Category: Music

Immigration without assimilation is a recipe for disaster. We're headed in that direction. And in Europe it is even worse. But in the meantime we enjoy some tunes from performers who ditched their Italian surnames, not so much from a desire to assimilate, or because of ethnic prejudice, but to make themselves more marketable.

But first one  who didn't part with his beautiful surname.  An early manager suggested to Frank Sinatra that he adopt the stage name 'Frankie Satin.'  Sinatra would have none of that bullshit.  He did things his way. You got a problem with that? That's Life.  That's what the people say. Flyin' high in April,  shot down in May.

Joseph Di Nicola (Joey Dee and the Starlighters), Peppermint Twist, with an intro by Dwight D. Eisenhower!  This video shows what the dude, Di Nicola not Eisenhower, looked like. He resembles a super short Joe Pesci.  What Kind of Love is This?

Margaret Battavio (Little Peggy March), I Will Follow Him. An early feminist anthem.

Frank Castelluccio (Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons), Can't Take My Eyes Off of You. Deer Hunter version.  Dawn. Walk Like a Man.  (Sing like a castrato.) 

Anthony Dominic Benedetto (Tony Bennett), The Way You Look Tonight

Alfred Arnold Cocozza (Mario Lanza), O Sole Mio.  Here is what Elvis made of the tune. Lanza ditched his Italian name for a different Italian name. Are there any other cases of this? (Of course, scroll up.) 'Lanza' rolls off the tongue; 'Cocozza' not so much.

'Long about the time King Creole came out, when I was eight, I mentioned Elvis Presley to my Italian mother. "That jackass!" she replied. The irony, however, is that she listened to crooners like Mario Lanza.

Francis Thomas Avallone (Frankie Avalon), Venus.

Fabiona Forte Bonaparte (Fabian), his songs are too schlocky even for my catholic tastes. Linkage denied!

Before Bobby Darin became Bobby Darin he rejoiced under the name, Walden Robert Cassotto.  Dream Lover.  18 Yellow Roses.  You're the Reason I'm Living.

Bobby Rydell started out Robert Ridarelli.  Forget him.  Volare. "Letsa fly . . . ." Wild One. We Got Love.

No, his name wasn't Dino Martino, it was Dino Paul Crocetti.  Schmaltzy as it is, That's Amore captures the Nagelian what-it's-like of being in love.  Houston.

Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero, better known as Connie Francis. My Darling Clementine. Never on Sunday.  I prefer the understated Melina Mercouri version.

Timoteo Aurro = Timi Yuro.  When I first heard her back in the day, I thought she was black.  What a voice!  What's the Matter, Baby?  Her signature number: Hurt.

Laura traded in 'Nigro' for 'Nyro.' Smart move.  Wedding Bell Blues.   And When I Die.  These go out to Monterey Tom, big L.N. fan.  Nyro died young in 1997 of ovarian cancer, 49 years of age.

Iris DeMent and Friends, Will the Circle be Unbroken? 

Iris DeMent and Emmy Lou Harris, Our Town. 

Nanci Griffith, Boots of Spanish Leather

John Prine, Hello in There. This great song goes out to Dave Burn who introduced me to it back in '71.

Remember Fred Neil?  One of the  luminaries of the '60s folk scene,  he didn't do much musically thereafter.  Neil is probably best remembered  for having penned 'Everybody's Talkin' which was made famous by Harry Nilsson as the theme of Midnight Cowboy.  Here is Neil's version. Nilsson's rendition.

Another of my Fred Neil favorites is "Other Side of  This Life."  Here is Peter, Paul, and Mary's version.

And it's been a long long time since I last enjoyed That's the Bag I'm In.

The reclusive Neil died in 2001 at the age of 64.  Biography here.

Ramblin' Jack Elliot, Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain

Leftover Cuties, Don't Think Twice, It's All Right. Unusual, but good.

Ry Cooder, Shrinking Man. Shrinkin' man ain't gonna be here long. 

Dionne Warwick, Walk On By

Leroy Van Dyke, Walk On By.  Same title, different song.

Patsy Cline, Walkin' After Midnight

Gus Cannon, Walk Right In, 1929.  Is that a kazoo I hear? Rooftop Singers' 1962 version.

Rufus Thomas, Walking the Dog, 1965

Ventures, Walk Don't Run. The boys are aging nicely.  A big hit back in 1960.

Everly Brothers, Walk Right Back

Four Seasons, Walk Like a Man. Sing like a castrato.  Walk or wop?

Johnny Cash, I Walk the Line

Ronnettes, Walkin' in the Rain

Left Banke, Walk Away Renee

Robert Johnson, Walkin' Blues.  

Jimmy Rogers, Walkin' By Myself.  Butterfield and Bloomfield with the latter's solo at 3:42 ff.

UPDATE (4/23)

James Soriano sends this:

You may have seen this, but there is sonic evidence of the voice of a  late 19th century castrato on YouTube.  Alessandro Moreschi (1858 –1922) sings the Bach/Gounod "Ave Maria" in a 1904 recording.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLjvfqnD0ws

 

Whatever the circumstances of his castration, Moreschi was the soprano at St. John Lateran by the time he was 13 years old.  

I post what I like and I like what I post.

Elmore James, Dust My Broom

Doors, Crystal Ship

Clancy Bros., When the Ship Comes In.

Elvis Presley, Marie's the Name of His Latest Flame

Elvis Presley, Spanish Eyes

Bob Dylan, It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Take a Train to Cry, Cutting Edge take. 

Albert King, Crosscut Saw

Ray Charles, Busted.  Made the #4 slot on the Billboard Hot 100 for 1963.

Byrds, Chimes of Freedom.  One of Dylan's greatest anthems.

Buffy Sainte-Marie, Cod'ine

An equally powerful version by Janis Joplin

Hoyt Axton, The Pusher

Mississippi Sheiks, Sitting on Top of the World

Phil Upchurch Combo, You Can't Sit Down

Mose Allison, (I'm sittin' over here on) Parchman Farm

Mississippi Fred McDowell, I Wish I Was in Heaven Sitting Down

George Jones, I Don't Need Your Rockin' Chair.  Clever lyrics.

Eric Clapton, Rocking Chair. The old Hoagy Carmichael tune from the '20s.

I've saved the best for last, The Band, Rockin' Chair.  Lyrics included. Read 'em.

UPDATE (4/8)

Drawing upon his vast store of musical erudition, London Ed writes:

I enjoyed your Saturday night special as always. (Except for Eric Clapton, but I forgive you). 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lH6FgtG8Ck Muskrat Ramble by Benny Goodman and his Boys 1929.

My question to you is whether the chorus beginning at 0:17 sounds familiar. It should be. 

Benny Goodman’s boys formed the nucleus for a number of musicians who become famous as Dixieland jazz developed into swing in the 1930s. These included Glenn Miller, though not featured here, Goodman himself, Jimmy Dorsey and (I think) Tommy Dorsey. The less known Wingy Manone was also one of them. He composed Tar Paper Stomp which later transmogrified into the famous but much derided In the Mood.

They also played with Miff Mole in the wonderfully titled ‘Miff Mole and his little Molers’.

Well, as the Preacher saith in Ecclesiastes 1:9 (KJV):

The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.

The Tar Paper Stomp begat In the Mood, and, to answer Ed's question, the chorus beginning at 0:17 of "Muskrat Ramble" begat Country Joe and Fish's I Feel Like I'm Fixin' to Die Rag from 1965.

Well, it's one, two, three
What are we fightin' for?
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn
Next stop is Viet Nam.

Why Clapton rather than Carmichael? Because I like Clapton, and to irritate Ed who, for some reason, has a 'thing' against his countryman.

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Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's . . .

Have you stateside readers settled accounts with the Infernal Revenue Service?  If yes, order up one scotch, one bourbon, and one beer and enjoy this live version of Taxman  featuring Harrison and Clapton.  Stevie Ray Vaughan's blistering version. 

. . . and render unto God the things that are God's.

Herewith, five definite decouplings of rock and roll from sex and drugs.

Norman Greenbaum, Spirit in the Sky

Johnny Cash, Personal Jesus. This is one powerful song.

Clapton and Winwood, Presence of the Lord. Why is Clapton such a great guitarist? Not because of his technical virtuosity, his 'chops,' but because he has something to say.

George Harrison, My Sweet Lord

George Harrison, All Things Must Pass. Harrison was the Beatle with depth.  Lennon was the radical, McCartney the romantic, and Ringo the regular guy.

Good YouTuber comment: "Immortal song, even if all things must pass . . . " 

Easter Sunday happens to coincide with April Fool's Day this year. 

So for your further auditory amusement here are some tunes in celebration or bemoanment of human folly the chief instance of which is romantic love.  Who has never been played for a fool by a charming member of the opposite sex?  Old age is the sovereign cure for romantic folly and I sincerely recommend it to the young and foolish.  Take care to get there.

Elvis Presley, A Fool Such as I

Ricky Nelson, Poor Little Fool.  Those "carefree devil eyes" will do it every time.  

Brenda Lee, Fool #1

The Shirelles, Foolish Little Girl

Ricky Nelson, Fools Rush In.  "Fools rush in/Where wise men never go/But wise men never fall in love/So how are they to know?" 

Sam Cooke, Fool's Paradise. Sage advice.  

Quicksilver Messenger Service, The Fool 

Johnny Cash, I've Been Everywhere, man, crossed the deserts bare, man/I've breathed the mountain air, man/Of travel I've had my share, man/I've been everywhere.

Pete Seeger, Passing Through.  "Yankee, Russian, white or tan, Lord a man is just a man/We're all brothers and we're only passing through."

Soggy Mountain Boys, I am a Man of Constant Sorrow

Karla Bonoff, The Water is Wide.  Is there a better treatment?

Tom Waits, Shiver Me Timbers.  If you've read Jack London's Martin Eden, you will figure out what this song is about.

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Mike Bloomfield, Carmelita Skiffle

A bar or two is all it takes recognize the signature sound of Michael Bloomfield, Jew, who exemplifies cultural appropriation at its best. My second guitar hero. My first was Dick Dale who, though not a Jew, gave us a version of Misirlou.

Warren Zevon, Carmelita

Billy Joel, Piano Man

Don MacLean, American Pie

Gordon Lightfoot, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

Arlo Guthrie, The City of New Orleans

And the sons of Pullman porters
And the sons of engineers
Ride their fathers' magic carpets, made of steel.

Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Born in Chicago  

I was born in Chicago in nineteen and forty one
I was born in Chicago in nineteen and forty one
Well my father told me
Son you had better get a gun.

True then, truer now. Damn you liberals!

Bob Dylan, Just Like a Woman, Cutting Edge take.  I'll let the YouTubers gush for me.

Tommy Johnson, Canned Heat Blues, 1928.  Interesting guitar work and an eerie falsetto.  Sterno may light your fire but don't drink the stuff.  And now you know where Canned Heat got their name.

Hank Williams, I Can't Help it if I'm Still in Love with You. The best rendition is 'undoubtedly' that of the great Patsy Cline. 

Robert Glynn Luman (15 April 1937 – 27 December 1978) was an American country and rockabilly singer–songwriter. (Wikipedia)

He is best known for his 1960 crossover hit that made it to the #7 spot on the Billboard Hot 100, Let's Think About Living.  How quaint the reference to the fellow with the switchblade knife. It was a tamer time.

Red Cadillac and a Black Moustache

The Bard's version

Five Miles From Home

The Gun. Great period photos.

Lonesome Fugitive

Gene Vincent's version

And of course Merle Haggard's. "He who travels fastest goes alone."

Satisfied Mind 

More satisfying to my mind and ear is Jean Shepard's version.  I first heard it in 1965 in Joan Baez's rendition on her Farewell Angelina album.

There are one-hit wonders whose hits have endured and one hit wonders whose hits have pretty much sunk into oblivion, which is why you need me to prowl the musty mausoleum of moldy oldies for these moth-eaten memories. 

Norma Tanega and her  Walkin' My Cat Named Dog belong to the latter category.  If you remember this curious tune from 1966  I'll buy you a beer. 

Another example is Larry Verne's politically incorrect, and therefore good, Mr. Custer from 1960. This one goes out to that Cherokee maiden formerly of the Harvard Lore School, Elizabeth Fauxcohantas Warren.

Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs, Stay, 1960. "Woops, la-di-da."  Under two minutes!

Ernie K-Doe, Mother-in-Law, 1961. "Sent from down below."

Bruce Channel, Hey! Baby, 1962

Acker Bilk, Stranger on the Shore, 1962. If you don't remember this lovely tune, you dropped too much acid.

David Rose, The Stripper, 1962.  An instrumental from an age of instrumentals, with footage and 'leggage' of a period stripper. Tame stuff.

Vangelis, Chariots of Fire Theme, 1982

An example of a one-hit wonder whose hit gets plenty of play is Curtis Lee's Pretty Little Angel Eyes from 1961. This one goes out to wifey.

Land of a Thousand Dances was Cannibal and the Head Hunters' one hit.  Its obscurity lies perhaps midway between the Tanega and Lee efforts.  This one goes out to my old friend Tom Coleman whose hometown is Whittier, California.  He most likely listened to this song some Saturday night while cruising Whittier Blvd. in his beat-to-shit old Chevy, or else while enroute to a dance at the El Monte Legion Stadium.  "Be there or be square."

I recently discovered this masterful 1981 cover of Jackson Browne's "The Pretender."

I'm going to be a happy idiot
And struggle for the legal tender
Where the ads take aim and lay their claim
To the heart and the soul of the spender
And believe in whatever may lie
In those things that money can buy
Though true love could have been a contender
Are you there?
Say a prayer for the Pretender
Who started out so young and strong
Only to surrender.

And in case you missed it from a couple of weeks ago: From a Buick 6.  

You might have received the wrong impression from the movie, Amadeus. Salieri (1750-1825) was no slouch of a composer.

 

Sinfonia Veneziana

 

Requiem

 

Mozart versus Salieri (a scene from Amadeus)

Gary U. S. Bonds, From a Buick 6.  Wow! Undoubtedly the best cover of the Dylan number. And better than the original. Sorry, Bob. Bonds had a number of hits in the early '60s such as Twist, Twist, Senora. Cute video. The girls look like they stepped out of the '40s. They remind me of my aunts.

Beach Boys, 409. With a four-speed manual tranny, dual quad carburetors (before fuel injection), positraction (limited slip differential), and 409 cubic inches of engine displacement.  Gas was cheap in those days. 

Red Sovine, Phantom 309. Tom Waits' version.

YouTuber Tom Foyle comments, feelingly, with remarks that apply just as well if not more to Sovine's effort:

I don't know what it is about this particular Tom Waits song. Out of all the music I've heard, this is the only one that tears me up from the first chord. I'm a big boy, all grown-up. But I'm helpless to stop those tears. I've seen my fair share, and more, of pain and suffering and death, and so should be fairly immune to such sentimentality. Many songs are supposedly more tear-jerking, ("Honey" springs immediately to mind), but NOT ONE moves me like this. Maybe because I used to hitch-hike a lot? Maybe because I've seen, and been involved in, several car accidents? Maybe because a trucker friend was drowned when the ferry he was travelling on sunk? I don't know. I've always appreciated, and liked a lot, Tom Waits' compositions and performances, and yet this one song captures me completely, emotionally. Perhaps I'm turning into a softy. More likely, I'm just getting too old for this life. Answers on a postcard, please . . .

Asleep at the Wheel, Route 66. 

Johnny Winter, Highway 61 Revisited

Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats, Rocket 88. First R & R song? Featuring footage and 'leggage' of Miss Bettie Page.  What ever happened to her? She 'got religion' in the end. 

Kathy Mattea, 455 Rocket

UPDATE (1/29). A U. K. reader/listener recommends Junior Brown's cover of 409 in which the aging Beach Boys sing backup. Brown wields a curious hybrid axe, half steel guitar and half 'regular' guitar. An amazing, and very satisfying shitkicker redneck version. Check it out! Amazing the stuff the Dark Ostrich digs up from the vasty deeps of the Internet.