Some months back I was listening to a TIME-LIFE collection of songs from the 1950s. One of the tracks was The Impalas – Sorry (I ran all the way home)- (listen) And it reminded me of my father.
I remember his LP collection. It was full of mostly serious artists such as Wes Montgomery, Enoch Light, Harry Belafonte, Miriam Makeba, Leadbelly, Pete Seeger, plus some other folk artists, primarily from the early 1960s.
But his singles collection, which probably predated his albums by a half-decade or so, were filled with sillier fare:
Listen to The Ivy Three – Yogi; and here are the lyrics of the song performed by three dudes from Columbia University.
Listen to The Four Tophatters – 45 Men in a Telephone Booth; I bought a compilation CD of Cadence Records once primarily for this song.
Listen to The Playmates – Beep Beep (The Little Nash Rambler). My sister Leslie and I STILL know most of the words.
Listen to the Everly Brothers – Bird Dog. (This version is a demo of the actual recording, but a pretty close approximation.) It was backed with the lovely Devoted To You (listen).
There was a country single by the group called Carlisles: Nine Have Tried (and Nine Have Died), with Bargain Day, Half Off, the lyrics of which can be found here.
There was also a country version by someone performing Who Drank My Beer While I Was In The Rear. I can’t find out who did it, though Dave Bartholomew (listen) performed a bluesier version.
My sister Leslie recalls The Ventures – Walk Don’t Run, in the collection, which I don’t. The records themselves are long lost to the ages.
Anyway, it’s almost the 12th anniversary of my father’s death, and thinking about him and music was therapeutic.
4 thoughts on “The Les Green 45s collection”