20,000 vinyl LPs 328: Li'l Abner & Peter Palmer

 ~  

Gene De Paul & Johnny Mercer ~ L'il Abner 

  vinyl LP front cover detail 

front cover design by Al Capp

photo by Styrous®

This month is the birthday of Broadway musical actor, Peter Palmer, who was born on September 20, 1931, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was best known for his portrayal of Li'l Abner, with Edie Adams who played Daisy Mae Scragg; Palmer played the role of Li'l Abner Yokum both on Broadway and in the film.  

 

I used one of the satirical songs he sang in Li'l Abner, The Country's in the Very Best of Hands, during the, The Vote, event at the Gray Loft Gallery (link below) last weekend.       

 

 

Gene De Paul & Johnny Mercer ~ L'il Abner 

  vinyl LP front cover 

front cover design by Al Capp

photo by Styrous®

 

 

Palmer chose the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to study voice. He was the first music major to letter in football at the university. He was an impressive 6' 3" and well built . . .     

 

 

L'il Abner theater program
 

 

. . . so he was perfect in the role of the innocent, muscle-bound but gentle L'il Abner of Dogpatch which was often referred to by its inhabitants and outsiders as being the most miserable and unnecessary place on earth.                     

 

 

L'il Abner theater program
 

 

While he was at UI, his team won the Big Ten championships in 1951 and 1953 and the Rose Bowl in 1952. Palmer sang the national anthem at every home game in 1953 before taking the field. He was deaf in one ear.          

 

 

 

 

Gene De Paul & Johnny Mercer ~ L'il Abner 

  vinyl LP back cover 

photo by Styrous®

 

 

Palmer won a singing contest while in the U.S. Army, he was rewarded with an appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, where he sang Granada. The producers of L'il Abner, Melvin Frank and Norman Panama, happened to spot him on the TV show and sought out to hire him immediately. In 1956, Palmer was cast in the title role of the musical L'il Abner and won a Theatre World Award.          

 

In a couple of months, it will be sixty four years ago when L'il Abner opened on November 15th, 1956, at the St. James Theater on Broadway in New York City; seems like only yesterday.          

 

 

L'il Abner theater poster
 

 

In 1959 Palmer reprised the role of L'il Abner as did Julie Newmar for the role of Stupefyin' Jones in the movie version of L'il Abner, however, the original Daisy Mae, Edie Adams, was changed to Leslie Parrish.    

 

In 1963 Palmer appeared in Brigadoon and in 1974, he appeared on Broadway with Carol Channing in Lorelei, a revision of  the 1949 production of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.     

 

Throughout the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, Palmer appeared on numerous television episodes, including small parts on Dallas, M*A*S*H, Leave It To Beaver and Emergency!       

In 1990 he had a small role in the Tim Burton film, Edward Scissorhands, which starred Johnny Depp; it is one of my very favorite movies.       

 

Edward Scissorhands movie poster
 

       
Peter Palmer died in Tampa, Florida on September 21, 2021, the day after his 90th birthday. His son, Steven Palmer, said, “As a family we knew this was coming and that’s why we had such a wonderful celebration of his birthday this weekend,” Steven Palmer wrote. “He enjoyed being celebrated by his children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews and friends and extended family. Gonna miss you, Pops.”  

 

 

 

  vinyl LP side 1

photos by Styrous®

 

 

 

 

  vinyl LP side2

photos by Styrous®

 

 Act I

    A Typical Day – Dogpatchers
    If I Had My Druthers – Li'l Abner and Cronies
    If I Had My Druthers (Reprise) – Daisy Mae
    Jubilation T. Cornpone – Marryin' Sam and Dogpatchers
    Rag Offen the Bush – Dogpatchers
    Namely You – Daisy Mae and Li'l Abner
    Unnecessary Town – Li'l Abner, Daisy Mae and Dogpatchers
    What's Good for General Bullmoose – Secretaries
    There's Room Enough For Us†
    The Country's in the Very Best of Hands – Li'l Abner and Marryin' Sam
    Sadie Hawkins Day (Ballet) – Dogpatchers

Act II

    Oh Happy Day – Drs. Finsdale, Smithborn, Krogmeyer and Schleifitz
    I'm Past My Prime – Daisy Mae and Marryin' Sam
    Love in a Home – Li'l Abner and Daisy Mae
    Progress Is the Root of All Evil – Bullmoose
    Progress Is the Root of All Evil (Reprise) – Bullmoose
    Put 'Em Back – Wives
    Namely You (Reprise) – Daisy Mae
    The Matrimonial Stomp – Marryin' Sam and Dogpatchers
    Finale – Company       

       
        

   

Tracklist:
       
Side 1:

        

A1 - Orchestra* - Overture And A Typical Day
A2 - Ensemble* - A Typical Day
A3 - Peter Palmer (2), Marc Breaux, Ralph Linn, Jack Matthew, Robert McClure, George Reeder - If I Had My Druthers
A4 - Stubby Kaye, Ensemble* - Jubilation T. Cornpone
A5 - Ensemble* - Rag Offen The Bush
A6 - Edith Adams*, Peter Palmer (2) - Namely You
A7 - Edith Adams*, Peter Palmer (2), Ensemble* - Unnecessary Town

       
Side 2:
       
B1 - Peter Palmer (2), Stubby Kaye - The Country's In The Very Best Of Hands
B2 - Stanley Simmonds, George Reeder, Ralph Linn, Marc Breaux - Oh, Happy Day
B3 - Edith Adams*, Stubby Kaye - I'm Past My Prime
B4 - Peter Palmer (2), Edith Adams* - Love In A Home
B5 - Howard St. John - Progress Is The Root Of All Evil
B6 - Carmen Alvarez, Pat Creighton, Lillian D'Honau, Bonnie Evans (3), Hope Holiday, Deedee Wood - Put 'Em Back
B7 - Stubby Kaye, Ensemble* - The Matrimonial Stomp
       
Companies, etc.
       
    Arranged By [Ballet Music Arranged By] – Genevieve Pitot
    Artwork [Cover], Concept By [Based on the Characters Created By] – Al Capp
    Featuring, Performer [With] – Charlotte Rae, Edith Adams*, Howard St. John, Peter Palmer (2), Stubby Kaye
    Lyrics By – Johnny Mercer
    Music By – Gene De Paul*
    Music Director – Lehman Engel
    Orchestrated By [Orchestrations] – Philip J. Lang
    Performer [Cast] – Al Nesor, Bern Hoffman, Joe E. Marks, Julie Newmar, Stanley Simmonds, Ted Thurston, Tina Louise, William Lanteau
    Performer [Singers] – Anthony Saverino, Don Braswell, George Ritner, Hope Holiday, Jack Matthew, James Hurst, Jane House, Jeanette Scovotti, Joan Cherof, Joyce Gladmond, Lanier Davis, Louise Pearl, Margaret Baxter, Oran Osburn, Pat Creighton, Robert McClure
    Producer [Produced For Records By] – Goddard Lieberson
    Written-By [Book By] – Melvin Frank, Norman Panama
       
Credits:
       
    Arranged By [Ballet Music Arranged By] – Genevieve Pitot
    Artwork [Cover], Concept By [Based on the Characters Created By] – Al Capp
    Featuring, Performer [With] – Charlotte Rae, Edith Adams*, Howard St. John, Peter Palmer (2), Stubby Kaye
    Lyrics By – Johnny Mercer
    Music By – Gene De Paul*
    Music Director – Lehman Engel
    Orchestrated By [Orchestrations] – Philip J. Lang
    Performer [Cast] – Al Nesor, Bern Hoffman, Joe E. Marks, Julie Newmar, Stanley Simmonds, Ted Thurston, Tina Louise, William Lanteau
    Performer [Singers] – Anthony Saverino, Don Braswell, George Ritner, Hope Holiday, Jack Matthew, James Hurst, Jane House, Jeanette Scovotti, Joan Cherof, Joyce Gladmond, Lanier Davis, Louise Pearl, Margaret Baxter, Oran Osburn, Pat Creighton, Robert McClure
    Producer [Produced For Records By] – Goddard Lieberson
    Written-By [Book By] – Melvin Frank, Norman Panama
       
Notes:
       
Based on the characters created by Al Capp

Although original versions were on Columbia Masterworks labels, this version is on Columbia label style that ran 1965-70, though without "NONBREAKABE", this label version would date from 1967-70. LP is housed in original Columbia Masterworks sleeve.

       
Barcode and Other Identifiers
       
    Pressing Plant ID (Small “ᴘ” stamped in run-outs): P
    Matrix / Runout (Side A label matrix): (x"Lp" 39344)
    Matrix / Runout (Side B label matrix): (x"Lp" 39345)
    Matrix / Runout (Side A stamped): XXLP-39344-2BE A o
    Matrix / Runout (Side B stamped): XXLP-39345-1BF P A2 o

 

Norman Panama, Melvin Frank & Michael Kidd, Johnny Mercer, Gene De Paul* – Li'l Abner - An Original Musical Comedy
Norman Panama - Li'l Abner - An Original Musical Comedy album cover
Label:    Columbia Masterworks – OL 5150
Format:    Vinyl, LP, Album, Mono
Country: US
Released: 1956
Genre: Stage & Screen
Style: Soundtrack, Musical

       

       

Viewfinder links:        

         

Edie Adams         

Tim Burton          

Carol Channing          

Johnny Depp            

Gray Loft Gallery         

Johnny Mercer            

Julie Newmar            

Peter Palmer         

Leslie Parrish

Ed Sullivan             

The Vote is in and we have a winner!        

        

Net links:        

         

Broadway World ~ L'il Abner Star Peter Palmer Dies at Age 90     

Deadline ~ Peter Palmer Dies: Li’l Abner Star Was 90        

Gray Loft Gallery             

Hollywood Reporter ~ Peter Palmer, Star of ‘Li’l Abner’ Dies at 90    

Military.com ~ How the Army Made Li’l Abner Actor Peter Palmer a Star  

        

        

YouTube links:        

        

Li'l Abner ~  

     complete film       

     The Country's In the Very Best of Hands       

     I'm Past My Prime

     Jubilation T Cornpone        

     Put 'Em Back       

Peter Palmer ~  Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child       

        

        

         

        

        

        

Styrous® ~ Sunday, September 25, 2022       
       

 

 

~

20,000 Vinyl LPs Archive
MAIN MENU - Blog Articles
~

Johnny Depp articles/mentions

  ~       
     
     
     
     
     

mentions:      

Li'l Abner & Peter Palmer           

Del Shannon ~ Runaway      

     
     
     
     
     
     

Johnny Depp 

date & photographer unknown

     

     

     

      

     

~ 
Movie Articles 

Movie People 

MAIN MENU - Blog Articles
~

45 RPMs 68: Del Shannon ~ Runaway & Max Crook's Musitron

  ~  

Del Shannon ~ Runaway
 45 RPM record

photo by Styrous®

    

 

Today, December 30th is the birthday of Del Shannon who ran away with the Billboard Hot 100 song, Runaway, sixty years ago in 1961. It was written by Shannon and keyboardist Max Crook and became a major international hit. It was No. 472 on the 2010 version of the Rolling Stone list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.                  

 

I was snagged by the song from the first time I heard it. How could you not? The great guitar, piano & bass intro and that squeaky synthesizer played durng the instrumental break by Crook, “The Man From The Musitron", and Shannon's falsetto, totally weird and wonderful!              

Del Shannon - 1963

photographer unknown

 

In 1957, Crook built a monophonic synthesizer, which he called the Musitron, out of a clavioline heavily enhanced with additional resistors, television tubes, and parts from household appliances, old amplifiers, and reel-to-reel tape machines. He was unable to patent the Musitron because most of its components were previously patented products.                

 

Max Crook & his Musitron

 date & photographer unknown

 

 

When their first recording session for Big Top Records in New York City had ended in failure, their manager Ollie McLaughlin persuaded them to rewrite and re-record an earlier song they had written, Little Runaway, to highlight Crook's unique instrumental sound. On January 21, 1961, they recorded Runaway at the Bell Sound recording studios, with Harry Balk as producer, Fred Weinberg as audio engineer and also session musicians on several sections: session musician Al Caiola on guitar, Moe Wechsler on piano, and Crook playing the central Musitron break. Other musicians on the record included Milt Hinton on bass, and Joe Marshall on drums. Bill Ramall, who was the arranger for the session, also played baritone sax. Al Casamenti and Bucky Pizzarelli were also on guitar (Pizzarelli died last year from COVID-19).         

 

 

Bucky Pizzarelli

 date & photographer unknown 

 

After recording in A minor, producer Balk sped up the recording to pitch just below a B-flat minor. Runaway was released in February 1961 and was immediately successful. On April 10 of that year, Shannon appeared on the Dick Clark American Bandstand, helping to catapult it to the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100, where it remained for four weeks. Two months later, it reached number one on the UK's Record Retailer chart, spending three weeks in that position. On the Billboard Hot R&B Sides, Runaway peaked at number three.                

 

The song was ranked No. 5 on Billboard's end of year "Hot 100 for 1961 – Top Sides of the Year" and No. 9 on the Cash Box "Top 100 Chart Hits of 1961"            

 

Elvis Presley covered the song live at The International Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada, at Midnight on August 24, 1969. His version is not as interesting as Shannon's (link below)!           

 

 

Elvis Presley - 1969
 photographer unknown

 

 

My favorite song by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers refers to Runaway in the 1989 tune Petty wrote with Jeff Lynne, Runnin' Down a Dream from his first solo album Full Moon Fever and featured in the 1998 film, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas which starred Johnny Depp.         

 

 

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas poster
 

 

There are many songs by the title Runaway, none of which have anything to do with the Shannon version but are interesting in one way or another. Aurora has a "New Wave" treatment that is mellow and beautiful in spite of the rather downer lyrics but the one I have found fascinating and quite well done is the rap song by Kanye West, but beware, the lyrics are a bit explicit (links below).      

Del Shannon was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame by Art Alexakis, singer-songwriter and guitarist of the rock band Everclear in 1999.     

 

Del Shannon was born in Coopersville, Michigan, on Dec. 30, 1939. He began playing guitar as a teen-ager and took his stage name from a friend, Mark Shannon. He learned to play the ukulele and guitar and listened to country-and-western music by artists such as Hank Williams, Hank Snow, and Lefty Frizzell. There are some great images of Shannon's life on the History of Rock website (link below).

 

Shannon committed suicide by a self-inflicted gunshot wound in his Santa Clarita, California, home on February 8, 1990 (link below). A .22-caliber rifle with no note was found next to Shannon's body in the den. He was 50 years old. Shannon’s widow would later file a high-profile lawsuit against Eli Lilly, the manufacturer of the antidepressant Prozac, which Shannon had begun taking shortly before his suicide. That suit was eventually dropped, but the case brought early attention to the still-unresolved question of the possible connection between suicidal ideation and SSRIs, the class of drugs to which Prozac belongs.        

Del Shannon ~ Jody

  45 RPM record

photo by Styrous®

 

        

Tracklist:

Side 1:

A - Runaway - 2:20

Side 2:

B - Jody - 2:20

Companies, etc.

    Published By – Vicki Music, Inc.
    Published By – McLaughlin Publishing Co.
    Record Company – EmBee (2)
    Record Company – Bigtop Records, Inc.
    Lacquer Cut at – Bell Sound Studios

 Credits:

 

      Written-By Shannon*, Crook*

 

Notes:

Vicki Music, Inc. BMI
McLaughlin Pub. Co. - BMI

Barcode and Other Identifiers        

        

    Rights Society: BMI
    Matrix / Runout (A-side label): BG-1181
    Matrix / Runout (B-side label): BG-1182
    Matrix / Runout (A-Side Runout Etching): BellSound 45-BG-1181-2 2 BT
    Matrix / Runout (B-Side Runout Etching): BellSound 45-BG-1182-2 2 BT

        

        

        

        

Viewfinder links:       

         

Aurora           

Al Caiola         

Al Casamenti         

Dick Clark       

Max Crook          

Milt Hinton         

Jeff Lynne          

Tom Petty        

Bucky Pizzarelli        
Elvis Presley        

Kanye West       

Hank Williams         

     
Net links:       

         

History ~ Del Shannon dies of self-inflicted gunshot wound         

History of Rock & Roll ~ Del Shannon      

LA Times ~ Shannon Widow Alleges Drug Led to Suicide     

NY Times ~ Del Shannon Dies at Home in Apparent Suicide     

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ~ Del Shannon         

Tulsa World ~ Shannon's Suicide Still Mystifies Friends, Family   

Ultimate Classic Rock & Culture ~ The Life & Death of Del Shannon 

Undiscover Music ~ Shannon Tribute    

     
YouTube links:      
         

Aurora - Runaway           

Tom Petty ~          

     Runnin' Down a Dream          

     Runnin' Down a Dream (film version)          

     Runnin' Down a Dream (live) (1991)        

Elvis Presley ~ Runaway          
Del Shannon ~    

     Runaway        

     Runaway (live)        

Kanye West ~   

     Runaway      

     Runaway lyrics      

        
         

        

        

Del Shannon - 1950 

photographer unknown

        
         

        

        

Styrous® ~ Thursday, December 30, 2021   

~

45 RPMs Archive
MAIN MENU - Blog Articles
~