Rum and Coca Cola is Drinking Song #8. I’ve never been a big fan of rum drinks, but I am a fan of this tune. You can read an interesting history of this calypso on Wikipedia. It was a huge success for the Andrews Sisters in 1945 and has been well recorded since. Listen to this recent version featuring Wanda Jackson and Jack White from her recording called The Party Ain’t Over (highly recommended….check out her version of Bob Dylan’s Thunder on the Mountain!).
I love Lord Invader’s version…
Here’s Arielle Dombasle..
There are lots more versions of the tune but these are my favourites.
As that group of brilliant creative individuals that I like to call my readership knows, I’ve been blogging for several years now. More recently, I’ve made a tentative foray into twitter and even the evil empire known as facebook. Still, I’m not quite a 2.0 man.
I don’t have an iPad 2 or even an iPad 1 (though I will confess to wanting one of those cool toys) and before I ever obtain one of those I’ll have to get into a new computer, one capable of say, supporting a modern browser and running “new twitter”. But my real failing in the 2.0 world is my lack of enthusiasm around the so called “smart-phone” phenomenon. I use a Blackberry at work and it is handy beyond measure. However, I don’t own a smart-phone or any kind of portable telephone device for personal use. Yep, we’ve got a land-line at home.
I’m certain if I tried to use a phone while driving I would crash my car, even using a hands-free device. Speaking of which, am I the only one who thinks people who have animated conversations in grocery stores using their hands-free device are really strange? The other day I heard this woman in the No Frills and she was going on about this and that quite loudly and she was gesturing with her hands. My first thought – she’s just eccentric or perhaps is suffering from an unfortunate illness. That’s because I’m not a 2.0 man. If I were, I would have just thought, “rude person on a Blue Tooth”.
The other thing stopping me from being a 2.0 man is that I don’t like plugging stuff into my ear. Sorry, I just don’t. Those little ear buds – forget it. I do own an iPod – one of those little “Shuffle” ones. It came to us as a gift. Since I don’t plug in, it sat for about a year until I invested in a little speaker deal that allows me to plug the device into the other device and hear music without sticking stuff in my ear.
As you might guess from the music I’m posting around here, I like records. You kids might not have ever seen one of those. Ask Grandpa and you’ll hear all about stuff like “album art”. (for those from my generation, what’s your favourite album cover?….I’m still partial to that photo of Bob Dylan and the late Suze Rotolo on the cover of The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan. For you kids out there, Weird Bob wasn’t always as old as he looks today). I even got used to CDs even though they were never the same. One day I’ll get used to music that isn’t stuck to hard formats.
Songs about drinking….what a treasure trove. I feel like a kid in a candy store. Drinking song #5 features Tex Ritter and it’s called Rye Whiskey.
Born in 1905, Mr. Ritter was both a singer and an actor – and the father of John Ritter, the actor. I don’t know too many people who know his music, but I think he was a good performer and well worth a listen.
I’d like to change the pace for drinking song #6. Here’s Wynonie Harris performing Who Threw the Whiskey in the Well.
Do I hear washboad in that cut? I love the hand-claps! Wynonie Harris was an R&B singer whose catchy rhythms were a precursor to early rock ‘n roll. Who Threw the Whiskey in the Well has been a favourite tune of mine for ages, and I’m happy to feature it here.
For Drinking Song #7, let’s enjoy a tune called Cigarettes and Whiskey and Wild Wild Women. There are plenty of versions of this tune. I don’t know who did it first. If you do, please comment and let me know. It’s easy enough for me to choose though. I really enjoy the way Ramblin’ Jack Elliott attacks a song, so here he is.
I saw a guy walking around in a parka this morning. It was seriously hot and humid but he seemed fine all bundled up. I wonder how he dresses in winter?
Sunday, we hosted a neighbourhood bbq. We invited folks on our street and some people we know on nearby streets, people we know because we have dogs and they have dogs and we see one another walking on the street all the time. Curiously, we often learn the dogs names first. It was great fun to get to know everyone better and hopefully our guests enjoyed themselves as much as we did.
Pass that bottle – Drinking song #4 features Sticks McGhee performing Drinkin’ Wine Spo-dee-o-dee.
Stick or Sticks McGhee got his nickname as a kid when he was pushing his big brother Brownie around in a wagon with a stick. Brownie had suffered polio and Sticks helped him get around. Brownie of course became very well known as a Piedmont style blues guitarist in the duo Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee. Sticks had a number of records but didn’t enjoy anywhere near the success of his older brother. He died in his 40s of cancer.
Jerry Lee Lewis also did a popular version of Drinkin’ Wine
Today here at 27th Street, I’m starting a new music list, this one affectionately titled Drivin’ Nails in my Coffin – music about drinking. This time I’m going to count up instead of down, and once again these are in no particular order.
Drinking song #1 features Tom Waits and his visit to Fernwood 2Nite many years ago, performing The Piano has Been Drinking.
Of course there are multiple Tom Waits choices on the subject of drinking, so let’s make Drinking Song #2 Warm Beer and Cold Women.
Now I’m not one who knows when to stop, so here’s one more Tom Waits tune – Drinking song #3 – that fits right into our little theme – Jockey Full of Bourbon.
This list is going to be a lot of fun. I think it might be a long one too – a testament to human frailty I suppose.
I took Friday off work and headed up to the secret enchanted mushroom forests to do some foraging. I didn’t have high expectations because the rain we received mid-week wasn’t nearly enough to encourage a good flush of tasty edibles. However, wandering around a forest always makes for a good day, with or without lots of mushrooms to pick.
I went to my most reliable chanterelle spot first and found nothing at all. It was a mushroom-free zone of the worst order. I wandered down the trail thinking I should give the whole area at least a quick look before abandoning ship. I almost stepped on the chanterelles in the picture below, as they were on the edge of the trail I was walking.
Look how well hidden they are in the leaves on the floor of the forest. Encouraged by this find, I examined this chunk of forest carefully. I found just 8 chanterelles in total. I also found two bug-eaten examples of hypomyces lactifluorum. Aha, I thought. The lobsters have started. I high-tailed it over to a nearby forest that always has loads of lobsters, but nada. So I drove to another productive lobster spot, a boggy hemlock forest. Again nada. At this spot, I was reminded that there are many inconsiderate idiots roaming this planet. See the photo below:
Who did they think was going to clean up after them?
Off I went to yet another forest. This is one I’ve only recently learned about. However, today there were no mushrooms around. It was a beautiful forest to walk through though.
Later on Friday, our pals Candy and Stagg came over, and also Behzad, another friend we’ve known for many years. We enjoyed some bbq and a couple excellent games of scrabble. It was great to see Candy and Stagg, who have been on an incredible roadtrip and recently arrived in Toronto.
There are just three tunes to go on the 27th Street train song list and I’m going to clean up that list right here and now. When I started down this road, I had no idea just how many train songs I’d find. If any of you have been following the list, you’ll know that I started the countdown from 50 late in the game. I’ve posted a heaping helping of train songs here from quite a number of musical genres. Later on, when we explore car songs, I think the complexion of that list will be quite a bit different than this one, but I guess that remains to be seen.
I should point out that these are not in any particular order, and so when I get to number one, it doesn’t mean I think it’s the greatest ever train song, although I confess to saving a pretty good one to go out with. With that in mind, lets go back to 1967 and give a listen to Petulia Clark singing Don’t Sleep in the Subway. The strings are a bit out of control on this one but it’s got a nice little hook and the curious title draws you right in.
Ms. Clark was born in 1932. She had a number of chart hits during the 60s, but I think the one most of us remember her for is Downtown, a fabulous pop song which was released in 4 different languages in 1964.
Here’s a Petula Clark trivia morsel. She was Fred Astaire’s final on-screen dance partner for her role in Finian’s Rainbow in 1968.
Now for a change of pace, here’s the Ozark Mountain Daredevils performing Chicken Train. The Daredevils are a band from the early 70s. They had a hit with Jackie Blue that you might remember. Chicken Train is a fun tune.
OK folks, I was ridin’ #9 headin’ south from Caroline, I heard that lo-wa-won-some whistle blow. Here’s the very last train song I’m going to post for a little while at least. Yes, all I do is set and cry when I hear the evening train go by friends.
Here’s Hank:
What can I say about Hank Williams. Dead by 29 of sustained self-abuse, he left behind the most incredible musical legacy. He had 11 #1 hits between 1948 and 1953 and I bet you know most of the words to all of them. His tunes, including Lonesome Whistle have been covered by many of the greats of American music.
Here’s Johnny Cash’s cover on Sun from 1957
I like this next version by Gene “Be Bop alula” Vincent, another singer who lived a relatively short life..
So, that’s it for the train song list. I hope you enjoyed it. Stay tuned for the next music list here at 27th Street, Drivin’ Nails in My Coffin, music to drink by. There’s going to be some heartbreak and tears, friends.
Train Song #3 features Dinah Shore. Remember Dinah Shore? I do. It takes a long train with a red caboose to carry my blues away, friends.
Dinah Shore was born in 1916 and lived until 1994. She had 80 charted pop hits in the 40s and 50s. She was featured on radio, she was an actress, and and she even had a television talk show. As a bonus, she even recorded a train song, giving me an excuse to feature her here on 27th Street. I don’t know anything about this song or who is playing on it, so if you happen to know that info, please comment. I do know that the tune was also recorded by Peggy Lee.
Only two more train songs to go and still so many to choose from before we turn our attention to songs about drinking (it was the whiskey talking, not me….honest).
I was counting on a good rainfall today to encourage some wild mushroom fruiting so my visit to local forests on Friday becomes more than a pleasant walk through the woods (not that I mind a walk through the woods). Where I was, we didn’t enjoy enough rain to seriously wet the ground. I have a reliable report of half an hour of good rain in the Vaughn area, which, while a little encouraging, is not enough to get me excited.
27th Street 