Music and more with claudecat17 (aka Chris Davlin)!

It’s true! In today’s edition we’ll explain, in grueling detail, the origins of Tiny’s first and biggest hit, 1950’s gigantic smash “Well Oh Well”, which stayed on the charts for 21 weeks according to my secret sources, verified by Wikipedia. I postulate that Tiny was not only exposed to but directly inspired by Bing Crosby’s very whitebread sounding ode to southern California living, 1944’s “San Fernando Valley”, which was apparently written for a Roy Rogers movie, a throwaway/make some quick cash kinda effort. Songwriter Gordon Jenkins was shocked when it broke out as a hit.

Jenkins worked with lots of high caliber artists over his lengthy career, and was behind the signing and success of the Weavers, one of the first “folk” acts to sell big, with “Goodnight Irene”. “San Fernando Valley” was his first hit, launching his career. I wonder if Bob Dylan would have ever happened if this guy hadn’t signed the Weavers and started the whole “folk” music thing, sometimes referred to as “the great folk scare”, which happened a couple times, first in the 50s then again in the 60s.

It was always bad music for the most part, often played amateurishly by white people in funny clothing – like they’re playing a part, not really being themselves. On some level they seemed embarrassed by what they were doing, and who today can blame them? Most of that stuff isn’t much fun, “Charlie and the MTA” notwithstanding. I remember we learned that in music class in grade school, along with the white supremacist classic “Jimmy Crack Corn”, complete with the “massah” lyric. Wasn’t the folk crowd supposed to have been liberals? Not everything turned out as expected it seems…

Anyway, if you listen to the lyrics of “San Fernando Valley” and you’re also familiar with Tiny’s “Well Oh Well”, you’ll notice some lyrical similarities. It’s word for word, some of it. It seems pretty clear to me that Tiny was at least aware of Bing’s hit from 5-6 years before. Undoubtedly he heard in his head a way to juice the tune up, make it a hit all over again. He’d changed it pretty radically by the time it was released. It’s fun now! Almost lascivious! Raucous even! Kinda the opposite of the Bing brand. The music world was changing fast and Bing may not yet have realized it but his time on top was done. The one time king of all media was reduced by the late 60s to guest spots on Dean Martin roasts and the like, but it had been over for decades by then, that entire musical aesthetic having gone the way of the dodo.

I’ve never seen this connection between these two songs mentioned. Maybe nobody ever noticed it. The only reason I figured it out is that I was once a voracious listener to old Fibber McGee and Molly episodes. I immersed myself in that show when I made the switch from sports talk radio and lots of ads to my own collection of old time radio shows with only ancient and fun ads, like for Lucky Strikes, at times my brand of choice. Not easy to find the real ones anymore… Or even Camels. It’s as if they think pure unfiltered tobacco smoke will matter in the grand melange of carcinogenic inhalables we all enjoy without even asking. Might as well smoke ’em if you got ’em I say. There’s a reason those fellas in the band kept playing as the Titanic went down… It’s fun! The best reason, always, to do anything, including, excessive, incorrect comma usage… I like ellipses too!

So there you have it! I heard the Fibber show’s quartet sing their version of the Bing hit several times, which eventually reminded me that I’d heard those words before somewhere, which eventually led me to Tiny and the mildly shocking revelation that is the basis for this post. If I wasn’t so sleepy I’d post clips of the two tunes but you do it, okay? I’m lazy and old and can’t not listen to my body when it comes to sleep. It’s loud! Potentially violent! Ornery some might say, cowboys I suppose.

I’ll shut up now… Tune in next time for something so shocking you’ll never eat fudge again. Bet that got your attention! Fudge! Stay tuned!

Mind you, I have absolutely nothing in mind for the next post, and wouldn’t mind a few suggestions, things to keep in mind as my mind minds its mind minding duties mindfully.

Class dismissed! I accept moneys of all kinds…. but NO DINER’S CLUB!

Thanks as always for reading. This is fun! Like a Lucky and a Guiness, with your best friend talking about that time he watched Todd Rundgren fall off the stage, again. Bliss. A word or name I’m going to like even more if my intuition is right. Again, stay tuned!

Hey, am I allowed to cuss here? Let’s find out! Motherfuckers! Belly! Yes friends, at one time it was not kosher to say “belly” on the radio. Learned that from Fibber’s show too.

But my favorite OTR show would be the Phil Harris/Alice Faye show, which might get a post soon. Another show I immersed myself in for literally years. Or maybe I’ll write about the great Walter Tetley, a strange guy who was a voice acting superstar mostly because he always sounded like a kid despite his age. Nobody seems to know why, or if they do it’s so unpleasant they refuse to say.

My guess/hope is genetic anomaly, but who the fuck knows? Tetley was the mean spirited and routinely abused Julius character on the Harris/Faye show, and went on to voice Sherman from the Peabody cartoons made by Jay Ward in the 60s. I loved all that shit, even Hoppity motherfuckin’ Hooper, a goddamn frog!

Alright, I’m bailing out now… Geronimo!!!