THROWBACK THURSDAY: Yellin' for Yellen & Ager

A couple of weeks ago, I was looking up information on a song called "Crazy Words, Crazy Tune" for a possible Wacky Wednesday post, a tune that I knew mostly from '60s era neo-jug bands. I found the names of the songwriters -- Jack Yellen and Milton Ager -- then quickly discovered that the pair had been responsible for some of the most memorable songs from the Roaring '20s, archetypal American touchstones of the Jazz Age.

Yellen , the one who wrote the lyrics, and Ager, who wrote the music, were responsible for so many hits, they could be considered the Leiber & Stoller of the Prohibition Era.

Yellen was born Jacek Jeleń in Poland in 1892, immigrating to the U.S. with his family when he was five years old. He grew up in Buffalo, N.Y. and for a few years worked as a reporter for The Buffalo Courier. But even then he was writing songs on the side. He died in 1991.

Ager was born in Chicago in 1893. He's got connections to journalism also. His wife Cecilia Ager was a film critic and reporter  for Variety as well as The New York Post Magazine and other publications. Their daughter, Shana Alexander wrote for Life magazine and sparred with James J. Kilpatrick on the "Point/Counterpoint segment of 60 Minutes. Milton Ager died in 1979.

So what songs did these two write? Let's get to those.

One of their earliest hits was one called "Big Bad Bill is Sweet William Now." The earliest recordings of this were in 1924. Margaret Young and Billy Murray were among the stars who recorded it that year.

But my favorite of the early versions was from 1929 when Emmett Miller recorded it. (I'm not sure what the wedding photos in this video are, but I bet a guy named Bill got married around the time this was posted on Youtube.)



"Big Bad Bill" has several contemporary versions as well. Van Halen recorded it in the early '80s. But I prefer Merle Haggard's dandy version.



An even better-known song by this duo was "Hard-Hearted Hannah," also published in 1924. Here's a version by Lucille Hegamin.



But perhaps the greatest version ever was Ella Fitzgerald, who sang it in a 1955 movie called Pete Kelly's Blues. (And yes, you will see Jack Webb in this clip!)



Another Yellen & Ager classic is "Ain't She Sweet," written in 1927. One of the first recordings was by Ben Bernie and His Hotel Roosevelt Orchestra.



A British singer named Tony Sheridan recording this one, backed by a then-unknown band called The Beatles, in 1961 when they were living in Hamburg.



But probably Yellen & Ager's most enduring tune is "Happy Days are Here Again," a basic Chins-up-America tune written in 1929 and later adopted as the 1932 campaign song for Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The Democrat Party adopted this as it's own theme song, often played during national conventions. But, according to The  New York Times' obituary for Yellen, the lyricist considered himself a Republican.

Here is Leo Reisman & His Orchestra's version in a 1930 film called Chasing Rainbows. (Vocals by Lou Levin)



And here is the song that led me on this chase, a 1927 version by Frank Crumit of "Crazy Words, Crazy Tune," in which a nutty neighbor with a ukulele inspires homicidal fanrtasies. I still might do a Wacky Wednesday on this one some day.

WACKY WEDNESDAY: The Revenge of the Golden Throats!

Back in the '80s and '90s, when Rhino Records was actually a cool label, they released a series of albums called Golden Throats. These nutball compilations featured movie and TV stars, sports heroes and every stripe of cheesy celebrity singing ham-fisted versions of songs they had no business singing. Pop tunes, rock 'n' roll hits, country song, whatever. Nothing was sacred and nothing was safe from the Golden Throats.

Because of the exposure from the Rhino series, some of these unintentionally hilarious songsters became notorious and ironically hip. Think William Shatner -- the Elvis of the Golden Throats! -- and his over-the-top renditions of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" and "Mr. Tambourine Man." Think Muhammad Ali, whose musical career I covered a few weeks ago on Wacky Wednesday.

But there are so many more. Let's hear some of them.

Here's a little Kojack Kountry with Telly Savalas. We love ya, baby!



Jackie Chan croons the theme to CZ 12 aka Chinese Zodiac, a 2012 movie. He does his own stunts in the recording studio too.



Walter Brennan, makes "Ruby Don't Take Your Love to Town" a Walter Brennan song.



This Golden Throat, Everett McKinley Dirksen, came from the U.S. Senate. This actually was a hit record during the Vietnam War.



And the Golden Throats will never die. Just a few years ago Scarlett Johannsson recorded an entire album of Tom Waits songs. Here is one of those.



And for the real zealots, here's a Spotify playlist :

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

Sunday, May 10, 2015 
KSFR, Santa Fe, N.M. 
10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time 
Host: Steve Terrell
Webcasting!
101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrell(at)ksfr.org

Here's the playlist below

OPENING THEME: Let It Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres

Ain't it a Shame by Nirvana

Saint Dee by The Bloodhounds

Lupine Dominus by Thee Oh Sees

Little Black Submarines by The Black Keys

Pussy Riot by Acrid Fluff

Lipstick Frenzy by Lovestruck

Don't Slander Me by The Blue Giant Zeta Puppies

John Lawman by Roky Erikson

Gimme Gimme Gimme by Figures of Light

I Had a Friend by Jonny Manak & The Depressives

Bigger and Better by The Fleshtones

Spooks by Ghost Bikini

Dark as a Dungeon by The Tombstones

The Midnight Creep by Jon Spencer Blues Explosion

Mystic Eyes by Them

I May Be Gone by The Oblivians

Wade in Bloody Water by The Grannies

I Was a Teenage Kiddie Porn Star by Al Foul & The Shakers

I Got Your Number by The Sonics

Gimme Some by Sons of Hercules

I Got Worms by Archie & The Pukes

Snake Drive by R.L. Burnside

Not Enough Happenng by Hipbone Slim & The Knee Tremblers

Don't Answer the Door by B.B. King & Bobby "Blue" Bland

Troubled Mind by The Buff Medways

Crane's Cafe by TAD

I Predict a Riot by The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band

Shepherds of the Nation by The Kinks

You Are So Evil by Willie King & The Liberators

The House of Blue Lights by Don Covay & The Jefferson Lemon Blues Band

I Know I've Been Changed by John Hammond & Tom Waits

CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

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THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST

Friday, May 8, 2015 
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM 
Webcasting! 
10 p.m. to midnight Fridays Mountain Time 
Host: Steve Terrell 
101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrel(at)ksfr.org

Here's my playlist below:

OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens

Hey Mama, My Time Ain't Long by Ray Wylie Hubbard

Whole Lotta Things by Southern Culture on the Skids

Song for David J by Glenn Jones

Driftwood 40-23 by The Hickoids

19th Nervous Breakdown by Jason & The Scorchers

The Breeze by Banditos

If You Gotta Go by Flying Burrito Brothers

Brand New Cadillac by Wayne Hancock

Reap the Whirlwind by Chipper Thompson

Ain't No Top 40 Song by Terry Allen

Big Corral by DM Bob & The Deficits

Texas Whore Pleaser by Slackeye Slim

Ain't No God in Mexico by Waylon Jennings

Baby This, Baby That by Reno Jack

Old Tige by The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band

Jack's Red Cheetah by Cathy Faber's Swingin' Country Band

East Texas Girl by The Beaumonts with Molly Hayes

Between Lust and Watching TV by Cal Smith

Dreadful Sinner by Jayke Orvis

Blood on the Fiddle, Blood on the Bow by Jim White vs. The Packway Handle Band

Two Dollar Bill by Paula Rhae McDonald

Flannery Said by The Moaners

A Fool Such as I by Marti Brom

Selling the Jelly by Noah Lewis' Jug Band

I've Been Down That Rocky Road Before by Stevie Tombstone

Town Hall Shuffle by Joe Maphis

Long Walk Back From San Antone by Junior Brown

Legend in My Time by Leon Russell

Same God by Calamity Cubes

You Coulda Walked Around the World by Butch Hancock 

CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets


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TERRELL'S TUNE-UP: New Albums by Chipper Thompson & Paula Rhae McDonald

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican 
May 8, 2015

You can’t accuse Taos troubadour Chipper Thompson of flooding the market with his music. His new album, O How I Wish My Bad Heart Was True, is his first solo album in about a dozen years. And while the wait was too long, it’s a doggone fine collection of songs. In fact, it might be his best since his 1997 debut, Strange Lullabies.

Lately I’m thinking it’s his best, period.

Even though this is only his second solo album this century, Thompson has kept busy with his creative projects. He just published a novel, The Substance of Things Hoped For. He’s shown his visual art at Gerald Peters Gallery in Santa Fe. And he’s played in a number of Taos bands in the past few years, including Bone Orchard, Stray Ravens, and Kim & the Caballeros. The latter two were with his wife, Kim Treiber-Thompson.

Thompson, who’s been in Taos for 20 years or so, is a native of Alabama — and his Southern roots are readily apparent in his music. Listen to the dobro/mandolin-driven stomp “I Can Talk to Crows.” The harmonies — by Chipper and Kim — sound like something recorded at some backwoods church, perhaps after an intense round of snake handling. It’s basically a mystical brag-song, kind of a hillbilly “Hoochie Coochie Man.” One verse goes, “I can climb up a mountain like a hailstorm/And my fiddle can call down the rain and snow/I can tangle in your hair just like a bee swarm/And I can talk to crows.”

Chipper & Kim at the 2006 Thirsty Ear Festival

Although “I Can Talk to Crows” is now my favorite song here, other tunes have held that honor since I first got the album. “The Union Dues Blues” is an acoustic country waltz with a catchy, singalong-ready melody dealing with economic hard times. “If he can’t afford friends, a poor man is damned,” Thompson sings — a point well illustrated by the end of the song.

“Follow Me Down” is a slow burner that starts off with a hypnotic drone, followed by a strange but alluring fiddle solo. The first verse continues at a slow pace, but starts to build up, with drums coming in nearly halfway through. It’s quite effective and beautiful. As Chipper and Kim sing, “Won’t you sail away with me,” listeners may be tempted to sign up.

Thompson shows his Irish roots on “Edge of the Earth,” a nifty little jig about sailing to a foreign land. I can imagine some Celtic-punk band like the Dropkick Murphys covering this one.

And speaking of rockers, while the basis of Thompson’s music is folk, the boy can thunder when he wants, as he proves with some of the songs here. “Falling Off the World” begins with a brief banjo solo before the drums and electric guitars kick in. It’s an angry little tune about a romantic breakup.

Later in the album, there’s “Reap the Whirlwind,” which isn’t metal, but it’s downright heavy. “The storm is coming down, we’re gonna reap the whirlwind.” It sure is good to listen to new Chipper Thompson songs. I just hope I don’t have to wait another decade to say the same.

Also recommended:

* Broke Down Blues by Paula Rhae McDonald. Four or five years ago I had the pleasure of hearing Paula Rhae McDonald sing for the first time. It was at a Frogfest Festival, produced by Santa Fe’s Frogville Records, and she was sitting in with Bill Hearne’s band.

Basically she nailed it, singing good old-fashioned honky-tonk music — covers and originals — with grace and righteousness. That led me to McDonald’s first album, Little Bird, a fine country album that includes “Crazy as a June Bug,” which she wrote when she was eleven.

McDonald is back with a new record, a six-song collection recorded at Frogville Studio. But don’t expect the same kind of country-honky swing we heard on Little Bird. Like the title indicates, this is blues — hard-edged, electric blues.

Whether it’s blues or country, this lady is a belter. She’s believable, too. When she’s directing her lyrics at some no-good man, I can’t help but think, “I’m glad I’m not the one she’s mad at.”

Paula with Bill Hearne, frogfest 2010

With the exception of “Little by Little,” written by B.B. King, all the songs are McDonald originals.

My favorite tune at the moment is “I Won’t Go and He Won’t Stay.” (She sings, “I won’t leave my happy home here in Fanta Se.”) Also notable is the title song, which musically is softer than the others. Though when McDonald sings, “He’s a low-down, broke-down fool,” it doesn’t seem soft at all.

While McDonald’s blues songs are a kick, I just hope she hasn’t completely turned her back on honky-tonk, because she’s such a fine country singer. But she’s from Texas, so I suspect that won’t happen,

There will be a CD release party for Broke Down Blues at 5 p.m. on June 12 at McDonald’s Little Bird Gallery at the Inn at Loretto. A portion of all CD sales will go to ARTsmart, which provides visual-arts education statewide.

Award nominees: Both Chipper Thompson and Paula Rhae McDonald are finalists for 2015 New Mexico Music Awards. The winners will be announced on Saturday, May 30, at Sandia Casino & Resort.

Of course I’m still feeling stunned that the video for Gregg Turner’s “Satan’s Bride” was snubbed for the award last year. (I played the role of Satan’s bride’s groom.) But I’m learning to accept that loss — by blaming Turner.

Here's a couple of videos. 

Unfortunately I couldn't find any with their new songs. But here's some great oldies from these New Mexico favorites.

Here's one of my favorite Chipper songs from a long time ago. Unfortunately there's no visual here, but the sound is loud and clear. (And he even gives me a shout-out!)



And here's a classic Paula honky-tonk tune. (Hey, my old crony Chris Wright did this video!)