The Homer & Jethro Project #4

Here we are at #4.

August 1947 - King 659 - Donkey Serenade/Fly Birdie Fly


Our Heroes are at it again. Hamming it up corn pone style with another popular song that the kids today have no idea existed. This time the A side is their take on a song added to an operetta called "The Firefly" from 1912 when it was made into a movie starring Jeanette McDonald in 1937.

I'd never actually looked up the original version of this one before. If you do watch the video of Alan Jones singing the original hit in the movie, it just makes the H & J version that much funnier.

"Fly Birdie Fly" is another bluegrass classic which had previously been recorded in a very different version by Roy Acuff and his Smoky Mountain Boys in 1939.

December 1947 - King 682 - Three Night's Experience/ I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now



Digging way back for the A side here. A novelty song that had been recorded by Earl Johnson & his Dixie Entertainers back in 1927. "Three Nights Experience" about a very dysfunctional marriage between a drunk and a serial liar and possible adulterer. Those were such innocent times.

The other side is another hoary old chestnut "I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now" that dates back to a 1909 musical "Prince of Tonight which premiered in  Chicago in March of that year.

Fortunately for H & J they didn't have to rely on people's memories of obscure turn of the century musical theater for their recording. At the time they made this in 1947 a film of the same name was released starring June Haver in technicolor.
 I couldn't find a clip of the song from the movie so you'll have to settle for the Dinning Sisters rocking up a fine contemporary version because once a song was a hit a hundred people tried to horn in on the action with their own versions or songs that sounded just about as close as you could get without being sued for copyright infringement.
Thankfully those days are over so we're spared a glut of wannabe Ed Sheerans.

I have nightmares like that...

The Homer & Jethro Project #3

Another day, Another post

April 1947 - King 620 - Managua, Nicaragua/Bill Bailey

In 1947 this song was a hit for Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians. He'd go on to personify being the squarest of squares and predated the animated corpse of Dick Clark as the face of New Year's Eve by decades.

B-side. Old song. "Bill Bailey" It was a big hit on cylinder for Arthur Collins in 1902 when Teddy Roosevelt was president and the top speed record for an automobile was set at 74 mph.

May 1947 - King 623 - I'll Close My Eyes/Symphony

This one was originally a 1945 English song but with a bit of a lyrical voodoo to make it less fucking depressing it was a hit for  Frances Langford who sings the shit out of it with strings in 1947.

And on the flip here we have "Symphony" and I really don't think you're going to do better than Der Bingle's 1946 version. You can almost hear the panties getting damp when he croons it.
Our heroes probably not so much. The pea pickers just play it too durn fast to make out to.

The Homer & Jethro Project #2

Homer and Jethro Post #2

Some things don't need much of an introduction.

Some things are just part of being culturally literate.
Some stuff needs to be placed in context.
There are links for the curious.

March 1947 - King 596 - Somewhere Over the Rainbow/Groundhog


Yeah, this. This isn't your 1939 Judy Garland version. It's pretty snappy and you can hoedown to it.

There's a couple of small interjections by Homer of bits of other songs into mix which are worth the time to source.

First is a little bit of "Hold Tight" originally a hit for Sidney Bechet but an even bigger one for Fats Waller also in 1939.

Second is a taste of the Slim Gaillard Trio's vouty rooty classic "Cement Mixer (Put-Ti Put-Ti)" from a year previous in 1946.
One of the coolest cats to ever grace a shellac. You could do much worse than go from here to jumping into a Youtube hole of Slim Gaillard tracks...

Once again they paired an well known A-side with a century old folk song of which there were hundreds of versions to choose. I'm going to go with the Pete Seeger "Groundhog" because the world today could use more Pete Seegers.

April 1947 - King 615 - For Sentimental Reasons/Cielito Lindo

Here we go with a corn pone version of what was a huge hit for Nat King Cole. I can't really tell who meant it more, but I'm pretty sure one version wasn't likely to get you any action...



Another record another really old tune that probably saved them a ton on publishing by being in public domain. Cielito Lindo is a mariachi tune and after that cockroach song the penultimate Mexican stereotype tune.

 Pedro Infante had this go at it in 1946 well before Taco Tuesday became a thing