gts167 “shcallion”
Pardon my french in the soup.
01-01 Ed Kirkeby Orchestra – Columbia 758D – She Knows Her Onions (1926)
— Ed introduced jazz at Columbia, and was the manager for Fats Waller until Waller’s early death at age 39 in 1943.
01-02 The Shins – Oh Inverted World 04 – Know Your Onion (2001)
— not a big fan myself, but to a guitarist friend, The Shins are the shizzle. So to speak.
01-03 Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell -Tamla 54192 – The Onion Song (1969)
— a great duo who merited their own album in 1970, this Motown single was produced by another great duo: Ashford & Simpson.
01-04 Demizes – Damaged Ink 11 – Onion (2010)
— out of Atlanta, Demizes calls himself “in the realm of Gaga and Timberlake.” Hmmm, don’t know about that, but this one was consistently cracking me up all week.
01-05 Bubba Mac Blues Band – Road Kill 02 – Vidalia Onions (2000)
— it’s actually two people: Bubba and his son Mac, who opened the Bubba Mac Shack in New Jersey because they felt there was not enough good music in town. With three stages (and 5 bars), it became a regular stop for some juicy bands. Bubba died in 2017.
02-01 Freddie Mitchell – Spotlight 2000 – Spanish Onions (1964)
— not related to the Freddie Mitchell who played wide receiver for the Philadelphia Eagles before serving 3 years in prison for tax evasion. However, this IS the Freddie Mitchell who played sax in Benny Carter’s and Fletcher Henderson’s bands in the 1940s.
02-02 Beausoleil – Alligator Purse 10 – Les Oignons (2009)
— listened to a bunch of versions of the old cajun standard tune, and this one was the tops, mon amie.
02-03 The Rutles – The Rutles 203 – Cheese And Onions (1978)
— the earlier demented brainchild which led inexorably to Spinal Tap, The Rutles were bashed out by Bonzo Doo-Dah Band weirdo Neil Innes and Monty (Python) alum Eric Idle. As advertised, the record comes free with purchase of the 20-page booklet within. Owner of The Beatles catalogue at the time sued The Rutles. Innes later sued the band Oasis for lifting one of his own songs so Oasis could “sound like The Beatles without plagiarising”.
02-04 David Rose – Victor 27888 – Dance Of The Spanish Onion (1942)
— David Daniel Rosenberg changed his name to Rose to sound less Jewish. Much more famous for single “The Stripper” which hit #1 on Billboard in 1962 (and was used in two episodes of Monty Python’s Flying Circus!). Rose also wrote music for the TV show “Leave It To Beaver”.
02-05 La Caravane Passe – Velkom Plèchti ! 05 – Salade Tomate Oignon (2008)
— touting selves as “opera gypsy rock”, led by Toma Feterman on vocals and banjo, who started in a klezmer band Le Freylekh Trio, and later formed the punk-humor band Soviet Suprem.
03-01 Misery Index – Heirs To Thievery 12 (bonus track) – The Devil’s Onion Ring (2010)
— out of Baltimore, this track is found only on the Japanese release of HTT, and the 2:16 minute song heard here is trailed by another 8 minutes of the band concocting reasons why they suck.
03-02 The Farmer Boys – Capitol F3162 – Onions, Onions (1955)
— named by a broadcaster in Bakersfield California because these Arkansas natives lived in Farmersville, CA. Early competitors with Homer & Jethro for the country/novely market, they nonetheless made it to the Grand Ole Opry and opened shows for Elvis Presley.
03-03 The Dellwoods – Fink Along With Mad 201 – Don’t Put Onions On Your Hamburger (1963)
— of course, The Dellwoods were Mike Russo and Jeanne Hayes, and this album was their second for MAD Magazine. Cover art by the (in)famous Mort Drucker.
03-04 Cliff Carlisle – Vocalion 02910 – Onion Eating Mama (1934)
— on the Vocalion 78rpm, he’s named as Bob Clifford, perhaps in an attempt to distance him from his much more famous brother: Bill Carlisle. The siblings recorded “The Rustler’s Fate” together in 1933.
03-05 Holly Cole – Dark Dear Heart 03 – Onion Girl (1997)
— this album opens with “I’ve Just Seen A Face” (Lennon/McCartney).
03-06 Elroy Peace – Swing Time 334 – Onion Breath Baby (1953)
— his first record, out of Los Angeles.
04-01 Two-Ton Baker And His Music Makers – Mercury 5066 – I’m A Lonely Petunia (In An Onion Patch) (1947)
— he was actually only 350 pounds but at 6’2″ looked bigger. TV “superstation” WGN in Chicago featured Dick Baker on their first-ever broadcast in 1948. Later gained more fame helming WGN’s children’s TV program “The Happy Pirate”.
04-02 Imogen Heap – Night Flight With Alan Bangs 2010-08-15 15 – I’m A Lonely Little Petunia (In An Onion Patch) (2010)
— just a short sweet little rendition.
04-03 Matthew Childs & His Three Buddys – Rae Cox 1002 – Funky Onions (1963)
— Childs’s only 45 record, this is the B-side to “You Just Tried To Hurt Me”.
04-04 Arif Mardin – Glass Onion 101 – Glass Onion (1969)
— not a “true” instrumental, on an album of 10 covers (out of 11 songs), including reworks of CCR, Rolling Stones and Otis Redding.
04-05 The Beatles – Glass Onion (1968)
— here an early version with less complete orchestral accompaniments, later released on Rarities Vol 2.
04-06 Boom Crash Opera – These Here Are Crazy Times 01 – Onion Skin (1989)
— from the Melbourne, Australia band’s sophmore album.
05-01 Elias Zaikos – Off The Box 07- Onion Stew (2004)
— Greek guitarist’s original album released in 1996 under the name EZ Louis, this was added as a bonus track to the 2004 re-release.
05-02 Bugs Henderson & Roy Buchanan – Legendary Jams 1976-1980 02 – Green Onions (1977)
— released as a compilation of Bugs guitworks in 1997, this was recorded with Roy Buchanan in June of 1977. Bugs played with two of the three Kings of Blues: B.B. and Freddie.
05-03 Les Claypool’s Frog Brigade – Purple Onion 01 – Purple Onion (2002)
— this album comes on the heels of 2001’s cover of “Shine On You Crazy Diamond”.
06-01 Dr Feelgood Potts – Make It Talk 08 – Red Onions (2004)
— Robert “Dr. Feelgood” Potts is a mainstay on the Memphis “chitlin’ circuit”.
06-02 Susan Christie – Columbia 202261 – I Love Onions (1966)
— appears in the Stanley Kubrick film “A Clockwork Orange”, and is the other song which had me cracking up all this week, with the bit about crazy teddies jumping on her head. Also odd is a mention of cousins of pharoahs. Since Egyptian pharoahs normally married their sisters, the cousins were also, usually, half-siblings.
06-03 Amorphous Androgynous – A Monstrous Psychdelic Bubble Exploding In Your Mind Volume 2: Pagan Love Vibrations 221 – The Onion (2009)
— also known as Future Sound Of London, the AA also used this alias on a reimagination of Alice In Wonderland called “Alice In Ultraland”.
06-04 Duke Ellington – Stuttgart 1967-03-06 09 – Wild Onion (1967)
— the Duke in late-career thrilling Germany.
06-05 Tom T Hall – Places I’ve Done Time 08 – The Great East Broadway Onion Championship Of 1978 (1978)
— surprisingly, this one never made the charts!
06-06 Tommy Sena & The Valmonts – Valmont 905 – Onions (Remind Me Of You) (1962)
— sparse release from these odd doo-woppers out of Long Island, NY. Among few other releases: “Fiesta In A Pizzaria”.
… and TWO bonus tracks…
07-01 Lord Rockingham’s XI – London 1810 – Fried Onions (1958)
— just plain weird, ground-breaking for having a female on the keyboard, finally issued an LP 10 years later, including a cover of “Lady Madonna”.
07-02 Albert Nicholas – Circle J1019 – Les Oignons (1947)
— this creole standard was written by Nicholas, born in New Orleans in 1900. Here features him on clarinet, with Danny Barker’s guitar and help on vocals.