# Anomalous 1950s Music



## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

This is triggered by both regenmusic's desire to explore anomalous 1950s music, and SalieriIsInnocent's stated love of all sorts of 1950s music. For starters, I offer one of Frankie Lane's more melodramatic and atmospheric classics from that era, _Swamp Girl_.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

I'll add another anomaly, Chuck Berry's _Downbound Train_. This is way out of Chuck's usual groove, and reminds me of another such cautionary tale of warning and urged redemption that first aired in 1949, Ghost Riders in the Sky. This latter was first sung by Burl Ives, then more popularly by Vaughn Monroe. Johnny Cash and a host of others also later covered it. Sinners, Have a Care!


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

Strange Magic said:


> This is triggered by both regenmusic's desire to explore anomalous 1950s music, and SalieriIsInnocent's stated love of all sorts of 1950s music. For starters, I offer one of Frankie Lane's more melodramatic and atmospheric classics from that era, _Swamp Girl_.


but... it says 1962


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

anyway talking of ghost stories there's the interesting Chicken road, sung by Lucy Ann Polk.






Musically it's not so unconventional (but it can fit with examples above), but I really like it especially for the lyrics, and I think the lyrics are unusual for the period

_
Once I got a splinter in the joint of my little toe
And a garter snake bit my knee by the bend of the little St. Joe
Honey that's Missouri, the land of the dust and the toad
It's a wonderful town, Chicken Road

Once I had a scorpion on the lobe of my good right ear
And I lived with my great-great grandma
Who could hear what she wanted to hear
Honey that's Missouri, the land where the sky overflows
It's a wonderful town, Chicken Road

Beasts of burden, nip at their hay
And a poolroom banjo playin' to the close of every day
Night so quiet, you could hear a mouse
Tippin' through the parlor of a boarding house

Once I got a sunburn on the back of my itchin' neck
Went for a ride in a Model-T and I died in a beautiful wreck
Honey that's Missouri, the land that the Lord never knowed
Yes, it's a wonderful town, Chicken Road_


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

norman bates said:


> but... it says 1962


Lane's original version reached Number 12 in the 1950 Billboard Hits chart. That's also on YouTube, and it sounds almost identical to the 1962 version. Frankie Lane did several interesting "regional" tunes in the late 1940s-early 1950s: Mule Train, Wild Goose.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Frankie Lane also sang the title song for _Blazing Saddles_. He admitted that he didn't know it was a satire.


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## Chronochromie (May 17, 2014)

Maybe not what you were looking for, but:


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## regenmusic (Oct 23, 2014)

Chronochromie said:


> Maybe not what you were looking for, but:


Wow, recorded with real Martians!


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Chronochromie said:


> Maybe not what you were looking for, but:


A remarkable find! There were many unusual trends throughout the late 1940s through the 1960s, as if part of popular music was feeling its way out of the certainties and predictability of Tin Pan Alley and Broadway tunes.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

A true 1950s anomaly was the astonishing appearance of the Peruvian 5-octave phenomenon, Yma Sumac. Her first record, Voice of the Xtabay, was a sensation in my household. As an expression of supposed Incan music, it is of very dubious provenance. But it was a glimpse into an exotic musical world, and a display of Sumac's amazing range. Some skeptics at the time supposed her to be really one Amy Camus, of unknown origin, but she turned out to be as advertised. This selection is _Virgin of the Sun God_, from the Xtabay album. It is wrongly captioned "Virgin of the Sound God", reminding us that error is everywhere about us. Check out the other YouTube Xtabay excerpts for more wonders from that disk.


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## regenmusic (Oct 23, 2014)

Strange Magic said:


> A remarkable find! There were many unusual trends throughout the late 1940s through the 1960s, as if part of popular music was feeling its way out of the certainties and predictability of Tin Pan Alley and Broadway tunes.


This is true....I know the exotica field brings out some interesting things. It's interesting that both Meek and Spector both had similar crimes at the end of their careers. I would probably have never of heard of Joe Meek if not for this thread.


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