[Dixielandjazz] Re: the lighter side of PC

[Charles Suhor]

Hey, Listmates--

I’m fine with the idea that we differ on what’s good to play/not to 
play in our situations. To stretch the imagination, though, here are 
some performances that would have been inappropriate, bordering on 
creepy, if they had happened…

Pat Boone singing “Strange Fruit”
Kate Smith doing “Knock Me a Kiss”
B.B. King, “Hoop-De-Do”
Arthur Godfrey, “Oo-Bop-Sh’Bam”
Leadbelly, “Puttin’ on the Ritz”
Urbie Green, “Ory’s Creole Trombone”
Nina Simone, “Dixie”
Pavarotti, “Darktown Strutters Ball"
…oops, this is where I came in.

Those are improbable, but consider this list of actual performances…

Pat Boone recorded Little Richard’s “Tutti Frutti”
Lily Pons sang “Basin Street Blues” on national TV (I still have 
nightmares)
Perry Como rock-and-roiled, sort of, on “Kokomo”
Kenny G overdubbed Louis on “Wonderful World” (thousands cheered. Me, I 
puked)
Jimi Hendrix played “The Star Spangled Banner”
Nat King Cole sang “Hajji Baba” and “Those Lazy, Crazy Hazy Days of 
Summer”
Charlie Parker did a boppish “White Christmas”
Harry Connick, Jr. did “If I only Had a Brain” from “The Wizard of Oz” 
(as a ballad!)
Al Hirt did “Cotton Candy”
Elvis did a song in a movie about how nice it is to be flying in an 
airplane with his girl friend and a doggie. I caught this while 
channel-surfing. If anyone know the name of the tune, please keep it a 
secret. “Hound Dog,” it ain’t.

Actually, I think that Hendrix, Bird, and Connick pulled off their 
outré efforts brilliantly. The rest, to quote Dave Tough, sent me into 
a quiet, moody insanity.

Charlie Suhor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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