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Helpthe singer is Johnny Preston ...
in reply to a message by Anneza
I like the term "bathroom baritone" but usually in the US that kind of singer is called a "crooner."
I've heard the song lots of times. I don't find it offensive, or especially memorable. That style of sappy, sentimental, storytelling ballad is very dated. I would almost call it a novelty song, except novelty songs are more often than not humorous. (Think "The Streak" or "A Boy Named Suee" or, God help us all, "The Purple People-Eater.")
Many Indians did indeed have names like Running Bear or Little White Dove, or at least their Indian-language names translated into those. So, yeah, the names are cliched, but I wouldn't call them or the song offensive; traditionally, names were chosen to reflect traits of the person, or traits it was desired that the person would possess, as well as circumstances of that person's life or birth. And often people acquired new names at different stages of life. And, face it, it was desirable for males to have certain characteristics and for females to have certain others. That's just how it was.
Sappy, dated, and obviously yet another reworking of the whole Romeo-and-Juliet story of star-crossed lovers.
It probably wouldn't get produced today, not so much because it is offensive as just because it is so far out of step with current musical styles.
(Johnny himself probably didn't write it. I should look it up, but my bet is it was churned out by career songwriters and he happened to be the one who got to sing it or else his version was way more popular than anyone else's.)
Before you criticize a man, walk a mile in his shoes. That way, when you criticize him, you're a mile away and you have his shoes!
Steve Martin
I've heard the song lots of times. I don't find it offensive, or especially memorable. That style of sappy, sentimental, storytelling ballad is very dated. I would almost call it a novelty song, except novelty songs are more often than not humorous. (Think "The Streak" or "A Boy Named Suee" or, God help us all, "The Purple People-Eater.")
Many Indians did indeed have names like Running Bear or Little White Dove, or at least their Indian-language names translated into those. So, yeah, the names are cliched, but I wouldn't call them or the song offensive; traditionally, names were chosen to reflect traits of the person, or traits it was desired that the person would possess, as well as circumstances of that person's life or birth. And often people acquired new names at different stages of life. And, face it, it was desirable for males to have certain characteristics and for females to have certain others. That's just how it was.
Sappy, dated, and obviously yet another reworking of the whole Romeo-and-Juliet story of star-crossed lovers.
It probably wouldn't get produced today, not so much because it is offensive as just because it is so far out of step with current musical styles.
(Johnny himself probably didn't write it. I should look it up, but my bet is it was churned out by career songwriters and he happened to be the one who got to sing it or else his version was way more popular than anyone else's.)
Before you criticize a man, walk a mile in his shoes. That way, when you criticize him, you're a mile away and you have his shoes!
Steve Martin
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It was written by JP Richardson aka The Big Bopper. Apparently, he also wrote "The Purple People Eater Meets the Witch Doctor" and "White Lightning"...I've never heard of him.
Wikipedia says, The inspiration for the song came from Richardson's childhood memory of the Sabine River [in 1930s Texas], where he heard stories about Indian tribes.
Wikipedia says, The inspiration for the song came from Richardson's childhood memory of the Sabine River [in 1930s Texas], where he heard stories about Indian tribes.
This message was edited 6/26/2023, 4:25 PM
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drove my Chevy to the levee
But the levee was dry.
Them good ol' boys was drinking whiskey and rye ...
The Big Bopper flipped a coin with Waylon Jennings for the last empty seat on a small airplane. Jennings lost and Big Bopper died along with Buddy Holly and Richie Valens and the pilot when the plane crashed shortly after it took off. February 3, 1959, the day the music died, according to "American Pie" by Don McLean.
Bopper's best-known song that he sang himself was "Chantilly Lace."
But the levee was dry.
Them good ol' boys was drinking whiskey and rye ...
The Big Bopper flipped a coin with Waylon Jennings for the last empty seat on a small airplane. Jennings lost and Big Bopper died along with Buddy Holly and Richie Valens and the pilot when the plane crashed shortly after it took off. February 3, 1959, the day the music died, according to "American Pie" by Don McLean.
Bopper's best-known song that he sang himself was "Chantilly Lace."
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February made me shiver
With every paper I'd deliver
Bad news on the doorstep
I couldn't take one more step
I can't remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride
But something touched me deep inside
The day the music died.
With every paper I'd deliver
Bad news on the doorstep
I couldn't take one more step
I can't remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride
But something touched me deep inside
The day the music died.
2