bunnies: Merry Easter!

Which, of course, is Sunday. But no harm in conveying an early holiday wish.

(No more bunnies yet. I'm keeping an eye out, though....)


Lee

Cowboy and Western, Part 4--a Buckaroo's Dozen

We've got a mess o' cowboy sides to mosey on up to today (mosey on up to??) , so let's get a move on. Head 'em up. Hyaaaaaa!!!!

Sorry. It won't happen again.

Anyway, here are the tracks, starting with Rocky Raccoon, which is spelled Rocky Racoon on the 45 label (oops). The group is The New Vinton County Frogwhompers Marching, Singing, Strumming and Plucking Society. Excellent musicians, but there's such a thing as being too precious:

Rocky Racoon (sic) (Lennon, McCartney), The New Vinton County Frogwhompers, etc. From 45 on the Mus-I-Col label of Columbus, Ohio.

And, from 1941, here's theatre organist Lew White with a wonderful rendition of Ferde Grofe's On the Trail, which is by far the most popular portion of the Grand Canyon Suite of 1932. For a long time, it was the theme music for Phillip Morris cigarettes. As such, it served as the title music for the first two or three years of I Love Lucy--believe it or don't:

On the Trail (Grofe), Lew White, organ, 1941. From RCA Camden LP.

From 1963, Frankie Laine's version of Riders in the Sky, from the Wanderlust LP:

Riders in the Sky (Stan Jones), Frankie Laine, 1963.

Ace guitarist Al Caiola returns with two terrific cowboy 'n' western tracks, including a highly Les-Paul-ish Old Cow Hand. From the 1964 On the Trail LP:

Wagon Wheels (DeRose-Hill), Al Caiola, 1964.

I'm an Old Cow Hand from the Rio Grande (Johnny Mercer), Al Caiola, 1964.

And here are some leftover Slim Boyd tracks which are probably not by Slim Boyd, whoever he was. I say that because they sound nothing like the choral numbers from the same LP:

Red River Valley, Slim Boyd. From the Cornet LP, TV Western Themes.

Jesse James, Slim Boyd. Same LP.

Home on the Range, Slim Boyd. Same LP.

The Old Chisholm Trail, Slim Boyd. Same LP.


















We move 'em on and head 'em up to a pair of Yellow Rose of Texas versions. Hyaaaa!!! (Oops. Sorry...). I have no idea what's up with this "Don George" business--I once read the story behind Mr. George, but my memory remembers nothing. Yellow Rose goes way back, of course (to the mid-1800s, at least), and was originally a "darkie" song, as the term went. That term survived into the 1930s, pop-song-lyric-wise:

The Yellow Rose of Texas (Don George), Johnny Desmond with Dick Jacobs Orch. and Chorus, 1955. From Coral 45.

Yellow Rose of Texas (adapted by Peter Nero), Peter Nero, piano, 1962. From RCA various-artists comp.

Next, an excellent Western movie theme by John Williams, a film and TV composer I'm usually not crazy about:

The Rare Breed (John Williams), Sammy Kaye and His Orch., 1966. From the Columbia LP Shall We Dance?

Leave it to Norman Luboff to render what's likely the most laidback High Noon version ever committed to vinyl. I found the year for this, but I can't find the CD-R on which I noted it:

High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me) (Tiomkin-Washington), The Norman Luboff Choir, from an RCA various-artists comp.

I had a few more to share, but Box.net has slowed down extraordinarily. And when it's slow, Blogger drags, and text takes ten seconds to appear....

But a Buckaroo's Dozen is plenty. Heeeeee-yaaaaa!!! (No, wait. That's martial arts. Never mind.)


Lee

Wake-up music for Wednesday!!

Yesterday, this headline appeared in the Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch: "Let's speak English in Ohio, legislator says." It seems that a state lawmaker wants to make English "the official language in Ohio."

Well, good luck.

Don't get me wrong--I'm all for Ohioans learning to speak and write in English, but I'm not too optimistic. This is a state in which the citizens routinely leave out "to be" (as in, "Put the wood over there that needs burned"), in which business memos use adjectives for adverbs (e.g., "...to ensure that the task is completed timely"), in which on-line instructions use "big" words incorrectly ("Process the application in a manner commensurate with the guidelines"), and where signs commonly employ quotation marks in place of italics ("Special Sale 'TODAY'"). Oh, and where job requirements include "good written skills."

"Written skills," as far as I can guess, are skills that are written down ("Typing, sewing, yodeling, etc."). "Writing skills" are something else, entirely. Writing skills, frankly, are one of the skills that desperately need taught to people around here. And it couldn't be done easy. It would take a lot of work--work commensurate with the steps needed to teach good written and spoken skills.

"It makes us, in my opinion, all Americans if we speak the same language," says Rep. Courtney Combs, a Republican. Even if that language were, say, German? Or Icelandic? What in the heck is he talking about???

Laplander #1: "All of us speak the same language--Sami." Laplander #2: "Then we must be Americans." Laplander #1: "Yes, we must be."

Have I ever mentioned that I'm from Ohio? I was just kidding!

Well, it's Wednesday, and we're overdue for some Easter music. I think we are, anyway. (Lady Domi will not be pleased with these--I just know it):

The Bunny Hop, Peter Pan Singers and Orchestra. From Peter Pan LP, Do The Hokey Pokey and The Bunny Hop.

Eggbert, the Easter Egg, Ray Heatherton (The Merry Mailman), 1951.

My Choc'late Rabbit, Rosemary Clooney with Tony Mottola and His Orchestra, 1950.

Peter Cottontail, Swing and Sway with Sammy Kaye. Vocal by The Kaydets, 1951.



















Lee

Big band sounds for Tuesday morning!

We begin with some Buddy-Rich-style sounds from... the Peter Pan label? (Am I reading that right? Yup, looks like it's Peter Pan.) This is from the Do The Hokey Pokey and The Bunny Hop LP. Where else?

Ten Little Indians, The Peter Pan Orchestra.

And now let's join Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, and Billy May as they take a sluggish open craft to a well-known country in East Asia:

On a Slow Boat to China (Frank Loesser), Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney with Billy May's Orchestra, 1958. (Originally from Fancy Meeting You Here.)

The remaining four selections are jazz-rock gems from 1970, and you may very well not have heard any but the first selection, which was a big hit (at least in my childhood neck o' the woods, Toledo). I love this record!

Vehicle (Jim Peterik), Ides of March, 1970. From the Warner Bros. LP, Vehicle.

And here's another number from the same LP:

Bald Medusa(Peterik-Borch), Ides of March, 1970. From Vehicle.

The Sound Syndicate of Quebec, Canada changed its name to Illustration just prior to (and for the sake of) its first, and only, LP of 1970. The band got great reviews from Rolling Stone and the New York Times, but its career was short-lived (read all about it at this site).

Here are two killer tracks from that self-titled album. The first is about the Rapture, I guess, but I wasn't even thinking about that when I picked it. I'm a Christian, but I don't believe in such superstitious crap. Great side, though--listen to the fabulous, funky rhythm section (Richard Terry on bass, Garry Beattie on guitar, and Claude Roy on drums)!

Upon the Earth (Donald Saunders), Illustration, from self-titled Janus label LP, 1970.

This next one is probably the jazziest number, with great Claude Roy drumming. I believe that "intermodal" describes the harmony of the hook:


Life Tasters, Time Wasters (John Ranger), Illustration, from self-titled Janus label LP, 1970.

More great sounds to come at... MY(P)WHAE!


Lee