the tunes have moved

The hearing double tunes are now incorporated into my other blog. It's over here.

There Stands The Glass

Well, I kinda messed this one up. After setting up this post, I find that my copy of Webb Pierce's "There Stands The Glass" was an WMA file and not MP3. "The Box" can't handle WMA. But I guess that's not such a big deal: Webb's version was #1 on the country charts in 1953 so I think all you folks have heard it a million times before.
So instead, we have a bunch of more contemporary versions. I reckon that the oldest would be The Country Rockers' inspired amateurism from about 1990. The Hickoids (from Austin, Texas) bring us the cow-punk version. David Ball is a contemporary singer who trys for that "old timey" sound. And Jan Vardoen brings his version all the way from Norway.
Plus we have a YouTube video showing that the song is still mighty popular with the trendy set just like it was back in '53.

Wabash Cannonball

Seems like only yesterday but it's actually been 25 years since Rank & File played this one on Austin City Limits and thus brought cow-punk to the masses. Marking the occasion we have 3 versions here for your listening pleasure. The proper way to play this song is demonstrated by Hank Thompson. Adding a little showbiz pizzazz is fake-hillbilly Judy Canova. Then there's Dicky Doo & The Don'ts: the music in behind that diatribe sounds kinda like The Wabash Cannonball. The vocal however is a recitation by Dicky about how he's gonna punch out his girlfriend's teeth! Yech.
An interesting article about the Cannoball can be found on Utah Phillips' site.
On the video, a Russian takes a stab at it: Andrei Didorenko on fiddle

Guantanamera

Another one that everyone knows. And just to prove it we have versions from Canada (Les Milady's), the USA (Arlen Roth), Argentina (Crosstown Traffic), France (Los Machucambos), Hong Kong (Bei Lei) and even Cuba (Joseito Fernandez). Fernandez' version is the original one. Later the lyrics were changed (from a poem by Jose Marti) to create the Guantanamera we know today.
Pictured, the fellow who got this whole Guantanamera thing rolling: Joseito Fernandez
On the video, the fellow who changed Guantanamera from a Cuban favourite to a world favourite: Pete Seeger.

(I'll Be Glad When You're Dead) You Rascal You

During the building of my previous post, I noticed that Charles "Cow Cow" Davenport had claimed that he wrote the song "You Rascal You". He claims to have sold it for cash and that's why he's not credited.
I first heard this song back in the early 70s when I was watching the movie "If I Had A Million". There is a scene where a millionaire is lying at death's door upstairs while downstairs someone has decided to crank up the phonograph. And to add insult to injury the record they pick to play is "I'll Be Glad When You're Dead You Rascal You". I thought that that was a hoot (and I thought that it was Louis Armstrong singing but IMDB claims that it's an unidentified vocalist). Shortly thereafter, I puchased a Louis Armstrong LP because that song was on it.
Fast forward to today. Currently I have a Louis Jordan/Louis Armstrong duet, a Jack Teagarden (from 1931) and The Mills Brothers. It was off to eMusic to maybe find a few more. After a whole stack of previews I've decided on three more contemporary versions: Jerry Portnoy (harmonica player), Skinnerbox (who add a little ska) and Wild Wax Combo (who add a little rockabilly).
Pictured is 7 year old Sammy Davis Jr singing this song from the movie "Rufus Jones For President" (1933).
On the video, it's Louis Armstrong again, this time with Betty Boop.

Mama Don't Allow

It's back to those old-timey songs again. I just love the Ink Spots (pictured) version of this one. I also had the Kirby Allan rock'n'roll version so I went over to eMusic to see what else I could find. They had a whole raft of 'em there so I listened to a ton of previews and downloaded the pick of the litter for ya.
Quite a few different people claim composer credit here but the majority vote seems to go to Charles "Cow Cow" Davenport (pictured). But just to be sure I checked the Muppets show where Dudley Moore sings it and Kermit The Frog does say that Davenport was the composer - that confirms it.
On the video we have Bing Crosby rockin' out with Jose Feliciano. I know the picture quality is Grade Z on this one but it's worth it to watch the Feliciano guitar pyrotechnics.

Light My Fire

I'm pretty sure nobody listens to the songs here at HearingDouble because "The Box" takes so darn long to open! Well, maybe there are other reasons too. Today, it's cringe time as we drag out one of the stalwarts of "classic rock". Cringeworthy because we're not playing The Doors original version. Nor even the Jose Feliciano second fiddle version. To start off we have Ananda Shankar - sitars and a moog - thumbs up. Then how ubout some soul (Jackie Wilson) and funk (Erma Franklin)? Not bad. I kinda like the Jackie Wilson better even though Erma is a personal favourite. Friend 'n Fellow? Well, I guess it's OK for just guitar and vocal. Besides these two are much too young to remember the 60s - and they're from Germany too. That just leaves the three that any Classic Rock fan just has to hate. How about The Vitamin String Quartet? eMusic now lists 243 albums by these guys. They're more prolific than "The 101 Strings" and James Last rolled together! The VSQ - perfect for people who wanna hear all the latest rock tunes but don't wanna listen to that awful racket. Then we have Helmut Zacharias. Just take a gander at the album cover. He's German and he plays the violin - I'm sure you're retching already. And we save the worst for last: the Enoch Light Singers. At least the VSQ and Herr Zacharias controlled themselves - they didn't sing. Not so with the ELS. Just be thankful that Jim Morrison didn't live long enough to hear this.
On the video, Jim Morrison eat your heart out - it's the groovy Mike Flowers.