Discussion:
The Number Ones: Pat Phone's "Moody River"
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Bob Roman
2018-12-21 16:16:13 UTC
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These daily Breihans should be free of all funky characters now and easier to read for everyone. Thanks Ken.

Pat Boone – "Moody River"
HIT #1: June 19, 1961
STAYED AT #1: 1 week

It's hard to find anything nice to say about Pat Boone, as an artist or as a human being. A big hunk of noisily Christian, clean-cut white bread, Boone owes his entire early career to racism and to unscrupulous music-business practices. He made his name by recording hit covers of songs by black artists (Fats Domino's "Ain't That A Shame," Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti") that white radio wouldn’t touch. Later on, he campaigned, whenever possible, for conservative fundamentalist candidates, helped spread the "Barack Obama is ineligible to be president" lie, and showed his terrifying giant teeth on The 700 Club. And his only career #1? Well, that sucks, too.


"Moody River" came from the country and rockabilly singer Chase Webster. The original's a pretty bad song, too, but Webster's delivery at least dials into the song's tragic concept. Lyrically, "Moody River" is a teenage tearjerker along the same melodramatic lines as Mark Dinning's "Teen Angel," but it's somehow even more absurd. And Boone didn't even have the decency to sell its absurdity.

Here's the plot: A guy goes to meet his girlfriend at the riverbank, where they'd always met. She's dead. She's committed suicide. And she's left a note: She's cheated on him, and she's wracked with guilt: "No longer can I live with this hurt and this sin / I just couldn't tell you that guy was just a friend." That's terrible! That's about the most simplistic, goo-goo-eyed depiction of teenage suicide that anyone could possibly formulate! But Boone didn't even bother to sing it like it was a sad song. The cheesy, uptight brio in his voice, the thing that helped him get famous by singing neutered versions of great songs, keeps the song from even being effective manipulation. Also, the piano riff is really irritating.

GRADE: 1/10
Bob Roman
2018-12-21 16:17:47 UTC
Permalink
Ha ha. Autocorrect on my phone changed the name. Oh well...

--
BR
SavoyBG
2018-12-21 16:23:57 UTC
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Post by Bob Roman
his only career #1? Well, that sucks, too.
This buffoon thinks that there were no charts before 1958. Of course Pat had several number one songs before this one. And he also gives this a knee jerk low rating when it's actually a good record. Most of us here like it.

This motherfucker is hopeless.
Dennis C
2018-12-21 16:32:48 UTC
Permalink
Vainest knife.

'Nuf said

1/10, baby!
Jim Colegrove
2018-12-21 23:41:57 UTC
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Post by SavoyBG
Post by Bob Roman
his only career #1? Well, that sucks, too.
This buffoon thinks that there were no charts before 1958. Of course Pat had several number one songs before this one. And he also gives this a knee jerk low rating when it's actually a good record. Most of us here like it.
This motherfucker is hopeless.
Hopeless may be optimistic.
Roger Ford
2018-12-21 17:22:41 UTC
Permalink
On Fri, 21 Dec 2018 08:16:13 -0800 (PST), Bob Roman
These daily Breihans should be free of all funky characters now and easier =
to read for everyone. Thanks Ken.
Apart from the apostrophes coming out as "=E2=80=93" all else is fine
Pat Boone =E2=80=93 "Moody River"
HIT #1: June 19, 1961
STAYED AT #1: 1 week
It's hard to find anything nice to say about Pat Boone, as an artist or as =
a human being. A big hunk of noisily Christian, clean-cut white bread, Boon=
e owes his entire early career to racism and to unscrupulous music-business=
practices.
This is sheer nonsense of course.

It was always ill advised for Boone who had little "feel" for much of
the R&B material he was given to record to even attempt it but he did
what he was told to do. And I fail to see exactly what is racist about
that ? Also there's the fact that at least one R&B hit he was given to
remake paid off in a pretty decent version when he revamped Ivory Joe
Hunter's "I Almost Lost My Mind" in a quite decent version that
reached #1 on a BB chart).

As for "unscrupulous business practices" covers and remakes have been
around almost as long as the record business and I personally have
never seen anything wrong in the practice although of course many of
the resulting records leave a great deal to be desired
He made his name by recording hit covers of songs by black arti=
sts (Fats Domino's "Ain't That A Shame," Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti") t=
hat white radio wouldn=E2=80=99t touch. Later on, he campaigned, whenever p=
ossible, for conservative fundamentalist candidates, helped spread the "Bar=
ack Obama is ineligible to be president" lie, and showed his terrifying gia=
nt teeth on The 700 Club. And his only career #1? Well, that sucks, too.
Only career #1???

What about "Ain't That A Shame","I Almost Lost My Mind","Don't Forbid
Me","Love Letters In The Sand" and "April Love"? All of them were #1
hits on one or more of the Billboard charts before the Hot Hundred
came into being.
"Moody River" came from the country and rockabilly singer Chase Webster.
Breihan of course is unaware that "Chase Webster" was merely the stage
name of Gary Bruce who wrote "Moody River". He also appears unaware
that Webster scored big when Boone covered his song since his reward
was not only songwriting royalties on Boone's #1 hit version but also
a lucrative contract with Dot Records for him that Boone recommended
by way of a thank you present.
The original's a pretty bad song, too, but Webster's delivery at least dials =
into the song's tragic concept. Lyrically, "Moody River" is a teenage tearj=
erker along the same melodramatic lines as Mark Dinning's "Teen Angel," but=
it's somehow even more absurd. And Boone didn't even have the decency to s=
ell its absurdity.
The two versions are very alike in delivery with the biggest
difference being that Boone has a better voice
Here's the plot: A guy goes to meet his girlfriend at the riverbank, where =
they'd always met. She's dead. She's committed suicide. And she's left a no=
te: She's cheated on him, and she's wracked with guilt: "No longer can I li=
ve with this hurt and this sin / I just couldn't tell you that guy was just=
a friend." That's terrible! That's about the most simplistic, goo-goo-eyed=
depiction of teenage suicide that anyone could possibly formulate! But Boo=
ne didn't even bother to sing it like it was a sad song. The cheesy, uptigh=
t brio in his voice, the thing that helped him get famous by singing neuter=
ed versions of great songs, keeps the song from even being effective manipu=
lation. Also, the piano riff is really irritating.
The piano piece is pretty much the same in both versions
GRADE: 1/10
Ridiculous! I have Boone's version which is certainly one of the best
records of his career as a 7 and Webster's original as 6 (seperated
only by Boone's better vocal and overall better sound) . in the UK
Boone scored a #14 hit with the song

Here's how it did in the 1961 Singles Battle

R1
6 Sammy Turner - Raincoat In The River - Big Top 3089
14 Pat Boone - Moody River - Dot 16209
R2
16 LaVern Baker - Saved - Atlantic 2099
13 Pat Boone - Moody River - Dot 16209
ROGER FORD
-----------------------

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Please delete same before responding.Thank you!
Bob Roman
2018-12-21 17:29:03 UTC
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Roger, is your apostrophe issue new or had it always been like that?

--
BR
Roger Ford
2018-12-21 18:37:20 UTC
Permalink
On Fri, 21 Dec 2018 09:29:03 -0800 (PST), Bob Roman
Post by Bob Roman
Roger, is your apostrophe issue new or had it always been like that?
--
No it's not new I've noticed it many times before. Something to do
with my browser not "reading" the symbol from a US keyboard

ROGER FORD
-----------------------

"Spam Free Zone" - to combat unwanted automatic spamming I have added
an extra "m" in my e-mail address (***@mmail.com).
Please delete same before responding.Thank you!
Ken Whiton
2018-12-22 09:49:56 UTC
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*-* On Fri, 21 Dec 2018, at 09:29:03 -0800 (PST),
*-* In Article <e92bb30f-2614-4674-ac21-***@googlegroups.com>,
*-* Bob Roman wrote
*-* About Re: The Number Ones: Pat Phone's "Moody River"
Post by Bob Roman
Pat Boone =E2=80=93 "Moody River"
HIT #1: June 19, 1961
STAYED AT #1: 1 week
Roger, is your apostrophe issue new or had it always been like that?
It's been there right along, but the character in question is the
dash (hyphen) between artist and title, not an apostrophe. The
underlying cause is the same as the header issue, Roger's older
version of Free Agent and my Xnews not recognizing the UTF-8 character
set's extended version of the character.

Ken Whiton
--
FIDO: 1:132/152
InterNet: ***@surfglobal.net.INVAL (remove the obvious to reply)
SavoyBG
2018-12-21 17:32:58 UTC
Permalink
Post by Roger Ford
On Fri, 21 Dec 2018 08:16:13 -0800 (PST), Bob Roman
These daily Breihans should be free of all funky characters now and easier =
to read for everyone. Thanks Ken.
Apart from the apostrophes coming out as "=E2=80=93" all else is fine
Pat Boone =E2=80=93 "Moody River"
HIT #1: June 19, 1961
STAYED AT #1: 1 week
It's hard to find anything nice to say about Pat Boone, as an artist or as =
a human being. A big hunk of noisily Christian, clean-cut white bread, Boon=
e owes his entire early career to racism and to unscrupulous music-business=
practices.
This is sheer nonsense of course.
It was always ill advised for Boone who had little "feel" for much of
the R&B material he was given to record to even attempt it but he did
what he was told to do. And I fail to see exactly what is racist about
that ?
The process was racist in general since many white owned and run radio stations would not play "nigger music" in those days. Opportunists jumped in and made sanitized (acceptable to the whites) versions of great songs that were originated by blacks in order to capitalize on the racism of society in general.

The fact that there had been "covers" of records for decades before this does not excuse what was the impetus for the practice as it was used in this time period. Perhaps Randy Wood, or someone else deserves the blame here, rather than Boone himself, but racism was certainly a big part of the whole at this time.
Roger Ford
2018-12-21 19:01:06 UTC
Permalink
Post by Roger Ford
On Fri, 21 Dec 2018 08:16:13 -0800 (PST), Bob Roman
These daily Breihans should be free of all funky characters now and easi=
er =3D
Post by Roger Ford
to read for everyone. Thanks Ken.
Apart from the apostrophes coming out as "=3DE2=3D80=3D93" all else is fi=
ne
Post by Roger Ford
Pat Boone =3DE2=3D80=3D93 "Moody River"
HIT #1: June 19, 1961
STAYED AT #1: 1 week
It's hard to find anything nice to say about Pat Boone, as an artist or =
as =3D
Post by Roger Ford
a human being. A big hunk of noisily Christian, clean-cut white bread, B=
oon=3D
Post by Roger Ford
e owes his entire early career to racism and to unscrupulous music-busin=
ess=3D
Post by Roger Ford
practices.
This is sheer nonsense of course.
It was always ill advised for Boone who had little "feel" for much of
the R&B material he was given to record to even attempt it but he did
what he was told to do. And I fail to see exactly what is racist about
that ?
The process was racist in general since many white owned and run radio stat=
ions would not play "nigger music" in those days. Opportunists jumped in an=
d made sanitized (acceptable to the whites) versions of great songs that we=
re originated by blacks in order to capitalize on the racism of society in =
general.
The fact that there had been "covers" of records for decades before this do=
es not excuse what was the impetus for the practice as it was used in this =
time period. Perhaps Randy Wood, or someone else deserves the blame here, r=
ather than Boone himself, but racism was certainly a big part of the whole =
at this time.
I wasn't disputing any of this and yes of course there were racist
practices in operation on the radio leading to the sanitized white
covers that were deemed acceptable to a white audience.

I was merely pointing out that Breihan seems to be laying all the
blame for his part in the white covers/remakes of black R&B numbers
squarely at Boone's front door thus making him personally a
racist----whereas to be fair he was only doing what he was told to do
by Randy Wood as you also point out

ROGER FORD
-----------------------

"Spam Free Zone" - to combat unwanted automatic spamming I have added
an extra "m" in my e-mail address (***@mmail.com).
Please delete same before responding.Thank you!
Dennis C
2018-12-21 19:14:47 UTC
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Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Same old Drossbergian three note threnody,baby!
SavoyBG
2018-12-21 19:29:17 UTC
Permalink
Post by Dennis C
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Same old Drossbergian three note threnody,baby!
Except it's not dead. It just comes in different forms now, like with voter suppression and with innocent people killed by cops for being black.

Back in my DJ days several times I had club owners order me not to play any black music when some black people came into the club, hoping to chase them away.
Dennis C
2018-12-21 21:09:26 UTC
Permalink
Horseshit!!

Relations are ten times better these days!!

You need to get out in the three dimensional and cease this virtual existence of yours, baby!!!
SavoyBG
2018-12-21 23:24:01 UTC
Permalink
Post by Dennis C
Horseshit!!
Relations are ten times better these days!!
You need to get out in the three dimensional and cease this virtual existence of yours, baby!!!
No one is saying it's not better. But it's still around.
Bob Roman
2018-12-21 20:22:08 UTC
Permalink
Crazy little Breihan puts racism
Squarely at Boone's front door
Crazy little Breihan puts racism
Squarely at Boone's front door
Maybe Randy Wood was a racist
But the industry had done it before

--
BR
Dean F.
2018-12-22 08:04:58 UTC
Permalink
I really wish people would not put in the position of defending Pat Boone, but here we go.

<< It's hard to find anything nice to say about Pat Boone, as an artist or as a human being. A big hunk of noisily Christian, clean-cut white bread, Boone owes his entire early career to racism and to unscrupulous music-business practices. >>

If Breihan insists on blaming an individual for what was then an industry-wide practice, how about Dot label chief Randy Wood? He was the one who demanded that Boone record R&B covers. Boone himself wanted to stick with pop ballads--which, to his credit, he was actually good at singing.

<< He made his name by recording hit covers of songs by black artists (Fats Domino's "Ain't That A Shame," Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti") that white radio wouldn’t touch. >>

Which, as I just noted, was not Boone's fault.

<< Later on, he campaigned, whenever possible, for conservative fundamentalist candidates, helped spread the "Barack Obama is ineligible to be president" lie, and showed his terrifying giant teeth on The 700 Club. >>

Boone's obnoxious political and religious beliefs have nothing to do with his discography.

<< his only career #1? Well, that sucks, too. >>

As others have noted, "Moody River" was *not* Boone's only #1 hit, but don't expect this genius to realize that the Billboard charts existed before the Hot 100.

I could go on, but why bother? Clearly, Breihan's interest in music that predates his childhood is perfunctory at best.
unknown
2018-12-22 09:08:30 UTC
Permalink
Pat Boone – "Moody River"
HIT #1: June 19, 1961
STAYED AT #1: 1 week
It's hard to find anything nice to say about Pat Boone ... as a human being.
A big hunk of noisily Christian, clean-cut white bread, Boone owes his entire early
career to racism and to {related} unscrupulous music-business practices.... Later on,
he campaigned, whenever possible, for conservative fundamentalist candidates,
helped spread the "Barack Obama is ineligible to be president" lie, and showed his
terrifying giant teeth on The 700 Club {flagship television program of the Christian
Broadcasting Network}
GRADE: 1/10
going by his opening attack paragraph, it could be that this grade was more or
less preordained...
Dean F.
2018-12-22 11:08:46 UTC
Permalink
I wish people would not put me in the position of defending Pat Boone, but here we go.

<< It's hard to find anything nice to say about Pat Boone, as an artist or as a human being. A big hunk of noisily Christian, clean-cut white bread, Boone owes his entire early career to racism and to unscrupulous music-business practices. >>

If Breihan insists on blaming an individual for what was then an industry-wide practice, how about Dot label chief Randy Wood? He was the one who demanded that Boone record R&B covers. Boone himself wanted to stick with pop ballads--which, to his credit, he was actually good at singing.

<< He made his name by recording hit covers of songs by black artists (Fats Domino's "Ain't That A Shame," Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti") that white radio wouldn’t touch. >>

Which, as I just noted, was not Boone's fault.

<< Later on, he campaigned, whenever possible, for conservative fundamentalist candidates, helped spread the "Barack Obama is ineligible to be president" lie, and showed his terrifying giant teeth on The 700 Club. >>

Boone's obnoxious political and religious beliefs have nothing to do with his discography.

<< his only career #1? Well, that sucks, too. >>

As others have noted, "Moody River" was *not* Boone's only #1 hit, but don't expect this genius to realize that the Billboard charts existed before the Hot 100.

I could go on, but why bother? Clearly, Breihan's interest in music that predates his childhood is perfunctory at best.
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