Caveman, Christ and the Drifter

Today, we have a 1964 single on the tiny Caveman label, featuring two singers I've never featured before. in fact, I've never owned records by them before, and they barely turn up among the documented song-poem releases. First up, and just in time for Easter, is Drake Morgan with "The Christ Story". The most curious thing about this song, to me, is that lyricist Ned Williams (who wrote the words for both sides of this record) seemingly had no issue with lifting the words directly out of the hit song "The Three Bells", and nonsensically suggesting that they were spoken by The Three Wise Men (that'd be a good trick, since those lyrics reference The Lord's Prayer, which wasn't spoken by Jesus until adulthood, to say nothing of the fact that they also refer to the singers of those words as being a "congregation").

The rest of the song is a sort of "The Gospels' Greatest Hits"; quick summaries of a few high points, captured in fairly clunky verse, at least when set to this particular music. One wonders (well I wonder) if the writer of this lyric was of the fundamentalist persuasion, and if so, if he objected to the song's release on a label named after Cavemen, something that such a person would presumably believe never existed.

Download: Drake Morgan - The Christ Story
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More fun by far is the flip side, "The Drifter", subtitled "(Western Opera)" and warbled for us by Monty Mathis (perhaps Johnny's less successful brother?). I actually find this one fairly catchy, perhaps because it is, at certain moments, very reminiscent of a very memorable song, "The Last Round-Up", which was originally a hit in 1933. Anyway, this bounces along with a warm, well played western-type backing track, and Monty does what's needed. The lyrics are engaging and the melody sells itself, too. I dig it.

Download: Monty Mathis - The Drifter (Western Opera)
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