Immortal lyrics from Dr Hook, one of the most creative and humorous bands of the 70s. If you’re not familiar with their stuff (besides Sylvia’s Mother, perhaps - not their best work by a long chalk), check out such gems as the self-mocking Rolling Stone, the beautiful love song Who If Not You?, and of course the song from which the words above are taken, A Little Bit More.
Didn’t Shel Silverstein write several of their songs? (Silverstein wrote the Johnny Cash classic “A Boy Named Sue,” as well as books of children’s poetry like Where the Sidewalk Ends and A Light in the Attic.)
Did they do “Freakin’ at the freakers ball?”
He wrote nearly all their songs in the beginning: “Sylvia’s Mother” (which is a great song, BTW – it’s supposed to be a joke), “On the Cover of the Rolling Stone,” “Freaking at the Freaker’s Ball,” “Roland the Roadie and Gertrude the Groupie,” and others. Many of these were printed as poems in Playboy (where Silverstein was a staff member/cartoonist).
Silverstein was a triple threat: writer, lyricist, and cartoonist. He also wrote “The Unicorn” as recorded by the Irish Rovers, giving him Top 5 hits for three different artists.
[DJ voice]“And now you can check out the Dr Hook CDs care of Google Ads, while we take you up to the noos with this message from our sponsors…”
One of my favorite Dr. Hook songs is “Baby Makes Her Blue Jeans Talk.” Fun stuff.
You know, I had somehow missed the connection between Shel Silverstein and Dr. Hook. I will now spend the rest of the evening in total brainlock with a case of cognative dissonance.
I haven’t been this confused since learning that Chip Davis of Manneheim Steamroller also wrote the CB song “Convoy”.
Well, Ya’ll can just rock me to sleep tonight!
who’d a thunk?
Holy crap. I had no idea.
My favorites, not mentioned, are I got Stoned and I missed it. . and probably their biggest commercial hit,When you’re in Love with a beautiful woman.
Huh! I always chanted that one “rap” style when I was a kid. Weird to hear the “Irish folk” version on Amazon.
Also, Shel Silverstein’s photo on the back of The Giving Tree is way scary.
-FrL-