He'll Amputate Your Head!

First up, as I have been doing every post for some time now, I have gone back and fixed another month's worth of earlier posts. In this case, it's August of 2013. That month featured four posts, including a couple of Vietnam related efforts on Tin Pan Alley which were sent to me, the longest song-poem I've ever heard, on Halmark, a two-artist release on the tiny Spa Records label, and a swinging record on one of the earlier labels, Arco Records.

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Next up, here is another in the collection of ads found for us by Brian Kramp, this one from Virginia:

Thanks, Brian!

And now, on with the countdown:

Now if you've ever seen the Song-Poem documentary, "Off the Charts", you've seen an interview with Gene Marshall, and you've also seen him in the studio. One word that wouldn't seem to apply to him is "Mean". And yet here we have a mouthful of a title, "The Meanest Man in the World is Me", with Gene singing his heart out, performing lyrics which certainly indicate that the protagonist of the song would at least compete for such a title. 

This one is full of fun, unexpected lines, funny and weird enough that I'd really rather not give away the pleasure of experiencing them for the first time, aside from that wonderful quote in the title. So, without further ado, here's some epic meanness: 

Download: Gene Marshall - The Meanest Man in the World is Me

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On the flip side, we have a record with as timely a title for today's crisis as I can imagine, "When You Call Your Doctor". However, this is 150 complaint about sitting for far too long in the waiting room, with a bit of a punchline built in. I wonder how many other songs have ever been written about having to wait for the doctor? 

Download: Gene Marshall - When You Call Your Doctor

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Simple and Effective

Good day, y'all, 

I hope everyone out there is well. And stays well. 

Today, I have updated another month worth of moldy old broken posts, and made them shiny and new, none shinier than an absolutely wonderful early record from Norm Burns. The other corrected posts are those featuring a 1980 release on MSR featuring two of their stalwarts, a record on the Jersey label, a label not seen before or since, also featuring two singers, one of them not known to have made any other song poem records, and a nice supper club style record from Rodd Keith. 

Also, in our ongoing series of vintage song-poem ads, courtesy of Brian, here's an outstanding one, all about the "Composagraph" - no need for that fussy middleman at Sterling, Preview or Noval for you - the Composagraph will write your music for you!!!!

And speaking of Rodd Keith, which I was, briefly, before the Composagraph interrupted me... Today's feature is the first Rodd record I've featured here in nearly three months, which is quite an oversight. It looks like this:

Both sides of this record credit "The Raindrops" as the backing band, and both of which have a distinct country feel. And I must say, I am very much taken with the first on I'm sharing, "I Know". This could hardly be a simpler record. Don't let that "2:10" timing on the label fool you - this record is barely 105 seconds long. And Rodd, by my count, only sings for about sixty seconds of that time. And what's more, the song title, "I Know", is only uttered once, in the middle of a much longer string of words.

And yet... these words genuinely get to me. These are effective, concise lyrics, painting a full picture of the singers experience and state of mind. The first verse is literally only three lines longs, ending with:

"There in the debris is a part of me, I know it so well, today"

That's almost Roger Miller worthy - and there is hardly higher praise from me. The second verse is just as short, and just as good.

Download: Rodd Keith and the Raindrops - I Know
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The flip side, "I'll Never Hold You Again", lasts just about twice as long as its flip. What seems to be a simple after-the-breakup song turns out to be something quite a bit more by the end. This doesn't grab me to any degree close to "I Know", but , it's another solid song-poem country turn by Rodd and the band.

Download: Rodd Keith and the Raindrops - I'll Never Hold You Again
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Four Song-Poem Stalwarts on One EP

Happy March! 

First, here are the links to the posts I have fixed, in this case, from October of 2013: There is a fairly awful performance on Tin Pan Alley (that post also contains a link to a truly horrendous vanity release, also on Tin Pan Alley), an acetate from 1972 which sounds like it's from 1952, a very late period MSR release, which, against all odds, is actually interesting, and a Gene Marshall/Vietnam record. 

Today, we have another EP on the "Air" label, a label which seems to have existed largely, if not entirely, to release the works of other song-poem factories. Even after all these years, I have no real insight into why such an arrangement was made. Every one of the three song-poem outfits represented here had their own typical way of releasing their product, even if two of them didn't have their own specific "house" label. I'm pretty sure I'll never understand this particular side of the business.

As mentioned in the title, this particular EP contains performances from four different singers, one each from the Halmark and Lee Hudson production companies, and two from the Globe song-poem factory.

Side one starts with Sammy Marshall (Globe), here cunningly disguised as Sonny Marshall, with a song titled "God's Bouquet" one which certainly has it's lyrical heart in the right place, yet manages to stay well within a world I would call "aggressively trite". God made flowers in all sorts of colors, you see, and made people in all sorts of colors, too. We love all the flowers. Why can't we love all the people, too? Sing it, Sammy-Sonny!

Download: Sonny Marshall - God's Bouquet
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Next up is Halmark's entry, "How Much Do I Love You?", identified as being sung by one "Bob Parker", who sounds a lot more (to me) like the singer most often identified (when he's identified at all on Halmark's inconsistent releases) as Bob Storm. This is typical Halmark bombastic, over-emoted garbage, not good at all, of course, but also not ridiculous enough for me to recommend it.

Download: Bob Parker - How Much Do I Love You?
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With side two, we return to the Globe company, and a somewhat more rarely heard vocalist, albeit one who recorded extensively for the label, Joan Auburn (sometimes credited as Joanne Auburn). She's heard here with a slow countrified ballad titled "Meaning of Love". She has a warm, inviting voice, and makes this material far better than it deserves.

Download: Joan Auburn - Meaning of Love
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The folks at Air saved the best (by far the best) for last, with Lee Hudson's favorite vocalist (and maybe mine, too), Cara Stewart, singing "I Love You So". I've said it before, and surely I'll say it again: this sounds much like many of her other records, but God, what a sound that is, and what a wonderful singer.

Download: Cara Stewart - I Love You So
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