1960s Baseball Songs?
King Pineapple
baseball, and was wondering how many "classic" baseball tunes came out of
the glorious Sixties.
Off the top of my head, the only ones I can recall are associated with my
beloved 1967 Boston Red Sox ("The Red Sox Are Winning" by Earth Opera and
Jess Cain's immortal "Carl Yazstrzemski"), along with a couple of old songs
about the Mets ("Meet the Mets", anyone?).
Any others?
Craig (who grew up listening to a then-young play-by-play man named Harry
Kalas calling Hawaii Islanders games in Honolulu in 1964).
pen...@earthlink.net
<saddl...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>I am doing a CD of songs and spoken-word pieces about the subject of
>baseball, and was wondering how many "classic" baseball tunes came out of
>the glorious Sixties.
>
>Off the top of my head, the only ones I can recall are associated with my
>beloved 1967 Boston Red Sox ("The Red Sox Are Winning" by Earth Opera and
>Jess Cain's immortal "Carl Yazstrzemski"), along with a couple of old songs
>about the Mets ("Meet the Mets", anyone?).
>
>Any others?
Ernie Harwell, the Detroit Tiger's HOF announcer has done a number one
which is Talking Baseball.
dkp
Steve Propes
Jimmie Maddin recorded at least three baseball songs, the one mentioned
by Katuna and one about Frank Howard - "Big Frank" and in the late '50s,
under the name Mr. X, Maddin recorded "I Love the Braves" on Vita.
Willie Mays as well as Lew Burdette tried to be a recording artists with
mixed success but that was in the early to mid-1950s. And of course,
the late and great Arthur Lee Maye had a recording career as powerful as
his batting average for the 1950s/60s - Arthur passed away just a week
ago.
But my favorite subject - if not song - was Battle Of Chavez Ravine by
Homer Escamilla about how the powers-that-be in L.A. tore down the
low-rent mainly Mexican community of Chavez Ravine to put in a new
ballpark, Dodger Stadium. To put it simply, they got screwed over, the
residents that is. Dodgers and the city made out just fine.
And don't forget Charge by Bob Grabeau on the Magnolia label.
I'm afraid to get the classic baseball songs, one has to go to the 40s
and 1950s. In fact, I believe Rhino put out such a CD about a decade
ago.
Steve
John Price
but the last line was "And that's the Miller-Hiller-Haller hallelujah
twist." And, slightly out of period, there is "Van Lingo Mungo" from 1970
by David Frishberg.
XB
"Steve Propes" <spr...@loop.com> wrote in message
news:3D3DDB...@loop.com...
Ron Hontz
> I am doing a CD of songs and spoken-word pieces about the subject of
> baseball, and was wondering how many "classic" baseball tunes came out of
> the glorious Sixties.
>
> Off the top of my head, the only ones I can recall are associated with my
> beloved 1967 Boston Red Sox ("The Red Sox Are Winning" by Earth Opera and
> Jess Cain's immortal "Carl Yazstrzemski"), along with a couple of old songs
> about the Mets ("Meet the Mets", anyone?).
>
> Any others?
Off topic with respect to the year of release (1981) but fully on-topic
because it covered players over several decades, was Terry Cashman's
"Talkin' Baseball (Willie, Mickey, and the Duke)" In the course of
transcribing the lyrics to it, I was stumped in a few places as to
exactly whom Terry was speaking about. I lucked out and was able to
contact Terry Cashman directly and he helped with over the rough
spots--a couple of which no one would have never guessed because they
refer to a couple of Terry's pals. If anyone is interested, I'll post
my work here.
King Pineapple
"Ron Hontz" <ronh...@att.net> wrote in message
news:3D3DF384...@att.net...
>
>
> Off topic with respect to the year of release (1981) but fully on-topic
> because it covered players over several decades, was Terry Cashman's
> "Talkin' Baseball (Willie, Mickey, and the Duke)"
Terry's actually got quite a few versions of this tune out-one for each
team, right? He even did a shortened version called "Talkin' Softball" for
an episode of "The Simpsons".
Terry also does a number of other baseball ditties, including one called
"Cooperstown" and "The Ballad of Herb Score".
Craig
King Pineapple
"Norm Katuna" <nk...@operamail.com> wrote in message
news:0lirju0nd1li2cpgo...@4ax.com...
> The most famous one in Los Angeles was "The D-o-d-g-e-r-s Song" from
around 1962
> by Danny Kaye.
I hadn't heard this tune in ages, but gave it a listen the other night. It's
simply brilliant. Was there a "shortened" version, or was the 5+ minute one
the only release?
Gary Myers
> the glorious Sixties. <<
Does it have to be 60's? A couple of late 50's songs are "Say Hey, Say
Willie" (Treniers) and "I Love Mickey" (Teresa Brewer & Mickey Mantle).
gem
BustertheK
>
>Willie Mays as well as Lew Burdette tried to be a recording artists with
>mixed success but that was in the early to mid-1950s. And of course,
>the late and great Arthur Lee Maye had a recording career as powerful as
>his batting average for the 1950s/60s - Arthur passed away just a week
>ago.
Among other baseball players who released records in the 1960s were Tony
Conigliaro, (including a top ten hit in Boston and a song called "Playing The
Field") Maury Wills, Don Drysdale, Elroy Face, Denny Mclain (organ music), and
Rico Petrocelli (drumming).
BustertheK
writes:
>
>There was a song about the Giants and Dodgers--I can only remember fragments
>but the last line was "And that's the Miller-Hiller-Haller hallelujah
>twist." And, slightly out of period, there is "Van Lingo Mungo" from 1970
>by David Frishberg.
>
>XB
>
The great 1961 album "The Harvard Lampoon Sings at Leningrad Stadium"
includes a song called "The Great Name Dropper" which is sort of a
rock-and-roll antecedent of "Van Lingle Mungo".
In 1963 The Geezinslaw Brothers released "Gory Glory New York Mets" sung tot
he tune of "Battle Hymn Of The Republic".
dp
"King Pineapple" <saddl...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:_Ym%8.14525$Qk6....@newsread1.prod.itd.earthlink.net...
>
> "Norm Katuna" <nk...@operamail.com> wrote in message
> news:0lirju0nd1li2cpgo...@4ax.com...
>
> > The most famous one in Los Angeles was "The D-o-d-g-e-r-s Song" from
> around 1962
> > by Danny Kaye.
Back when the Tigers were winning in 1968 they had a very catchy tune called
"Go Gettem Tigers". I wish I could find that somewhere.
Ken Williamson
>Kalas calling Hawaii Islanders games in Honolulu in 1964).
Uh, it would have had to have been earlier than that. Harry was one of the
original members of the Houston Colt .45s broadcast team in 1962, along with
Gene Elston and Loel Passe. Harry was with the Colt .45s - Astros until moving
to Philadelphia in the early 1970s.
==========================================================
Ken Williamson
Home: ken...@aol.com /=/=/ Office: ken.wil...@nbc.com
To reply to this message, delete "nospam" from the address
==========================================================
T P Uschanov
> I'm afraid to get the classic baseball songs, one has to go to the 40s
> and 1950s. In fact, I believe Rhino put out such a CD about a decade
> ago.
It seems to be still in print:
http://www.rhino.com/search/NumberSearch.lasso?Number=70710
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned "Baseball Game" by
The Intruders, or "Out of Left Field" by Percy Sledge.
Or aren't these considered "true" baseball songs?
--
"I have tried too, in my time, to be a philosopher; but, I don't
know how, cheerfulness was always breaking in." --Oliver Edwards
T P Uschanov tusc...@cc.helsinki.fi +358 (0)40 584 2720
Visit my home page! http://www.helsinki.fi/~tuschano/
King Pineapple
news:20020723213539...@mb-bk.aol.com...
>
> Among other baseball players who released records in the 1960s were
Tony
> Conigliaro, (including a top ten hit in Boston and a song called "Playing
The
> Field") Maury Wills, Don Drysdale, Elroy Face, Denny Mclain (organ music),
and
> Rico Petrocelli (drumming).
I recall there was also an album done by the late John Kiley-he was the
longtime organ player at both Fenway Park and the old Boston Garden, and
Rico played drums on that one as well.
Speaking of the Red Sox, it is my extremely sad duty to report that their
longtime 1960s radio announcer, Ned Martin, died suddenly Tuesday morning.
He was on his way home from the Ted Williams Tribute the night before at
Fenway, and collapsed and died at the airport in North Carolina. At that
tribute, he sat and reminisced about Ted with the great Carl Yazstrzemski.
Ned succeeded Curt Gowdy at the mike in the early 1960s, later moved to the
Red Sox TV booth, and retired in 1992. As he would say, "Mercy".
Craig
King Pineapple
"T P Uschanov" <tusc...@cc.helsinki.fi> wrote in message
news:ahmbcm$7as$1...@oravannahka.helsinki.fi...
> I'm surprised nobody has mentioned "Baseball Game" by
> The Intruders, or "Out of Left Field" by Percy Sledge.
> Or aren't these considered "true" baseball songs?
LOL. They're just "different". There's also a Doo-Wop one, by The
Crystalairs, "Playing Baseball".
King Pineapple
"Ken Williamson" <ken...@aol.comnospam> wrote in message
news:20020724012447...@mb-cd.aol.com...
> >Craig (who grew up listening to a then-young play-by-play man named Harry
> >Kalas calling Hawaii Islanders games in Honolulu in 1964).
>
> Uh, it would have had to have been earlier than that. Harry was one of
the
> original members of the Houston Colt .45s broadcast team in 1962, along
with
> Gene Elston and Loel Passe. Harry was with the Colt .45s - Astros until
moving
> to Philadelphia in the early 1970s.
He started doing Islanders games on KGU in 1961. According to every source I
have checked, including his official Phillies biography, he became the
original Astros announcer in 1965, and no mention is made of him doing
anything other than Hawaii Islanders games between 1961 and 1965. Some sites
mention him becoming the original announcer of the Colt 45s in 1965, but not
1962.
Marc Dashevsky
saddl...@earthlink.net says...
>
> I recall there was also an album done by the late John Kiley-he was the
> longtime organ player at both Fenway Park and the old Boston Garden
He is the answer to the trivia question: "Who played for the Red Sox,
the Bruins, and the Celtics?"
R.I.P. Ned. He was my most important connection to the Sox over
the years. I am very sad.
--
Marc Dashevsky -- Remove '_' from address if replying by e-mail.
BustertheK
Pineapple" <saddl...@earthlink.net> writes:
>
>> I'm surprised nobody has mentioned "Baseball Game" by
>> The Intruders, or "Out of Left Field" by Percy Sledge.
>> Or aren't these considered "true" baseball songs?
>
>LOL. They're just "different". There's also a Doo-Wop one, by The
>Crystalairs, "Playing Baseball".
>
>
And in a similar vein, a couple of country barroom themed songs from the
60s, "I'll Go Down Swinging" by Porter Wagoner and "Bottom Of The Fifth" by
Charlie Louvin (with its alcoholic's tag line, "It's 5 to 2, and the bottom of
the fifth") I think these were both written by Bill Anderson, but I'm too lazy
to check.
. Not to mention, from 1971, Del Reeves smash "The Philadelphia Fillies".Some
might think he's talking about baseball.
BustertheK
John Kiley did have at least one album, although I'm not sure when. And
as long as we're on the Red Sox subject, Let's not forget that legendary long
time Fenway Park PA announcer Sherm Feller wrote the hit "Summertime,
Summertime" by The Jamies.
Very sad about Ned Martin. He was with the Red Sox longer than Curt Gowdy
or Ken Coleman, and was always a pleasure to listen to.
In article <GsB%8.924$Ky3.1...@newsread2.prod.itd.earthlink.net>, "King
KEN8038
1969 world series. It is one of truly awful records of all time. If I recall,
they made an appearance on the Ed Sullivan show doing one of the tunes. I've
always thought that scene in "Bang the Drum Slowly" with the ballplayers
singing on TV was inspired by the Mets perfomance. --Ken
Ken Williamson
>I
>have checked, including his official Phillies biography, he became the
>original Astros announcer in 1965, and no mention is made of him doing
>anything other than Hawaii Islanders games between 1961 and 1965. Some sites
>mention him becoming the original announcer of the Colt 45s in 1965, but
>not
>1962.
Well, the Colt .45s didn't exist in 1965; that was the year they became the
Astros, coinciding with the opening of Harris County Domed Stadium (aka
Astrodome).
I'll have to check with some former colleagues in my old home town, to see if
they remember HK's exact tenure with the Colts .45s/Astros.
Joe Gillis
> The great 1961 album "The Harvard Lampoon Sings at Leningrad Stadium"
>includes a song called "The Great Name Dropper" which is sort of a
>rock-and-roll antecedent of "Van Lingle Mungo".
>
Never heard of this album - did anybody connected with it later become
well-known?
Many future notables have written for the Lampoon -- I think even William
Randolph Hearst worked on it in the 1880s!!
=================================================
"I don't mind lying, but I hate inaccuracy." -- Samuel Butler
John L. Hardy
>they remember HK's exact tenure with the Colts .45s/Astros.
I have a 1963 MLB Handbook by Don Schiffer. It has the usual writeups of
players, teams etc.
It also has a paragraph or two on the radio & TV guys for each team. Elston &
Passe are given as the Colts announcers . . . no mention of Kalas.
Bobby Massey
"John L. Hardy" <dy...@cs.com> wrote in message
news:20020725094405...@mb-cp.news.cs.com...
I can't tell you the year Kalas joined but I can tell you he wasn't there
from the beginning. If I'm not mistaken, he came along when they went from
2 to 3 announcers, probably because they started doing tv. I remember
seeing him on tv in those early years; a real "kid" next to the other guys.
BustertheK
cinema...@aol.comedy (Joe Gillis) writes:
>
>>
>> The great 1961 album "The Harvard Lampoon Sings at Leningrad Stadium"
>>includes a song called "The Great Name Dropper" which is sort of a
>>rock-and-roll antecedent of "Van Lingle Mungo".
>>
>
>Never heard of this album - did anybody connected with it later become
>well-known?
>
>Many future notables have written for the Lampoon -- I think even William
>Randolph Hearst worked on it in the 1880s!!
>
>
The full title is "The Harvard Lampoon Tabernacle Choir Sings At Leningrad
Stadium" on Vanitas Records and it is extremely rare.
The participants are identified by last name only, but I know Christopher
Cerf is prominently featured. Two of these songs "Fallout Filly" and "The
Penguin" were released as a single under his name and the former actually got
some local airplay.
He was a co-founder of the National Lampoon and has some books and other
literary involvement. (His father was Bennett Cerf, co-founder of Random
House).
Others have the last names Main, Frith, Winter, Felson, Gram, Stuart,
Saltonstall, Morrison, Butler, Stebbins, Stearns, Piel, Goodkin, and Villard.
in case anyone recognizes any of those.
The album also includes "I Keep My Fingernails Long (So They'll Click When I
Play The Piano) which Joe Ely wrote about fifteen years later. (Well, this only
has the chorus repeated. Ely actually did write the verses probably.)
Ken Williamson
>from the beginning. If I'm not mistaken, he came along when they went from
>2 to 3 announcers, probably because they started doing tv. I remember
>seeing him on tv in those early years; a real "kid" next to the other guys.
Well, looks like I was wrong. I guess my memory failed me - I should know
better and look things up. Sorry for the wasted bandwidth.
///KFW
King Pineapple
"Ken Williamson" <ken...@aol.comnospam> wrote in message
> >I can't tell you the year Kalas joined but I can tell you he wasn't there
> >from the beginning. If I'm not mistaken, he came along when they went
from
> >2 to 3 announcers, probably because they started doing tv. I remember
> >seeing him on tv in those early years; a real "kid" next to the other
guys.
>
> Well, looks like I was wrong. I guess my memory failed me - I should know
> better and look things up. Sorry for the wasted bandwidth.
Maybe we can ask him when he's inducted into the Hall of Fame this year
(broadcaster's wing).
Craig
BustertheK
(BustertheK) writes:
>>
>
> The full title is "The Harvard Lampoon Tabernacle Choir Sings At Leningrad
>Stadium" on Vanitas Records and it is extremely rare.
> The participants are identified by last name only, but I know Christopher
>Cerf is prominently featured. Two of these songs "Fallout Filly" and "The
>Penguin" were released as a single under his name and the former actually got
>some local airplay.
>He was a co-founder of the National Lampoon and has some books and other
>literary involvement. (His father was Bennett Cerf, co-founder of Random
>House).
>
>Others have the last names Main, Frith, Winter, Felson, Gram, Stuart,
>Saltonstall, Morrison, Butler, Stebbins, Stearns, Piel, Goodkin, and Villard.
>in case anyone recognizes any of those.
> The album also includes "I Keep My Fingernails Long (So They'll Click When
>I
>Play The Piano) which Joe Ely wrote about fifteen years later. (Well, this
>only
>has the chorus repeated. Ely actually did write the verses probably.)
>
>
>
Stupid me. I was looking for their names on the back like a normal album, and
I forgot they're all on the front cover which i didn't look at. i still don't
recognize any of the other names except one is Marshall Field III who I assume
is the grandson of the department store founder.
Brett A. Pasternack
>
> "Ron Hontz" <ronh...@att.net> wrote in message
> news:3D3DF384...@att.net...
> >
> >
> > Off topic with respect to the year of release (1981) but fully on-topic
> > because it covered players over several decades, was Terry Cashman's
> > "Talkin' Baseball (Willie, Mickey, and the Duke)"
>
> Terry's actually got quite a few versions of this tune out-one for each
> team, right? He even did a shortened version called "Talkin' Softball" for
> an episode of "The Simpsons".
He did one for each team in the early 80s, and he's updated some of
those. He also did a (disappointing IMNSHO) "subway series" version two
years ago. There are probably others out there as well.
King Pineapple
"Brett A. Pasternack" <bret...@erols.com> wrote in message
news:3D432F...@erols.com...
>
>
> He did one for each team in the early 80s, and he's updated some of
> those. He also did a (disappointing IMNSHO) "subway series" version two
> years ago. There are probably others out there as well.
Some of the individual team versions are pretty good, while others are
disappointing. I personally thought Terry coulda done a better job on the
Red Sox one, for instance (but I am picking nits here since I'm from New
Hampshire) but his Seattle Mariners one was GREAT...
Craig
Brett A. Pasternack
The original Mets one was very good, too, although it took me a long
time struggling to figure out what player he meant be "the bowtie, he
isn't finished yet", before I finally realized it wasn't a player at
all, but rather General Manager Frank Cashen.
Mark Winters
-Michigan Mark
"King Pineapple" <saddl...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:Esj%8.16424$_C2.1...@newsread2.prod.itd.earthlink.net...
> I am doing a CD of songs and spoken-word pieces about the subject of
> baseball, and was wondering how many "classic" baseball tunes came out of
> the glorious Sixties.
>
> Off the top of my head, the only ones I can recall are associated with my
> beloved 1967 Boston Red Sox ("The Red Sox Are Winning" by Earth Opera and
> Jess Cain's immortal "Carl Yazstrzemski"), along with a couple of old
songs
> about the Mets ("Meet the Mets", anyone?).
>
> Any others?
PhillyGuy
quintessential,
and one of the very best, and certainly essential baseball songs, made
by the
Les Brown Orchestra (big band) during the wartime entitled "Joltin'
Joe DiMaggio", and the tie-in here is the reference made to this
erstwhile big band single of long ago within the lyrics (albeit
indirectly) of the S&G single
"Mrs. Robinson", which is not a baseball song of course. "Joltin' Joe
DiMaggio" is a tribute inspired by his 56-game hitting streak in 1941,
and why not? Maybe it helped lift wartime spirits at the time, too.
-Tom
David Gollub
"PhillyGuy" <tomfro...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:9aedb077.02081...@posting.google.com...
The US didn't get into the war until the _end_ of 1941. December 7 was
well after the baseball season. And I believed once the war started,
DiMaggio joined the service for the duration.
--
Show me a country where you can run a business without breaking either
one law or another. --Uncle Davey, overheard
