Pickles by Brian Crane for October 23, 2020

“Say Goodnight, Dick.”

“Goodnight, Dick.”

the closest thing I have to cowboy wear is a bolo tie

Way to break the 4th wall!

Wouldn’t that be Cowboys THREE in that case?

Ah, I thought that line sounded familiar.

The first line of “The Streets of Laredo”.

“My old man’s a sailor, now what do you think about that?”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fYCvA-G9Iw

But I don’t want to be a cowboy. I want to be a rancher that hires cowboys.

care about the Smothers Brother not so much about you

Tomorrow we’ll add Opal to the mix, with the song by the 80’s Boys Don’t Cry band “I Wanna be a Cowboy”

Riding on the range,I’ve got my hat on,I’ve got my boots dusty.I’ve got my saddleOn my horse.He’s called… T-t-t-t-t-triggerOf course.I want to be a cowboyAnd you can be my cowgirlI want to be a cowboyAnd you can be my cowgirlI want to be a cowboy

All day and night I ride with the cattle / Cause some dirty dog put glue in my saddle…

I’ve just checked out The Smothers Brothers on YouTube. I can remember hearing some of their songs on radio here in South Africa especially the ones about the Vietnam War. I wondered why suddenly I stopped hearing them. Of course, here in South Africa most of our news was suppressed and/or censored. :(

I’ve met, sadly, more than two store-bought cowboys.

I had a phonograph record of the Smothers Brothers singing that song! The whole album was hilarious. Tommy would say, “Mom always liked you best!”

Earl is more of a CowSeniorCitizen!

Be a “Pepper” drink Dr Pepper!

“I’m an old cowhand, from the Rio Grande”!

Not quite the way it goes…

I see by your outfit that you are a cowboy,

You see by my outfit that I am one too,

We see by our outfits that we are both cowboys,

If you get an outfit you can be a cowboy too.

It was lame then, and it’s still lame now. :-)

Boy Howdy! I’m in!

“Mama, don’t let your babies grow up to be cowboys…”

How about “ don’t call him a cowboy until you see him ride, if he ain’t good in the saddle you won’t be satisfied”. Almost drove off the road the first time that one came on the radio I was laughing so hard.

Earl you still need a Horse ! and a Cow ;-)

It’s the Earl gang!

Mother Smothers always liked you best, Earl!

Yo-yo Man will fix it all!

Pass….

OH. MY GAWD. Haven’t thought of them in ages. . .and I have all their records in vinyl. Only one of them has the duo singing straight. Their harmony is EXCELLENT. And. . .that reminds of Victor Borge, who also REALLY funny and really talented. . .and hardly ever played a song all the way through, but could if he had to. . .and Liberace. . .THANKS, BRIAN CRANE, FOR A GREAT WAKE UP THIS MORNING.

That’s my favourite too. But I have about fifty SB favourites.

“I fell in a vat of chocolate” “Pumices in the Cravasses” The church bell thing. “I Don’t Care” “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” The bit about his father. Controverisal songs.

On and on and on.

I can hear Dick and Tommy

Pat Paulsen for President

Black is the color of my love’s true hair . . .

Ja’ think I’m a sailor?

I have a stack of old LPs and there are a couple of Smothers Brothers albums in there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jbLqIedrxc

The Kingston Trio have this on one of their albums from the early ‘60s, I believe it was “College Concert” album.

I always wanted to have a band that played a mix of country western & new age music. I was gonna call it " Tex Vortex and his Cosmic Cowboys"!

Mine too Brian! “Let’s all get an outfit and we can be Cowboys!”

Word for word – Maybe it’s better we can’t hear the singing.

I still have that album downstairs!

Curse you. Now I cannot get that song out of my head.

Then there is the story of a young woman named Patty who worked on a cattle ranch:

They called her Cow Patty!

Was that supposed to be funny back then? It isn’t funny now.

The Urban Cowboy, no livestock required.

No thanks, my 33.5 years as an AT&T middle manager was enough. Also, there was my boss’ boss (RIP) who said “Hi Pardner” to all of us.

A rhinestone cowboy.

????

“You a real cowboy?”

It takes a lot more than just wearing a hat and some boots to be a real Cowboy. It takes having the attitude and perspective. I’ve known some real Cowboys that wear sneakers and a ball cap.

My hometown is Laredo, Texas, so I have a special affinity for that song! Both brothers are still alive, and so am I. I’m 80, Tom is 83, and Dick is 81. Hope we ALL have long, long lives. (Longer, I mean.)

I’m not a cowboy – I just found the hat!

Anyone remember: ‘I keep my pants up with a piece of twine. I keep my eyes wide open all the time. I look out for the tie that binds. Because you’re mine, I pull the twine.”

My mother had their album “Smothers Brothers at the Purple Onion”. We wore that thing out! I especially liked their song “Jezebel”.

Yes, “The Streets of Laredo” was never the same after Tom & Dick came out with this one. About the same time as “Shut the door, lock and latch it. Here comes Lizzie with a brand new hatchet!” Thanks for the memories.

Thank you for keeping Tommy & Dickie relevant! I first listened to that album as a boy with my father. Dad is 91. I have this song and many others on an mp3 player for him. These 2 are a national treasure.

I love the Smothers Brothers. I saw them on stage in 1966. Thanks for the happy memories!

They both look rather fetching.

xxx

Wow. To remember that Brian you must be almost as old as I am. And still got your recollect muscles all toned.

Next maybe Earl can talk about when he fell in a vat of chocolate

I had a friend who nudged me into that duet every week or so. Maybe I was thinking of some-others brothers.

The Smothers Brothers, or Alan Sherman?!

I’ve got an mp3 of that routine.

Never did like the Smother brothers and now I remember why.

Peter Beagle (The Last Unicorn) wrote a great travel book called “I see by my Outfit.” (Sort of a younger “Travels with Charlie”)

Great version!

The Smothers Brothers version of “Laredo” has an interesting backstory. They signed a record deal with Mercury records. Their first album, “Live at the Purple Onion” exhausted all of their material. They needed new stuff for a new album and fast. “The Two Sides of the Smothers Brothers” included new comedy bits on side one, and straight, non-comedic songs in the studio for side two. Songs 2, 3 and 4 on side 1 were hangman, Jimmy crack corn and Laredo. Laredo was the longest bit at 2:56, including a long and hilarious introduction. It was quickly created and now a comedy classic

oh NO! Now I’m gonna have that song stuck in my head all night!

Who sang this in the head, in the Smother’s Brother’s voices? :-) I used to have 5 or 6 of their albums, listened to them a LOT when I was in Junior High, wore out the vinyl (yes, at 65, I’m old).

I was just remembering that one a couple days ago; sheer genius!

Why is he ruining an American folksong?

That was originally from brilliant Scottish folk singer Hamish Imlach, RIP, who wrote and performed a class of parody and comic ballads truly ROFL.

How I miss them!