A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs - PLEDGE WEEK BONUS: “Chantilly Lace” by the Big Bopper

Episode Date: July 13, 2020

Welcome to Pledge Week! I’m doing a week of posting some of the Patreon bonuses I’ve done, to encourage those who can to sign up to my Patreon. ERRATUM: My understanding when I did this episode was that “White Lightning” was recorded right after the Big Bopper’s death. That is not actually the case — Jones just turned up drunk to the session because he was drunk, not because of his friend’s death, and they *released* the record a few days after Bopper’s death. Every day of Pledge Week will start with the same section, which I’ll transcribe once, below, before the cut. Pledge Week Intro This is not a proper episode of the podcast. Rather, this is something else. I’ve decided to hold a pledge week, to try to get a few more subscribers to my Patreon. So every day this week I’ll be putting one of the backer-only episodes I’ve done over the past year up on the main podcast feed, so people can hear what it is you get if you sign up for the Patreon, with this little introductory piece before them. If you’re already a backer, you will already have this episode, so you can skip this and everything else labelled “pledge week”. I do one of these every week for my backers, and backers even at the lowest levels get them — if you sign up for a dollar a month you get each new one as it comes out, and access to all the old ones. There are fifty-nine of them up so far, as well as a few other things like the monthly Q&As I’ve been doing for backers. I’m only making seven of these available on the public feed, so there’s a lot still there for you to listen to. If this works well, I might do another one next year, when there’ll be another fifty-odd episodes to choose from. None of this is meant to put any pressure on anyone who can’t afford it to back the podcast — the podcast will always remain free to listen to, and I hope it will remain ad-free as well. I know times are especially tough right now, and many of you literally can’t afford the money you’re already spending, let alone paying any more out. I only want backers who can spare the money. But if you can afford it, and you like these bonus episodes enough, then go to patreon.com slash andrewhickey, that’s spelled h-i-c-k-e-y, or follow the link in the shownotes, and sign up, and you’ll get one of these the same day as every new episode. If you can’t, well… enjoy this extra free bonus, and don’t worry about it. Transcript behind cut (more…)

This is not a proper episode of the podcast. Rather, this is something else. I've decided to hold a pledge week to try to get a few more subscribers to my Patreon. So every day this week, I'll be putting one of the backer-only episodes I've done over the past year up on the main podcast feed, so people can hear what it is you get

if you sign up for the Patreon, with this little introductory piece before them. If you're already a backer, you will already have this episode, so you can skip this, everything else labeled Pledge Week. I do one of these every week for my backers, and backers even at the lowest levels get them. If you sign up for a dollar a month, you get each new one as it comes out, and access to all the old ones. There are 59 of them up so far, as well as a few

other things like the monthly Q&As I've been doing for backers. I'm only making seven of these available on the public feed, so there's a lot still there for you to listen to. If this works well, I might do another one next year, where there'll be another 50-odd episodes to choose from. None of this is meant to put any pressure on anyone who can't afford it to back the podcast. The podcast will always remain free to listen to, and I hope it will remain ad-free as well. I know times are especially tough right now, and many of you literally can't afford the money you're already spending, let alone paying any more out. I only want backers who can spare the money. but if you can afford it

and if you like these bonus episodes enough then go to patreon.com slash Andrew Hickey that's spelled H-I-C-K-E-Y or follow the link in the show notes and sign up and you'll get one of these the same day as every new episode. If you can't, well,

enjoy this extra free bonus and don't worry about it. Since we looked at Richie Valens in the main podcast last week and this week we're looking at Buddy Holly. It's probably worth devoting this week's bonus podcast to the third person who died in that terrible playing crash. The Big Bopper is known as a one-hit wonder

who had a novelty hit, and these days, when he's remembered at all by rock and roll fans, it's simply because he died in the same crash as Buddy Holly and Richie Valens. And certainly his one big hit, Chantilly Lace, doesn't suggest he would have been one of the greats of music. but J.P. Richardson actually had rather more of a career than that might suggest, much of it posthumous. Giles Perry Richardson always liked to be known as Jape, after his initials,

but he developed a public persona from working as a DJ on KTRM Radio when he switched from his original show, the dishwasher's serenade, to a new one called the Bop. While on KTRM, he took part in all sorts of publicity stunts, such as breaking the world record for longest uninterrupted broadcast, by staying on the air for five days, two hours and eight minutes straight, after which he apparently slept for 20 hours. At KTRM, he got to know his fellow DJ George Jones, and he also got to know Pappy Daly,

who was the promotion manager for Mercury Star Day record, If you listen to the Great Country Music podcast, Cocaine and Rhinestones, the episode on Shelby Singleton talks quite a bit about daily. Mercury Star Day had been having some success with records by Jones, who had hit the country top ten a few times, and Jape had written a few country songs, so he started recording for the label. His first effort was a pure country ballad,

released under the name Jap Richardson and the JPEs. That did absolutely nothing saleswise. So Richardson changed to a rockabilly style. His next single, Monkey Song, didn't do much better. But walk like a monkey I want to talk like a monkey But the next song Out of me

But the next song was much more successful Chantilly Lace is the song that made the big popper's name If you don't mind the objectification in the lyrics, there's a lot of charm to the song, and at the time it became a massive hit, and it's one that still remembered to this day. Chantilly lace had a pretty face, pony tail, hanging down, a wiggle in a walk and a giggle in the tallow. Made the world go round, ain't a nothing in the world like a big-eyed girl that make me act so fun. It's been my mind.

The fact that it was intended as a novelty cashing can be seen by its B-side, which was originally its A-side, The Purple People Eater meets the Witch Doctor, a team-up song inspired by the two novelty hits we talked about a few weeks ago. Far from town, I've got real shook, I heard the strangeest sound, I saw the Purple People eater and my surprise,

the witch doctor sitting by his side, The single guitar in his hand and they were pot banana rocking with a two-piece band. Purple was a blowin like a people leader should. Which doctor picked like Johnny be a good day winner. The single made the top ten, and it was followed up by the Big Bopper's Wedding, which was less successful but followed the same formula. And keep saying, do you take this woman to be your awful-witted wife? I didn't start a thing about a no more waking at the pretty little gals of bobbing by.

I know more dancing and a new romance and made me want to sit down to cry. Oh, no, boo-shooting out of rooting, attitude. And where the boys if I take you from my wife. I can't go no place. I got to look at your face for the rest of my dog. This is it. But then, of course, can't hear the first place, you know. But then, of course, came the fateful tour we look at in this week's main podcast,

and the beat Bopper's death in a playing crash, with two much more prominent musicians. That should, by all right, have been the end of his career. But as it turned out, his two most important contributions to music hadn't yet been released. Shortly before he died, Richardson had written a song called Running Bear, and he'd given it to a young friend of his, Johnny Preston. It was a teen tragedy song of the type that was a rather successful subgenre of the time. This one, with the novelty element, that the characters were Native Americans, or an Indian brave and Indian maid, as the song puts it,

who lived on opposite banks of a river and ended up drowning in the middle when they tried to be together. He and George Jones had sung backing vocals on it, doing Hollywood Indian chanting, and generally playing up to every stereotype of the Western Phil. film Indian, but it hadn't been released at the time of Richardson's death. When it was released a few months later, it went to number one and became one of the biggest hits of all time.

On the bank of the river stood running bare, young Indian played. Side of the river stood as lovely Indian made little white dove. Was of her name such a lovely sight to sea, but their tribes, but with each other, so their love could never be. But that wasn't Richardson's only posthumous contribution to music. Richardson had already co-written a country top-ten hit for George Jones, Treasure of Love. But less than a week after Richardson's death, Jones went back into the studio again, to record another song that Richardson had written for him.

Jones was still shaken by his friend's death and turned up to the session drunk, the first time he would do so in a long career of drunkenness. They had to do so many takes that the bass player, Buddy Killen, got blisters on his fingers and threatened to physically attack Jones. Jones never got the song right, and eventually they stuck with either the first or third take, a Count's Ferry, where he'd only messed up one word.

singing Sir Slug rather than Slug, which honestly sounds fine to me. I heard him a moaning as he hit the ground. Mighty mighty pleasing, your pap' scorn squeezing. That became John's a-Liddle. first country number one, and one of only three singles he ever released to also make the pop top 100. It reached number 73, the highest he would ever reach in the pop charts. While Jones had had country top 10 hits before, White Lightning is generally regarded as the breakout hit that made his career, a career that would last more than 50 more years, during which time he would have over 150

records make the country charts, 13 of them going to number one. That's more chart hits than any other act in history, and that career was owed, at least in part, to Jabe Richardson, the one-hit wonder who died with Buddy Holly and Richie Valens.