Forgetting the built-in irony of one of my fellow Red Sea Pedestrians singing an ode to a defiantly non-Kosher product, this record (which, granted, was a sales disappointment) simply slays me; in fact, when the colored girl at the end asks Norman (plaintively) 'When you gonna buy me some canned ham, Greenbaum?", I fall out of my chair laughing every time.
I should add that this (like "Spirit in the Sky," AKA "Norman's Meal Ticket") was produced by the great Erik Jacobsen, who also did brilliant records by Tim Hardin, Chris Isaak and (the classic hits of) The Lovin' Spoonful.
And who is, to our knowledge, another nice Yiddish boy, and definitely somebody who's unjustly fallen through the cracks of history and should be a subject for future research.
10 comments:
Another Erik Jacobsen produced band was The Sopwith Camel.
I can come out of hiding and also admit I love this. Have the 45. And if you listen, it is of a piece with those other Jacobsen produced bands. Thanks, Steve. I feel relieved.
Too Much Pork on the Fork as Southern Culture on the Skids once famously said.
rs
Nice lead guitar break. Hard to believe it's the same Norman Greenbaum.
The singer who asks for canned ham in the final refrain and is answered "Soon Netty" is a part of the Stoval Sisters who both as background singers in the studio and stage sang behind the greats
I absolute ADORE the first Sopwith Camel album.
Me too!
At the time of this song's release, Norman let people know that he was a vegetarian, and that this song is ironic in the extreme.
This famous Yiddish Boy also released a satirical song just a year earlier - 1968
Marty Feldman, "The B Side"
fitting for the blog and no the B is not for Bug Eyes
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