With a little help from a friend in Australia...
Posted: Sat Jun 01, 2013 3:37 pmOne Saturday I was watching Cool Hand Luke (great movie) "What we've got here is failure to communicate...." and there's the scene when Luke receives the letter that his mother passed... he goes over to his bunk picks up a banjo and strums a verse of "Plastic Jesus" anyway it inspired me to do a version of it.
Wiki info.
"Plastic Jesus" is an American folk song written by Ed Rush and George Cromarty in 1957. They recorded it as a humorous ad spoof in 1962 as The Goldcoast Singers on World Pacific Records' Here They Are!
The authorship of the song has historically been incorrectly attributed to Ernie Marrs. Rush and Cromarty are listed as the authors by ASCAP[1] and by the song's publisher, EMI Music Publishing. Ernie Marrs is sometimes credited as the songwriter because of the folk music magazine Sing Out! (Volume 14, issue number 2, page 40) crediting a version of the lyrics and music to him.
Religious basis for parody
Ed Rush has stated that the inspiration for the song came from a religious radio station from Del Rio, Texas in the mid-1950s. The station was allegedly run by a dentist and religious fanatic who "sold the most outrageous stuff imaginable, all with magical healing properties." One summer broadcast in particular contained the line "...leaning on the arms of Jesus, wrapped in the bosom of the Lord..."
It's been done by many artists over the years including The Flaming Lip, Mojo Nixon... even Billy Idol did a version.
Anyway it was a fun little project and a friend of mine from a collab site did a BG track for me. I did a pick and choose on the verses... it's a long tune.
First on my player with the lyrics.
Peace!
Wiki info.
"Plastic Jesus" is an American folk song written by Ed Rush and George Cromarty in 1957. They recorded it as a humorous ad spoof in 1962 as The Goldcoast Singers on World Pacific Records' Here They Are!
The authorship of the song has historically been incorrectly attributed to Ernie Marrs. Rush and Cromarty are listed as the authors by ASCAP[1] and by the song's publisher, EMI Music Publishing. Ernie Marrs is sometimes credited as the songwriter because of the folk music magazine Sing Out! (Volume 14, issue number 2, page 40) crediting a version of the lyrics and music to him.
Religious basis for parody
Ed Rush has stated that the inspiration for the song came from a religious radio station from Del Rio, Texas in the mid-1950s. The station was allegedly run by a dentist and religious fanatic who "sold the most outrageous stuff imaginable, all with magical healing properties." One summer broadcast in particular contained the line "...leaning on the arms of Jesus, wrapped in the bosom of the Lord..."
It's been done by many artists over the years including The Flaming Lip, Mojo Nixon... even Billy Idol did a version.
Anyway it was a fun little project and a friend of mine from a collab site did a BG track for me. I did a pick and choose on the verses... it's a long tune.
First on my player with the lyrics.
Peace!
