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.