Posts Tagged ‘Fats Domino’

  
Thursday, July 2nd, 2009

Versionality: “Stagger Lee”

by Kelly Stitzel

About a month ago, while I was working on my Soundtrack Saturday post about Shag: The Movie, I tweeted that I never got sick of hearing Lloyd Price’s version of the blues folk song “Stagger Lee,” which is what Annabeth Gish and Scott Coffey’s characters dance to during the shag dancing contest at the end of the movie. In fact, I think I listened to it about 20 times just in the few hours it took me to write that post. The first time I’d ever heard any version of “Stagger Lee” was while watching Shag, and every time I hear Price sing it, I think of that scene and just want to put on my shaggin’ shoes and go to town. (Okay, so I don’t really know how to shag, but whatever.)

Seeing my tweet about my love for Mr. Price’s “Stagger Lee,” the lovely Jeff Giles asked if I’d ever heard the version by Chris Whitley & Jeff Lang. I replied that I hadn’t, and within the hour an MP3 was waiting in my in-box. After listening to it and telling Jeff how much I liked it, a discussion about some of the other versions of the song began, ultimately leading to the idea of this feature, which I hope continues with the thoughts of members of the talented Popdose staff on other oft-covered songs.

Now, much has been written about the Stagger Lee story and even about the many versions of the song; I’m certainly not going to try and rehash everything for you here. Instead I’d encourage you to read this and this, and if that’s not enough Stagger Lee history for you, there’s always Wikipedia. Rather, what I wanted to talk about here is what I love about the song and its many renditions.

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Posted in Featured, Featured - Frontpage, Music, Versionality | Comments

Monday, May 11th, 2009

Song-Off Jr.: Pie

by Matchup Monkey

apple_pie

Basic Pie Crust Recipe:

1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Crisco vegetable shortening, plain or butter-flavored (see Cook’s Note)
1/2 teaspoon kosher or coarse salt
3 tablespoons ice water

1. Mix flour and salt in mixing bowl. Cut shortening into the flour with a pastry cutter, until mixture resembles the texture of tiny split peas. Do not use your hands to try and mix it, the heat from you hands will melt the shortening, causing the pastry to be “heavy”, not light and flaky.

2. Once mixture is the right texture, add the ice water and combine with a fork. It may appear as if it needs more water, it does not. Quickly gather the dough into a ball and flatten into a 4-inch-wide disk. Wrap in plastic, and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.

3. Remove dough disk from refrigerator. If stiff and very cold, let stand until dough is cool but malleable.

4. Using a floured rolling pin, roll dough disk on a lightly floured surface from the center out in each direction, forming a 12-inch circle. To transfer dough, carefully roll it around the rolling pin, lift and unroll dough, centering it in an ungreased 9-inch regular or deep-dish pie plate. (Or you can fold dough in quarters, then place dough point in center of pie pan and unfold dough, whatever is easiest for you.)

Makes one 9-inch pie crust.

Fillings:

Warrant – “Cherry Pie”

Al Jarreau – “Sweet Potato Pie”

Fats Domino – “Blueberry Hill”

Presidents of the United States of America – “Peaches”

The Beatles – “Honey Pie” and “Wild Honey Pie”

U2 – “Lemon”

Atmosphere – “Apple”

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What kind of filling will you use?

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Last week Procul Harum kept commenter David_E from falling into a deep blue depression, as “Whiter Shade of Pale” held off a challenge from the Urban Dance Squad’s “Deeper Shade of Soul” and took home 61% of the votes.  Join us again next week, as we move on from to physical to the metaphysical and tackle the subject of Metaphorical Pie.

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Posted in Music, Song-Off | Comments

Monday, May 4th, 2009

We Wuz Robbed! Great Number 2 Hits of the ’50s

by Jon Cummings

Last year, in the midst of compiling my “Worst Number One Songs of the Rock Era” series, I began contemplating the sad, sorry fate of those records that have come up just short of the top slot on Billboard’s pop charts. After all, nobody celebrates even the greatest, or biggest-selling, #2 hit as a colossal achievement, the same way even the worst #1 hit ever (“Honey”?) is honored. You don’t see Fred Bronson compiling five editions of The Billboard Book of Number 2 Hits, do you?

Put it this way: “Waiting for a Girl like You” sat at #2 for 10 weeks in 1981, behind a bunch of fat guys doing aerobics. “I Want to Know What Love Is” got to #1 for two weeks in 1985. A quarter-century later, which song is considered Foreigner’s biggest hit?

So, beginning this week we honor some of those great songs that, for whatever reason, never got that Casey Kasem drumroll on American Top 40. And when I say “for whatever reason,” I mean it: Sure, many times a single has simply been blocked by a bigger, better rival, but heaven knows there have been plenty of payola/cocaine/label/radio shenanigans through the years that have kept a deserving song from ascending to glory. As I explored last year, the Top 40 has never been a perfect beast; who knows how many times a single has gotten stuck at #2 because some program director’s girlfriend just adored those cute Osmond boys?

Today we start with five singles that never reached the top during the post-“Rock Around the Clock” 1950s. But first, a brief explanation of my methodology for including records in this survey. Initial choices were based on quality; if one’s first response to a song title is “I can’t believe that didn’t make it to #1,” or if a #2 single seems (in retrospect) infinitely better than the song that screwed it out of the top spot, it’s here. Beyond that, over the course of the survey I’ll feature some singles that topped out at #2 during the latter stages of another song’s extended run in the top spot, figuring things might have been different if it weren’t for some amount of programming inertia at radio. After I identify my picks for each decade, I’ll list some other #2s and open the comments section for debate on who got shafted the worst.

Here we go! (more…)

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Posted in Jesus of Cool, Music | Comments

Friday, February 27th, 2009

CHART ATTACK!: 2/27/71

by Jason Hare

Howdy, everybody! I tend to stick to the ’80s when writing CHART ATTACK!, as they’re the years I remember best. But this week, I decided to pull up something from the early ’70s and see what I could find. I came across a pretty solid chart with some great rock, pop, country and R&B … and Gordon Lightfoot. Enjoy as we take a look back the charts exactly 38 years ago today: February 27, 1971!

10. Me and Bobby McGee — Janis Joplin Amazon iTunes
9. Mr. Bojangles — Nitty Gritty Dirt Band Amazon iTunes
8. Amos Moses — Jerry Reed Amazon iTunes
7. Sweet Mary — Wadsworth Mansion Amazon iTunes
6. I Hear You Knocking — Dave Edmunds Amazon Amazon mp3
5. If You Could Read My Mind — Gordon Lightfoot Amazon iTunes
4. Rose Garden — Lynn Anderson Amazon iTunes
3. Knock Three Times — Dawn Amazon iTunes
2. Mama’s Pearl — The Jackson 5 Amazon iTunes
1. One Bad Apple — The Osmonds Amazon iTunes

10. Me and Bobby McGee — Janis Joplin

The first of four covers on this week’s Top 10, “Me and Bobby McGee” was written by Kris Kristofferson and Fred Foster, and found success by two other artists before Joplin: Roger Miller, whose version reached #12 on the country charts, and Gordon Lightfoot (also on this week’s Attack), who hit #1 on the Canadian country charts. At least five other artists recorded their own versions before Joplin, including Kenny Rogers & The First Edition and Bill Haley & His Comets, but clearly hers is the version most remember best. It was recorded only shortly before her death, and when it topped the charts, it became only the second posthumous #1 on the Hot 100 — the first being Otis Redding’s “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay.”

So who is Bobby McGee, anyway? According to Kristofferson, the title came from Foster, who knew a secretary named Bobby McKee. Kristofferson just misheard him.

9. Mr. Bojangles — Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

The problem with me not being around in 1971 is that I can’t always be like, “I remember when this song was a hit.” All I can do is occasionally add some personal thoughts, like “Bojangles” is the thing we’d say to each other in college as we tried to hit each other in the nuts. And that really has nothing to do with the song. Except I suppose if we had a teacher showing us how to do it, he’d be Mr. Bojangles. (By the way, this is what happens when you’re Managing Editor at Popdose. Nobody else reads your stuff before you publish it. Otherwise this last paragraph would be long gone.)

But what I can tell you is that contrary to popular belief, “Mr. Bojangles” isn’t about Bill “Bojangles” Robinson. Rather, it’s about an old homeless man that singer and songwriter Jerry Jeff Walker met while in jail in New Orleans. The man told Walker about the various trials and tribulations in his life, and when someone called him “Bojangles,” and hit him in the nuts asked him to do a dance for the other inmates in the cell, he obliged. Walker claims that Mr. Bojangles is “a composite. He’s a little bit of several people I met for only moments of a passing life. He’s all those I met once and will never see again and will never forget.”

None of this explains, of course, how the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band managed to reach #9 — their only top ten hit — with the song, higher than any other performer who’s covered it.

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Posted in Chart Attack!, Music | Comments

Tuesday, December 9th, 2008

The Ninth Day of Mellowmas: Fats?

by Jeff Giles and Jason Hare

Happy ninth day of Mellowmas! Today, we’re sad to say that we’re skewering a truly brilliant artist: none other than Fats Domino. We really didn’t want to, but…well, you’ll see.

Jason: Jeff, I know you’re wondering why I picked this track.

Jeff: Well, yeah.

Jason: I mean, Fats Domino?

Jeff: Fats Domino is a legend.

Jason: He is.

Jeff: Thirty-seven Top 40 singles!

Jason: A brilliant piano player. A fine, fine musician.

Jeff: The man too tough for Katrina to beat!

Jason: A real rootsy musician.

Jeff: A humanitarian, even.

Jason: Go ahead. Start the track.

Fats Domino — Frosty the Snowman (download)

From Christmas is a Special Day (formerly Christmas Gumbo)  Amazon iTunes

Jeff: Hmm. There seems to be some kind of mistake.

Jason: Hey, we have Fats Domino in the studio! I know what we’ll do! We’ll have him sing to a DRUM MACHINE!

Jeff: And take away his piano!

Jason: SERIOUSLY! I mean, the horns are real, so we have that. But that’s about it.

Jeff: Are we sure this is Fats Domino?

Jason: It is! His vocal is okay. He sounds a bit like Shirley Q. Liquor, but the vocal’s not bad. I’m just appalled that they gave him this idiotic track.

Jeff: Ha ha ha! Shirley Q. Liquor!

Jason: I mean, it’s Fats Domino! Show some fucking respect, you know?

Jeff: Damn straight!

Jason: I mean, the bass part is right off a Casio.

Jeff: This is bullshit.

Jason: I agree.

Jeff: I blame Daryl Dragon.

Jason: Fats deserves better, doesn’t he? I just found a blog post where people just gush over this track. How can you gush over this track?

Jeff: This is one of the lamest versions of this song I have ever heard, and it’s a pretty lame song to begin with.

Jeff: I think I found the post you’re talking about. “The Fat Man Plays It Smooth for Frosty.”

Jason: That’s the one.

Jeff: “A nice, gently funky groove”?

Jason: And the version they have there is a bit different. It’s in a different key with a different intro, but the track is exactly the same. Which means either that guy’s version is slow or ours is fast. But the backing track remains the same.

Jeff: I haven’t found any other information.

Jason: I never thought this day would come — a day when a respected, genius artist like Fats Domino would wind up being part of Mellowmas. I’m getting angrier and angrier by the minute. Who produced this? What did Fats ever do to these guys? Can we light their house on fire?

Jeff:Perhaps it’s best if we listen to anything else by Fats Domino.

Jason: Even if it’s not Christmas.

Jeff: Absolutely. I’d rather hear Richie Cunningham singing “Blueberry Hill” at this point.

Oh my God, look at this.

Jason: Wow. It gets stellar reviews! Released in ‘93?

Jeff: One commenter describes it as “chocolate frosting on an already yummy musical cake,” or something like that. Fats has awful, awful fans.

Jason: Am I crazy here? Be honest. Because everybody seems to love this, and I don’t get it. I mean, where’s the PIANO?

Jeff: I’ve had it on a loop since we started talking about it, and I’m probably not the best person to judge anyone’s sanity at this point. I’m terribly disillusioned.

Jason: Yeah, I know.

Jeff: Fats cut an entire Christmas album, and this was on it. He must have wanted to do it.

Jason: I’m sorry. I didn’t want to do this to you. Or anybody else.
I love Fats.

Jeff: Well, look at the bright side — everyone else will probably love it.

Jason: Okay. So if our readers love it, are you going to jump to their side or are you standing strong with me on the “what the shit is this?” side?

Jeff: It just started in my headphones again. I’m definitely standing strong. This sucks.

Jason: Thank you. Hippity hop hop.

Jeff: I hope you had massive gambling debts, Fats. Or were behind on your child support payments or something. ANYTHING.

Jason: I’m afraid the reason was like, “I love Christmas, and I think the technology in some of these new 48-note Casios is just stunning.”

Jeff: Sigh

Jason: Or “I love Christmas, and I thought, who needs real drums? Or bass? Or piano?” I’m just sad now.

Jeff: It’s starting again.

Jason: I’m going back to watching a video of “Ain’t That a Shame.”

Jeff: I’m going to claw my headphones off and go lie down for awhile. Thanks for passing this along, you fucker.

Jason: Hippity hop hop, buddy.

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Posted in Mellow Gold, Music | Comments