The "Car Crash" element to song-poems is one that is hit or miss for me. That very aspect which brings some people to the song-poem table doesn't interest me, at least as often as it does. A big exception is Halmark records, which are so completely removed from anything remotely resembling what was actually going on in music at the time (the mid 1970's) as to be completely mind boggling. At yet still, most Halmark records are a slog, for much the same reason.
Then along comes a record like "Ten Miles From the Rockies", with its match of truly ridiculous lyrics, a setting of those lyrics which was never going to work (listen to the way the lyrics are shoe-horned in at times), and the downright bizarre choice to have the singer insert a "doo-doo-doo" verse in the middle of a lyric portraying a man who was clearly in no mood (or condition) to sing a "doo-doo-doo" verse.
With that said, I'll let you discover the specific peculiarities of this record for yourself. Enjoy!
Play:
For the completests out there, here is the flip side, "Looking Glass":
3 comments:
Car crashes are right...how in the world did they do a "doo-doo" verse when the fade forces so many of the lyrics about him croaking to get squashed? Truly fascinatingly repugnant.
Bob, thanks for another Halmark release. I love this stuff but, as you say, picking them up can prove quite difficult! I've got a half dozen or so, plus a couple on their associated labels like Chapel and Grand. Just bought a Bob Storm on the P.R.O imprint and am desperate to discover if it's the same Bob who recorded for Halmark...
Well, what can one say about this masterpiece of 45-ville? It is simply a grand listen on both sides. Very heart wrenching and seriously dramatic. Thank you for these atrocities that would otherwise have gone into obscurity. I can swear that even Frankie Lane couldn't have sung these two with more conviction. This little 7" disc belongs in The Smithsonian.
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