Gettin' Cozy with Bobby Barton

 

I've got a really nice pair of songs and performances for the first post of the new year, on a label which is new to me, and by a performer who might be new to me. The label is Cozy Records, and while I have no proof that this is a song-poem label, there is a record of the same song-poet writing another song for a known song-poem label. Plus, I think it's at likely that the singer, "Bobby Barton", is the same singer who usually went by the name "Rod Barton", and who made plenty of song-poem records in his day (and who is the only person from the song-poem world that I've ever been lucky enough to talk to).

 

Both of these sides are bouncy, rockin' fun. My favorite of the two, by a hair, is the slightly oddly titled "I've Got My Baby On the String" (shouldn't that be "on a string"?). For just under two minutes, the band swings, the guitarist provides tasty flavoring, and Bobby gives the lyric the attitude it deserves.

 

Download: Bobby Barton and Orchestra - I've Got My Baby On the String

Play:

 

Interestingly, both of these songs seem to very much have a male perspective built into the lyrics, yet both were written by a woman.

 

The flip side, "You Gotta Quit Whistlin' At My Baby", is almost as fun. It's just a touch slower than the other song, still swinging, but with more of a bump-and-grind feel, particularly in the drums. The singer - whatever his real name - again delivers just the right attitude demanded by the lyrics.

 

Download: Bobby Barton and Orchestra - You Gotta Quit Whistlin' At My Baby

Play:

 

Please be sure to note the Ultra-Sonic High Fidelity of both of these tracks.