Monday, May 05, 2025

Great Thoughts of Western Man (An Occasional Series): Special "Pre-Vatican II" Edition

From their sophomore (1965) album, the unimaginatively titled Volume 2, please enjoy The Beau Brummels and their slyly droll trad-Catholic classic "In Good Time."

Inspirational verse:

I'm not one to start complaining
Why am I so sour?
I'm not losing ground, I'm gaining
Why am I so sour?

Everything is going my way
Traffic's moving on the highway
Don't mind eating fish on Fridays
Still I'm feeling sour

I actually owned that album solely for "You Tell Me Why," a gorgeous folk-rock ballad that's one of the great lost singles of the Sixties, but that lyric from "In Good Time" always used to make me laugh when I cranked it up in my college dorm room. I hadn't thought about it in ages, but the other day, with the recent passing of Pope Francis, it (perhaps unsurprisingly) popped into my head unbidden.

I should add that if it came on the radio now, I kinda wonder how many contemporary listeners would even get the historical reference. 😎

6 comments:

Rob said...

There's a reason some songs are considered deep cuts.
For me Laugh Laugh and Just A Little always catch my ears.
With honorable mention to Sly Stewart
rob

Sal Nunziato said...

"You Tell Me Why" is the only Brummels single I own. Gorgeous!

MJConroy said...

They had a bunch of great songs. The Smithereens used to cover "Don't Talk to Strangers".

steve simels said...

I loved their version of the Spoonful's "Good Time Music"

Marc said...

You just motivated me to play it for the first time in years, and damn, that is gorgeous! (Sadly I just have an mp3, not a vinyl copy.)

getawaygoober said...

Nils Lofgren does a nice cover of "Just a Little".