Birthdays (June)

[Adam Blake]

Eartha Kitt! Yeah.......

I remember being outraged and then rather impressed at the scathing contempt Tom Lehrer so openly expressed for rock'n'roll. Stan Freberg was another - but ironically his vicious piss-takes of doo-wop and Elvis and Bill Haley sound fabulous by virtue of the excellent house bands he used and are still really funny today.

[Charlie]

Stan Freberg was another - but ironically his vicious piss-takes of doo-wop and Elvis and Bill Haley sound fabulous by virtue of the excellent house bands he used and are still really funny today.

Stan Freberg was played a lot on the Light Programme in the 50s, no doubt programmed by producers who shared his distaste for rock 'n' roll - which was real, not put on.

His 'Old Payola Roll Blues' is marvellous, with Clyde Ankle being prodded with an electric stick to make him go whooh like Little Richard.

'Banana Boat Song' was his masterwork.

Rhino did a box set of Stan, but 4 Cds was far too much to take.

[judith]

speaking of songwriters:

Eddie Floyd - June 25, 1925 - Alabama

...and of composers (on another thread):

Terry Riley - June 24, 1935 - California

[Charlie]

Eddie Floyd - June 25, 1925 - Alabama

I hesitate to corerect you, Judith, after getting it so wrong about Duane Eddy, but Wikipedia says 1935, which would fit my impression

But I'm not sure Eddie is of pantheon status, just because he's managed to outlast nearly all his Stax contemporaries...

When you cite him as a songwriter, what would you classify as a great song, other than Knock On Wood? I'm not suggesting he didn't write any, just can't think of them.

[Gordon Neill]

Charlie asked:

When you cite [Eddie Floyd] as a songwriter, what would you classify as a great song, other than Knock On Wood? I'm not suggesting he didn't write any, just can't think of them.

'Big Bird' (about the plane crash that killed Otis) has long been a favourite of mine, with a great driving guitar sound. But, more obviously, he co-wrote '634-5789' for Wilson Pickett. I also think he co-wrote 'Ninety Nine and a Half (Won't Do)'.

[Rob Hall]

He also wrote "Big Bird", but surely "Knock On Wood" is good enough to get him a place in a list of birthdays? I mean, who else is there competing for a listing on that day? Give the guy a break...

[Charlie]

Give the guy a break...

You are right, Eddie's in, But Lena Horne stays out until somebody comes up with a better reason than being cited in a song lyric.

[judith]

But I'm not sure Eddie is of pantheon status, just because he's managed to outlast nearly all his Stax contemporaries...

When you cite him as a songwriter, what would you classify as a great song, other than Knock On Wood? I'm not suggesting he didn't write any, just can't think of them.

I don't know, Charlie, but I think your first assessment of Eddie Floyd might be correct. Looked around a bit, and according to what sparse information (and poorly documented) I found, the songs listed above (plus "Comfort Me"," I Never Found A Girl to Love Me Like You Do", "I Love You More Than I Can Say"), he co-wrote with Steve Cropper (who is still alive). And then "634-5789" often cites Steve Cropper & Wilson Picket as the composers and does not list Eddie Floyd. Hard to say when folks work in tandem, who's doing what, though Steve Cropper did continue on.

[judith]

Up above, I meant "Ninety Nine and a Half (Won't Do) rather than the phone number one. And - it looks like Eddie is often credited as co-writer.

[Gordon Neill]

Mind you, any discussion about whether or not Eddie Floyd or Wilson Pickett should be credited as a writer of 'Ninety Nine and a Half' is a bit pointless. It's simply a rip-off of any earlier song by Dorothy Love Coates called, funnily enough, 'Ninety Nine and a Half'. One deals with the love of God. The other just deals with lurve. But they're really the same song.

[judith]

Chris Blackwell - June 22, 1937 - London, England

[judith]

4 June 1945 - Leroy Hutson - Newark, New Jersey
19 June 1932 - Ernest Ranglin - Manchester, Jamaica
22 June 1953 - Cyndi Lauper - New York, New York
24 June 1941 - Erkin Koray - Turkey

[judith]

June additions

11: 1940 - Joseph DiNicola pka Joey Dee (Passaic, New Jersey, USA) The Starliters
14: 1949 - Jules Shungu Wembadio Pene Thabani Kikumba pka Papa Wemba (Kasai, Democratic Republic of the Congo)
18: 1946 - Maria Bethania Vianna Telles Veloso pka Maria Bethania (Bahia, Brazil)
27: 1956 - Freddie McGregor (Clarendon, Jamaica)

[judith]

Recently heard "Troglodyte". Just had to add Jimmy Castor's name to the list.

2: 1943 (New York, N.Y. USA)

[Charlie]

01: 1925 - Marie Knight (Sanford, Florida)
Best known for her duets with Sister Rosetta Tharpe 1947, 1948 (their version of 'Didn't It Rain' was played on British radio in the 1950s), Marie is still going strong and made a very good album of Gary Davis songs last year, Let Us Get Together, for MC Records - www.mc-records.com