Eddie Eltman's Greatest Hit

Here's some sweet relief for all of you who have been patiently waiting for a bit of song-poem sharing featuring the fantastic sounds of Eddie Eltman! There may not actually be anyone out there who has actually been waiting for this, because Mr. Eltman is only documented (on the AS/PMA site) to have appeared on one song-poem record, and this is that record, all 206 seconds of it (that's the total of BOTH sides, not of one song!).

And a sweet little record it is, too. "Honey Bee Bug" came out some time in 1959, and it sounds much like any number of hits and near hits from 1958-59, with the exception of some hamfistedness on the part of the band, particularly the bass player. With a little sanding on the edges of this one, and a better producer, I imagine this could actually have made the charts in that era.

Download: Eddie Eltman - Honey Bee Bug
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The first thing you may notice about the flip side, "God, You and Me", is that it sounds a whole lot like "Honey Bee Bug". This track has the same strengths and weaknesses as its flip, and while I'm partial to that flip, I could see this one being just as enjoyable to others, and again, this sound could easily have been molded into something chartworthy, during the time it was recorded.

Download: Eddie Eltman - God, You and Me
Play:

I wonder sometimes about these singers who show up just once or twice on a song-poem label - what's the story there. Sometimes they are vanity recordings, made by the writer of the songs, but that's clearly not the case here, and in other ways, this record doesn't differ much from the TPA style of the day, which was to recreate what was selling (and much more effectively than some other labels did). Anyone with insight into this is most welcome to chime in!