It's time. I woke up this morning thinking about Joseph Spence and his rendition of "Santa Clause Is Coming To Town". If you haven't heard it let me tell you what's in store. Spence was a Bahamian singer, which doesn't tell you much. What if I were to tell you that he sounds like Tom Waits's drunk grandfather. If you know Tom Waits. you'll get it. And you'll wonder, as I have, what Tom Waits might have thought the first time he heard Spence. "Man, that guy stole my act!" would be the comical thought balloon. The only thing is, I'm convinced that Tom Wait's gruff voice isn't an act. I met him back in the later seventies and being that it was just him and a friend of mine in the conversation, there was no reason for him to keep up appearances. In other words, he was just as he is now, just a younger version. He's just a few years older than me but he sounded like a grizzled old barfly that had smoked a pack of Pall Malls in the half hour before I ran into him.
Looking through old posts for Spence's song, I was alarmed to find out
that the link that I'd relied on so many times in the past no longer
existed. Luckily I found another link, fortuitous because it was with
another unusual holiday song, the Legendary Tiger Man's "Fuck Christmas,
I Got The Blues". Who is the Legendary Tiger Man? I took a quick gander
at his Bandcamp page. Interesting..., nope, not going down that road.
Not tonight. I got shit to do. I am a very busy man.
Joseph Spence - Santa Claus is Coming to Town mp3 at Beware of the Blog
The Legendary Tiger Man - Fuck Christmas, I Got The Blues mp3 at Beware of the Blog
8 comments:
Even though I love Jimmy Reed (who was so sozzled his wife had to whisper the lyrics in his ear while he was recording), I've always felt a bit uncomfortable with this Joseph Spence track. However, taking it as it is, he seems happy enough so Merry Xmas to you all.
Paolo, Spence wasn't really drunk, that's just the way he sings. Not sure what else would make you feel uncomfortable, but if it was because you thought I was making fun of him, that was not the intent. I was trying to describe what he sounded like.
I didn't think you were making fun of him (I'd heard the track before), but I did think whoever decided to record him was. However, if the featuring performance resulted from ineptitude rather than inebriation, then I'm okay with it.
*'Resulting', not 'featuring' (damn predictive text)
If you listen to other live recordings of his from the same time you'll see that he mumbles a lot through lyrics he doesn't remember. Apparently he was one for winging it.
In that 1988-89 indoor soccer season schedule, Jim Egan and myself would wind up with me driving us from Chicago to Fort Wayne, IN. via US 30 (I still decline to use toll roads and turnpikes.). And when, on one of our forays, Jim played a cassette (on the 1987 Chevrolet Sprint's AM/FM/Cass aftermarket stereo) of Tom Waits {It was probably from "Frank's Wild Years".}, I reacted adversely.
But, we won the game that night.
So the next time we motored to Fort Wayne, that cassette was repeated.
In a match we should have won at that point in the season, we lost to Fort Wayne, with an attendance at the level I would disparagingly view when I ran the POWER franchise in 1994-96. Getting in the Sprint to head back to Chicago, I ejected the cassette (which had not finished when we arrived), and roared "Now I don't have to listen to that damn Tom Waits record again."
I am magnanimous and egalitarian. But please don't challenge me by playing a Tom Waits record.
Hey Tom! Long time. Have really been bogged down this fall. Mucho trabajo. Have a week off (well, more or less) now. Will shoot you an explanatory e-mail within 2022. Promise.
Anyway @ Spence... Yesterday, we had Annette's brother and his girlfriend Paulina over for a traditional Norwegian Yule ("Jul" here) meal (family meal and gifts on the 24th in Scandinavian countries). Dinner done, conversation touched upon music (as it frequently does) and Paulina mentioned Joseph Spence's version of "Santa Claus..." as her no. 1 favorite X-mas song. So, shortly thereafter, we had the Bahamian mumbler on full blast, lifting our spirits for a good while. Just thought you'd like to know. All the best, Tom!
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