45 RPMs 59: The Coasters ~ Yakety Yak

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The Coasters ~ Yakety Yak 

vinyl LP album cover 

cover photographer unknown

     

I had been a fan of The Coasters for a couple of years because of their songs Down in Mexico, Searchin' and Young Blood when Yakety Yak hit the scene! I remember the first time i heard it and the opening lyrics for the song, "Take out the papers and the trash!", reverberated around my brain and I heard the voice of my mother saying those very same words to me! While the resounding deep bass voice of Will “Dub” Jones saying, "Don't talk back!" was my father sternly talking to me.   

 

I was the oldest kid so in addition to baby sitting, changing diapers, doing dishes and other chores a mid-teen had to do, taking out the trash was one of them so the song was VERY pertinent to me.     

 

Yakety Yak was written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller for the Coasters and it was recorded on March 17, 1958, on Atco/Atlantic Records, 63 years ago. WOW!     

The Coasters 

date & photographer unknown

From Wikipedia:

"The song is a "playlet," a word Stoller used for the glimpses into teenage life that characterized the songs Leiber and Stoller wrote and produced. The lyrics describe the listing of household chores to a kid, presumably a teenager, the teenager's response ("yakety yak") and the parents' retort ("don't talk back") — an experience very familiar to a middle-class teenager of the day. Leiber has said the Coasters portrayed "a white kid’s view of a black person’s conception of white society. The serio-comic street-smart “playlets” etched out by the songwriters were sung by the Coasters with a sly clowning humor. The group was openly "theatrical" in style—they were not pretending to be expressing their own experience."            

In The History of Rock, by Bill Millar, he writes:

"There are lots of social implications that can be read into this song, which was written by two Jewish men and sung by a black vocal group. "The Coasters were clearly irreverent and opposed institutions that white adults held in high esteem. Authority, parents, fidelity, hard work, piety and the suppression of risky pleasures were questioned with a blood and subversive wit. Jews (Leiber and Stoller) and Southern blacks (the Coasters) were expected to show gratitude towards the system. Instead they stood up and criticized it, a theme that can be recognized in almost all their songs."        

Bill Millar ~ The History of Rock

 

 

Arnold Shaw wrote in his book The Rockin´ ´50s:

"If rock ´n´ roll had produced nothing but the Coasters and Leiber and Stoller, it would still have commanded attention as the sound embodiment of a time and generation". The Coasters are widely regarded as the pre-eminent vocal group of the original rock ´n´ roll era. 

 

Arnold Shaw ~ The Rockin´ ´50s
 

 

Neil Slaven stated in late 1997, "There never was - nor will there ever be - another group quite like the Coasters".        

Yakety Yak lyrics

Take out the papers and the trash
Or you don't get no spendin' cash
If you don't scrub that kitchen floor
You ain't gonna rock and roll no more
Yakety yak (don't talk back)

Just finish cleanin' up your room
Let's see that dust fly with that broom
Get all that garbage out of sight
Or you don't go out Friday night
Yakety yak (don't talk back)

You just put on your coat and hat
And walk yourself to the laundromat
And when you finish doin' that
Bring in the dog and put out the cat
Yakety yak (don't talk back)

Don't you give me no dirty looks
Your father's hip; he knows what cooks
Just tell your hoodlum friend outside
You ain't got time to take a ride

Yakety yak (don't talk back)
Yakety yak, yakety yak
Yakety yak, yakety yak
Yakety yak, yakety yak
[Fade]
Yakety yak, yakety yak

 

Yakety Yak features Carl Gardner, Billy Guy, Cornell Gunter, and Will “Dub” Jones with his fantastic bass. Of course the WAY over the top saxophone played by King Curtis drove me right up the wall and then some; I was and still am a sucker for good sax.    

The Coasters ~ Yakety Yak 

45 rpm record w/sleeve 

photo by Styrous®

Yakety Yak spent seven weeks as #1 on the R&B charts and a week as number one on the Top 100 pop list; it was their only #1 single. This song was one of a string of singles released by the Coasters between 1957 and 1959 that dominated the charts, one of the biggest performing acts of the rock and roll era.       

The song was covered by the English ska band Bad Manners, Sam The Sham and The Pharaohs, Ray Stevens, in 1959 a French version by the Canadian group, Les Jérolas and a pseudo-C/W version by Wanda Jackson in 1963. Boots Randolph used Yakety Yak as the basis for his instrumental Yakety Sax.     

             

 

The Coasters ~ Yakety Yak 

45 rpm record label

photo by Styrous®

        

Tracklist:

Side 1:

A - Yakety Yak - 1:50

Side 2:

B - Along Came Jones - 2:49

Companies, etc.

    Manufactured By – Atlantic Recording Corporation
    Pressed By – Monarch Record Mfg. Co.

Notes:

A: Pub., Tiger, BMI
From ATCO 6116

B: Pub., Tiger, BMI
From ATCO 6141

Mfg. by Atlantic Recording Corp.

Barcode and Other Identifiers        

        

    Matrix / Runout (Center label, side A): 58C-365-MO
    Matrix / Runout (Center label, side B): 59C-3418-MO
    Matrix / Runout (Runout, side A): 58-C 365-10-RepL. 5̶8̶-̶C̶-̶4̶1̶2̶3̶-̶1̶0̶ SRC △90022 AT
    Matrix / Runout (Runout, side B): 59-C-3418-11 -RepL. SRC AT △90031     

      

      

      

  

Viewfinder links:       

        

The Coasters       

King Curtis       

Bernard E. Simonson, Jr        

Christine K. Simonson         

Ray Stevens       
     
Net links:       

         

LA Times ~ Will ‘Dub’ Jones; Sang Bass in the Coasters         

SongFacts ~ Yakety Yak        

Vintage Music FM ~ The Coasters       
     
YouTube links:      
        
The Coasters -    
      Yakety Yak       

      Yakety Yak (live)       

Les Jérolas ~ Yakety Yak (rouspèt' pas)     

      

      

      

       

Although I did in later years, somehow, way back then, I never had the nerve to say "Yakety Yak!" to my mother,  It just wasn't the right time.     

      

      

      

      

Styrous® ~ Wednesday, March 17, 2021 

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The Coasters ~ Yakety Yak     

Doc Pomus ~ Doo-Wop Wonder        

     
     

     

     

      

     

      

     

King Curtis

Billboard, page 67, 30 January 1971

      

     

      

     

      

     

      

     

      

     

      

     

 

 

 

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Doc Pomus ~ Doo-Wop Wonder

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Doc Pomus

date & photographer unknown

 

 

Doc Pomus was an American blues singer and songwriter but known predominantly for the lyrics he wrote for some of the greatest songs of the doo-wop and Motown era. He wrote Teenager in Love for Dion and the Belmonts, Suspicion for Elvis Presley, and hits for Big Joe Turner (A Boogie Woogie Country Girl being one of my favorite songs) (link below), the Beach Boys and, of course, Save The Last Dance For Me done by The Drifters (link below). 

When he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Pomus said, "Rock and roll wouldn’t have happened without Big Joe Turner."

He was born Jerome Solon Felder on June 27, 1925, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York, the son of Jewish immigrants. He became a fan of the blues after hearing a Big Joe Turner record.   

Jerome Solon Felder 

date & photographer unknown

When he was a boy, he had polio and was only able to walk with the help of crutches.   

Jerome Solon Felder 

date & photographer unknown

Later, because of post-polio syndrome exacerbated by an accident in 1965, Felder eventually had to rely on a wheelchair. His bus, known as the 'Docmobile', had a custom pneumatic elevator lift for his wheelchair.       

Doc Pomus - 1980's 

photographer unknown

          

Using the stage name "Doc Pomus", Felder began performing as a blues singer when he was a teenager. His stage name was not inspired by anyone in particular; he just thought it sounded better for a blues singer than the name Jerry Felder.    

Performing at various clubs in and around New York City, he performed with Milt Jackson, Mickey Baker, King Curtis and many others. He recorded approximately 40 sides as a singer in the '40s and '50s for record companies such as Chess, Apollo, Gotham and others.      

In the early 1950s, Pomus started writing magazine articles as well as songwriting for artists such as Lavern Baker, Ruth Brown, Ray Charles and Big Joe Turner. His first big songwriting break came when the Coasters had a hit with his song Young Blood; I love this song! There was a cool version of Young Blood (link below) performed by The Beatles for the BBC on June 1, 1963. This song was first released on the LIVE AT THE BBC album in 1994.      

He was married to actress and dancer, Willi Burke, who was in several Broadway musicals (On The Twentieth Century, Fiorello!, etc.) He wrote the song, Save The Last Dance For Me on their wedding night. It was later recorded by The Drifters (link below). 

Doc Pomus & Willi Burke

photographer unknown

He collaborated with pianist Mort Shuman to write for Hill & Range Music Co./Rumbalero Music at its offices in New York City Brill Building. He asked Shuman to write with him because he didn't then know much about rock and roll, whereas Shuman was familiar with many popular artists of the day. They wrote the hit songs A Teenager in Love, Save The Last Dance For Me, Hushabye, This Magic Moment, Turn Me Loose, Sweets For My Sweet (a hit for The Drifters and then The Searchers), Go, Jimmy, Go, Little Sister, Can't Get Used to Losing You, Suspicion, Surrender and (Marie's the Name) His Latest Flame.      

Mort Shuman & Doc Pomus

date & photographer unknown 

 

During the late 1950s and early 1960s, Pomus wrote several songs with Phil Spector, Mike Stoller and Jerry Leiber and other Brill Building-era writers. He also wrote Lonely Avenue, a 1956 hit for Ray Charles.     

In the 1970s and 1980s, Pomus wrote songs with Dr. John, Ken Hirsch and Willy DeVille for what he said were "...those people stumbling around in the night out there, uncertain or not always so certain of exactly where they fit in and where they were headed." These later songs are considered by some, musician and songwriter Dr. John and producer Joel Dorn, to be signatures of his best craft.
      
Alex Halberstadt published a book about Doc Pomus entitled, Lonely Avenue: The Unlikely Life & Times of Doc Pomus which refers to his hit song, Lonely Avenue. It was published by Da Capo Press in 1972. It was named a New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice and a Best Book of 2007 by The Times (London).

Lonely Avenue: The Unlikely Life & Times of Doc Pomus 

The documentary film A.K.A. Doc Pomus, conceived by Pomus' daughter Sharyn Felder, directed by filmmaker Peter Miller, edited by Amy Linton and produced by Felder, Hechter and Miller, details Pomus' life was released in 2012.

A.K.A. Doc Pomus

Doc Pomus died on March 14, 1991, from lung cancer, at the age of 65 at the NYU medical center in Manhattan.     

         

       

        

Viewfinder links:      

The Beach Boys          
Ray Charles           

The Drifters ~ Save the Last Dance for Me
Doc Pomus                      
Elvis Presley         
Big Joe Turner       

      

Net links:      

       

Boogie Woogie Flu ~ Doc Pomus        
CJ News ~ TJFF saves the last film for Doc Pomus review      
Felder Pomus ~ Doc Pomus     
Jewish News ~ Shouting The Blues: A pudgy Jewish kid reborn as Doc Pomus 

NY times ~ A.K.A. Doc Pomus  review        
NY Times ~ Lonely Avenue: This Magic Moment review       
Peter Guralnick ~ Magic & Flying: Doc Pomus
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ~ Big Joe Turner          
Stereophile ~ Lonely Avenue: The Unlikely Life & Times of Doc Pomus review  
Tablet Magazine ~ Blues Brother        
       

YouTube links:      

          
Doc Pomus ~        
        My Good Pott   
        Send For The Doctor   
        Save the Last Dance For Me and how it almost wasn't   
The Beatles ~ Young Blood                 
The Coasters ~ Young Blood          
Big Joe Turner ~ A Boogie Woogie Country Girl                
A.K.A Doc Pomus Official Movie Trailer - 2012    

The Genius of Doc Pomus (1 hr, 39 min.)  
          

        

         

Doc Pomus

date & photographer unknown

      
      
       
       
Styrous® ~  Thursday, June 27, 2019

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