Speaker 1: Hudson Riverradio dot com.
Speaker 2: This is Jesse Carmicho from Room five. Hi, this is
Phil Margol of the Tokens. Hello.
Speaker 3: It's Nicole Atkins on the Rock and Roll History Show.
Speaker 4: Hey, everybody, welcome back to the Rock and Roll History
Show on Hudson River Radio. I'm Brian Horowitz. It's fourth
of July weekend and America's two hundred and fiftieth you've
probably heard, so hopefully I have a little downtime this weekend.
Hopefully you get to hang out and celebrate and do
what you want to do, hang out by the pool.
Whether your pool is Flag blue or Incredible Hulk green,
we hope you have a wonderful weekend. We thought we
would buy you some drinks this weekend to help you celebrate.
But before we hop into all that, allow me to
introduce all the cranbones joining us here tonight from the
Richter Observatory. He recently found out that Elvis used to
be a phone operator at a famous theater. One for
the money, two for the show, three to get ready,
four for sales, buy for customer service.
Speaker 2: I was waiting, where's this going off?
Speaker 4: That meil Richtor is back?
Speaker 2: Thank you very much, thank you from.
Speaker 4: The silver screen. She saw a guy walk into a bar.
He's all banged up and bruised. His arm is in
a cast. Bartender says, hey, what happened to you? He says,
I tried to climb the tallest tower in France, but
I fell off.
Speaker 5: Mercedes Kent is back out, Hey, everybody.
Speaker 4: And the host of Shaving Cream. She says, pigs dressed
in black never get bullied because Batman protects Gotham.
Speaker 6: Barbara Deel, Oh wow, Wow, that regret my choice here?
Speaker 4: Yeah, well, it's too late. I'm about to introduce you.
We have a special guest joining us tonight to fill
the void of two missing Crambones. She is the host
of Murder in the Hudson Valley with Yours Truly. She's
the host of UFO Headquarters with Mike Worden. You may
know her best here as the official hard ass judge
of the annual Pop Crambone Quiz. She was recently in
a documentary about bakeries. She got a small role. Linda
Zimmermann is.
Speaker 7: Back, but it was a good role.
Speaker 4: Is there a bad one?
Speaker 2: You're just trying to butther her up? Can I I am?
Speaker 1: I am?
Speaker 4: She's taking the time out to join us tonight, and
I am very grateful. And actually you were filming something
recently I saw on your Facebook page. Are you allowed
to talk about that or oh?
Speaker 6: Yeah, I filmed an episode for let me see if
I can remember the Mysteries in the Heartland. It's looking
at ancient Native American sites, which is one of the
things I do in the HUDs in the Hudson Valley
in this area.
Speaker 7: So yeah, that was that was fun. So okay for me,
I do a variety.
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, do you know when that's coming out?
Speaker 7: Or probably September.
Speaker 6: Okay, I'm all about the astronomical alignments of stone sites,
but I'm sure nobody listening tonight show wants to hear that,
so I.
Speaker 4: Think you would be surprised. Yes, all right, fine, we're
going to get to the news and the celebratory weekend,
and no one's better to lead us off than Neil.
Speaker 2: Yeah. It's something I'm not unfamiliar, not totally unfamiliar with
the the pastime. But anyway, so yes, you know, I
know that I've chosen songs by the Ramones numerous times
here on the Rock and Roll History Show, covering a
variety of topics well, and that's only because they really
have a song for every occasion. But this time it's
going to be a little different. Instead of talking about
the Ramones as a band, I'm going to focus on
one particular member, their third drummer, Richie Ramone, and a
song he wrote for the band called Somebody Puts Something
in My Drink. Richard Reinhardt he was born in nineteen
fifty seven. Richie played drums for several early CBGB bands
like Velveteen and The Shirts before becoming the drummer for
the Ramones. Between February nineteen eighty three and August nineteen
eighty seven, he took over for Marky Ramone, the band's
second drummer, after Marky was fired ironically because of his alcoholism.
Speaker 5: Talk about drinking here I remember it well, yeap.
Speaker 2: Now. At first, Richie performed under the stage name of
Richie bo b Ea You, before adopting the Ramone surname
in time for the release of his first Ramones album,
the band's eighth studio LP called Too Tough to Die,
and it's the first of three studio albums that he
appears on. Richie is the only Ramones drummer to be
the sole composer of a Ramone song. Now the other
two drummers they collaborated, but Richie wrote these all on
his own. He wrote several actually, including Somebody puts Something
in My Drink, which is found on their nineteen eighty
six album Animal Boy. Now. Rumor has it that the
song is based on an actual incident where he was
given a drink spiked with LSD and he was out
on a date with Frankie Valley's daughter. What could go wrong?
Speaker 8: Oh?
Speaker 4: What a night? Get it? Get any?
Speaker 2: Oh yeah?
Speaker 4: Pause for laughter and continue now.
Speaker 2: Richie recorded his version of the song for his twenty
thirteen solo album entitled entitled, which is the version we're
about to hear. So grab a glass, drink up, but
just be careful. We never know what might be in there.
Speaker 9: Somebody, somebody putting somebody another nice add on a joy
stuff it fun my usual set.
Speaker 2: To please.
Speaker 8: Spot with a joy.
Speaker 9: I don't blacket it's a colored pig.
Speaker 8: I'm actual staying scene.
Speaker 10: It's not a bier. Somebody or something. Somebody would something
in the back trick somebody or something somebody Wood chopper.
Speaker 9: Land fission, Janny thoughts film offenses many straw feel something.
Speaker 8: Come on, I can't put.
Speaker 9: You back, swam the floor, drag sack drink.
Speaker 8: Drink some more. I can't say.
Speaker 7: By what's that drink.
Speaker 10: Some fire or shopper, somebody WoT some sack and back trick,
samphire or something. Somebody wood chump say.
Speaker 2: The back drink, chambre ort, somefer.
Speaker 10: Some by wood shop say the back drink.
Speaker 8: Somebody but supper.
Speaker 2: In that say.
Speaker 10: In that tray.
Speaker 1: In bat.
Speaker 2: In my drug.
Speaker 10: I can't fonder for college break going to say for
something and drug.
Speaker 8: I feel a little dry.
Speaker 10: I don't care what your fucking for.
Speaker 7: Somebody put something in my drug.
Speaker 11: I can't think.
Speaker 12: Why what's in that?
Speaker 10: Somebody but somewhere else some night it would some sa
in Matre, Somebud Soper, somebody WoT Soffer, a major sub
cat Sper sun By, WoT Soler, Mantri sun By or Soper.
Speaker 12: In mad.
Speaker 1: In back.
Speaker 13: In Ma.
Speaker 8: Ma Ma, magine.
Speaker 4: The magic.
Speaker 10: Some fat Soffer, some viney wood Soufer, major Sam butter
boat Soffer, some Babo Solfer and Majory, some butter boat Sofer,
somebody WoT Soffer Mado.
Speaker 2: I can't tell whether he's happy about it or mad
about it, but maybe a little of both now. Richie
quit the Ramones abruptly in August of nineteen eighty seven
due to financial conflicts. Richie said he had asked for
a small percentage of the merchandise income that is, basically
you know, the T shirts, the T shirt money that
bore his name and image. Now, while admitting he didn't
feel entitled to an equal share as he was not
a founding member of the band, he did feel cheated
when the other members would cash their merchandise checks while
he sat there with nothing. Now. These conflicts were mostly
with guitarist Johnny Ramone, as the other members apparently didn't
really object, and there were also issues over production credits
as well, again with Johnny. Ultimately, Richie was replaced by
his predecessor, Markey. They brought him back after he got sober,
and he remained in the band Mark He did until
the band retired in nineteen ninety six. After releasing Entitled,
Richie released two more solo LPs, one called Cellophane in
twenty sixteen and another Lived to Tell in twenty twenty three.
In twenty eighteen, he published his autobiography I Know Better
Now my life before, during, and after the Ramones, and
I Know Better Now is another one of the songs
he wrote for the band. Somebody Put Something in My
Drink has since been covered by a number of other
punk bands, and has also been featured in a couple
of movies as well. In two thousand and seven, this
is pretty interesting, Richie debuted a classical composition called Sweet
for drums and orchestra with the Pasadena Pops, and it
was based on themes from the musical West Side Story.
So not too shabby for a punk drubber No.
Speaker 4: No elegant.
Speaker 6: Now.
Speaker 2: Along with the three Ramone studio albums, the third being
nineteen eighty seven's Halfway to Sanity. By the Way, Richie
also appears on numerous Ramone's Greatest Hits compilations, and he
also played on Joey Ramone's second posthumous solo LP and Yes,
I know You're all wondering, and I know some of
you know. Of course, I got to see Richie play
with the Ramones a few times, and once right here
in our own Rockland County in Mount Ivy, back in
nineteen eighty four, a place called the Expo and I
think they tore it down and built a diner anyway,
And I know I've seen him perform with his own
band a few times, along with a couple of the
Cranbones here many times with Mercedes, and we even dragged
Brian along one time too. I think he's almost gotten
over the shock.
Speaker 4: I had a great night. That was awesome. I got
a sign drumstick to chat with him a little bit.
That was a good night.
Speaker 2: It was. It was really cool.
Speaker 4: Now I will never reach the coolness factor of Neil
and Mercedes. Obviously I was. I made the tricycle that
was the third wheel. But that's okay. I'll take what
I can get.
Speaker 2: It all counts, it all counts, And finally, Richie continues
to perform, and he's currently one of the three surviving
members of the band, the other two being Markeye and
bassist CJ. Ramone. So remember, don't drink and drive and
go to a concert.
Speaker 4: Thank you excellent.
Speaker 5: I cannot listen to any version of that song without
thinking of a friend of mine who used to go
to Ceegb's all the time. And I don't know what
band he was there to see, but he was there
one night with his girlfriend. Now he lived down the
Jersey Shore somewhere, so when they left, they had to
drive home and they actually woke up on the median
of the turnpike.
Speaker 4: Oh my god.
Speaker 2: But they woke up intact, intact, I hope. Yeah, them
and whatever vehicles.
Speaker 5: Yeah, insane.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's that's a night of bad decisions.
Speaker 7: Somebody put something in their drink.
Speaker 5: Yes, absolutely, wow, alcohol alcohol for one, No, for real?
Speaker 2: Something oh really really?
Speaker 4: Oh yeah yeah yeah from the area. The Jersey Turnpike
at some places is like four or five six lanes wide.
And they're in the media in the Wow. Okay, yeah,
that's well.
Speaker 2: I remember they used to you know, they used to
serve tap be you know in pictures. I would for
many reasons, I never ordered that. I always had something,
you know, that was like like a bottle can. Yeah,
for sure. It just it just didn't seem like a
good idea.
Speaker 4: And in college, one of the downtown bars used to
do dollar beer nights, but you brought your own container,
and just that week, the hardware store at the other
end of the street would sell bird baths on sale,
So you would actually have guys walking around this bar
carrying bird baths.
Speaker 5: I think that's hilarious.
Speaker 4: I was DJing. I was not a bird bath participant.
Speaker 5: So how much does a bird bath hold I don't
know in pictures.
Speaker 2: It was a lot in bird bird bath.
Speaker 1: Of beer bourbon. You could take it anywhere you want.
Speaker 2: Well, I'm not going to brag, but that was the
sort of class I was in, you know, before retiring,
of course. Yeah, but I never thought of using a
bird bath.
Speaker 4: But I don't know who came up with it, but
they made the most of it.
Speaker 2: All him that if it was new, not an old
bird bath.
Speaker 4: No, I mean not no, these were new bird baths from.
Speaker 2: Swipe swipe one off of somebody's Oh god, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, well,
you know maybe after enough never mind, never mind, you
can use it.
Speaker 4: After for whatever. But yes, when you're done drinking out of.
Speaker 5: It, that alcohol disinfects it.
Speaker 4: No no, still still no, no, it could be one
green alcohol and there's still not Yeah.
Speaker 2: Well this was all before bird flew and all that stuff,
so I might have been no never mind.
Speaker 4: Yeah, birds have been since the dawn of time, so
there is no good way to.
Speaker 2: Buy your bird baths.
Speaker 7: Conversation South real fast, are you surprised.
Speaker 2: Oh, I'm sure it's going to get worse we're talking about.
Speaker 4: I'm sure, Actually, Barbara, you're up. So you get to
decide high brow low brow? Which way are we going
to go?
Speaker 2: All right?
Speaker 1: Well, all right, so yeah, the song about drinking that
I have chosen, it's called the Scotsman. We're gonna hear
the rendition by Brian Bowers, and I'm going to talk
about him a little bit later, but for right now,
I want to talk about the guy that wrote the song,
Mike Cross. He was born October twenty fifth, nineteen forty six,
in Maryville, Tennessee. He grew up in North Carolina, and
he's an American musician, singer, songwriter, fiddler, guitarist, and storyteller.
His musical works are a blend of bluegrass, Celtic influences,
country rock, folk, and pop, but he's best known for
his humorous songs. However, his diehard fans are quick to
point out that his serious songwriting is just as impressive
as his comedy. Cross was inducted into the Blue Ridge
Music Hall of Fame in two thousand and nine in
recognition of his contributions to Appalachian and North Carolina music.
Although he never achieved mainstream success, and it's unknown exactly
when Cross wrote The Scotsman, but it's believed to be
sometime during the nineteen seventies because the recording we will
now hear was released in nineteen eighty by Brian Bauers
on his album Home Home on the Road. So before
we continue with details about Bowers, let's hear its brief.
Speaker 7: It's very short.
Speaker 1: Let's hear his version of the Scotsman.
Speaker 2: Now well.
Speaker 12: Scotsman planned and killed, left the bar wan even fair,
and one could tell how he walked, and he drunk
more than his share. He fumbled around until he could
no longer keep his feet, and he stumbled off to
the grass to sleep beside this street, ringing it a
little lady ringed Lisle. He stumbled off to the grass
to sleep beside this tree. About that time to the
young and lovely girls. Just happened by one says to
the other, with the twinkle in her eye, see on
sleeping Scotsman, so strong and handsome, Bill. I wonder rivage's true?
What they don't wear beneath the.
Speaker 11: Kilt, ringing it a little lady ring nordedly eye.
Speaker 12: Oh wow, wonder rivage's true. What they don't wear beneath
the kilt. They crept upon that sleeping Scotsman quiet as
could be lifted up as killed about and if so
they could see and their all for them. Of you
beneath this god is skirt was nothing more than God
had graced him with upon his bird ringing, that a
little lad ring nordedly eye, oh, was nothing more than
God had graced him with upon his birth. They marveled
for a moment. Then one said we must be gone.
Let's leave a present for our friend before we move along.
As a gift, they left their blue silk ribbon tied
into a bowl around the bunny star. The scots kilted
lyft dunshow.
Speaker 11: Ringing did a little ladio ring nadii isle around the
bunny star.
Speaker 12: The scots kilted lyft dun show. Now the Scotsman wolf
to nature's call and stumble towards the trees behind the
bushy lifts his kilt and cock said what he sees
and there the startle boys, He says to what's before
his eyes off, lad, I don't know where you've in Budaseo.
One first priss ringing did a little ladio ring nadali
isle a lad I don't.
Speaker 11: Know where you've embudasyo one first part, okay, the.
Speaker 1: Pews of would happen if you drink so much you
pass out? Let that be a lesson to all of us.
So the song is done in a classic folk storytelling format,
with a simple narration, a memorable chor a punchline. And
it was frequently requested on the Doctor Demento Show and
often made the show's top five, known as the Funny Five.
And just to put it out there, my next show
I'm working on for Shaving Cream will be a tribute
to Doctor Demento's Funny Five. So Bowers is also known
as an auto harp player. You can find pictures of
it online, and the auto harp. He's actually credited with
introducing the instrument to generations of musicians. And he's kind
of more famous for playing the auto harp than he
is for that song. And he was inducted into the
Auto Harp Hall of Fame in nineteen ninety three.
Speaker 4: Oh he's the other guy, all right, gotcha?
Speaker 1: Which I think is almost as funny as the song is.
Speaker 6: So there you have it.
Speaker 4: Where is the Auto hart Hall of Fame.
Speaker 1: The I don't know if there's a physical.
Speaker 4: Some spare bedroom in the back.
Speaker 1: It's probably in some janitor's closet.
Speaker 4: And some building somewhere. I never even heard of it.
Speaker 1: I know, I know, I was trying to find more
info on it, but I.
Speaker 4: Mean, I'm not. I would definitely go.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you would go to the Auto Heart Hall of Fame,
and you would marvel at this gentleman howers that he
actually has his name somewhere.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you can only imagine the gift shop.
Speaker 2: Wow.
Speaker 4: Yeah, sorry, Okay, all right, thank you for.
Speaker 7: You left me speechless with that.
Speaker 1: When I'm sitting here trying to picture all the things
I could pross, possibly purchase and all, Yeah, gift shot.
Speaker 4: Key chain, it would be very very difficult.
Speaker 2: They have a whole, a whole section of Blue River.
Speaker 14: I was gonna say that.
Speaker 2: You just beat me to it.
Speaker 4: Killed kilts and key chains.
Speaker 2: And blue being being being of part, you know, part
Scottish descent. You know, I've got a whole trophy case
of those.
Speaker 14: Are they all blue?
Speaker 2: Neil, I'll never tell.
Speaker 4: That's for another show.
Speaker 2: One that was that was a loaded question. I justn't know.
It's a family show. I'm going to stop right there.
Speaker 4: Yep, And if we haven't scared Linda off yet, we're
gonna try.
Speaker 6: The song reminded me of you know, the World Cup
is going on now and the Scots keep drinking Boston dry.
Speaker 2: Yes you want to.
Speaker 4: They came over on except for the bud light. Except
the bud light. They have bud light light, Yes they would.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so last week we did.
Speaker 1: Brian hates the bagpipes, and so I went to the
other side of the coin where we have scotsman but
no bagpipes, and there you go, say thank you, Brian,
thank you.
Speaker 4: All Right, we're gonna take a real quick break and
we're gonna be back with more. So go hit the
restroom while you can and get another round, then join
us in a few minutes. We'll be right back. Hudson
River Radio dot Com. Your dad likes us.
Speaker 5: This concludes the first part of this cassette.
Speaker 4: Please turn the cassette over and begin again on side
to Hudson River Radio dot Com and welcome back. So uh,
I'm partial to old fashions myself. I have to admit,
you know, I.
Speaker 14: Tried to.
Speaker 4: Ever had never had heard about need to try, so
that that's kind of my default, that a nice porter
of stout, something along those lines. I'm not a big
beer drinker.
Speaker 1: I like the dark beer, the stouts.
Speaker 9: I like those.
Speaker 4: I would rather go with those.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 4: I have a lot of friends that love the I
pas and all that, and they smell like paint thinner
to me. I can't even try.
Speaker 2: I retired. I retired before all that I PA stuff
came out. Yeah it was. It was never you know,
it was it was imported beer, but not not, you know,
so I missed out on a whole Well.
Speaker 4: I like the crappier places, like checking out the breweries
and all that, you know, just just checking out how
it's done and checking out the local business kind of
thing that I like. But yeah, I'm not big on
all the all the weird smelling stuff. I don't know.
All right, Linda, get me out of this hole. What
do you drink?
Speaker 13: Oh?
Speaker 2: Sure?
Speaker 14: Sure?
Speaker 6: Well I had about two hours notice for this, Joe,
uh huh, And I was like, what do I know
about drinking songs?
Speaker 7: Rocking about? What I do know is my wheelhouse is
the thirties and forties.
Speaker 6: So I said to Brian, look, I've got a really
favorite drinking song if you don't mind something from the forties,
So he said, go with it. So I am cocktails
for two, but not just any version. The song was
originally written by Arthur Johnson and Sam Coslow, and it
debuted in the nineteen thirty four movie Murder at the Vanities,
which was a pre code musical if.
Speaker 7: You know what that means, yes, anything goes essentially.
Speaker 6: It was performed by Danish actor singer Carl Brisson, who,
before he became an actor singer, was a European champion
prize fighter, so that was a nice transition. Stopped getting
punched in the face and got to do, you know,
musicals with attractive women. Also in this movie was a
song performed by Gertrude Michael called Sweet Marijuana.
Speaker 7: But that's probably for another show.
Speaker 6: I'll be back when you do the Okay marijuana pace shows.
Also in nineteen thirty four, Duke Ellington did a wildly
popular version of it. It was the second biggest hit
of nineteen thirty four. Tommy Dorsey did a swing version
in thirty eight. Bing Crosby had a very popular version
in nineteen fifty five, and in nineteen sixty one Ray
Charles and Betty Carter did a very nice version of it,
so it was kind of an old standard. But by
far and away, my favorite version, because I'm a little twisted,
is from nineteen forty four.
Speaker 7: The Spike Jones and his City Slickers.
Speaker 14: Version my favorite two all right.
Speaker 6: Carl Grayson did the vocals. Spike Jones was born in
nineteen eleven as Lindley Armstrong Jones, but he was as
thin as a railroad spike, so that's how he got
his name. At a young age, a railroad chef taught
him how to play music on pots and pens and.
Speaker 7: Forks and spoons, so.
Speaker 6: He had an interesting ear for percussion instruments at a
very early age. We all know about music appreciation. Well,
he started touring the country with what he called his
musical depreciation review.
Speaker 7: And spoof songs. He really, you know, weird. Al Yankovic
is the modern day version of.
Speaker 6: Spike Jones, but Spike Jones was really the one who
I think pretty much.
Speaker 7: Started it all.
Speaker 6: His first big spoof hit was Defurro's Face, and he
thought it's a flash in the pen, it will fade,
but people just kept asking for more and more. So
in forty four, they did their version of Cocktails for two.
It was number four on the charts and the writer
Sam Coslow he hated this version what Spike Jones did
to it, but he hated it all the way to
the bank because he made a butt load of royalties
off of it. And believe it or not, in nineteen
and excuse me, twenty twenty six, this song was selected
by the Library of Congress to enter the National Recording
Registry as a cultural, historical or esthetic importance in the
nation's recording sound heritage.
Speaker 7: What why don't we play it?
Speaker 3: Now?
Speaker 10: Be given the right once again, respectively, King like several
days and then.
Speaker 2: No longer.
Speaker 4: Charming scene line.
Speaker 15: In some secluded run that overlooks the avenue with someone
sharing a delight chaplenge this bad cocktails batoon as we
enjoy a cigarette to some exquisite chancel. No, two hands
are sure too slyly me need the servian with cocktails platoon.
Speaker 4: My head made a gread.
Speaker 13: But my heart will be all The idiot.
Speaker 15: With intoxicated kiss is for the principle ingredients. Mosteady afternoon
at five, we'll be so glad we're both alive. Then
maybe fortune will complete plan.
Speaker 7: That all began with cocktails, balloon.
Speaker 2: Leto letop.
Speaker 15: Most any afternoon at fin we'll be so glad we're
both alive.
Speaker 13: Then maybe fortune will complete her plan at all began
with concass.
Speaker 7: Isn't that the ultimate drinking song?
Speaker 14: Yeah, I had to tie in some rock and roll history.
Speaker 2: I think somebody spiked their drinking.
Speaker 7: Yes, definitely.
Speaker 6: Spike was a huge influence on of course, Weird Out,
Frank Zappa, Elvis Costello, the band, The list goes on
and on a very heavy influence on Oingo Boingo.
Speaker 14: So you know, rock and roll history is not didn't
didn't come out of uh nowhere.
Speaker 4: It had precedence and absolutely absolutely to do something silly
like that or funny is so much harder than it sounds.
It takes such skill to make it sound so informal
and loose, but it's tough to end. They were doing
that in the days of opera. Mozart wrote stuff that
was funny, you know, and to pull that off is
not easy.
Speaker 2: Well, that particular recording too, that was done way before
you know, any kind of digital editing or sampling. They
had to do that pretty much on the fly live No, Yeah,
you're on yeah, luck, Yeah, so what I mean, Yeah,
it was a lot harder to create than you know
now you think, oh yeah, you're just you know, cutt
and paste and pro too. They didn't have that stuff.
Speaker 1: Oh I missed up that hiccup too over yeah yeah yeah.
Speaker 2: And if you screwed up the very last hiccup, you
had to do the whole thing. Yeah.
Speaker 5: It was up on Cripple Creek by the band that
refers to that song right in the lyrics. Yes, yeah,
where she says I I.
Speaker 2: Spike Jones on the box.
Speaker 5: Yeah, but she says I, I oh the way he plays,
but I love the way I love to hear it.
Speaker 10: Hear it talk.
Speaker 7: Yeah yeah, yeah.
Speaker 6: So you know that's sorry rock and roll history fans,
but that's my call.
Speaker 4: It was perfect.
Speaker 2: That's awesome. That's one of my favorites.
Speaker 1: I was so happy when I saw that you were
doing this.
Speaker 4: Excellent. All right, thank you, Linda Mercedes. Your turn. Oh boy,
you know it's going to be good.
Speaker 5: Well, I am taking this in a whole different direction,
and I'm not going to apologize for it. By the way,
I really liked this song.
Speaker 4: Did anybody ask.
Speaker 5: Well, I'm just defending myself before you start in all right,
fair enough. I heard the song in a step of
Robi's class of all places, and insisted that the teacher
play it all the time because the music he typically
plays is super fast and sometimes I can't keep up,
So that became my song in the class. It is
not a genre that I would typically go for, but
now I just really like it. Hibouzi, Who's the artist,
was born Collins Obina Chibueise in nineteen ninety five to
Nigerian parents. His stage name comes from a childhood nickname
that began when his high school football coach at Virginia
mispronounced his Nigerian last name and wrote Shaboozi on his helmet.
Chibwese is an Igboo word that means God is king.
His music combines country, Americana and hip hop. The song
we are talking about today is a bar song, and
then in parentheses Tipsy, which spent nineteen weeks on top
of the Billboard Hot one hundred, tied with Little Nazex's
Old Town Road. I know you all familiar with that
as then as the then longest running Hot one hundred
top Hot one hundred number one song of all Time.
Chibuz Chubwezi was born and raised in Why do I
keep pronouncing that differently?
Speaker 2: Good?
Speaker 4: That's what the coach did and just wrote it down
wrong and the helmet.
Speaker 5: He was born and raised in Woodbridge, Virginia r Junior
High School. He spent two years at a boarding school
in Nigeria and then graduated high school in the US.
Although he originally aspired to be a writer, in twenty fourteen,
Chaboozi founded V Picture Films, a film production company, with
the goal of becoming a writer, director, and producer. In
twenty eighteen, Chaboozi was asked by Duckworth, an American rapper
who I'm sure you're familiar with, to sing the hook
for the song Start a Riot. It went so well
that Shaboozi was also asked to sing the second verse.
The song, released in December twenty eighteen, was included in
the soundtrack to Spider Man Into the Spider Verse and
led to national recognition for Shaboozi. In January twenty twenty four,
he was asked to sing a bar song with Beyonce
after she heard the then unreleased song, and it was
released on her twenty twenty four album Cowboy Carter Chaboozi
has told reporters that he was exposed to country music
by his Nigerian father, who quote unquote embodies Americana while
holding on to his roots. He also said that he
was inspired by his father's cowboy style of dress and
love of country music. There's something really endearing I find
about that. The opening line sets up the story, my
baby want a burken She's been telling me all night long.
This of course refers to the Burken bag, which is
a status symbol with prices ranging from ten thousand dollars
to five hundred thousand dollars.
Speaker 4: That's ridiculous. It's a big ridiculous. That's ridiculous.
Speaker 14: What's What's it made out of diamonds?
Speaker 5: Now, it's just leather.
Speaker 4: But it was partly, Uh, it was unicorn.
Speaker 5: It's Hermes, the designer and Jane Berkin, the actress, came
together to design this bag.
Speaker 2: I don't know. It's a very big deal.
Speaker 4: Ridiculous.
Speaker 5: So the character in the song decides, because he's never
going to be able to afford one, to stop working
his butt off and go drinking with his friends.
Speaker 4: Good for him.
Speaker 14: Let's hear a bar song.
Speaker 8: Baby found burkey.
Speaker 16: She's been telling me all my lost.
Speaker 8: Grouse lease go songs five, work moody, hell do our
work so hard? I can't very bound my problem. I
can't tell you hey go when I'm gonna one.
Speaker 4: Here, here comes two.
Speaker 8: Set the three to the far, sell them bringing another rout.
We need to let anymore thro stepping on the table.
She don't need to dance for Oh mind, good lord,
say I'm gonna come here with a double shot of whiskey.
Speaker 1: They't what mean?
Speaker 10: Jack Damn's gotta his street.
Speaker 16: There's a party downtown near Fifth Street. Everybody had the barget.
Everybody had the barkin. Everybody had the barget.
Speaker 8: I've been bully since I left. I ain't changing fortune.
Tell my mind, I forget wat trunk. At ten am,
we gonna do this begin Tell your girl to bring
a friend. Oh lord, one here comes two, to the
three to the part. Tell them bring another round.
Speaker 1: We need to any more.
Speaker 8: Don't stepping on the table. She don't need a dance floor.
Oh my good lord, some I'm gonna put me up
a double shadow.
Speaker 10: His son say on me and Jack Dale's gotta his streets.
Speaker 16: There's a party downtown near fifth Streets. Everybody had the.
Speaker 10: Bar get test Street.
Speaker 8: Everybody had to bargain tip.
Speaker 16: Everybody had the bargain tips ships.
Speaker 4: Fine, he comes the two to the three to the four.
Speaker 8: When this last call in, the chickens out of the
dark skin kind of lay. But the ladies want some
morn Oh my good lord, tell him drink something some
I'm gonna put me up a double shadow.
Speaker 16: With shoe they on me and Jack Dale's got a history.
Speaker 8: There's a party downtown near Fifth Street. Everybody he had
the barket test some.
Speaker 16: I'm gonna come me up a double shadow.
Speaker 5: Listen, So the line is everybody at the bar getting tipsy.
I really thought it was everybody at the bar can
kiss me? Visual to me, it's hilarious. I find this
song fascinating because the song has a cross has crossover
appeal obviously, and give me played for a wide demographic.
It flows like a hip hop song and sounds like
a pop country song. Which which is which are the
two most popular genres of the US. Apparently, Yeah, apparently
he was influenced by again Little Naza's ex song Old
Town Road and if you remember.
Speaker 4: That one, I couldn't escape it. Whether you liked it
or not.
Speaker 14: Yeah, I have no idea what it is actually.
Speaker 4: There are so many versions of it out there, and
it was just you try to avoid it. And I
had not heard it until Yeah, once was enough. Writing
this up once or twice was enough, and then that
was enough.
Speaker 5: That song, like I said, spent little Naza song spent
seventeen sorry nineteen weeks on the Billboard Top one hundred,
and Billboard reports that a bar song is the first
single to crack the top ten on the magazines. I
don't know any of these magazines pop airplay, Country airplay,
Adult pop airplay, and rhythmic airplay charts. In those last
two formats are stations that play current pop for adult
audiences and those that play a mix of R and B,
rap and dance respectively. I don't know. There's a ton
of YouTube videos demonstrating the dance for this song. So
if anybody wants to go thine dancing with me sometime,
let me know because I've been working on it.
Speaker 4: Good to know, all right.
Speaker 5: If you I read somewhere that if you you know
in song facts, I think it was if you google shaboozy,
that the screen will tilt because it's tipsy. It didn't
work for me, but I think that's a very cool idea. Anyway,
how do you like me?
Speaker 10: Now?
Speaker 4: I like country. I'm probably more a country fan than
any of the Cranbones. I know, Linda runs away when
you say grand ol Opry, she goes no and goes
running in the other directions. Same same, Yeah, it's a
catchy song. What kills it for me is that it's
auto tuned to perfection and it just robs it of
the musicality for me. You know, it's a catchy song,
it's it's easy to learn. That's the kind of song
that you can just jam on. Anybody could pick up
a guitar, four chords and it's a lot of fun.
But that production is just too perfected for me. That's
That's kind of what the only negative thing I would
have to say about it fair.
Speaker 5: It's it's good for a step class.
Speaker 4: I'm telling you that is like, you know, Linda runs
away from opry. Guess what I run away from? So
we don't have to worry about that.
Speaker 2: Shouldn't it be for a twelve step.
Speaker 5: So everybody in the bar can kiss me? That's all
I had to say.
Speaker 4: What you wish for Get Your Bird bathkeet in Line.
All right, that was a good one.
Speaker 2: I do like that song.
Speaker 4: So all right, thanks Mercedes. One more quick break and
we have one more selection to go, so stick around.
Speaker 7: This is Hudson River Radio dot Com.
Speaker 4: Hudson Riverradio dot Com. All right, I'm going back early,
not quite as early as Linda, but we're going to
go back to the nineteen fifties. We're going to be
talking about Joseph Amos Milburn, who was born in Houston,
Texas in nineteen twenty seven. One of thirteen kids. That's
more than two Brady Bunches, two Brady Bunches and an Oliver.
He's from a black family. He started playing the piano
at age five and enlisted in the US Navy at fifteen,
back when they let you do that. He played music
in the service during World War Two, and after being discharged,
he went back to Houston and put together a sixteen
piece band and played the clubs around the city. He
was going by Amos Milburn at this point and he
dropped to Joseph. Milburn's legacy and influence comes from those
years right after World War Two. During the war, sophisticated
jazz combos and the big bands. That's what was popular.
The big band sounds Billie Holliday, Ben Crosby started getting popular,
like the Andrews Sisters with the vocal harmonies. Know Boogie
Woogee b Google Boy, that was a huge hit. Milburn
went a step further into what is called the jump
Blue style, which was louder, It was more energetic, It
was focused more on rhythm, and the singer became the
center of attention. Mostly in big bands, the singer was
just part of the group, kind of stood in line
with everybody else. Now the singer was more out front,
which is kind of what we see in rock and
roll as time goes forward. Milburn's style heavily influenced other musicians,
the most famous of which would be Fats Domino. We've
talked a lot about Fats Domino and how Fats Domino
in turn influenced a lot of early rock and roll
Jerry Lee Lewis and all that kind of stuff. So
from playing in the Houston clubs Amos, Milburn got a
record contract with Aladdin Records in Los Angeles. He recorded
around eighty songs with them. He was very popular playing
around Los Angeles, and he did well on tour with
his full band, and since the style of music was
about energy, having a good time, having lots of fun,
a lot of the songs he did were about drinking
and partying. Because go with what you Know, right, one
of his best songs and best known songs, I should say,
came out in nineteen fifty three. That is the one
we're going to come back to in just a couple minutes.
To be fair, he himself had a good time, but
he did not have a drinking problem. He just sang
about them. He did not really participate, but he was performing.
Speaker 2: So there you go.
Speaker 4: Now, around that time, while touring, he decided to drop
the band and continue as a solo act. He did
well on tour still, but after about three years of touring,
around nineteen fifty eight, he decided to go back to
Houston and reform the band. Unfortunately, now his style was
kind of falling out of favor because this is when
early rock and roll was starting to really catch on.
Nineteen fifty eight was when Johnny be Good by Chuck
Berry came out Rumble by Link Ray, both of which
put the electric guitar front and center and the piano
was kind of going to the side. The piano and
the saxophone. We're kind of going to the side. The
Everly Brothers came out with new vocal harmonies. Some guy
named Elvis was starting to get popular. I think he
probably did okay for himself as time went on, but
Milburn kept playing. His final recording happened in nineteen seventy seven,
but by then he had suffered a stroke that affected
his left side, so he could only play piano with
his right hand. And what was cool when he was performing,
other people in the band would actually come up and
play the left hand part for him, which is the
bass part and on the piano, So he would be
playing the right hand, he'd be singing, and other people
would walk up and just kind of fill in the
left hand parts, which I think is awesome. That is
musicianship as far as I'm concerned right there. Later on,
he would have a second stroke that resulted in a
leg amputation because of circulation problems, and an unfortunate third
stroke was the fatal one for him. Amos Milburn died
in nineteen eighty at age fifty two and was buried
in the Houston National cemetery now. The famous Milburn song
that We're going to Hear was one that he did
not write himself. It was written by Rudy Toomes, who
wrote a number of songs, mostly in the nineteen fifties.
Rudy himself was murdered in the hallway of his apartment
building in Harlem, kind of cut down in his prime.
Who knows what may have come after. But the name
of this song is one Scotch, one Bourbon, one beer.
The singer is in a bar trying to forget his
girlfriend who went off somewhere. Who knows. The bartender just
wants to close up, but the singer just keeps going
on and keeps ordering one Scotch, one bourbon, one beer.
It was on the charts for fourteen weeks in nineteen
fifty three, which is pretty good. In nineteen sixty six,
John Lee Hooker remade the song his way, changing the
style into a Southern boogie and simplifying the lyrics. He
changed the title to one Bourbon, one Scotch, one beer,
which is how you may recognize it. A little bit
more you may come to mind. And in nineteen seventy seven,
George Thorogood remade the John Lee Hooker version. He added
the story from another Hooker song, House Rent Boogies to
explain the story. He gets kicked out of his apartment
for not paying rent, so out the door he went.
You may recognize that line from the George thurgood YEP.
So he actually put two songs together to John Lee
Hooker songs to make what would be the most famous
version of the song. But it's two steps removed from
the original nineteen fifty three Amos Milburn song One Scotch,
one bourbon, one euro. Let's go back to the original
and check it out.
Speaker 17: One Scotch, one bourbon, one Scotch, one bourbon.
Speaker 8: One bell.
Speaker 3: Breaths the bard and listening here, I need give the trouble,
so have no f one scotchip, one burbon one. Now
I don't want soda, no bubble.
Speaker 2: Come.
Speaker 3: You got what I'm won't, so please serve me some.
Since my business been everything's lost, I'm on this kick
and I get it off.
Speaker 7: One Scotch, one burber, one b.
Speaker 17: One Scotch, one bourbon, one.
Speaker 11: Breezes the barden.
Speaker 3: Listen. Yeah, I ain't dere for trouble, though I have
no idea or one scotch, one burbery.
Speaker 17: Now my woman, she's started me on the street.
Speaker 3: I can't find her and she can't find me.
Speaker 17: She left this morning, said she wouldn't stay.
Speaker 3: She's been out all night and it's a break of day.
Speaker 17: One Scotch, one burber onondy, one scotch.
Speaker 4: One burber, one deer, being.
Speaker 3: Mistabad and listening. I ain't here for trouble, though, I
have noe or one scotching.
Speaker 17: One burber, one.
Speaker 3: Oh well, one monvanda, make it strong.
Speaker 2: I got to find my baby, for.
Speaker 8: Tics are not long.
Speaker 17: One scotch, one burbon on, one scotch, one bourbon, one.
Speaker 3: Be as debard and listen here. I ain't here for trouble,
so have no fear.
Speaker 17: One scotch, one burbon, one one scotch, one burbe.
Speaker 4: You can hear where Fats Domino got his influence from.
Speaker 2: That was awesome.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that was great. I love that kind I could
sit back and listen to that all day. It's fun
to play that kind of stuff too. So before the
emails come in, we all know what beer is fermented
grains and yeast. So what is the difference between scotch
and bourbon? Someone should explain it, and I have it
right here. The definition of bourbon. It's made in the US.
It must contain fifty one percent corn in the mash
and is aged in new charred oak barrels. There is
no additional flavoring allowed. Scotch is made in Scotland from
malted barley and it's aged at least three years in
what is called mature oak caskets, meaning that the caskets
were previously previously used to mature something else like wine
or sherry or bourbon, and it gets some of the
flavor from that. So Scott, did I say malted barley, Yes,
malted barley. Malted means the grain is soaked in water
and the grain is a lot to sprout, and then
it's dried and then it's used to ferment. I didn't
know that. I had to look that that.
Speaker 5: I didn't know that.
Speaker 4: I don't know what molten meant. So yeah, it's like
the little grain is just trying and nope, you get
dried out and then you get turned into something glorious
as far as I am concerned, and ultimately you get
made into an old fashion, which makes me very happy.
So there you have it.
Speaker 2: Well, I remember something called a boiler maker, which you
take it a mug of beer and drop a shot
I guess a bourbon in it, and then just like
drink it really fast. Yeah, yeah, that's I did that
maybe once or twice, and I was like, oh no, no,
no more no.
Speaker 5: And what's the other one?
Speaker 4: A car bum There's a few like that that you know,
designed to you know, guzzle it isn't it. There's like
a doctor pepper something, but there's a combination of two
things that make it taste like like a beer and
something that make it tastes like a doctor pepper. But
if it's about chugging, it's not for me.
Speaker 2: It took me by surprise that I'll say, yeah, I wasn't.
Oh how bad could it be? And oh boiler maker
is that's right on the money that turns your stomach
into a oh yeah no.
Speaker 4: No, I am such a lightweight that no, no, no, no,
no no no.
Speaker 5: So my question about that is do you not get
hit in the nose with the shotglass?
Speaker 2: M I don't think you could feel it after that,
but I don't remember that happening. But I was more like,
all of a sudden, I thought my head was going
to explode that. That was my pro got out, and I.
Speaker 5: Was always afraid to try it because I don't want
to get hit in the nose with that.
Speaker 2: I can understand that.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, it wasn't a country song in that
I got hit in the nose with a shocklass.
Speaker 2: I'm writing this.
Speaker 13: Down.
Speaker 4: I got hit in the nose with a shockglass.
Speaker 2: So I just stick to a Harvey wallbanger. So yeah,
that was a while ago.
Speaker 4: Is there a difference between dropping the shotglass in it
or just pouring whatever's in the shotglas? No, well they
I know, it's like I guess this is part of
the experience.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and it starts to actually churn it really, you
know it it bubbles, you know, it doesn't. Yeah, it
lives up to its.
Speaker 4: U We should have found a bartender to join us
for this one to answer all these questions. I didn't
think of that. We may have to do that next
time we do this topic, definitely, Yeah, all right, but
for now I think it's a it's a good time
to pull the plug and go out and have a
good time, enjoy the weekend.
Speaker 5: What do you think sounds good?
Speaker 10: All right?
Speaker 4: All right, excellent, So we are out of here. Thank
your bones as always for excellent selections. Linda, thank you
so much for joining us and adding your expertise. I
like the early stuff too, I like the forties, so yeah,
pah great. I'm glad you're here, and thank you all
for joining us for the rock and roll history showed
up to get to subscribe in your favorite podcast app
and check out all the other shows we do at
Hudson River Radio because there is something for everybody. We
will see you next week with another brand new episode,
the follow up two beverages. What happens next we will
see so join us then. Until then, have a great weekend.
Happy fourth of July for those in the US for
those outside the US, Happy fourth of July anyway, it's
just not a holiday for you. Look an I say,
you still have July fourth. We'll see you then, every
great weekend. Peace out, everybody, come a rock, cop.
Speaker 14: Bottom and rum.
Speaker 4: Okay, Bye bye. Hudson Riverradio dot com a subsidiary of
Glacier Entertainment LLC, potentially successful the multi hundred dollar corporations