Seriously, the first time I heard this song -- in 1993, when the above reissue of Berry's frequently amusing journeyman r&b novelties (with the occasional first-rate Little Richard emulation thrown in for good measure) first crossed my desk -- I remember laughing initially and then thinking, uh, you know, this is getting perilously close to a line that I don't think anybody really worried about back in the day.
On the other hand, as "Holy" Greil Marcus famously pointed out in a totally different context, it is perhaps a mistake to judge the brave men and women of an earlier time by the standards of our own.
Or something.
4 comments:
Thanks for posting this. I love 1950's r&b and this is a prime example.
ROTP(lumber)
OMG, that's delightfully awful. Or awfully delightful.
Imagine someone today doing a whole tune around the theme of "Put out or get out!"
I think Marcus is probably right ... although the 50s don't seem that long ago.
Cool car, regardless.
"uh oh ..." Your caveats are well taken, but physically impossible for me not to smile, no matter how wrong that is. Also, what ROTP(lumber) said about 50s R&B.
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