The Homer & Jethro Project #40

Like a biblical flood we have reached at last the forty post mark

And it's a live one.

Literally so.

January 1960 - lsp-2161 - At the Country Club

So here we are at the dawn of the 1960s and all the tumult that would come and Homer & Jethro kick it off with a live record.

This is one of the first ones of theirs I heard and I think that's one of the reasons I became a fan in the first place. Comedy as a rule tends to have a short shelf life. Topical stuff that's hilarious one year is passe the next and sometimes the things that seemed funny twenty years ago are just cringe inducing watching in later years. (I'm looking at your "M.A.S.H." and "Cheers") This one for the most part still works. A lot of it has to do with timing and delivery. They honed their chops and their schtick over years and years of live work and seem to generally be enjoying themselves.

Perhaps you'll enjoy yourself too.

For this particular record I've taken the liberty to split it up into individual tracks with songs and comic interludes between songs. That way you can just listen to the musical portions without the talking bits if you so choose. It just seemed like the polite thing to do.

Listen and absorb. Soak in it a bit. Let words and phrases from it seep into your normal conversations. It's good for you

The Homer & Jethro Project #39

#39

At long last.
We are at the tipping point, people.
We can finally make the switch to an alternating day format for the posts which when I think about it doesn't really mean squat for me since I'm typing this stuff up like six months ago and whether it is set to post on one or the other day doesn't really change anything, but you know. It is what it is.

You simply have an extra day to digest the previous day's musical selections.

Lucky you.

March 1959 - RCA 47-7493 - Middle-Aged Teenager / Don't Sing Along (On Top of Old Smoky)

A side is something I can relate to whenever I go out and realize I could be the parent of most of the people cluttering up the fucking place taking selfies and pictures of their food as if anybody gives a shit what they ate. I just don't feel old until I move.

B side. Old old folk song. You know it. You have your own alternate lyrics. They may or may not be an improvement on those provided by  H & J.

August 1959 - RCA 47-7585 - Battle of Kookamonga / Waterloo


A side began life as an historical song by Jimmy Driftwood (also responsible for "Monkey and the Baboon" in the previous post) about "The Battle of New Orleans" which was a hit for Johnny Horton. (He'd die in a motor vehicle accident a couple years later.)

As for the single in question here:

A full four years before nebbish shmuck Allan Sherman would strike novelty song gold with the Summer Camp classic "Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah" Homer and Jethro remade the Johnny Horton hit into their own lesser known Summer Camp Classic which they featured in a movie called "Second Fiddle to a Steel Guitar" in 1965 to little or no success.


B side is a take on Stonewall Jackson's song "Waterloo" which predates the much more enjoyable song of the same name by Swedish musical juggernaut ABBA. Perhaps Stonewall needed a nice sparkly lame' jumpsuit to really push it over the top. Something really ballsnug to make a definitive statement.

For their part Homer and Jethro understand the song is about hubris.
They have enough to spare and have met their Waterloo many times before us. Everybody has to meet theirs. You too someday.

Amen.

The Homer & Jethro Project #38

#38

Stand back boys.

It's Long Player time again and this time it's in Living Stereo

January 1959 - LSP-1880 - Life Can Be Miserable

It's 1959 at last and RCA had discovered stereo. Lots of wide stereo pans and instruments in one channel and music in the other. Enjoy the sound of 1959.

So...
To  cut down on my typing, which even I'm sure enough that you're not really reading anyway. (and why would you. It's dribble.) I'm just going to link to the originals without comment where applicable in the list.
 Does that work for you?

Oh Lonesome Me
Life Can Be Miserable
There's an Empty Hanger in my Closet Tonight
The Drafted Volunteer
Don't Monkey Around My Widder
She Went and Gone Away
Love is the Craziest Thing
Have I Told You Lately That I Love You
Oh That's Terrible
I Don't Think My Gal Loves Me Anymore
I'll Go on a Diet Tomorrow
The Monkey and the Baboon

The Homer & Jethro Project #37

I'll be right back.
I think the time is right to crack the seal on that new bottle of Tyrconnell Whisky.
Now's a good time for that.
Not because of the quality of the post that follows. No.
That's every bit as crap as they've ever been.

I just suddenly remembered it was there.
Two fingers and a splash and we're good....

February 1958 - RCA 47-7162 - At the Flop / My Special Angel


There. That's much better.

Oh yeah, this post.

So Elvis wasn't the only Rock and Roller that Homer and Jethro attempted to emulate as the world's oldest teenagers. There was this single too.

A side is their take on doo-wop chicken shaker "At the Hop" as recorded by Danny & the Juniors which was a top hit the #1 slot in January of 1958 and so full of youthful hormones that you might want to wash your hands thoroughly after listening to it and keep the black light off.

For Homer & Jethro things don't work out so well. Perhaps they need some of those testosterone enhancing pills that get shilled on late night tv. (Probably better than goat ball implants, but still...)

B side. More drear in the form of "My Special Angel". This time originally committed to wax by Bobby Helms who probably lived a solid middle class lifestyle on the proceeds. I commend him for that, but damn it's god awful white bread crap that probably lead to more than a few heavy petting sessions and unfortunate trips to out of state doctors.

Homer and Jethro have no respect for it.
Additional commentary from Chester Atkins behind the board for emphasis.

August 1958 - RCA 47-7347 - I Guess Things Happen That Way / Lullaby of Bird Dog

They did so well with the previous single that they didn't release another single for another six months. And this is what it was.

A side "I Guess Things Happen That Way" was a hit for the future Mr. June Carter, Johnny Cash. I wonder what happened to that guy?

The song was written by Jack Clements who took over production & engineering duties at Sun Records after founder Sam Phillips made his first million and decided not to work so hard.

B side started life as a song that has become a jazz standard. "Lullaby of Birdland" written by George Shearing for his Quintet in 1952. (Birdland being a popular NYC Jazz Club.) George David Weiss provided lyrics which then gave the song a second life and a hit for Ella Fitzgerald despite the vocal group behind her. She swings like rhino testes though. Great song.

Homer and Jethro have a more canine take that is another of my particular favorites.

The Homer & Jethro Project #36

I'm still not feeling up to snuff, but shit needs to happen.
Other projects and things are getting set aside while I work on this.

How sad is that?

#36

June 1957 - RCA 47-6954 - Ramblin' Rose / Gone

A side is a song called "Ramblin' Rose" that is not the one by that spicy as a nursing home potato salad singer Perry Como in 1948. It's also not the one that Nat King Cole sang in 1962.  Neither is it the one that the MC5 kicked out the jams on in in 1969. (There's also a Grateful Dead song with that name that may or may not be one of the other ones mentioned. It's the Dead. I won't listen to the Dead. I don't want to get angry tonight.)

So as far as you or anyone else knows it's an original for our boys.

B side "Gone" was a dreary ballad hit for Ferlin Husky who has a lot of other stuff to recommend him, but certainly not that tune. An abysmal turd of a song.

H & J cut it down into palatable bite size chunks while mocking it. A noble effort for a song that was already a mockery of itself by existing.

Did I mention, I don't like the Ferlin Husky original?

September 1957 - RCA-47030 - My Dog Likes Your Dog / Kentucky



 "My Dog Loves Your Dog" is from the 1934 edition of George White's Scandals and was introduced on screen in the movie version by Alice Faye and Jimmy  Durante (who like Abe Vigoda looked ancient even as a young person). This isn't really that song.

It looks like another enterprising couple of songwriters were perhaps *cough* inspired *cough* by that 1934 song to write this little number 23 years later when one or more copyright holders might have died and or forgotten their investment.

Their totally original and not the least bit plagarized song was a jumping rhythm and blues song recorded by the Cupids as "My Dog Likes Your Dog".

In the updated song the dog really likes to spend time with the other dog, but just isn't ready to commit to a full time relationship right now. You know, they like, just got out of something heavy which didn't end well and, you know,  they're not really ready yet for a monogamous deal. There's stuff they need to work out first. You understand. Maybe just, like,  just a dog park with benefits kind of deal. See where it goes from there. You know?



B side "Kentucky" was originally written and sung by Karl & Harty in 1941. There doesn't seem to be a version I can link to so I'll link you to them fawning over the Atomic Annihilation of Japan to end WWII.

In 1958 the Everly Brothers recorded their really sweet version of "Kentucky" on the lp "Songs Our Daddy Taught Us". (Presumably the Elder Everly didn't know enough songs about Nuclear Destruction for a full album so they went with this one.)

Homer & Jethro do a fairly straight rendition interspersed with by a backup singer interjecting some musical asides using a familiar tune that I'm currently blanking on. My own tottering steps to senility starting to kick in..

The Homer & Jethro Project #35

#35

Little did I realize how time consuming I'd make this project when I started...

But here we are at last.

1957 and the beginning of the Lp era.

Life is good with your monophonic Hi-Fi set up.

April 1957 - LPM-1412 - Barefoot Ballads

Here it is. The first full length long playing 33 1/3 rpm 12" record for Homer and Jethro. It sets the pattern for pretty much every one to follow barring the live ones. Twelve songs. Six per side. No waiting. No muss. No fuss.

And as I'm not feeling so up to snuff today, I'll leave it to you, dear reader, to do all the leg work if you're interested in tracking down the origins of some of these tunes. Google is your friend.
(They also reprise earlier tunes "Boll Weevil" & "Ground Hog" for this set, so you can always refer back to previous posts to refresh your memory.)

the track listing is:

Cigareetes, Whusky and Wild, Wild Women
The West Virginny Hills
Sweet Fern
I'll Go Chasin' Women
The Frozen Logger
Ground Hog
Keep Them Cold Icy Fingers Off of Me
Boll Weevil No. 2
High Geared Daddy
Dig Me a Grave in Missouri
Tennessee, Tennessee
Down Where the Watermelons Grow

Go to town.

They bring their A Game on this first one. Lots of good material to enjoy.

The Homer & Jethro Project #34

I feel like I'm fighting off a cold. I'm also drinking a beer.
These things are not mutually exclusive.
Colds are caused by germs. Germs are killed by alcohol.
It's basic science, people.

You can trust me. I'm a medical professional.

#34
And we're off into the Rock 'n' Roll era

September 1956 - RCA 47-6706 - Houn' Dawg / Screen Door

If you've been playing along at home then you'll remember back to H&JP post #19 where the boys recorded a version of the Big Mama Thornton hit under an assumed name.

Well, now that some other guy has a fresh for 1956 hit with it they resurrect the tune, write some new words and go to town.You're probably already familiar with that one. It's in your head right now,

B side is a matrimonial take on the hidden suburban sex club classic "Green Door" which was a hit for Jim Lowe. (But let's face it, it was was totally owned by the Cramps.)

December 1956 - RCA 47-6765 - Mama From the Train / I'm My Own Grandpaw

This was a tougher one to get a handle. Almost everything you type into a search brings up the 1987 Danny DeVito/Billy Crystal movie that turned Alfred Hitchcock's "Strangers on a Train" into a comedy. But with a bit of persistence one can come up with dreary dead parent ballad "Mama From the Train" which Patti Page had some success with.

I don't recommend either. The Hitchcock movie is pretty damn good though.

B side is their take on the song that was originally introduced to the world in 1947 by Lorenzo and Oscar who sort of mined the same vein as our heroes with less success. There must have been some friendly competition between them as H&J make some joking references on record to them over the years.

The L&O version of "I'm my Own Grandpa" is actually quite a jaunty little number though. The accordion is a nice touch.

The Homer & Jethro Project #33

#33

This is it, kids.
We've hit the halfway point.
At least as far as the number of posts are concerned.
The actual halfway point for Spring 2018 happens on May 6th.
By then we'll have converted to an every other day post schedule
We should be at #43 then.

Don't worry about it.
It's my problem.

June 1956 - RCA 47-6542 - Hart Brake Motel / Two Tone Shoes

Only two years previous a young Memphis singer named Elvis Presley released his first hit single.
In January of 1956 he released a song some of you may know called "Heartbreak Hotel"
In March Elvis released his version of Carl Perkin's "Blue Suede Shoes" (Carl seen here on the Perry Como Show demonstrating to Como what it sounds like when people who have a soul sing.)

In June of that same year, Homer and Jethro did their versions of both songs.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

(I'd also hazard that Elvis and Homer & Jethro crossed paths on number of bills on the circuit and was probably a fan to a certain extent. I've heard a recording of Elvis at a live show from around this time using some H & J jokes in his introductions...)

September 1956 - RCA 47-6651 - Just Be Here / Where is That Doggone Gal of Mine

After some hunting down the google hole I wasn't able to source an alternate for the A side here. I can then only conclude that it may have been an original that H&J used as they were wont to do from time to time. It's a lively one.

Likewise with the B side which owes more than a little to that "Doggie in the Window" song that they already spoofed.

The Homer & Jethro Project #32

Hey man, like it's #32, man.
Whoa! that's so heavy, dude.
Yeah, it is.
That's like, so much to lay on somebody on 4/20, which is like totally today, man.
Yeah, it is. Fuck.

January 1955 - RCA EPA-716 - This is a Wife?

It's another four song elongated player of lovely ridiculousness.

1. "What is a Wife?" This is an interesting one because it is a take off of another comedy record, this time by well known stick in the mud and kind of dick, Steve Allen, which isn't nearly as funny as
Homer & Jethro's version because you actually get some sense that he at least in part believed it.

2. "What is a Husband?" on the flip of the preceding source material and continues with the nonsense of the first and performed by Steve Allen's actual wife, Jayne Meadows which feels just as kind of mean spirited as the other one. (and I'm also pretty sure that there wasn't a lady alive who ever looked across a bed in the morning and found Liberace there.) Homer & Jethro poke just as much fun at themselves. Point to H&J.

3. "Love and Marriage" long before it was ruined for a couple generations as the theme song to "Married with Children" Frank Sinatra introduced the world to the mythic joys of matrimony with this Sammy Kahn/Jimmy van Huesen classic.
H & J present the harsh realities in their recording.

4. "Sixteen Tons" so while most folks may be familiar with the hit 1955 Tennessee Ernie Ford version, the song was first recorded by the great Merle Travis in 1947 (which has some good exposition explaining some of the song's lyrics.)

Homer and Jethro just take it and run with it but the peapickers sing the words all wrong.
Another favorite for me.

The Homer & Jethro Project #31

#31

Phew.
One full month into it.

November 1955 - RCA 47-6322 - Nuttin' For Christmas / Santy's Movin' On

Still the middle of April and it's Christmas again.

A side an original song by the songwriting duo, Tepper & Bennet, who were also behind "Naughty Lady of Shady Lane" (see H & J #29) and "Red Roses for a Blue Lady" (wait for H&J # 51) and a number of terrible songs used in Elvis movies that even he hated singing.

B side a holiday rewrite of the Hank Snow song they already did back in H & J #14.

That's all I have to say.

 

November 1955 - RCA 47-6342 - Sifting Whimpering Sands / They Laid Him in the Ground

A side started life as a very very fucking weird collaboration between Easy Listening schlockmeister Billy Vaughn and the Ken Nordine, the originator of "Word Jazz" who made a series of really odd spoken word records in the 50's that were probably just way too strange even for a beatnik stoned on reefer. Just like, waaaaay out there, daddy-o.

Homer & Jethro are a lot less weird and that's Ok. Sometimes you need it like that.


B side is of unknown origin, though signs point to either it being a new song for Homer & Jethro or a much older bluegrass song of which I can't find any older recordings of. Either way it's got some good lines in it. Use topically.

The Homer & Jethro Project #30

#30

Keeping it real.
Keeping it going.

1955, fuck yeah!

June 1955 - RCA 47-6178 - Ballad of Davy Crew-Cut / Homer & Jethro's Pickin' And Singin' Medley No. 1

For 1955 while a few adults were still perhaps indulging themselves with the mambo, for the mostly male underage set a Disney made 5 episode TV miniseries about Davy Crockett was the shit.  It turned into a regular mania that set fear in the heart of raccoons everywhere wondering if they'd be next with a post mortem date with a milliner.

 It's theme song became a minor triumph when for the first time in who knows how long, people actually remembered the Alamo. 

Into this Americana frenzy Homer and Jethro sent out this missive in the hopes of gaining a touch of reflected glory on the phenomenon to little or no avail

The flip is them stringing together a medley of turn of the century western songs into a tight two minute record side including snippets from:

"My Pony Boy" here sung in 1909 by Miss Ada Jones
"Cheyenne" by Billy Murray
"San Antonio" also by Billy Murray 
and
"Pride of the Prairie" yet again by Billy Murray

(I don't know what you're getting out of this, but I'm learning a shit load about music putting this stuff together. It's cool as fuck.)

September 1955 - RCA 47-6241 - Yaller Rose of Texas / Listen to the Gooney Bird


Without fearing for their own safety and with reckless abandon Homer & Jethro went and recorded a rewritten version of the beloved song "The Yellow Rose of Texas" (linked here to a version by the Texas Troubadour himself, Ernest Tubb) Which has been a favorite among the "Confederate Flag is muh Heritage" set (who heavily identify with the losing side of history then and now) going all the way back to the time the South was failing to rise the first time around.

The song itself dates back to a mid-19th Century Minstrel show by Christy's Minstrels and first published as "Christy's Plantation Melodies. No. 2" with the first verse beginning:

"There's a yellow girl in Texas
That I'm going down to see
No other darkies know her
No darkey, only me..."

So there's that.

Homer and Jethro's Yaller Rose though is a peach of song which has nothing whatsoever to do with any other nonsense than itself. 
Enjoy it as such.

B side is fortunately an original tune without any additional historical baggage and therefore can be enjoyed guilt free and gluten free, and in this case, free.

The Homer & Jethro Project #29

#29

So we're closing in on the point where we hit Lps and things switch over to an every other day posting schedule. Aren't you the lucky ones.

But first...

May 1955 - RCA EPA-595 - Let Me Go Blubber

After a busy end of the year previous, for better or worse, there's nothing new from our heroes until May of 1955 when they dropped the mic on this four song elongated player of contemporary hits.
And our six month Homer and Jethro-less national nightmare was over.

1. "Let Me Go, Lover" A pregnant Joan Weber introduced the song on the TV on 1955 to scored her One Hit but the song itself is a rewrite of a previous song encouraging temperance "Let Me Go, Devil" first recorded by Wade Ray who sounds like a real stick in the mud. But such is how bad relationships are in either version.

Homer and Jethro have other issues in their relationship with someone who might politely be referred to as a BBW.

2. "Over the Rainbow" Recorded again and not dissimilar to previous recording in H & J Project #2.

3. "Mister Sandman" the Chordettes earworm that's already sticking in your head just by reading the title. That "bum bum bum bum bum" crap is like mental napalm.


4. "The Naughty Lady of Shady Lane" Here we go again with the Ames Brothers and a novelty song that couldn't possibly be more soulless and suburban. No panties were dampened by the original.

 And while certainly not my favorite source material for a Homer and Jethro parody they certainly make something much more entertaining out of it.

January 1955- CAS-948(e) - Songs to Tickle Your Funny Bone - 04 - Malady of Love

From the pretty comprehensive sessionography compiled here it seems like this was recorded on January 17, 1955 with the other four songs on the above EP but not released at the time. It finally makes an appearance in 1966 in "electronically reprocessed stereo" on a cheap budget compilation.

The song started life in 1903 as 'Mélodie d'amour' Op. 600 by Hans Engelmann. A nice syrupy light classical piece that you could play at the piano recital and make your grandmother cry.

And there it languished until Billy Vaughn took a crack at it with his orchestra and had a  surprise hit. (It surprises me anyway since it's a terrible song.) Being a hit instrumental meant that somebody had to write some lyrics pretty damn fast so that it could be a vocal hit as well. That task fell to Tom Glazer and then the Four Aces scored with their dreary rendition.

With so much treacly bullshit going around it's no wonder that Homer & Jethro took time out of their busy schedules to make their own recording which they chose not to initially inflict on the public at the time. Which is kind of too bad since it was a pretty good take down.

Oh well, you can enjoy it now at least.

The Homer & Jethro Project #28

#28

Getting a jump on things here.

November 1954 - RCA 47-5903 - Santy Baby / The Night After Christmas

So it's Christmas in April.

This is one of those ideas like Halloween in January that are a veritable untapped market.

Also I'm not a fan of Christmas music. But here we have novelty songs of what are already seasonal novelty songs. The snake is eating itself.

A side is their version of "Santa Baby" as originally performed by the Eartha Kitt, the Catwoman with the sexiest voice and who sang "I Want to be Evil" That's how I want to remember her.

B side. I'm pretty sure you get the reference without me.

November 1954 - RCA EPA-524 - Seasoned Greetings



More parodies of well known holiday songs that you already know and I already loathe.

Go ahead. You want to listen to them.
It's Ok.

Your Mom and Grandkids will get a kick out of them on the Holiday Playlist.

The Homer & Jethro Project #27

#27

Middle of April.

July 1954 - EPA-580 - Hernando's Hideaway

Smack dab in the middle of 1954 this four song corker plopped out. Every song is a winner. You can hear every song, so by the magic of the transitive property you win also.

1. "Hernando's Hideaway" is another song from "The Pajama Game" (see previous post. I'm too lazy to link shit again.) Among the rewritten lyrics is a mention of Liberace who younger viewers may not be familiar with. Part of his schtick was always to have a huge candelabra on his grand piano. (I actually saw him live and in person in the early 80's. I also saw the original Misfits around the same time. Not many people can make that claim.)

Duncan Hines also mentioned in the song used to be a real person rather than a boxed cake mix for people too busy and on the go to mix four ingredients together themselves. He used to be the Guy Fieri of his time, only a lot less douchey. (which granted, is a pretty low bar to get over)

Here is  the real Duncan Hines on "To Tell the Truth" in 1957.

2. "Wanted" Hey look, it's Perry fucking Como again to sing and trade Jello recipes with you to go with that deviled ham salad at that Tupperware Party.

Here again, H & J best the original in every way and make a pretty funny song to boot.

3. "Secret Love" written for the movie "Calamity Jane" and introduced to the world by Doris Day. I like Doris Day. She sang some great stuff with Les Brown & his Orchestra. So put that on your dance card and fox trot to it.

This is another favorite Homer & Jethro track with a great pair of solos in the middle to frame the story of a love that best not speak its name.

4. "I Don't Really Want to Know" the only other version you really will ever need to be aware of besides this fine rendition by Homer and Jethro is Les Paul & Mary Ford.  Enjoy them both.

The Homer & Jethro Project #26

#26

It's been getting near one solid month of this nonsense for Spring 2018.
This is a friendly reminder that Summer is coming.
The equinox is on June 21.
And then we'll be done with this.

But until then let us continue...

 April 1954 - RCA 47-5708 - Crazy Mixed Up Song / That Tired Run Down Feeling


Sixty four years ago this original chicken nugget of brilliance and nonsense "Crazy Mixed Up Song" was recorded by Homer and Jethro and subsequiently slipped past the arbiters of taste and logic to be released upon an unsuspecting public. It appears that then popular stars of stage and TV, Mary Healy & her husband Peter Lind Hayes may have the first recording but I think that Homer and Jethro best it on many levels.

On the flip is an original song just for the boys which I relate to ever more as middle age takes its toll on my being.

October 1954 - RCA 47-5867 - Hey There / They Were Doin' the Mambo

A side is a take on "Hey There" from the Pajama Game which was a huge smash on Broadway in 1954. Rosemary Clooney released the pop hit version most associated with it many years before she was reduced to shilling for paper towels to make ends meet.

This is another of the songs that endeared me to Homer and Jethro, lo those many years ago and still makes me giggle. It's pretty damn funny.

B side - So in the middle of the 50's the United States got  swept up in a craze for the seductive Latin Rhythm of the Mambo.  Less forbidden than the Lambada and more physically demanding than the Macarena, Mambo Mania crisscrossed the country and made temporary stars of folks like Perez Prado (with the original "Mambo No. 5") {At some point I'm going to digitize by collection of Perez Prado Lps. Forewarned is forearmed. Isn't that how the phrase goes?)

Not being ones to sit on the sidelines H & J quickly jumped on that bandwagon to cash in with their keen powers of observation to note the number of folks caught up in the fad and watched the royalty checks dribble in.

The Homer & Jethro Project #25

# 25

Finishing up 1953.
It was a pretty busy year for Homer & Jethro with a whole bunch of releases.
I wonder how 1954 treated them...
Stay tuned and find out.

November 1953-11 - RCA 47-5555 - Hey Schmo / You-Ewe-U

A side is yet another Boudleaux Bryant song, "Hey Joe" that was a hit for Carl Smith.

It is completely unrelated to the song of the same that every Tom, Dick and Hendrix recorded in the 1960s that is second on the list of terrible older folk songs made into endless shitty garage band fodder when they wanted to appear more serious minded. It comes right after "House of the Rising Sun".

B side "You You You" is another white bread easy listening favorite first made into a hit in the U.S. of A. by the Ames Brothers in 1953 in the days long before the Osmonds and Hanson were born, to bland up the airwaves with sibling harmonies and toothy grins.
With smarmy crap like cluttering up the airwaves it's no wonder Elvis sounded so raw and visceral when he grabbed the attention of the nations teenagers with his first single the next year.

It must have sounded to them like the first time I listened to the Sex Pistols in 1978...

November 1953 - EPA 499 - Assault the Top Pops - I'll Never Waltz Again with You

So another 7" elongated player with previously released material and one little brand spanking unreleased nugget to get the suckers to buy stuff they already have one more time and squeeze a couple more bucks out of them.

Worked on me anyway.

The bonus track is a take on "Till I Waltz Again with You" by Teresa Brewer who certainly looks like a very perky sort. I'm not a fan of perky. Perky needs to shut the fuck up and go chirp in another room. I'm busy.

February 1954 - RCA 47-5633 - Oh my Pappy / Swappin' Partners


A Side started life in German as a song about somebody's dead clown dad for a 1939 musical "Der Schwarze Hecht". A lyric in the Queen's English was made and it became another schlock hit for Mr. Debbie Reynolds, Eddie Fisher as "Oh my Papa" and thus making Rock and Roll all the more necessary and inevitable.

Once again, Homer & Jethro outdo the original by at least making it bearable.

B side - I  don't recommend typing "swapping partners" into Youtube at work. It's not going to come up with the original of the flip side of this single and might get you a visit from HR.
You want "Changing Partners" by Patti Page.

Another win for H & J vs. the kind of creepy and stalker-ish original as Ms. Page appears to be ready to reclaim her lost dance partner from "The Tennessee Waltz". One wonders if boiled bunnies are far behind...

The Homer & Jethro Project #24

#24

Another little break in the flow of things with something a little different

1952-54 - Country All-Stars




The thing that it's always important to remember is that for all the jokes and stuff, Homer and Jethro were really really good musicians. The comedy wouldn't work as well if they weren't. So it's not much of a stretch to imagine that between H & J recordings they might find time to record some with Chet Atkins and the studio guys a few straight and instrumental tracks from days gone by. (They certainly seemed to have a pretty encyclopedic knowledge of vintage song) A sort of in studio early super group as it were.

 It's also not far fetched that they'd end up releasing these recordings under a different name to keep them a little separated from the funny stuff.

The Country All-Stars only released a handful of singles and a 10" record in their brief recorded existence collected here. (I don't have originals for these because they're pretty hard to find and already collected for me on this compact disc.)

They run through some small country combo versions of any number of jazz standards like "Stomping at the Savoy" and "Sweet Georgia Brown" with a light and effortless swing that satisfies like a smooth Chesterfield should and fill things out with a few more tracks of Homer singing other favorites from their youth in the 30's.

Later Homer and Jethro would go on to put out a couple Lps of instrumental recordings and an Lp of funny 30's hits under their own name, but until I get there in a few weeks you've got this to keep you busy.

The Homer & Jethro Project #23

#23

Just keeps going and going don't it?

And we're only at still only at 1953.

August 1953 - RCA 47-5429 - Your Clobbered Heart / Gambler's Git Box

A side - Another day, another Hank Williams parody. Taking a stab at "Your Cheatin' Heart" with all sorts of sound effects to help you keep track of the various ailments that cheatin causes.

B side - a 1953 song by Jim Lowe called "Gambler's Guitar" gets the treatment. It wasn't exactly a big hit for him, but it was recorded to some moderate success by a few others. Jim Lowe would go on in 1956 to score his own One Hit with "Green Door" which I always imagined was about some kind of clandestine seedy suburban sex club and one man's obsession with it. (He needed to find a date to bring. Unaccompanied males are generally frowned upon or so I've read somwhere)

October 1953 - RCA 47-5472 - Pal-Yat-Chee / Dragnet

Here we go again. Spike Jones & his City Slickers augmented by Homer & Jethro. A meeting of the musical comedy minds producing quality.

A side is a good synopsis slash piss take on the Leoncavallo opera about a sad clown by the name of Pagliacci. The boys take on the role of a couple of hicks in the big city who accidentally stumble into the opera and try to make sense of it. Truly one of Spike Jones' finest recorded moments, some really great writing. A great arrangement with car horns and gun shots and breaking glass. Everything a boy could ask for.

B side - Ok, I'm fudging this a tad. "Dragnet" is supposed to be the A side, but it's not nearly as good as "Pal-Yat-Chee" and not exactly a personal highlight for Spike in general.

Dragnet started as a radio show that moved to TV in 1951 following the adventures of fast talking hard nosed L.A. cop Joe Friday. A real law and order type guy with a nifty theme song. The original TV series ran until 1959 but rose again briefly from the dead in 1967 to lecture a new generation on the follies of their misspent youths and is best encapsulated in one brilliant minute about the dangers of LSD.

Let that be a warning to all you dopers. He's the expert.

The Homer & Jethro Project #22

#22

That's one third of the way in.

We're making some progress.

March 1953 - RCA 46-5280 - (How Much is) That Hound Dog in the Window/Poor Ol' Koo-liger

You know the drill

A side - a big ear worm novelty hit for Patti Page that makes me feel kind of stabby whenever I hear it. The Homer and Jethro version, not quite so much.

B side - Yet another Hank Williams song. He was kind of a big deal at the time even with this song that's not particularly currently politically correct. But it's old enough that it gets a pass and because it deals with sentient incel wood carvings and is by that logic just plain fucking weird enough that you really don't want to analyze it any deeper for fear of what it will really ultimately reveal to you about yourself.

It only wins if you let it.

July 1953 - RCA 47-5372 - I'm Walkin' Behind You-All / Mexican Joe No. 6 7/8

A side was another mawkish hit for Carrie Fisher's dad, Eddie. It's an old story. She's getting married and he's romantically stalking her. Which will eventually win out, True Love or the Restraining Order? Only Eddie Fisher knows for sure.

B side - A jolly little song originaly by Jim Reeves about a rascally dude who goes by the name of "Mexican Joe" who lives quite the life without a care in the world. No need to build a wall against him. He seems quite content where he is.

Unfortunately in Homer and Jethro's version Mexican Joe comes to an untimely end. It's kinda sad. I'll leave it to you to discover how fate does him in.

The Homer & Jethro Project #21

#21


We're getting closer to the long players now.

March 1953 - EPB 3112 - Homer and Jethro Fracture Frank Loesser


So this came in a couple formats, either as a double 7" ep set or as one 10" 33 1/3 rpm elongated player. I have the former.

It's our boys having a go at the compositions of celebrated Broadway Composer Frank Loesser which I'm sure you had already figured out based on the title. I will always give you the shadow of the doubt in cases like that. You're an adult, I assume..

So they have a crack at eight tunes from Frank's catalog

1. "My Darling My Darling" from the musical "Where's Charley" based on the every high school theater produceer's go to play "Charley's Aunt"

2. "Once in Love With Amy" from the same place.

3. "A Bushel and a Peck" from the Broadway production of "Guys and Dolls", but which got replaced in the movie by another song.

4. "If I Were a Bell" likewise from "Guys and Dolls" which featured Marlon Brando in the movie musical. So yeah, that happened.

5. "Baby, It's Cold Outside" (We already covered this one back in #8)

6. "Have I Stayed Away Too Long" originally recorded by Tex Ritter and later a hit again for that bland smarmy bologna stinking Perry Como motherfucker.

7. "Moon of Manakoora" from the film "The  Hurricane" starring 30's hottie Dorothy Lamour in a story of forbidden love directed by 4x Oscar winning director John Ford. This was not an Oscar contender.

8. "Slow Boat to China" which has become a lesser standard and was initially a hit for Kay Kyser. Homer and Jethro must have liked this one because they did record it more than once. This is the better version of  the two.

The Homer & Jethro Project #20

Well things are just cruising along here.

#20

November 1952 - RCA 47-5099 - Screwball's Love Song /Settin' the Woods on Fire No. 2

A side is another great original novelty tune by the great Boudeleaux Bryant about the terrible and detrimental physical aspects of love. What kind of cold soulless psychic vampire could spurn someone who's "lungs are plum collapsing over them"?

B side is another song by Hank Williams. This maybe the fourth or fifth Hank Williams song somebody who doesn't know shit about Hank Williams might be able to name.

I like to think Hank approved.

April 1953 - RCA 47-5214 - Don't Let the Stars Get Your Eyeballs/Unhappy Day

This song was the one that hooked me.

"Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes" was initially a #1 hit for Skeets McDonald for 18 weeks in 1952 and was consequently recorded numerous times by many many others including middle class crustless Wonder Bread cardigan fancier Perry Como and my personal pick by George Jones (who deserves much more respect as a vocalist. Man, could he shade a note.)

(The B side is not one of my favorites. Feels forced.)

The source material "Oh Happy Day" however is one of those extremely improbable songs that get a release and against all sense become some kind of brief weird phenomenon.

The wiki article lays it out concisely enough but the tl;dr goes. Boy writes song. Sings it at his High School Assembly. Crowd goes nuts. Boy records song cheap and primitively. Song becomes unlikely hit worldwide despite odds and shitty recording. Even Lawrence Welk takes a stab at it and scores. One hit wonder. The end.

The Homer & Jethro Project #19

So here's where shit gets tricky.
I had everything organized and numbered and then had a few more things drop into my awareness that I had to then retroactively fit into the system.

So for my purposes this is #18a but I'm going to add to my own confusion and label it here 19.

And to make it even more confusing it's a post of odditties/rarities

April 1953 - RCA 47-5263 - Jack Turner & his Granger County Gang - Hound Dog/ I Couldn't Keep From Crying

I know what the one or two of  you who are actually interested in this crap I'm posting are wondering.

Who's this Jack Turner and his Granger County Gang and what are they doing in a season's long post marathon about Homer and Jethro?

Well kids, they are Homer and Jethro recording under a pseudonym with a pair of straight songs.

The first is a cover of the Leiber and Stoller song that was a huge hit for Big Mama Thornton in 1952 called "Hound Dog" that you may be more familiar with as a cover by some other dude who had an even bigger hit with it in 1956. El something, I think.

B side is a Marty Robbins song "I Couldn't Keep From Crying" that was a Top 10 Country hit for him in 1953.

And just to make shit even more confusing RCA did actually release more records by a totally different artist named Jack Turner who released one single as "Jack Turner & his Ranger County Gang" a few years later.

 

June 1953 - RCA 47-5384 - Jack Turner & his Granger County Gang - Butterfly Love

And then a few months after I originally set this particular post in the queue I finally managed to score this 45 which pretty much completed my H & J shebang with all the stuff that I am aware of as originally released. It's the second single they put out under the Jack Turner name.

The A-side is a song that as near as I feel like looking up was done by Jim Reeves called "Butterfly Love" I think I can honestly say that I actually kind of prefer the original's tempo more than our heroes version, but there is some nice guitar work.

The flip is a straight take on "Gambler's Guitar" which was penned by Jim Lowe and something akin to a hit for Rusty Draper in 1953. They would go on a little later to do another version as Homer and Jethro where they take some of the piss out of it, but you, gentle downloader will have to wait for the 23rd installment of this shit show to sample some of that mess.

1952(?) - Radio Appearance

I'm kind of guessing on this, but I suspect this is on the Red Foley Show on Saturday morning radio in the early part of the 50's. It's kind of a cool window into the time and a glimpse at how Homer and Jethro sounded live and the jokes they used. (and frequently used again and again.)
It came on a bonus Cd with the other 78rpm transfers somebody made me years ago. Not the best sound, but good enough as a bootleg of 50's radio.

They give us a quick run through of a few of their more recent releases and call it a day like true recording professionals.

The Homer & Jethro Project #18

#18

Have to work. I'll be quick.

September 1952 - RCA 47-4936 -  The Billboard Song/Child Psychology

Two original numbers.

A side is  a nonsense song where various bits of advertising is all jumbled together as different layers of billboard displays are revealed. It doesn't sound funny when you say it like that, but it works in the song. One of the first works for H & J by Cy Coben who would write a number of songs for them over the years.

B side is a Homer and Jethro original about their childhood which probably goes a long way towards explaining why they ended up like they did.

November 1952 - RCA 47-5043 - Jam-Bowl-Liar/You Belong to Me

A side is the other song that Hank Williams sang that most people think of when naming Hank Williams songs. It was a brand new tune on the radio when this was recorded.

These pea pickers sing the words all wrong though.

B side is one of my favorites. Really.

The song is a jumped up version of "You Belong to Me" which is credited to Pee Wee King and Red Stewart, a pair of country band leaders who scored a big hit with a few pop song. (They also wrote "Tennessee Waltz" which was a huge hit for Patti Page)

The first recording of "You Belong to Me" is credited to Joni James but it would be Jo Stafford who took it to #1. (She'd also record a pretty awful pop vocal version of "Jambalaya" too)

The Homer and Jethro version has some really great lines in it that I won't spoil, but it's a keeper.