ISBN 0-8230-7530-3
workup: Within months of Reid's wedding, Rick Finch and KC had forged their Westernized work-up of that Bahamian pop style. [396]
wash: And on an auditory landscape of synthesizer washes and electronic rhythm machines, the bagpipe-like droning of Big Country's twin lead guitars defiantly stood out. [393]
dent: "Case Of You" (#67, 1980), a single on the Scotti Brothers label, was Frank's first chart dent. [392]
excavation: To date, "Cheek To Cheek" and similar auditory excavations have fared poorly. [392]
Googoomania: At the start of the '80s, Kajagoogoo started a trend in England called Googoomania. [391]
funkmaster: Recording as Dolby's Cube, he and funkmaster George Clinton have cut a few singles together. [390]
pass the hat: He dropped out of formal schooling to putter with a four-track tape player, and he took his home-made synthesizer to the streets of Paris, where he played Dylan tunes and passed the hat. [390]
Anglo-rock: The ATF sound was lacking in extended solos, flash, and pomposity, but CBS liked the group's respect for traditional Anglo-rock, their Beatles-like energy, and the splashes of Yes, Genesis, and 10cc that colored their music. [390]
flash: The ATF sound was lacking in extended solos, flash, and pomposity, but CBS liked the group's respect for traditional Anglo-rock, their Beatles-like energy, and the splashes of Yes, Genesis, and 10cc that colored their music. [390]
mover: "The Celtic Soul Brothers" (#86, 1983) was a moderate mover of a follow-up. [389]
rock moll: As a countrypolitan singer, D'Angelo was not considered the real thing by C & W purists; she was also neither a rock moll nor a soul singer. [383]
countrypolitan: As a countrypolitan singer, D'Angelo was not considered the real thing by C & W purists; she was also neither a rock moll nor a soul singer. [383]
rumination: The trio did variations on British and American pop/rock hits, but it was years before their homeland became interested in such ruminations. [383]
looper: /Over the Line/ (1982) was Guidry's debut album. His lone looper, "Goin' Down," did quite well for a novice. (382)
jib: Rick, who went to grade school with Rush's Geddy Lee (the vocalist featured on "Take Off"), earned $3 an hour as a teenager writing gags and glib jibs for tongue-tied Toronto DJs. [380]
hoser: Okay, so they were a couple of loveable hosers and bozo losers, eh? [380]
garage-sized: Once "Pac-Man Fever" was issued on the garage-sized BGO label, the response was phenomenal. [380]
crunch: After practicing night and day, recording an obscure children's album in 1977, and spending three years crunchin' cars and watchin' girls on the show, John geared up for a career as a pop singer with country leanings. [379]
picking: Ritenour's picking can be heard on the soundtracks to such flicks as /Saturday Night Fever/ (1977), /The Champ/ (1979), and /An Officer and a Gentleman/ (1982). [378]
contorted: Devo popularized emotion-less "singing," jerky hypnotic sounds, identical looks, flowerpot hats and toilet-seat collars, yellow jumpsuits, paper eyewear, and ontorted theories about the de-evolution of mankind. [374]
toilet-seat: Devo popularized emotion-less "singing," jerky hypnotic sounds, identical looks, flowerpot hats and toilet-seat collars, yellow jumpsuits, paper eyewear, and ontorted theories about the de-evolution of mankind. [374]
puffball: Scads of souls thought the record was yet another puffball from ex-Beatle Paul. [371]
mascara-faced: Then there are those listeners who consider this mascara-faced alien to be nothing more than a Kraftwerk-influenced, David Bowie clone. [369]
satellite: Flyte Tyme would later evolve into that punchy Prince satellite, The Time. [369]
brass rail: Over the next eight years, he worked for a traveling party service, tried to set up an entertainment-production company, and sang as a part of a duo (with Sandy Atlas) in brass-rail bars and dives. [369]
city-bred: Charlie's Oysters played city-bred country music at a time when England was embroiled in the punk-rock assault, so the group's gigs were few and far between. [368]
talent police: Danny Fields, the Ramones' manager, soon arranged for the talent police at Nemperor Records to give a listen to "the new Dylan in town." [368]
supergroup: In 1974, David Geffen, Asylum's main man, applied his negotiating abilities to creating a country-rock supergroup along the lines of Crosby, Stills & Nash. [365]
one-hitdom: Despite the rapid fire of subsequent releases, however, Joli retains one of the lowest profiles in all of one-hitdom. [364]
burner: Three different versions of "Pop Muzik" were shaped and taped. There was an R & B rendition; a funky burner Ă la James Brown; and the punchy, three-minute opus that we all have come to know. [364]
techno-toy: Once you have heard his hit single, it is difficult to imagine that Scott ever did anything other than commune with computers and noise-making techno-toys. [364]
mail boy: After a few Talk of the Town singles flopped, John was relegated to the position of chief mail boy. Gene was unemployed. [360]
one-nighter: That evening, the Epsilons got to sing for Redding, who asked the boys to join his Revue. Gene, John, and Alan remained in the entourage for a year before tiring of the one-nighter grind. [360]
bell-ringer: Ward had never even been to a disco when her bell-ringer was reverberating off the walls of countless dance halls. [360]
raunchy: Two albums' worth of raunchies were issued by Columbia Records, but sales were nil, despite the photos of would-be teen heartthrob Smith on the LP covers. [359]
well-baked: How is it possible, then, for Bobby Caldwell to make hard-rock records like Johnny Winter and Rick Derringer one day, and sing well-baked disco ballads the next? [355]
flashpot: As Sweeney Todd (after the mythical barber who slashed his patrons' throats), they performed throughout Vancouver with high visibility, i.e. with garish make-up, hideous clothes, flashpots, and a smoke machine. [353]
sure-shot: Producer Simon Napier-Bell--who had ventured into recording studios with acts like the Yardbirds and Marc Bolan (of T. Rex fame)-- had a sure-shot hit song in his hands called "Pasadena," and needed a vocalist. [352]
workout: He served a five-year apprenticeship as a sheet-metal worker, and toward the end of this workout, John began playing music on weekends in local watering holes. [352]
over-orchestrated: However, Chris was not pleased with this over-orchestrated and, in his view, misconceived album. [352]
surf band: In the early 60's, Walt fronted the Malibooz, a surf band, one of the very few surf bands to catch a wave off the coast of the Empire state. [351]
tumbleweed: Toby Beau never managed to come up with anything potent, and never shook their staid, tumbleweed persona. [350-351]
cactus: First Balde and the boys were packaged as young Texas toughs; later, they were cutey-pies with cactus in their teeth. [351]
rod: Sean--who had a few notches on the rod as a producer for Kiss and the force behind the heavy-metal Starz--offered to transform Balde and company into big-time celebrities. [350]
star-maker: Balde Silva and the guys were just a happy Texas bar band until star-maker Sean Delaney came to town. [350]
emit: Eruption ceased to emit, and aside from the limited success of "I'll Be Your Friend" (--/#40, 1986), Precious Wilson still hopes to hit the big time. [350]
factory fresh: Eruption's factory-fresh debut "Funky Love" failed to chart, but "One Way Ticket" and "I Can't Stand The Rain" (a cover version of Ann Peebles' 1973 hit) were smashes in England. [350]
cop: Well, by the mid-'70s Patti Smith /really/ couldn't help it: she was bashing out guitar feedback, copping Keith Richards stances, and screaming out raw poetry laced with surreal images. [348]
bash out: Well, by the mid-'70s Patti Smith /really/ couldn't help it: she was bashing out guitar feedback, copping Keith Richards stances, and screaming out raw poetry laced with surreal images. [348]
chart-mover: The country-soul classic "You Don't Miss Your Water" (#95, 1962) became a heavy Southern hit, and the largest chart-mover in Stax's brief history. [340]
soapdom: Renamed in honor of the tube tearjerker, the work wondrously went on to become the most recognized theme in all of soapdom. [338]
move them out: As the "move-'em-out" morning man on WMPS in Memphis, Mr. Dees devised an array of wacky promotions. Reportedly, he holds some sort of world record for whipping up the largest fruitcake (3,000 lbs.), the world's largest jelly doughnut (300 lbs.), and the world's largest lollipop (150 lbs.) [337]
pseudo-rock: Tom Parker's Apollo 100 had hit paydirt in 1972 with "Joy," a pseudo-rock rendition of Bach's "Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring." [337]
discofied: After a spell concocting B-grade movie scores for made-for-TV flicks like /The Savage Bees/ (1976) and /The Night They Took Miss Beautiful/ (1977), Murphy approached Major Records with disco-fied Christmas tunes. A few singles like "Disco Bells" were issued. [337]
get-well: Guitarist/lead singer Rob Parissi (b. Steubenville, Ohio) was laid up in a hospital in 1970. His bandmates came by to pay him a visit and drop off a box of get-well goodies. [335]
brass ring: Once Bill Haley's "Rock Around The Clock" had been pulled as the series' theme in favor of the marketable Prat & McClain substitute, the brass ring was theirs. [332]
haymaking: In their haymaking days, the Spoonful created a string of '60s chestnuts: "Do You Believe In Magic?", "You Didn't Have To Be So Nice," "Daydream," "Summer In The City," "Nashville Cats." [330]
cheat: Lots of chunky souls recall this silly bit about cheatin' in the middle of the night with those Ho-Ho's, Twinkies, and Ding Dongs. [329]
pile-driving: The Nazareth specialty seems to be pile-driving cover versions of subdued folkie fare like Tim Rose's "Morning Dew," Joni Mitchell's "This Flight Tonight," Bob Dylan's "The Ballad Of Hollis Brown" (which they worked into a nine-minute metallic frenzy), and, of course, "Love Hurts." [238-239]
corn pone: For the remainder of the decade, Mercury kept shipping Cledus' comedic, country corn pone. [328]
jolting: One day while working at an ad agency in Greenville, South Carolina, Jay got this joltin' notion to do a novelty number around the then-hot CB (citizen's band radio) craze. [327]
jingle man: One day while working at an ad agency in Greenville, South Carolina, Jay got this joltin' notion to do a novelty number around the then-hot CB (citizen's band radio) craze. Jay got some jingle men to give him a band, and poof! There it was, "The White Knight." [327]
night ain't day: Now, Cledus can't be that boy's real name, you say? You're right as night ain't day. See, Cled is really Jay Huguely (b. Quicksand, Kent.), a one-time Shakespearean actor turned ad-man. [327]
violate: The twosome's scheme was to take stiff standards and, with the assistance of David Horowitz, violate them with that insistent disco beat. [327]
double entendre: For his debut disk, he picked a nostalgic little number with double-entendre lyrics called "Eighteen With A Bullet" that he had written two years earlier. [326]
ad nauseam: The /Feelings/ album flew off the shelves, and Albert became a pop sensation--until, thanks to airplay ad nauseam, radio listeners grew weary of his sentiments. [325]
dobro: Barry "Byrd" Burton (guitar, steel guitar, dobro, mandolin). [325]
discomania: Little did Gwen know that the number would go on to sell millions, help launch the discomania of the mid-'70s, and become the very hub of her hubby's series of hits. [324]
warhorse: Their debut, the country warhorse "Three Hearts In A Triangle," died a dreadful death. [324]
riffer: "Love Explosion," Bazuka's follow-up to "Dynomite," just barely made the R & B listings (--/#92, 1975), but "Police Woman," "(C'est) Le Rock," and a string of other dance-floor riffers stiffed. [324]
make up: Like their mentors, they sang "Why Do Fools Fall In Love" and "I'm Not A Teenage Delinquent," and even had letter sweaters made up with huge "S"'s on them. [323]
letter sweater: Like their mentors, they sang "Why Do Fools Fall In Love" and "I'm Not A Teenage Delinquent," and even had letter sweaters made up with huge "S"'s on them. [323]
take a bite: Attracted by their Hollies-like harmonies and /Sgt. Pepper/ styling, EMI took a bite and ushered the guys into the Abbey Road studios in London. [322]
reconstituted: Harris is currently appearing as a member of the reconstituted Delfonics. [322]
groupdom: Freedom at last from the confines of groupdom came in 1974, when Major passed an audition as a solo act for W.M.O.T Productions. [322]
vaudevillian: Harris was born in Richmond, Virginia, on February 9, 1947. His grandparents were vaudevillians, his father was a professional guitarist, and his mother was a leader of the church choir. [322]
pub rock: Ace eventually developed a reputation as a top-notch Lonndon pub-rock outfit. [320]
in: You obediently oblige her request and take her in your big, fully-rigged machine to a tiny town far away from it all, whereupon the virginal goddess walks off in bare feet. [319]
fully-rigged: You obediently oblige her request and take her in your big, fully-rigged machine to a tiny town far away from it all, whereupon the virginal goddess walks off in bare feet. [319]
galvanic: The follow-up to "Early Morning Love," "Chevy Van," gave vent to a more galvanic male fantasy. "Chevy Van" tells of a sweet young thing, oh so innocent, who shyly asks you to please make love to her. [319]
underpinning: Released were two singles that went nowhere fast; the third, "Early Morning Love" (#68, 1974), was a teasing male fantasy with a folkie feel and countrified pedal-steel guitar underpinnings. [319]
pedal-steel: Released were two singles that went nowhere fast; the third, "Early Morning Love" (#68, 1974), was a teasing male fantasy with a folkie feel and countrified pedal-steel guitar underpinnings. [319]
romper: For a brief spell in 1974, Polly was singing in blackface as Sarah Leone with a British reggae romper named Tony Jackson. [316]
park: After two more homeland hits and a fallow two years, Pickettywitch was parked and junked. [316]
fallow: After two more homeland hits and a fallow two years, Pickettywitch was parked and junked. [316]
loose: Once the record company loosed its promotional arsenal on the "B" side, Carl had a huge hit. [315-316]
fu: But the commercial timing was right--fu flicks were everywhere, and David Carradine and Bruce Lee were cult figures. [315]
fu: Once Douglas had recorded the song, a flip side was needed, and Carl offered one of his own compositions--"Kung Fu Fighting." "Fu" was intended as little more than filler. [315]
chart-stalker: "Crazy Feeling" almost did something. "Nobody Cries" sounded like a chart-stalker. Various names were assumed and discarded, different styles were tried--but nothing clicked. [315]
jell: Nothing seemed to jell until those Pips platters peaked, at which point Jim moved over to Buddah Records, Gladys Knight's post-Motown home. [314]
co-pen: The construction of "Life Is A Rock" was placed under the production abilities of bubblegum veteran Joey Levine, who co-penned "Chewy, Chewy," "Yummy, Yummy, Yummy," "Mercy," "Down At Lulu's," and "Quick Joey Small." [313]
assembly line: A bit of an overstatement, but Gamble, Huff, and MFSB did indeed crank out an assembly line of hits. [308]
helium-headed: Some helium-headed pundits have posited that what the Motown sound had been to the '60s, the Sound of Philadelphia was to the '70s. [308]
house band: For years, this 30-plus crew of session musicians, the house band at Philadelphia's Sigma Sound Studios, were crack accompanists. [308]
plushly: Within months, 2,000,000 copies of "The Lord's Prayer"--which featured an earthy bass line, ominous fuzz-tone, plushly uplifting strings, and an ethereal lead vocal--were sold. [308]
fuzz-tone: Within months, 2,000,000 copies of "The Lord's Prayer"--which featured an earthy bass line, ominous fuzz-tone, plushly uplifting strings, and an ethereal lead vocal--were sold. [308]
rock mass: During the '70s, when youth-oriented masses were common, Sister Mead and a unit she called her Rock Band provided music for a weekly rock mass at the Adelaide Cathedral. [307]
sketch out: Tom would work in the evenings with a band called the Technicians, all the while sketching out songs based on the characters he observed. [304]
unpackaged: He also had a formidable voice that was rarely heard "unpackaged." [303]
expansive: His visual trademark was a stovepipe hat and that expansive amount of hair, beard, and belly. [303]
zombie: Mac's Night Tripper was a self-proclaimed "Grand Zombie," complete with witch-doctor robes, weirdly feathered headdresses, and--later airbrushed from the cover photo--a finely-rolled marijuana joint. [302]
skid: Upon the issuance of the disk, certain regions of the country took an immediate liking to "Playground," but it was nearly a year before the nation began buying up skids full of Clint's "Playground." [300]
band together: Drummer Hans Cleuver, bassist Martin Dresden, plus classically-trained founder/frontman Thijs van Leer on organ and flute, banded together in 1969. [298]
proto-punk: During the reign of flower power and LSD-stoked utopianism, the Velvets were proto-punks, crafting music that depicted the sleazy underbelly of the Beat Generation and the evolving counterculture. [297]
tale-teller: Different tale-tellers describe the actual meeting in different ways, but the gist is that at that moment, Vicki was discovered. [296]
work one's way: Deo is a self-taught musician who can work his way with the keyboard, bass, or guitar. [294]
puffery: Harvest was promptly pegged as a "lite" group, a purveyor of pop puffery. [294]
jiggly: "Dancin' In The Moonlight," a Boffalongo track revamped with jiggly keyboards and tight vocal harmony. [294]
rhythm box: With its cheesy organ, a rhythm box ticking out a metronome beat, and Timmy sincerely sobbin' about peace, love, and the brotherhood of man, the disk was effective and sold several million copies. [292]
mount: "Jones," a slang expression for addiction, was a string-infested talkie-thing that surprised many folks when it mounted for the upper reaches of /Billboard/'s pop charts. [292]
talkie: "Jones," a slang expression for addiction, was a string-infested talkie-thing that surprised many folks when it mounted for the upper reaches of /Billboard/'s pop charts. [292]
lisp: When "Convention '72" hit big, Mainstream issued a now-rare but low-grade album that included Nick Casel lisping his way through "My Way." [291]
low-grade: When "Convention '72" hit big, Mainstream issued a now-rare but low-grade album that included Nick Casel lisping his way through "My Way." [291]
hoofer: But with the exception of her lone tuffy, "Thunder And Lightning," Chi's self-titled debut disk featured only humdrum hoofers. [291]
toughie: But with the exception of her lone tuffy, "Thunder And Lightning," Chi's self-titled debut disk featured only humdrum hoofers. [291]
work-up: He toured Japan with Judy Collins, and on his return in 1967, he presented the initial work-up on "Alice's Restaurant" at the WNYC Folk Song Festival. [289]
semi-classical: As a Moog man, Stan had provided behind-the-scenes synth sounds to rock, pop, and semi-classical works. [289]
soft-shoe: Sailcat was never a group per se. They were more of a happening that, well, happened to find one good soft-shoe song. [288]
fold up: When Grimaldi left the group in 1976, Rod folded his band up. [288]
cut: "Tragedy", the group's follow-up cut, was similarly dense and hook-ridden and should have charted. [287]
conceiver: /Godspell/'s original conceiver, and later author of the like-titled book, was one John-Michael Teblak, a Carnegie Tech student who created the work as a requirement for his master's program. [285]
mini-moment: It was at this point that Mouth and MacNeal came together for their mini-moment on the American airwaves. [285]
jump: [282]
truck driver: They would sing everything from truck-driver tunes and corny country ballads played tongue-in-cheek to jump numbers from the 40's. [282]
regrouped: Ultimately, a regrouped and seemingly ever-changing organization fronted by Frayne and lead guitarist/vocalist Bill Kirchen was firmly planted in San Francisco. [282]
Latin rock: Malo was a Latin-rock group from San Francisco fronted by Carlos Santana's brother, Jorge. [282]
trample: Numerous poorly-distributed disks were tried (and trampled) over the next several years. [280]
sandpapery: TV talk-show host Les Crane annoyed plenty of people in the mid-'60s with his sandpapery communication style. [278]
hitless: While she was hitless herself, Denise produced R & B hits like Bill Coday's "Get Your Lie Straight" and the Sequins' "Hey Romeo." [277]
pop-soul: "Sugar Candy Kisses," "Don't Do It Baby," and other cute pop-soul numbers became big U.K sellers in the mid '70s. [278]
funkified: While a cover of "Papa Was A Rolling Stone" (#63, 1972) and several other increasingly funkified Undisputed Truth 45s cracked the pop and R & B listings, "Faces" proved to be the group's only top 40 showing. [275]
feature: Whitfield wanted to put together a new act to feature his abilities. [275]
shave: Motown mastermind Berry Gordon, Jr., heard the DJ's sociopolitical statement, and soon issued a shaved version on Gordy's Mowest label. [274]
crease: Sweet and bouncy, "Rings" scaled the pop listings and nearly creased the top 10. [274]
emission: Cymarron's sound resembled the mellow folkie emissions of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and America. [274]
sunny: The brothers hung in there long enough to lay down some sunny album tracks and a few singles with names like "Come Down Baby" and "Monkey Tamarino." [274]
bargeful: Rafael sang from his stuffings, the beat swirled, the brass blasted, and in a three-month period, America bought a bargeful of the Munings' "junkanoo" sound. [274]
junkanoo: Rafael sang from his stuffings, the beat swirled, the brass blasted, and in a three-month period, America bought a bargeful of the Munings' "junkanoo" sound. [274]
stuffing: Rafael sang from his stuffings, the beat swirled, the brass blasted, and in a three-month period, America bought a bargeful of the Munings' "junkanoo" sound. [274]
thumbs-up: Atco Records released the disk, and a sizeable chunk of the Western worrld concurred with Maurice's thumbs-up assessment. "Marmalade," produced by Gibb, oozed onto the charts. [273]
mellotron: Tin Tin consisted of two Steves, surnamed Groves (guitar, bass, mellotron) and Kipner (keyboards, bass). [273]
psychedelicized: With a stack of psychedelicized Beatles-like records cut and canned, the Down Under dudes approached fellow Australian Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees. [273]
sawing: Havens developed a distinctive style, which has been preserved for all time in the /Woodstock/ (1970) film footage: eyes shut, a sawing, thrashing guitar attack, and the unorthodox use of his thumb in chord fingering. [273]
studioful: In an effort to beat out the Ghoulie "group"'s release of the tune for RCA, Dick Monda assembled a studioful of sessioneers, whom he called the Torrance Cookers. [272]
spin: "Chick-a-boom, Chick-a-boom/Don't ya jes' love it"--it was fluff, all right, but catchy to the ear, for a spin or two. [272]
deceased: Publicity handouts from Dick's long-deceased record label would have us believe that he was born in Cleveland in 1952. [272]
happening: Three follow-up singles, all ecological or religious in theme, did chart in the lower reaches of the Hot 100. Thereafter, Ocean remained a Canadian happening. [271]
godspell: Top 40 radio will take to a spiritually-inclined tune every now and then, but not even when Jesus was a superstar and great numbers were under a Godspell could an act sing the praises record after record and get away with it. [271]
Tex/Mex: The Buoys followed their top 40 hit with other tall tales of death and whatnot. There was "Give Up Your Guns" (#84, 1971), about a Tex/Mex showdown, followed by "Bloodknot," about some reform-school ritual. [271]
Canadian Invasion: By 1970, the success of groups like the Guess Who and Motherlode laid the foundation for a "Canadian Invasion"; more and more Canadian groups were tempted to try their luck in the States. [270]
countrified: Over the next couple of years, a few more countrified albums appeared, and to more singles--"Tarkio Road" (#55, 1971) and "Shake Off The Demons (#98, 1972)--won positions on the Hot 100. [269]
natural: Neil Bogart heard us do the number as an encore, at a show. He said it was a natural and had to be our next single. [269] [The song is One Toke Over The Line]
writeoff: The label, I found out later, was actually formed as a tax write-off, and I wasn't supposed to have a hit record! [268]
tough mama: She was the premier white blues singer of the '60s, a gutsy but vulnerable tough-mama icon from Texas, an overnight sensation, and yes, literally a one-hit wonder. [267] [She is Janis Joplin]
saddle: Four years later, that marriage over, Lynn Anderson was back in the music-business saddle again. [267]
syrup: Eventually, he or his staunch public tired of his easy-listening syrup, so Price recorded gospel for the Myrrh label before semi-retiring to his Golden Cross Ranch in Texas. [266]
collectible: His essentially behind-the-scenes 15-year career began in 1961, when he had two unsuccessful but now quite collectible singles with his group, the Imaginations, released for the Music Makers label. [265]
rechart: The boys would never make the stateside pop/rock 45 listings again, though British fans would later rechart the group name with takes on "My Brother Jake," "Little Bit Of Love," and "Wishing Well." [263]
towering: "It The Summertime" was their debut disk, and the first of what would total a towering 10 top 40 45s in their homeland. [262]
drumless: Ray and his diminished Camino cluster, bass-less and drum-less, nonetheless put on a fine show. [262]
bassless: Ray and his diminished Camino cluster, bass-less and drum-less, nonetheless put on a fine show. [262]
diminished: Ray and his diminished Camino cluster, bass-less and drum-less, nonetheless put on a fine show. [262]
ride off into the sunset: "Got To Believe In Love" (#80, 1970)--a follow-up recorded with the cast of /Hair/--sold only a few copies, and Rob and Steed Records rode off into the sunset. [261]
smoke: A lot of the brothers and sisters bought that record, and it almost smoked its way into the Establishment's top 10. [261]
groom: Together, they grooved and groomed nearly a dozen tunes. [261]
co-billing: Burdon offered the guys co-billing if they would work for him as their back-up band. [260]
redneck room: Guns were drawn and shots fired after a gig at the Cat's Eye, a reported redneck room in Raleigh, North Carolina. [258]
stair-step: Mrs. Burke had been lining her offspring up on the couch and teaching them to sing along with TV commercials and pop records. Stepping back to view them, she remarked, "They look just like stairsteps." [257]
sign-painter: Keyboardist Frank "Skip" Konte (b. Canyon City, Okla.)--Alaskan-raised philosophy dropout, and one-time welder and sign-painter--joined early in 1968. [256]
Latin-like: It wasn't, however, until after Joey had worked for a while as a barber, that the threesome met bassist Malcolm Jones and the idea of a Latin-like blues band became a reality. [256]
puff: Nothing further issued in the U.S. even so much as hinted at hitdom, though British record-buyers were much more receptive--nearly half a dozen more pop puffs by White Plains left their marks on the U.K. charts. [255]
move on: Earlier in 1970, Burrows had fronted two pseudo-groups, the Brotherhood of Man and Edison Lighthouse, and would move on to contribute to two similarly studio-bound units--the Pipkins ("Gimme Dat Ding") and First Class ("Beach Baby") [255]
studio-bound: Earlier in 1970, Burrows had fronted two pseudo-groups, the Brotherhood of Man and Edison Lighthouse, and would move on to contribute to two similarly studio-bound units--the Pipkins ("Gimme Dat Ding") and First Class ("Beach Baby") [255]
remodeled: "Superman" (#64, 1970) , basically a remodeled "Vehicle," was a solid follow-up, but the Ides were being pegged as a horn band or jazz-rockers. [255]
jazz-rocker: "Superman" (#64, 1970) , basically a remodeled "Vehicle," was a solid follow-up, but the Ides were being pegged as a horn band or jazz-rockers. [255]
labelmate: They signed with Parrot Records for "You Wouldn't Listen" (#42,, 1966), but because their labelmates were acts like Tom Jones, Them, and the Zombies, most listeners thought these infectious Ides were British. [255]
hitdom: Ten albums were released, yet the moody "Reflections Of My Life" was the band's only excursion into the hallowed halls of stateside hitdom. [254]
residency: After a successful Thursday-night residency at the Marquee Club--where the Yardbirds, the Animals, and the Rolling Stones first earned their reputations--England's CBS label signed the group to a recording contract. [254]
redub: Once settled there, they redubbed themselves Marmalade for a show-stopping appearance at the 1967 Windsor Jazz Festival. [254]
skin: Duffy left, and Alan Whitehead was whacking the skins by the time the group decided to move to London. [254]
guest: During the '60s, he guested as off-beat characters on TV shows like "The Asphalt Jungle," "Bus Stop," and "The Detectives." [254]
fix: As a teen, he left home and took up odd jobs trying to get a fix on his place in the universe and a spot on the mammoth movie screen. [254]
reconditioned: According to Jacobsen, Greenbaum's wife got the farm, and when last spotted, Norman was "living in a reconditioned chicken coop." [253]
neo-: Warner Bros. issued "Spirit" and an LP full of similarly neo-nutty sounds. [253]
aborted: Greenbaum moved to the City of Angels, and after some aborted efforts to reconstruct a jug band, he went solo. [253]
bongo parlor: As a college student at Boston University, Norm worked the city's bongo parlors and java joints. [253]
top-flight: Whether the band might have developed into a top-flight act is unknown, for in 1972 most of the group's original core members departed. [253]
fuzzified: Frikid Pink's hopped-up and fuzzified cover version of the Animals' 1964 hit was their briefly magical moment in pop music. [253]
bubblegummy: But writer/producer Tony Macauley needed a session singer to bring to life a bubblegummy tune called "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)," so he approached Burrows. [251-252]
freak: Flowerpot follow-ups failed to sufficiently freak people. [251]
go-round: Five years later, Wooden Nickel Records gave what remained of the Jaggers another go-round in the studios, but the results were worse than could be expected. [251]
with flying colors: True, "The Rapper" has not aged with its colors flying, and is not a heavily-requested oldie, but at the time, "The Rayyer" was a stone-cold smash. [251]
voicing: Pete dressed Eddie's high-pitched voicings in the stick-sweet strings of the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra. [250]
sticky-sweet: Pete dressed Eddie's high-pitched voicings in the stick-sweet strings of the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra. [250]
falsettoed: With more than 20 years of recording history behind him, Eddie Holman is still best remembered for his soulful, falsettoed/sex-changed recycling of Ruby & The Romantics' big-time smoothie from 1963, "Hey There Lonely Boy." [250]
sex-changed: With more than 20 years of recording history behind him, Eddie Holman is still best remembered for his soulful, falsettoed/sex-changed recycling of Ruby & The Romantics' big-time smoothie from 1963, "Hey There Lonely Boy." [250]
torch song: Reportedly, Wagner wanted the group to do more gospel and torch songs, but Craswell and the rest of the Crow men wanted to rock, and hard. [249]
bar band: Before their precarious perching on the charts, Crow was South 40, a Twin Cities bar band known for playing hard-edged R & B. [248]
perching: Before their precarious perching on the charts, Crow was South 40, a Twin Cities bar band known for playing hard-edged R & B. [248]
folky: Nothing much happened, and James Taylor flew into England to see if he could interest the Beatles' Apple label into recording "Carolina In My Mind" and some of his other folky material. [244]
biting: They had a contract with RCA and several biting rhythm rockers in release. [244]
rhythm rocker: They had a contract with RCA and several biting rhythm rockers in release. [244]
tough: "Take A Look Around," a fairly tough follow-up, sold well (#43, 1970), but the group was down to just Gayle by then. [243-244]
hard-rocking: Del and Smith came to a disagreement about something, and Steve Barri and Joel Sill wound up producing Smith's hard-rockin' remake of "Baby It's You." [243]
fly the coop: By the time the disk was out, most of Smith had apparently flown the coop; only Gayle and Jerry remained. [243]
talkie: "Jealous Kind Of Fella" was a telephone talkie tune: Garland calls his girl and apologizes for the jealous rage that caused him to "hit that guy last night." [243]
barbecue house: While performing at a community recreation center, he was discovered by one of Chicago's barbecue kings, Argia B. Collins. Argia, who had a mess of barbecue houses and marketed Mambo Bar-B-Que Sauce, sponsored Garland, sending him to the Chicago Conservatory of Music. [243]
brood: Garland Green, the tenth in a brood of eleven, was born on June 24, 1942, in Dunleath, Mississippi. [243]
ghosting: As a continuation of his ghosting activities, Ron has recorded as Bo Cooper, Dante's Inferno, Ronnie & The Dirtriders, C. G. Rose, and the Webspinners. [243]
runner: By 1963, Carmine was working as a "runner" for an accounting firm, and he would drop by 1619 Broadway to knock on doors in hopes of selling off some of his songs. [242]
barroom: Steve Kennedy had been blowing barroom sax for almost a decade. [241]
cotton candy: But pop fans wearied quickly of Electric Indian's brand of auditory cotton candy. [241]
club date: Once the line-up was set, Jesse Colin Young & The Youngbloods, as the group was then known, began building a solid reputation from their club dates. [239]
bluegrass boy: Corbitt introduced Young to a bluegrass boy named Harmon Banana. [239]
message music: "Get Together" was jangling 12-string folk-rock, message music, and--as faithful fans will attest--the Youngbloods at their very best. [239]
12-string: "Get Together" was jangling 12-string folk-rock, message music, and--as faithful fans will attest--the Youngbloods at their very best. [239]
jangling: "Get Together" was jangling 12-string folk-rock, message music, and--as faithful fans will attest--the Youngbloods at their very best. [239]
at any price: I just can't stand Cajun music at any price, same goes for country. Now, blues I like. [239]
lark: Charles Randolph Grean is married to pop lark and multi-hit artist Betty Johnson. [238]
multi-hit: Charles Randolph Grean is married to pop lark and multi-hit artist Betty Johnson. [238]
muscle: Nothing the Nebraskans ever again recorded managed to muscle more than minimal attention. [236]
tape: Rick convinced Denny to travel to Odessa, Texas, where they taped the tune and pressed up a thousand copies on Truth Records to sell at concerts and hand out to local radio stations. [236]
gigger: Rick accepted and joined the Eccentrics, but left in 1965 to form his own group of giggers, the DeViles. [236]
shiny: Upton's brassy "More Today Than Yesterday," the Spiral Staircase's second single, was a shiny success. [235]
liquor hole: For years, they paid their dues in hometown liquor holes and tacky Reno/Tahoe lounges. [234]
varnish: The Sacramento-based Spiral Staircase had been working the varnish off of their tootsies for half a decade before they received their first and only national notice. [234]
chamber-sized: "Morning Girl," recorded with a chamber-sized gathering of musicians from the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, was a surprise smash. [234]
unrepeatable: "Love (Can Make You Happy)" proved to be an unrepeatable smash. [233]
gooey: Not overly discouraged, Mercy managed to place their gooey Steve Alaimo-Brad Shapiro production with Sundi, a small independent label. [233]
charge: A year's worth of singles were issued, but not one disk packed the charge or the magic of that silly "Sasafrass" song. [231]
Dixie-fried: The members of Bubble Puppy looked like Dixie-fried and drugged flower children in the photo on their only album, /Gathering Promises/. [231]
punkster: The psychedelic punksters (originally known a the New Seeds and, later, the Willowdale Handcar) were signed in 1968 to the tiny Texas-based International Artists label. [231]
psychedelicized: Only their easy-listening but psychedelicized rendition of the Box Toys' chart-busting "The Letter" would receive national top 40 acceptance. [231]
inflected: /Brooklyn Bridge/ (1969), an album of pop and jazz-inflected numbers. [230]
teen dream: Maestro tried to reform the Crests and cut more teen-dream disks. [229]
prune: When internal dissension and a decline in popularity set in, Johnny was pruned from the Crests. [229]
road work: So my brother, who's really named Derek and who was part of my band at the time, went out as me--he did the road work. [229]
flaky: Did the flaky flavor of "Fire" typecast Art Brown as a nut and a novelty act? [226]
vital: He would run by hotels, pressing his vital parts against the windows! [226]
delta: For years, Brown had been soaking up the sounds of Sinatra, Elvis, Delta blues, New Orleans jazz, Scottish folk tunes, and classical music. [225]
bird-watching: By the spring of 1968, they were the secular-singing O'Kaysion, and they had recorded a leering lyric about ogling babes for the peewee Northstate label. Local DJs, appreciating that bird-watching was a popular pastime for their listeners, rode the number as if it had a satin saddle. [225]
leering: By the spring of 1968, they were the secular-singing O'Kaysion, and they had recorded a leering lyric about ogling babes for the peewee Northstate label. [225]
prepubescent: Decca/MCA toyed with the idea of Don recording a prepubescent cover version of Crazy Elephant's hit, "Gimme Gimme Good Lovin'." [224]
touch home: Despite a misconceived orchestral accompaniment, Don's reworking of John D. Loudermilk's 1963 lament for the Cherokee Indians, "Indian Reservation," touched home. [224]
misconceived: Despite a misconceived orchestral accompaniment, Don's reworking of John D. Loudermilk's 1963 lament for the Cherokee Indians, "Indian Reservation," touched home. [224]
encase: Miki had plans for the Sorrotws' mournful 6'6" vocalist: he renamed Maughn "Don Fardon" and had him record cover versions of "The Letter" and "Indian Reservation," encasing the soulful lad in both bubblegum and easy-listening settings. [224]
pyrotechnics: Mainstream Records, wowed by Nugent's Hendrix-like guitar pyrotechics, signed the guys and issued their self-titled debut album in 1968. [222]
sizeable: Longet's work on Mason's marvel in 10/4 time, "Wanderlove," was a sizeable seller in Singapore. [220]
pile-driving: The group persisted on a pile-driving path through the '70s and '80s. [220]
bashing: Guitarist Richard Parfitt joined the group, and Status Quo recorded "Pictures of Matchstick Men." Before that bashin'-boogie trademark had fully evolved, Lynes quit the band. [220]
miscellanea: By 1967, the group, now called Traffic Jam, was working mostly as a back-up band for Madeline Bell and a miscellanea of touring U.S. rock and rollers. [220]
bone-crunching: For more than two decades now, Status Quo has been dishing out three-chord bone-crunching music, and there's no end in sight. [219]
cork: Many of Pig's plentiful fans were surprised to see that he was just as dark without the cork he had been using. [219]
cork: For years, Pigmeat would appear "under cork," that is, he would perform with burnt cork applied to his face (a variation of blackface). [219]
coffee and bongo: In the mid-'60s, as Darry Dover and/or Larry Love, Tim played to receptive crowds in Greenwich Village coffee-and-bongo spots like the Fat Black Pussycat Cafe. [218]
feather-headed: That featherheaded song (initially popularized by Nick Lucas in 1929), "Tip Toe Thru' The Tulips Wtih Me." [217]
scrape off: On the flip side was the filler--"The Horse"--which was nothing more than "Love Is All Right" with Cliff's vocal track scraped off. [216]
move: From early on, he sang in the church choir, and before his move to Philadelphia in 1965, Cliff was already quite well-known in his hometown as a gospel singer. [216]
downslide: Sales of the Cadet sides were next to nil; their career on a downslide, Jim and Cathy divorced. [214]
freak out: Formed in the heart of the British Invasion in 1964 as the Nevadas, the Jacks decided to freak out and grow their hair long. [213]
sucked: Their eerie "Master Jack" was a bizarre little item, and not just because of its folk-like, sucked-clean-and-dry instrumentation. [213]
blow job: The whistler was Muzzy Marcellino, noted for his extensive blow job throughout John Wayne's /The High and the Mighty/ (1954).
cottage cheese: From behind their towering wall of Marshall amps, Blue Cheer, in the words of their manager, could "play so hard and heavy they [made] cottage cheese out of the air." [212] [brackets in text]
folkie: "Go With Me," their first folkie-flavored 45, charted at number 78 in 1967, and was followed by "Playboy." [210]
have one's way: When he was four years old, ma and pa taught him how to have his way with a piano. [209]
bubblegummy: Had they not accepted bubblegummy Buddah Records' offer to record one more tune--of the label's choice--the Lemon Pipers would now be remembered by very few people. [209]
log in: Their cover version of Bobby "Blue" Bland's "Turn On Your Love Light" logged in at number 80 in 1968. [209]
clock: One of the guys was hustling this chick. She took off these glasses, and she could stop a clock. [207]
knee-high: John Fred Gourrier had been listening to Fats Domino, Smiley Lewis, and the Spiders since he was knee-high. [207]
groover: They were gospel groovers with a unique sound. [177]
monster: Listeners would probably assume that "One Has My Name was yet another musical monster from Dean Martin, who was making a momentous return to the charts. [177]
topper: Country toppers like "Out Behind The Barn," "A-Sleeping At The Foot Of The Bed," "Hillbilly Fever," and "Take An Old Cold Tater And Wait" followed. [177]
significa: And a 4'11" old-timey country singer with a Stetson and glittery stuff all over his duds treated radio listeners to such lyrical significa as "May an elephant caress you with his toes/May your wife be plagued with runners in her hose." [175-176]
tangle: For their second disk, Epstein got John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison to accompany and produce "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away," a remake of the Beatlesong from the /Help!/ soundtrack. The three Beatles never again tangled with Silkie, and Silkie consequently never received much of a hearing. [175]
Beatle-song: For their second disk, Epstein got John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison to accompany and produce "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away," a remake of the Beatlesong from the /Help!/ soundtrack. [175] ["they" are Silkie]
Beatle-man: They met during the summer of 1963, and within two years, generated enough of a club reputation that Beatle-man Brian Epstein sought them out, signed them up for management, and connected them with Fontana Records. [175]
self-acknowledgedly: Kim Fowley (a self-acknowledgedly bizarre and cultish personality who frequently pops up in accounts of '60s rock and roll) was then Chattahoochee's in-house producer. [174]
flaky: After the success of "Everyone's Gone," King issued further flakies, charting in the State with only one other single, Where The Sun Has Never Shone" (#97, 1966). [174]
oldies: Nonetheless, King's thing became a worldwide hit, and can now be heard ad nauseam on oldies radio stations. [174]
ad nauseam: Nonetheless, King's thing became a worldwide hit, and can now be heard ad nauseam on oldies radio stations. [174]
hodgepodgy: It was through theBumblies that King met some execs at British Decca Records--in particular, a Mr. Ken Jones, who encouraged the youth to try his hand at writing some hip songs. One of the first of these was the hodge-podgy "Everyone's Gone To The Moon." [174] [Line break falls between hodge and podgy]
front: He has since fronted the High-Steppers and recorded four LPs with them to date. [174]
spark: When the latter disk showed some sparks, Moman contacted MGM's Jim Vienneau, who picked up the waxing for national release. [173]
sewed up: We couldn't get into any of the main rooms in town--it was sewed up. [172]
Dylanesque: "No Tears For Johnny," a Dylanesque protest song against the Vietnam War. [169]
mini-sized: It was a mini-sized charter (#100, 1965), not bad for a starter. [169] ['It' is Ian Whitcomb's "This Sporting Life"]
piano-bang: Throughout his younger years in exclusive boarding schools, Whitcomb listened avidly to rock and roll, this "devil music" from the States. Not only that, but he practice piano-bangin' those very Satanic songs. [169]
devil music: Throughout his younger years in exclusive boarding schools, Whitcomb listened avidly to rock and roll, this "devil music" from the States. [169]
Britisher: This Britisher washed ashore with the Beatle Invasion. [169]
jazz-pop: The saccharine jazz-pop of Horst Jankowski is occasionally heard even to this day on "Beautiful Music" radio stations across the land. [169]
hoodoo: Glenn, you see, was big, bulky, and balding, and did not look like your hip and happening hoodoo. [168]
folk-rockish: His only other Hot 100 item came in 1965 with the folk-rockish "It's Gonna Be Fine" (#54). [168]
hummable: This rock and roll music, it seemed, was raucous and lacking in hummable melody. [167]
thrusting: The lyrics were adolescent, all right, but that thrusting rhythm was definitely post-pimples. [167]
In 1965, Jewel Akens found his moment in the sun when Herb handed him a funky little sing-song, "The Birds And The Bees" [167]
doo-wopper: A street-corner group of doo-woppers caught his hear. [166]
choirmate: The Larks were an L.A. unit formed in 1953 by Don Julian, who tapped the vocal talents of his fellow high-school choirmates. [162]
multi-tracked: Dante was also, in multi-tracked form, all the voices in the Cuff Links. [164]
flaky: Morey Amsterdam's flaky flick, /Don't Worry, I'll Think of a Title/ (1966). [164]
queasy: Julie Rogers continued exploring that queasy (and decidedly unhip) easy-listening terrain. [163]
sugary: Whenever young lovers tied the knot, some wedding guest would inevitably beseech the reception band to play the sugary strains of this song. [163] ["this song" is Julie Rogers' "The Wedding"]
stomp: Soon the Honeycombs were stompin' near the top of the charts with their debut disk, Blaikley's "Have I The Right?" [162]
notice: By mid-'63, the group was garnering favorable notices at the local pubs. [162]
main drag: In the early '60s, he lived in a $20-a-month shack on Route 1941. It was a main drag, so over the years he witnessed many a gory car accident. [161]
juice: The Nashville Teens convened in 1962 when Ramon "Ray" Phillips and Arthur Sharp, members of two local rival groups, decided to join their musical juices. [160]
root-rocker: And in no way were these root-rockers playing C & W. [160] ["these" being the Nashville Teens.]
artifact: Not one of these underrated artifacts from the British Invasion had even set foot in Nashville. [160]
cold storage: In 1970, Gary Usher packed up the "Hondells" name and placed it into cold storage. [159]
clutch: Bringing together a clutch of musical friends. [159]
surfer: Usher's solo surfer projects, released under his own name, all crashed on the shore. [159] ["Usher" is Gary Usher.]
happening: Two odd albums of acid-laced hippie happenings were unleashed by Columbia Records. [158]
acid-laced: Two odd albums of acid-laced hippie happenings were unleashed by Columbia Records. [158]
sun: It is not known what became of Gale Garnett. When her sun last shone, it was late in the '60s. [158]
gravel-throated: Label execs found her gravel-throated voice and materila to be unique. [158] ["she" is Gale Garnett]
pole: Not much is known about Joe Hinton. He was born some time in 1929 and he died on August 13, 1968, in a Boston hospital of "natural causes." In between those two poles in life's continuum, Joe sang his guts out. [158]
horror: A well-received Johnny Fuller R & B horror called "Haunted House." [156]
labelled: The guys at the label snuffed out Gene's hopes of having any more yellow-labeled Sun releases bearing his name. [156] [Gene is Jumpin' Gene Simmons]
greased-back: Greased-back hair, tight pants, all that. [156]
dank: Hall had the gut feeling that Jimmy could have a hit with "Steal Away," a dank, adulterous piece of business that Jimmy had written. [156]
girl group: The girl-group sound was still hot. [156]
hit-parader: At Red Bird, the legendary songwriting team of Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich were assigned the task of making the quintet into hit-paraders. [156]
L.A.er: The Premiers were East L.A.'ers through and through. [154]
serving: Very few Latino rock and roll bands, in the days before Santana, managed to successfully steal even a slight serving of the nation's auditory attention. [154]
record hop: Parrot, Razor, Spaghetti, and the rest were working record hops, school dance, and other social functions in 1963. [154]
cloned: Throughout the pre-Beatle '60s, South African-born Danny Williams functioned as England's cloned answer to Johnny Mathis. [153]
regally: In 1984, "Break-A-Way," the disk's flip side, would regally resurface as a hit for Tracey Ullman. [153]
solid-selling: "Don't Mess" (--/#22, 1960) was a solid-selling first outing. [153]
rooming house: They lived in a rooming house behind the Bell Hotel. [152]
unduplicable: The response was overwhelming and, unfortunately, undublicable. After "Long Tall Shorty", "Alimony," and further sides stiffed, Tommy returned to school. [152]
programmer: The handful of never-ending summer classics annually activated by rock-radio programmers. [151]
activate: The handful of never-ending summer classics annually activated by rock-radio programmers. [151]
issuance: A cover of Bobby Day's "Rockin' Robin" held down the number-96 slot for a week in 1964, but later issuances did not do as well. [151]
red hot: We did a lot of rock and roll hits then, but we'd do them our way, always red hot and fast. [150]
idolatry: The group has retreated from the bright spotlights of pop idolatry. [150]
cauldron: Not all one-off hitmakers return penniless to the cauldron of obscurity. [149]
gravel-throated: Attracted to Joe's gravel-throated lead vocals and the unit's tight harmonies. [149] [Joe is Joe Pope]
sound-alike: Aside from their "My Boyfriend's Back" sound-alike, "The Boy Next Door," [140]
folk-rocking: With the failure of their folk-rockin' "Hey Mama, You've Been On My Mind," Lois Wilkins left the duo. [148]
jet stream: Similar-sounding singles followed in the jet stream, but nothing nudged the masses to buy these Caravelle waxings. [148]
eye to the sky: With an eye to the sky, the young ladies named themselves after the Caravelle, a famous French airliner. [148]
afterhour: Andrea and Louis spent many an afterhour rehearsing and tightening up their tunes. [148]
dim: After a few more sides, Ward's career dimmed. [148]
pretzel: With the onset of spring, the label--with crossed fingers and pretzel logic--issued the similar-sounding "Winter's Here." [148]
test-market: Bigwigs at the label, delighted with the simple, uplifting creations the good sister was offering, decided to test-market some of her recordings in Europe. [147]
duster: An eight-man band of Dixieland dusters. [147]
romp: "Rags To Riches" and "Out Of Sight-Out Of Mind" were similarly styled romps. [145]
groove: The cut was swampy, pleasantly sloppy, and right on the groove. [145]
swampy: The cut was swampy, pleasantly sloppy, and right on the groove. [145]
dispersal: For a time, Okeh picked up the disk for national dispersal. [145]
leaning: The swamp-pop leanings of Joe Barry, Rod Bernard, and Livin' Gene. [145]
total: Each member brought a unique musical influence to the total sound. [145]
dry-voiced: Taylor, with his distinctive dry-voiced style, has maintained a loyal R & B following through the years. [145] [Taylor is Little Johnny Taylor]
knee-high: While still knee-high, Little John was asked to join the renowned Mighty Clouds of Joy. [145]
under: A bass line that thudded like a flat tire under an ethereal falsetto. [145]
liquid: Things were very iffy and liquid then. [143]
high-powered: /Doris Troy/ featured a high-powered line-up of guest musicians. [139]
skirt: Her follow-up, "What'cha Gonna Do About It," did poorly here and only skirted England's charts. [139]
teen: The record was solid in sound, with a gospel edge and just a touch of teen. [139]
dash off: In the '50s, she worked as an usherette at the famed Apollo Theater, joined a jazzy trio called the Halos, recorded as the "Dee" half of a short-lived Shirley & Lee-ish Jay & Dee, and dashed off tunes in her spare time. [139]
usherette: In the '50s, she worked as an usherette at the famed Apollo Theater. [139]
roll: Rolf's notoriety has rolled right along in England and Australia, where a number of his fractured follow-ups have charted. [139]
fractured: Rolf's notoriety has rolled right along in England and Australia, where a number of his fractured follow-ups have charted. [139]
Masonite: "Wobbling" is shaking a warped Masonite board to produce bizarre rhythmic sounds. [138]
wobble: It was there that he began singing his strange songs and "wobbling" in public. "Wobbling" is shaking a warped Masonite board to produce bizarre rhythmic sounds. [138]
homeland: Kyu scored 15 homeland hits. [137]
taste: "Sukiyaki" was a tear-jerker that had absolutely nothing to do with the Japanese taste treat. [137]
talkie: "Whispering Bill," as he became known for his talkie singing style. [136]
teen-scene: The California kids were between 18 and 20 when their coach and manager, Tom Ayres, plucked them from out of the teen-scene clubs to audition for Buddy Jack at Arlen Records. [136]
frug: Frank "Killer Joe" Piro was the dancer who taught high society how to do everything from the Frug to the Watusi. [135]
instrument: "Pipeline," possibly the best surfing song ever, and one of only two surfing instruments to ever reach /Billboard/'s top 10. [135]
bottom man: With it's doo-woppish sound, the tune was an up-tempo paean to that dwindling breed, the "bottom man." [134] [the tune is Johnny Cymbal's "Mr. Bass Man."]
doo-woppish: With it's doo-woppish sound, the tune was an up-tempo paean to that dwindling breed, the "bottom man." [134] [the tune is Johnny Cymbal's "Mr. Bass Man."]
mucky: "The Water Is Red," his second release, was a tearjerker in the mucky mode of Mark Dinning's "Teen Angel." [134]
cloudy: The tale gets even cloudier. [133]
double-sided: The follow-up, "Shy Girl" (#91, 1963) b/w "The Last Leaf (#60), proved to be a double-sided hit, with airplay split between the two tunes. [133]
chamber: In addition to writing some piano preludes, chamber works, and art songs. [131]
incantation: Nothing that Ned ever recorded could match the success of his eerie incantation. [131]
pipefitting: It bombed, and Ned returned to writing songs and pipefitting. [131]
pipefitter: On his return, he studied two years under the G.I. Bill to become a pipefitter. [131]
symmetrical: We thought this was a good record, but we needed something to make the record symmetrical, so we threw together 'Loop De Loop.' [131]
chug: Before the year was out, the girls were out of school and the foursome's "Tell Him" was chuggin' up the charts. [130]
bottom: The duo concurred with Herb's assessment, and told Herb to stick around and sing bottom for the group. [130]
top-flight: Cattini lives in North London and is a top-flight studio drummer. [130]
rehearse: Meek rehearsed the guys, tightened up their sound, and issued an unsuccessful debut 45, "Love And Fury." [129]
undistributed: And after a brief and largely undistributed outing on Mercury in 1973, the "Routers" name was boxed and buried. [129]
box: And after a brief and largely undistributed outing on Mercury in 1973, the "Routers" name was boxed and buried. [129]
flash: Enev at this earliest of points in the Routers' flash flight to fame, many pop historians suspect that most of the group's members did not actually play on the Routers, records. [129]
pony: "Let's Go" (with the subtitle of "Pony") was a natural for the act's first 45, considering that a dance called the Pony was then something of a sensation. [129]
mine: For the next few years, Marcie Blane continued to mine similar ground with "Little Miss Fool," "What Does A Girl Do?", and "Why Can't I Get A Guy?" [128]
good-timey: White Whale released the good-timey "Good Pop Music" in the late '60s. [127]
vocal: The hypnotic tune had a slow, humping rhythm and a pleading Presleyesque vocal. [127] [The tune is "Torture" by Kris Jensen.]
Presleyesque: The hypnotic tune had a slow, humping rhythm and a pleading Presleyesque vocal. [127] [The tune is "Torture" by Kris Jensen.]
humping: The hypnotic tune had a slow, humping rhythm and a pleading Presleyesque vocal. [127] [The tune is "Torture" by Kris Jensen.]
puffy: His odes to girls like "Cathy" and "Joanna," though, were rather puffy, and not nearly as appealing to diehard rock and rollers. [127]
well-tooled: In their prime the Contours racked up a series of well-tooled Motown hits. [126]
respark: Although he did manage to place three other singles on the Hot 100 and four more on the C & W charts, not one could re-spark the nation's interest. [126]
come-on man: Frank was a "spruker," a "roll over roll over," or what we in the Far West might call a "come-on man." [125]
roll over roll over: Frank was a "spruker," a "roll over roll over," or what we in the Far West might call a "come-on man." [125]
spruker: Frank was a "spruker," a "roll over roll over," or what we in the Far West might call a "come-on man." [125]
bake: Some character baked up a 25,000-pound cake for the Seattle Fair. [125]
lusty: "I Only Want To Be With You" (#12, 1964), was the first in a best-selling line of ulta-fine lusties. [124]
folk club: Mike Hurst went on to manage a folk club, work as a DJ, and produce some early recordings. [124]
electrified: "Silver Threads And Golden Needles" was an updated and electrified rendition of an early Wanda Jackson country hit. [123]
ramble: Nearly a half-dozen of their singles rambled over the British charts before the Beatles even set foot in the States. [123]
folksinging: In the late '50s, Dion started folksinging with an ex-wine tester and adman named Tim Feild. [123]
wild: According to some reports, Claudine was off in the wilds writing a rock and roll operetta, or poetry, or plays. [123]
creature: The follow-up to "Party Lights" was a distasteful ditty called "Walkin' Through The Cemetery," complete with Claudine making creature sounds during the instrumental break. [123]
lord: Claudine can see her friends next door partying it up, twistin', mashin', doin' the bop, and lawd knows what else. [123]
implore: Never again would Claudine implore and grovel like she did in this raunchy rocker. [123]
rocker: But "Disappointed" didn't have a hit feel to it, so some DJ flipped the record to find this spontateous, teen-alienation radiator, "Party Lights." Never again would Claudine implore and grovel like she did in this raunchy rocker. [123]
at bat: Bob Marcucci's Philadelphia-based Chancellor label gave the lass her third crack at bat with "Disappointed" b/ "Party Lights." [123]
radiator: But "Disappointed" didn't have a hit feel to it, so some DJ flipped the record to find this spontateous, teen-alienation radiator, "Party Lights." [123]
shouter: The label sat on the sides until the duo's "I Need Your Loving" took off and stimulated the need for more gospel-influenced shouters. [122]
sweaty: Musical forms like the blues and doo-woop were fading in popularity; Ike & Tina Turner's hot and sweaty sound was selling a lot of records. [122]
story-song: Pop-wise, Claude only had one more story-song in him--"The Burning Of Atlanta"
popwise: Pop-wise, Claude only had one more story-song in him--"The Burning Of Atlanta". [121]
storage: Clifton Clowers, a mean mountain man "mighty handy with the gun and knife," has his daughter in storage on Wolverton Mountain, and there ain't no one gonna get her. [120-121]
corn: Emilio continued to crank out the corn, but never again was he to have his way with American hearts and charts. [120]
run-through: Over the next few years, more than 50 different run-throughs of the catchy tune would be recorded. [120]
silky-smooth: Some initial waxings, such as the silky-smooth "Baby Don't Leave Me," sounded fine to those ears that managed a listen, but all of Joe's Todd sides failed to click--until "Snap Your Fingers."
shop around: A demo of the Cascades doing "I Wish That We Were Married" was taped and shopped around to various labels. [119]
tailor-make: Marian had written some songs that publishers and record companies had turned aside, and was sure that she could tailor-make something hot for the Cascades. [119]
wash away: Their frontman had just been drafted, and without a replacement, the Cascades were sure to wash away. [119]
popdom: "Stranger" was a tame instrumental, not a rock and roll record, and its staggering chart success took everyone in popdom by surprise. [118]
near-hit: Two years and a few more near-hits later, "Stranger On The Shore" appeared. [118]
package: Ernie Maresca is still active with Robert Schwartz and the rest of the staff at Laurie Records, packaging seemingly endless compilations of that golden stuff from long ago. [118]
smash: Ernie admitted to /Goldmine/ that he never liked the song, and never thought it would be a smash. [118] [The song in question is Runaround Sue]
enjoyable: He gave "Runaround Sue," The Wanderer," "Lovers Who Wonder," and "Donna The Prima Donna" to Dion; "No One Knows," "A Lover's Prayer," and "Come On Little Angel" to the Belmonts; "Runaround" to the Regents; "Whenever A Teenager Cries" to Reparata & The Delrons; "Hey Jean, Hey Dean" to Dean & Jean; "Child Of Clay" to Jimmie Rodgers; and piles of other enjoyables to the Del-Satins, the Five Discs, and Nino & The Ebbtides. [118]
jive-talking: Ross, in this case, played a beatnik storyteller; in his hands, the familiar fairy tale was transformed into a jive-talkin', pig-Latin string of titillating innuendos. [117]
multi-disk: Meanwhile, only months into the group's career, Atco Records sized up the appeal of the Cavaliers, female-lead doo-wop approach, and signed them to a multi-disk contract. [116]
ozone: This time, Ronald and Claude saw their record rocket into the ozone. [116]
neo-doo-wop: "Smoky Places," the Corsairs' second release, was a top-of-the-line neo-doo-wop goodie. [115]
perk: With a roomful of sessioneers, and the help of a xylophone, the pair created a catchy tune that sounded like the rhythmic pulsations of a perking coffee pot. [114]
trad-jazz: For a few years, Britain was a ga-ga about the trad-jazz of Ball and his two main competitors. [114]
gaga: For a few years, Britain was a ga-ga about the trad-jazz of Ball and his two main competitors. [114]
trad-man: Before British youth fell under the sway of American blues, R & B, and free-form jazz, Ball's trad-men would rack up 14 hit singles on the British pop charts. [114]
trad-jazzman: Kenny Ball and his band of trad-jazzmen gave us a reworking of a Russian tune originally called "Padmeskoveeye Vietchera." [114]
clicker: Several more Channel singles charted and Bruce did manage to make a good living with his music for a few years. But he never could locate that next big clicker. [113]
stable: Capitol Records invited the boy over to their stable, and dished up an incredibly derivative follow-up, "What's The Reason"--Bob's last pop placement. [112]
placement: Capitol Records invited the boy over to their stable, and dished up an incredibly derivative follow-up, "What's The Reason"--Bob's last pop placement. [112]
swamp rock: When the disk was played on the radio, the local response was such that Liberty Records immediately picked up Troy's swamp-rock classic and released it nationally. [112] [The disk in question is Troy Shondell's "This Time."]
teen queen: As an accompanist, Bob toured the land with a young and wild Elvis Presley, country folkie Red Foley, and teen queens Connie Francis and Brenda Lee. [111]
folkie: As an accompanist, Bob toured the land with a young and wild Elvis Presley, country folkie Red Foley, and teen queens Connie Francis and Brenda Lee. [111]
house of laughter: He graduated from Emerson College in 1950, and for the next few years performed as a stand-up comic in local watering holes and houses of laughter. [111]
peck: By age 12, Barry was pickin' and peckin' his way through pop songs that he would hear on the radio. [110]
street corner: Younger ears wanted Detroit soul, not street-corner harmonies. [109]
wop-wop: Fine-fine wop-wop recordings were made for Swan, Cameo, and even big-time labels like Columbia, Mercury, and Warner Bros., but doo-wop was on its way out. [109]
fine-fine: Fine-fine wop-wop recordings were made for Swan, Cameo, and even big-time labels like Columbia, Mercury, and Warner Bros., but doo-wop was on its way out. [109]
zebra skin: Adolescent listeners could easily imagine little Annie on a zebra skin, gyrating and pleading, "Close your lovin' arms around me, it do me so good." [109]
dog: It was a slinky, teasing number, and the follow-up, "It Do Me So Good," was no dog, either. [109]
slinky: It was a slinky, teasing number, and the follow-up, "It Do Me So Good," was no dog, either. [109] ["It" is Ann-Margret's "I Just Don't Understand"]
dinero: A curvaceous female Elvis who was going to make the label /mucho dinero/. [108]
tighten: Meanwhile, the Royal Spades tightened up their chops playing sock hops, bars, and other venues, practicing every weekend in the primitive Stax studios in East Memphis. [107]
golf ball: When the two ventured into the realm of record-making, they decided to name their label after those huge, thorny-looking golf balls that Cape Canaveral was blasting into space. [106]
bomp: We stole all those 'bomps' and 'ha-ha-has' from the Spaniels and Cleftones. [106]
doo-wopping: Brought in to provide that catchy doo-woppin' background were the Halos, a recording act just an instant away from their own success with "Nag." [106]
side: Like Lee's earlier sides, this tune nose-dived, as did another single, "D In Love." [106]
nosedive: Like Lee's earlier sides, this tune nose-dived, as did another single, "D In Love." [106]
crowner: He continued to wax solid efforts like "Something You Got," a much-covered disk, and in 1963 recorded his career crowner, the original version of "Land Of A Thousand Dances." [105]
effort: He continued to wax solid efforts like "Something You Got," a much-covered disk, and in 1963 recorded his career crowner, the original version of "Land Of A Thousand Dances." [105]
perennial: Kenner created some rock and roll perennials, cutting and canning some of the finest recorded examples of the New Orleans sound. [105]
can: Kenner created some rock and roll perennials, cutting and canning some of the finest recorded examples of the New Orleans sound. [105]
juice bar: Following years of messing around with the marimbas and whatever instruments he could get his hands on, Lyman joined a downtown juice-bar jazz band. [105]
vinyl pusher: Neither Barnum nor any of the vinyl pushers at Arvee expected "Butter" to spread its appealing way through thousands of American households, but it did. [102-103]
sideline: Arranger/producer/tunesmith H.B. Barnum offered the Vibrations some sideline cash if they would moonlight their way through a sticky novelty number called "Peanut Butter". [102]
outing: "Can't We Be Sweethearts," "String Around My Heart," and "Why Do You Do Me Like You Do," though quality outings, did not chart nationally. [102]
dirt farm: Faron spnt most of his early years on a dirt farm outside of Shreveport. [101]
lowdown: When I sang , 'Satan should be her name,' I meant that . . . Oooh, she was a lowdown. [100]
nudge: A number of fine follow-ups were issued, but nothing else nudged the nation. [99]
hard: We bought this upright piano for $50 and painted the hammers with shellac to give it a sound between that of a tack piano and that of a hard harpsichord. [98]
tack piano: We bought this upright piano for $50 and painted the hammers with shellac to give it a sound between that of a tack piano and that of a hard harpsichord. [98]
beat-bottom: The legendary Shadows worked up a rough and beat-bottom rendition that eventually outsold all versions worldwide. [97]
hippie-headed: As the decade came to a close, he had a fine hippie-headed LP issued by Dot titled /See Your Way Clear/. [97]
tot: Buzz's tot tune was so catchy that it charted across-the-boards: pop/rock, C & W, and R & B. [97] [the tune referred to is "Baby Sittin' Boogie]
treat: In 1981, Mincelli, Reina, and Santo reunited with Tommmy Ferrara and Tony Danno to record an excellent '80s doo-wop treat for the Ambient Sound label. [96]
regroup: The band regrouped to record four more singles, three of which charted. [96]
minor-league: An album appeared, but sales were minor-league. [96]
flubless: In place of the crudities the Originals had supplied were the lush strings and flubless instrumentation of the Dick Jacobs Orchestra. [96]
crudity: In place of the crudities the Originals had supplied were the lush strings and flubless instrumentation of the Dick Jacobs Orchestra. [96]
skimpy: She sings "Angel Baby" in one of the skimpiest voices to ever grace the /Billboard/ charts (she had a cold that day), with the Originals pounding a sparse and primitive backdrop. [95]
barber pole: Rosalie Hamlin was probably thin as a barber's pole. [95]
nudge: Excello released three more 45s by the Gladiolas but not one nudged a notice. [94]
sparkle: "Diamonds and Pearls" had all the secret ingredients necessary to become a national top 40 hit, and it sparkles to this day. [93]
honker: Fiddle-player, guitarist, and harmonica-honker extraordinaire. [92]
cheese: He had Jimy cut a demo, and presented it to Bill Lashley, the main cheese at Promo Records. [91]
non-novelty: "Hush Little Baby," the non-novelty follow-up, was a flop. [91] [follow-up to "Yogi"]
oldie: Other rockaballad remakes of oldie standards were soon dished up. [90]
dish up: Other rockaballad remakes of oldie standards were soon dished up. [90]
underinvolvement: Marv's girlfriend, upset by his overinvolvement with music and underinvolvement with her, had asked Marv to choose between his music and her, then stormed angrily out of the room. [89]
twiddle: Saleswise, "Touch" didn't manage more than a twiddle. [89]
rambling: Hank still lives on his ramblin' Singin' L Ranch and occasionally ventures forth to sing some of his country tunes for the Plantation or Country Artist labels. [88]
zonked: Everyone present was sloshed on the day of the recording. The band was divinely sloppy, and "Flip" was so zonked that some soul had to hold him upright and aim him at the mike. [88]
sloshed: Everyone present was sloshed on the day of the recording. The band was divinely sloppy, and "Flip" was so zonked that some soul had to hold him upright and aim him at the mike. [88]
sloppy: Everyone present was sloshed on the day of the recording. The band was divinely sloppy, and "Flip" was so zonked that some soul had to hold him upright and aim him at the mike. [88]
mush-mouthed: An interesting twist was added to the answer-record tradition when some mush-mouthed individual named Brumley Plunket came up with a response to Jeanne's number entitled "He'd Better Go". [86]
Ubangi: Answer records to Buchanan & Goodman's "The Flying Saucer" and Ray Peterson's "Tell Laura I Love Her" stiffed as badly as if the record labels had issued Ubangi tribal recordings. [85]
soulfully: Several of Bland's follow-up singles were more soulfully substantive. [85]
plug in: Bland moved to New York at age 15, and quickly plugged in the nightclub scene. [85]
buzz off: For two years, Billy was part of the 4 Bees, which had a string of failed singles on the Imperial label. After the unit buzzed off, he came to the attention of Hy Weiss, owner of the Old Town label. [85]
table-to-table: When not singing at the Hawaiian Village Hotel, Stevens would sashay about as a table-to-table photographer and snoop. [84]
ballyhooed: Connie was chosen to appear opposite "77 Sunset Strip" star EDD BYRNES on "Kookie, Kookie (Lend Me Your Comb)," his much-ballyhooed debut as a rock and roll "singer." [84] [The words "edd byrnes" are in small caps]
wax: Stacks of wax were shipped on several major labels. [84]
silky: "Tracy's Theme"--limned by the silky sax of Jimmy Abato. [83]
single: The Beatles really took us out. It was a blow to my ego and my wallet . . . Groups were in and singles were out. [83]
left-field: It was a far-out, left-field teenage folk song that sold 3,500,000 copies. [83]
dingy: After a few dingies for Gold Leaf, Larry checked out of the business and into the great hall of rock and roll obscurities. [82]
nutty: Don and Sascha continued to work their nutty turf for another four years. [79]
pink: Steve Allen and Bob Thiele had just formed Hanover-Signature Records, and were pleased pink to give it a try. [79]
moldie: "In the Mood," reportedly utilizing well-known sessioneers Rene Hall, Plas Johnson, and Earl Palmer, was the first of what would be a series of rockin'-good readings on big-band moldies like "Chattanooga Choo Choo," "12th Street Rag," "Charleston," "Castle Rock," "String Of Pears," and "Hucklebuck." [78]
sessioneer: "In the Mood," reportedly utilizing well-known sessioneers Rene Hall, Plas Johnson, and Earl Palmer, was the first of what would be a series of rockin'-good readings on big-band moldies like "Chattanooga Choo Choo," "12th Street Rag," "Charleston," "Castle Rock," "String Of Pears," and "Hucklebuck." [78]
rocking: "In the Mood," reportedly utilizing well-known sessioneers Rene Hall, Plas Johnson, and Earl Palmer, was the first of what would be a series of rockin'-good readings on big-band moldies like "Chattanooga Choo Choo," "12th Street Rag," "Charleston," "Castle Rock," "String Of Pears," and "Hucklebuck." [78]
bottom-heavy: He was 54 years of age when his bottom-heavy revamping of Glenn Miller's "In The Mood" found teen approval and bounced into the nation's charts. [78]
yodel-like: This wild teen concoction featured searing guitar and sax work, topped off with a contagiously yodel-like "woo-hoo, woo-hoo" melodic line. [78]
searing: This wild teen concoction featured searing guitar and sax work. [78]
chart-busting: Nadel came up with some ideas for exotic instrumentals in the style of Martin Denny's chart-busting "Quiet Village." [77]
fluffy: Years later, he wrote tunes for Elvis' fluffy films ("Kissin' Cousins," "Almost In Love"). [77]
Singing Saint: The Mormons have often been nicknamed "The Singing Saints," and vocal rejoicing has been a part of their religious practice since the formation of the Church of the Latter-Day Saints by Joseph Smith in 1830. [76]
washtub: We had a washboard and a guitar, and I was the man with the guitar. Roosevelt Jackson played the washtub, and Jerome Green shook the maracas, though he could play some tuba, too. [76]
wallop: A political activist, a pianist, a composer, a voice with a wallop. [75]
bluesy: She's a talented, bluesy woman with jazz influences, known the world over. [75]
dinky: Asked if he had any funny songs, Floyd sang "My Girl," a darling dinky about a strange boy and his emotionally-damaged girlfriend. [75]
pea-picking: Floyd, born in 1938 and raised in the Nashville area, knew in his pea-pickin' heart that he was gonna grow up to be a music-makin' man. [75]
swamp: Within weeks, this eerie swamp tune was number two in the nation. [73] [The tune referred to is Sea of Love by Phil Phillips]
string box: Jackson played on an improvised, hand-me-down string box until 1949, when as a Navy submarine man, he got the chance to touch a real guitar. [71]
false start: After a few highly-collectible false starts were issued, the gospel-gritty "You're So Fine," with a one-of-a-kind lead vocal by Stubbs, was let loose upon the world. [71]
gospel-gritty: After a few highly-collectible false starts were issued, the gospel-gritty "You're So Fine," with a one-of-a-kind lead vocal by Stubbs, was let loose upon the world. [71]
race music: After learning of each other's interest in what was then called "race music," they talked of forming a vocal group and began practicing after work. [71]
down-to-earth: All of the original Mystics except George Galfo found down-to-earth employment as engineers. [71]
chart-shaker: With the very next Original Sound release, Laboe would score again with another percussionist, Sandy Neslon, and the classic "Teen Beat" (#4, 1959). As for Preston, try as he did, he could not craft another chart-shaker. [69]
dustie: "Sorry," their debut disk on MGM's Cub subsidiary, ran all over the charts, sold a million-plus copies, and is currently one of the most requested rock and roll dusties on "Golden Oldies" radio stations, at high school reunions, and at nostalgia night spots. [68]
dreamsville: Chicks were flippin' their wigs, saying that he was the utmost--like, dreamsville. [66]
utmost: Chicks were flippin' their wigs, saying that he was the utmost--like, dreamsville. [66]
groove: Kookie was a skizzard with a comb, and had a thing for his hair and females with grooves to ride. [66]
bug juice: As Gerald Lloyd Kookson III, the dad would lay wheels flat, perpendicular, and nowheres square at Dino's, a grease and bug-juice palace. [66]
skizzard: Kookie was a skizzard with a comb, and had a thing for his hair and females with grooves to ride. [66]
record-rider: Tommy was a record rider at KFXM in San Bernardino that fateful day. [66]
teen-oriented: The fellows' harmonizing was not as tight as the Everlys'; their overall sound was very country and not to teen-oriented. [63]
brass ring: In Mobile, they persuaded the big boys at Sandy Records to let them have a shot at the brass ring with a tune that Travis had a-pluckin' away at his innards. [63]
swamp pop: Karl had been announcing for a long spell that the swamp-pop song was set to be their very next disk. [63]
jug band: A repertoire that ranged from jug-band tunes to folk-blues to Duke Ellington numbers. [60]
obscurity: Turner reappeared, one last time, with two obscurities for GNP, "The Voice Changing Song" and "The Ballad of Billy Sol Estes". [60]
ducktailed: The ducktailed kid next brought forth a tale about a sexually-charged, alien beauty. [59]
flat-top: Billy is also the originator and manufacturer of the Grammer flat-top guitar. [59]
pounder: History has yet to tell whether or not such a perfect pounder as "Poor Boy" was the Royaltones' first release. [56]
daylight: These Royaltone upstarts would rock the daylights out of his "Poor Boy" [56]
tinkle the ivories: Earl sold piles of plastic by tinkling the ivories and crooning. [56]
kiss of death: A word like that [relaxing] was the kiss of death to any self-respecting hepcat, and boppers and rockers just couldn't understand. [55]
dazzler: Competitors at the neighboring Aladdin label had THURSTON HARRIS cover Day's dazzler. [55]
quickie: Matola reportedly had his good buddy Jessie Belvin toss together a one-shot group to do a quickie cover on the Slades' original. [54]
goldie: "Born Too Late" is a rock and roll classic, a "girl group goldie," and a 'round-the-world turntable favorite. [53]
bunkie: Franco Migliacci, a bunkie of Domenico Modugno. [52]
front: Jimmy Weston still fronts the Danleers, and the group still appears at local and revival concerts. [50]
fill-in: The fluctuating mix of original members, Webtones, and fill-ins. [50]
Klondike: Record sales were as cool as a Klondike bar. [50]
stiff: After four stiffs, Mercury Records passed on issuing any more records by the group. [50]
thermal: "One Summer Night" was one of the most thermal make-out tunes to be heard on rock and roll radio. [50]
scorcher: "Summer" was such a scorcher that Mercury Records picked up the Danleers' recording contract from Amp-3. [50]
jumper: For their first waxing, Webb supplied them with a jumper, "Wheelin' And A-Dealin." [50]
record biz: A couple named Herb and Liz Montei, who had good ears and record-biz connections. [49]
cross-fertilized: Jan and Dean created almost the entire cross-fertilized genre of surfing/hot rod music. [49]
shower room: To create an echoey shower-room effect, two tape players were set up in Berry's garage. [49]
flight: In fact, were it not for the flight of there one tame tune, Gino.. and Gina.. Giosasi.. might only be known today for their tangential relationship to the hit "Sorry (I Ran All The Way Home)." [48]
decision-maker: Sheb himself, after auditioning a number of times, even told the label's decision-makers, [etc.] [48]
rampage: The record eventually sold more than 3,000,000 copies, and started a whole merchandising rampage. [48]
speeded-up: "People Eater" made use of the speeded-up recording technique popularized by David Seville's "Witch Doctor," and later, by the squeaky Chipmunks. [48]
get on: Shelby and his three brothers got on good with horses. [47]
aesthetical: "Stay With Me" and "Dreamworld" on Warner Bros. were two winners by any pop-esthetical standard. [47]
moldy: To this day, "For Your Love" is a gospely golden great, a non-moldie oldie which should have created a mammoth career for Ed Townsend. [46]
gospely: To this day, "For Your Love" is a gospely golden great, a non-moldie oldie which should have created a mammoth career for Ed Townsend. [46]
clinky: Its pimple lyrics and clinky piano was enough to classify the disk as a rock and roll record. [46]
pimple: Its pimple lyrics and clinky piano was enough to classify the disk as a rock and roll record. [46]
primo: "When The Boys Talk About The Girls," a teen-dipped tune that was to be Valerie's primo moment. [46]
dipped: "When The Boys Talk About The Girls," a teen-dipped tune that was to be Valerie's primo moment. [46]
out of the hatch: Next out of the hatch was "When The Boys Talk About The Girls." [46]
pud: A publicity pud from her label. [46]
oldie: The Monotones still perform at oldies shows. [45]
charting: When his contract ran out, Huey was gone, and so were the chartings. [44]
female impersonator: Bobby Marchan (who was working as a female impersonator when he met Huey) [44]
sputter: After generating some initial sparks, the platter sputtered. [43]
hack-'n'-pack: When WCAU launched "Shock Theatre," someone at Channel 10 recalled Zach's hack-'n'-pack role in "Action in the Afternoon." [42]
sudsy: "Action in the Afternoon" was a sudsy TV Western. [42]
bite: A more relaxed profession, something with bite and depth. [42]
ghouldom: A review of his early years would make Mr. John Zacherle.. look like a highly unlikely candidate for the status of great ghouldom. [42]
burn rubber: Eddie and his guys burned rubber to a nearby recording studio to cop a cover. [42]
sax man: Near zip is known about this Cleveland sax man. [42]
revamped: Later that year, with the aid of Jerry Ragavoy.. and VAN MCCOY, the revamped Silhouettes recorded a single each on the Grand and the Imperial labels. [41]
up-tempo: "Headin' For The Poorhouse" was an up-tempo reworking of the job theme. [41]
smash: Byrd..got his just due when his "Rockin' Robin" (#2) b/w "Over And Over" (#41) became a double-sided smash. [40]
double-sided: Byrd..got his just due when his "Rockin' Robin" (#2) b/w "Over And Over" (#41) became a double-sided smash. [40]
road manager: In 1956, after the Turbans had cracked the top 40 with "When You Dance" (#33), Rick was offered a position as their road manager. [40]
flash: Never again, despite flashes of high-quality music, would the group win its place on the pop charts. [40]
great: After Aladdin, the Flames recorded more golden greats for the Lucky, Swingtime, Decca, Hollywood, and Money labels. [40]
pile: That's Ernie Freeman, the man behind a pile of California-born hits. [39]
unimposing: Take notice of the unimposing piano man tinkling in the shadows. [39]
heartacher: Craft next suited the quartet in his own number, "Alone (Why Must I Be Alone)," possibly the happiest heartacher ever to chart. [38]
churner: All of these churners are now highly sought-after disks. [37]
ride the rails: One night while riding the rails into Philly [36]
log in: Their 1957 follow-up... did fairly well and logged in at number 42 on the Top 100. [35]
teenwear: Their 1957 follow-up, also an ode to tuff teenwear called "Penny Loafers And Bobby Socks" [35]
red coat: In 1955, he secured the first of a succession of jobs as a "red coat" (sort of a singing waiter) at a summer camp. [33]
costing office: He worked for seven years in the costing office of a metal box manufacturing company. [33]
fling: Years before the Beatles got together, Ronnie Hulmu sailed out of Liverpool and into the ears and hearts of teenage America. It was only a brief cross-cultural fling, but Ronnie's "Rainbow" sold so darn well in the U.S. that he garnered a gold record. [33]
throwaway: Their act was always viewed as a novelty, a throwaway. [27]
dynamite: Not one of this dynamite duo's disks ever captured a mass audience again. [27]
sign on: Baker signed on with Atlantic Records to cut jazzy items. [27]
stable: The couple set up the All Platinum Studios and a stable of record labels that eventually included Horoscope, Stang, Turbo, [etc..] [28]
underrelished: T.G. and his Riders almost had a hit with an under-relished weirdie called "Yermo's Nightmare, Yermo Red." [28]
fuzzy: Terry immediately had his name pulled off all subsequent releases by the Easy Riders, and at some fuzzy point left the group entirely. [29]
music-maker: The group's everchanging composition did allow a number of later music-makers an apprenticeship. [29]
gig: As the Rhythm Orchids, they gigged at school functions and local night spots. [29]
click: Buddy went on successfully clicking for a while with platters like "Rock Your Baby To Sleep (#17, 1957), [etc.] [29]
pressing: The initial pressings of "Pledge Of Love" credited the disk's artist as "The Mints." [30]
crooned: Despite the competing covers.. the Copeland-crooned "Pledge" managed to reach the number 12 position. [30]
pre-veterinary: He took pre-veterinary courses at Washington State University in Walla Walla. [31]
lumber camp: He.. spent the next three years working with his father in an Oregon lumber camp. [31]
signing: When he formed his Chancellor company.. in 1957, Jodie was his first signing. [32]
re-charting: In addition to some fine follow-ups shipped by J & S and Chess, and a re-charting of "Over The Mountain" (#89, 1960) [33]
mover: Chess Records had picked up national distribution on Johnnie & Joe's debut disk.. and did the same for the duo's only mammoth mover. [33]
press up: Hunter formed the Ivory label and pressed up some copies of his first record. [25]
top-drawer: Hunter formed Pacific Records and, using top-drawer sidemen... dashed off a series of now impossible-to-find waxings. [25]
dash off: Hunter formed Pacific Records and, using top-drawer sidemen... dashed off a series of now impossible-to-find waxings. [25]
waxing: Hunter formed Pacific Records and, using top-drawer sidemen... dashed off a series of now impossible-to-find waxings. [25]
one-nighter: For half a year, he performed one-nighters with the unit. [25]
puff up: The "calypso explosion" of the '50s petered out as rapidly as it had puffed up. [25]
lick: Mickey... had been all over New York providing back-up licks for King, Okeh, and Savoy artists. [27].
beat: Lenny Dee would amaze audiences with his organ playing, commanding his Hammond to flap like a bass fiddle, beat like a tom-tom, and strum like a banjo. [6]
compositional: As an outlet for his compositional brainstorms, he formed the Sunnysiders. [6]
tangle: "Hey, Mr. Banjo" was reportedly the group's first recording, and was their only tangle with top 40 success. [6]
pick one's brain: For the next two years, Morgan picked his brain in search of that follow-up. [6]
gold dust: A young Parisian named Eddie Barclay was back like a bandit to snatch yet some more gold dust. [7]
tape machine: Priscilla fooled around with dad's tape machine, leaving some rough vocal tracks. [7]
broody: On a chance listen, Don Knight heard Priscilla's moody and broody singing. [7]
plunking: The son of banjo-plunkin' comedian Herman the Hermit. [7]
pumping: Founder of the independent and still-pumping Grante label. [7]
notable: Co-author of such notables as "Divorce Me C.O.D.," [etc.] [7]
proving ground: His '50s TV program "Hometown Jamboree" was a proving ground for artists like Billy Strange, [etc.] [8]
eight-to-the-bar: Chuck was a scat-singin' hepcat who played that eight-to-the-bar boogie woogie piano. [8]
blow piano: Chuck played the lounge scene--and when the lights were low and the hour was late, he'd "blow piano." [8]
scotch-and-soda: "Hawk-Eye," a follow-up with the feel of a scotch-and-soda, seemed a bit antiquated. [8]
wriggle: If not for Georgia Gibbs' competing rendition, "I Want You" might have wriggled its way into the top 10. [8]
b/w: The double-sided follow-up, "I'll Be Forever Loving You" b/w " I Began To Realize". [9]
guitar-picking: A salesman on the radio singing the praises of this little guitar-picking yodeler. [10]
take-off: Bonnie Lou's lone pop hit, "Daddy-O," a take-off on a hip phrase then in teen currency. [10]
shop around: Between gigs, the couple ran a photographic studio and shopped their tot around. [10]
screen test: Alan Ladd's wife spotted the budding beauty and suggested that Julie attend a screen test for a bit part in something called /The Girl and the Gorilla/. [10]
outchart: "Nuttin' For Christmas" was rapidly covered by JOE WARD, Ricky Zahnd, [etc...] to name a few. Barry's platter would outchart them all, eventually selling more than 2,000,000 copies. [11]
waxing: Except for "Washing Machine Blues," a 1952 side for the King label, Carson's waxings went largely without notice. [12]
moaner: As the Bonnie Sisters, they issued a pop moaner, "Cry Baby." [13]
zip: After five years of zips, Chase decided to move on and do some solo recordings. [13]
nibble: Other than "Lovely One" and a nibble on "Dancing With My Shadow"... the pre-fab foursome sidestepped stardom. [13]
moment in the sun: The original guys got together again... and rerecorded their lone moment in the sun. [13]
supper club: Dearie unpacks her baggage, hits the night spots, and sings in a soothing supper-club style. [13]
singalike: She joined the Tributary Theatre and eventually won RKO's Dinah Shore singalike contest. [14]
rockaballad: Now, however, Collins and Davis had an original, catchy rockaballad called "Eddie My Love." [14]
whitened: Despite the competition from "whitened" cover versions by both the Chordettes and the Fontane Sisters. [14]
jump tune: Their jump tunes, like "Rock Everybody," were especially pleasing. [14]
good-for-zip: The heart-warming story of a good-for-zip guy who appears in town one day to steal his best friend's damsel. [16]
tunesmith: One of the best postwar C & W tunesmiths. [16]
stiff: "Come To Me" moved but a few to buy a copy; "My Queen" stiffed in the stall. [18]
smoothie: Smoothies and jumpers by "The Jacks" were issued on RPM. [19-20]
pinching: As "Kings of the Covers," they re-recorded happening disks by Elvis ("Heartbreak Hotel")... and, for their most publicly-known pinching, THE JAYHAWKS ("Stranded In The Jungle"). [20]
airing: Seldom was he seen, and almost never were his recordings given mass airings. [21]
sugary: A very innocent and sugary blue-eyed blond. [21]
termination: Some older punks spotted the 12-year-old and flipped Joey over a balcony railing, when Dinah intervened and stopped his possible termination. [23]
work up: After a bit, Sonny and the Morgans worked up a song called "Confidential." [23]
up-and-comer: A set playlist of 40 top hits plus a few "up-and-comers." [v]
polkateer: Perez Prado, Eydie Gorme, Gene Vincent, and polkateer Will Glahe. [v]
pompadoured: Pompadoured, pouty would-be teen idols [v]
dirt-farming: Black vocal groups, dirt-farming guitar pluckers, calypso singers. [v]
in a big way: If the first single broke out in a big way, another would be issued. [v]
pre-stereo: One microphone was all you needed in the pre-stereo days. [vi]
unblushingly: Recording contracts were unblushingly slanted in the company's favor. [vi]
songwriting: However they did it, the record companies did it for songwriting royalties. [vi]
sock hop: The artist paid for free copies, made personal appearances at sock hops and concerts for little or no money. [vi]
non-hit: Some were fortunate enough to make good-selling, although not-hit, records for several years. [vii]
platter: Artists are quick to blame the record company for failing to promote their follow-up platter. [vii]
dancemaster: Songs based on the latest real or contrived dance craze do well, but only Chubby Checker, America's dancemaster, seems to have been able to hit with more than one of those. [vii]
sound-alike: The industry slavishly follows trends and believes whole-heartedly in sound-a-likes. [vii]
bad dream: Acts that were little more than studio concoctions or a computer's bad dream. [vii]
cosmetic: Artists that have a one-time hit under a "cosmetic" name change. [viii]
non-touring: All "studio groups"--that is, non-touring pseudo-groups made up of session musicians. [viii]
record-buyer: Two separate recording entities were presented to radio listeners and record-buyers. [viii]
five-and-dime: that five-and-dime voice. [2]
torchy: The producers of..."Studio One" were planning a drama about shady activities in the record industry and needed a torchy song to provide some musical counterpoint. [2]
publishing house: Arnold Shaw, then general manager ofd the music publishing house. [2]
house writer: Shaw had a team of house writers...rewrite the country ode.
costar: Within a month, she was co-starring with Jack Carter at the Copacabana. [2]
dizzying: Her dizzying ride to the top. [2]
action: Crew-Cuts did create a Caucasion cover version... and steal much of the initial action on the Penguins' "Earth Angel." [2]
bicycle pump: Amid the bicycle pumps and scrapwood in someone's backyard garage. [2]
grouping: Representatives from Epic Records came sniffing about in search of another Four Aces-type grouping. [4]
taste: Hopefully, Dux and Julie got to taste some of that good money, because after "No More," there was no more. [4]
chart: Everything he recorded charted, and his following... was becoming massive. [4]
accompanist: Asked him to work as an accompanist on some sessions he had played. [5]
tasty: Country fans probably remember Stu best for a tasty tune he wrote and recorded but didn't want released. [5-6]
press: The company pressed thousands of copies. [6]
0-618-34693-7
folklorist: On one occasion, both Monroe Ward and his brother Miles stood before a group of distinguished professors, folk-lorists, and musicians at the White Top Folk Festival Conference. [ix]
fireside: On one occasion, both Monroe Ward and his brother Miles stood before a group of distinguished professors, folk-lorists, and musicians at the White Top Folk Festival Conference, and, as much at ease as if they were at their own fireside, fascinated that group of strangers with a number of these tales. [ix]
tobacco patch: sitting on hard clods in the middle of a tobacco patch [ix]
clod: sitting on hard clods in the middle of a tobacco patch [ix]
rail fence: leaning in the corner of a rail fence after helping weed the turnips [ix]
hire out: Yes, the time he hired out to the King to clear a patch of newground. [viii]
job: One interesting phase of the enjoyment of the tales in that region is a very practical application: that of "keeping the kids on the job" for such communal tasks as stringing beans for canning, or threading them up to make the dried pods called "leather britches." [ix]
thread up: such communal tasks as stringing beans for canning, or threading them up to make the dried pods called "leather britches." [ix]
britches: such communal tasks as stringing beans for canning, or threading them up to make the dried pods called "leather britches." [ix]
string: such communal tasks as stringing beans for canning [ix]
start: We would all get down around a sheet full of dry beans and start in to shelling 'em. [ix]
for life: We would all get down around a sheet full of dry beans and start in to shelling 'em. Mon-roe would tell the kids one of them tales and they'd work for life! [ix]
read: When he was younger he'd get read out of church ever' now and then. [x]
love song: He'd behave for a while, and not make any music, or dance, or sing any love songs. [footnote: "love songs": usually mean traditional ballads.] [x]
old music: But seemed like he loved the old music [footnote: "the old music": generally means our folk music.] so much he'd bust out again and get the church folks down on him once more. [x]
sight: Old Counce was a sight to dance. [x]
stand: He was as good a church member as any of 'em, but he just couldn't stand [footnote: "couldn't stand": that is, couldn't resist.] music. [x]
hit the floor: Time anyone would start in picking on the banjo, he 'uld hit the floor; [footnote: "hit the floor": jump out of his chair and start dancing a jig.] hit didn't differ even if he was in church. [x]
differ: Time anyone would start in picking on the banjo, he 'uld hit the floor; hit didn't differ even if he was in church. [x]
clog: Seventy years old, he could clog and buck-dance just as good as a boy sixteen. [x]
buck-dance: Seventy years old, he could clog and buck-dance just as good as a boy sixteen. [x]
handed: They didn't dance back then like they do now. They had reels--four-handed reels and eight-handed reels. [x-xi]
set: bothered up: They'd get a set on the floor and some not knowing much about it, they 'uld get bothered up, till Old Counce would get in and he'd straighten 'em out and get 'em a-goin' again. [xi]
tell on: But ever' time he took part in any such goin's-on somebody would tell it on him and the next Sunday the preacher'd get after /him/ again. [xi]
everywhen: Ever-when I'd see Old Counce a-coming, I'd run to meet him so I could walk with him back to the house. [xi]
everywhen: I'm a-goin' to take the creek back up there closer to the house where your old woman can get her water everwhen she wants it. [12]
antic: Monroe Ward is close to his grandfather in his love of fun: as his neighbors have often said to me, "Law, Mon-roe sure is antick, now, ain't he?" [xi]
ever a: Jack was awful lazy sometimes, just wouldn't do ary lick of work. [1]
ever a: Ever-when you break ar' winder light out of there,I'll shoot ye sure. [124]
dinner: So his mother fixed him up a little snack of dinner, and he put on his old raggedy hat and lit out. [1]
light out: So his mother fixed him up a little snack of dinner, and he put on his old raggedy hat and lit out. [1]
allow: He never had seen such a big house as that. Then he looked at the gate and saw it was made out of gold. Well, Jack 'lowed some well-doin' folks must live there. [2]
well-doing: He never had seen such a big house as that. Then he looked at the gate and saw it was made out of gold. Well, Jack 'lowed some well-doin' folks must live there. [2]
working: "Are ye a hard worker, Jack?" "Oh, I'm the workin'est one of all back home yonder." [2]
natural: "Are these here giants very big 'uns?" says Jack. "Well, they're all about six times the size of a natural man, and there's five of 'em. [3]
study: Jack didn't say nothin', just kept studyin' about how hungry he was. [3]
Tommy hatchet: So Jack started on out to the woodpile. The King watched him, saw him lean over and pick up a little old Tommy hatchet, says, "Hey, Jack! You'll need the axe, won't ye?" [4]
climb: He picked out the tallest poplar he could see, and cloomb up in it. [5]
hack: He picked out the tallest poplar he could see, and cloomb up in it, started choppin' on the limbs way up at the very top . . . /Hack! Hack! Hack!/ [5]
brush: Heard a racket directly, sounded like a horse comin' up through the bresh. [5]
rock-cliff: Jack looked down the holler, saw a man about thirty foot high comin' a-stompin' up the mountain, steppin' right over the laurel bushes and the rock-clifts.
how-do-ye-do: "Hello, stranger." "Howdy do, daddy." "What in the world you a-doin' up there?" [5]
always: Why, that's allus the way we start in clearin' back home. [5]
always: I allers try to tell 'em the old way. [xii]
looky: Well, you look-a-here, Jack. This patch of land is ours and we don't aim to have it cleared. [5]
outen: Squeeze milk out'n a flint rock. [6]
flint rock: "Well, now, daddy, I bet I can do somethin' you can't do." "What's that, Jack?" "Squeeze milk out'n a flint rock." [6]
chunk: The giant chunked the rock up to him and Jack squeezed down on it. [6]
drain: The giant chunked the rock up to him and Jack squeezed down on it, pushed up against his apron, and the milk commenced to dreen out. [6]
drip: The giant chunked the rock up to him and Jack squeezed down on it, pushed up against his apron, and the milk commenced to dreen out . . . /Dreep, dreep, dreep/. [6]
curl: Took Jack's knife and cut himself wide open, staggered around a little and fin'ly querled over on the ground dead. [8]
handy: But the King kept on after him till Jack saw he couldn't get out of it very handy. [8]
law: "Law me! I can't stand that! I'll hide!" [8]
ground squirrel: He saw a big holler log down the hill a ways, grabbed him up a shirt-tail full of rocks and shot in that log like a ground squirrel. [8]
trampled: "I didn't hear no racket up here yesterday, did you?" "Why, no, and the ground ain't trompled none, neither." [9]
fix: "Poor brother!" says one of 'em. "If we knowed who it was killed him, we'd sure fix them!" [9]
considerable: Jack got shook around right considerable inside the log. [9]
betwixt: He looked and saw the old giant had the log restin' right betwixt his shoulders. [9]
fump: Jack he picked him out a rock and cut-drive at the giant in front--fumped him right in the back of the head. [9]
touch: I never teched ye! [10]
fire: You just hit me one other time now, and I'll come back there and smack the fire out-a you! [10]
clip: Well, this time Jack picked out the sharpest-edged rock he had, drew back and clipped him right again in the same place. /Pow!/ [10]
sharp-edged: Well, this time Jack picked out the sharpest-edged rock he had, drew back and clipped him right again in the same place. /Pow!/ [10]
make for: The old giant in front hollered so loud you could 'a heard him five miles, throwed that log off'n his shoulder and just made for the other'n. [10]
rock: That makes three times you've rocked me! [10] [the character saying this line has been pelted with rocks repeatedly]
clench: They were clinched so tight couldn't neither one break loose from the other'n. [10]
danger: So when Jack saw there wasn't no danger in 'em, he crawled out from that log and chopped off their heads. [10]
uneasy: Then Jack said he just had to get on in home. Said his folks would be uneasy about him. [10]
wind up: Why, Jack, there ain't but two more of 'em now. You kill them for me and that'll wind 'em up. [11]
brush pile: Went to work makin' him a bresh pile, made all the racket he could. [11]
abuse: They came up here cussin' and 'busin' me, and I had to haul off and kill 'em. [11]
stove-wood: There's only me and the old woman left now, and she's got to have somebody to get in her stovewood and tote up water. [11]
burying: You come on down and stay the night with us, help set us up with our dead folks, and we'll get fixed to have a buryin' tomorrow. [11]
shine: Now, Jack, you better wait till I go and tell the old lady you've come down for supper. She might cut a shine. She'll be mad enough already about her boys bein' killed. [12]
slip: He went on in and shut the door. Jack slipped up and laid his ear to the keyhole so's he could hear what they said. [12]
stout: He don't look to me like he's so stout as all that. We'll have to test him out a little, and see whe'er he's as bad as he claims he is. [12]
whether: We'll have to test him out a little, and see whe'er he's as bad as he claims he is. [12]
piggin: Jack saw he had four piggins as big as wash tubs, had rope bails fixed on 'em, had 'em slung on one arm. [12]
rope bail: Jack saw he had four piggins as big as wash tubs, had rope bails fixed on 'em, had 'em slung on one arm. [12]
turn loose: Leave it layin' then, Jack. Come on, let's go back to the house. -- You turn loose of my crowbar now. [14]
wash rag: The old giant lady came at him, had a wash rag in one hand and a comb in the other'n. [15]
generally: Thank ye, m'am, but I gen'ally wash and comb myself. [15]
scaffold: Jack looked and saw that shelf was right on one side of the big dirt oven. He cloomb on up the scaffle, rockled and reeled this-a-way and that-a-way. [16]
rockle: He cloomb on up the scaffle, rockled and reeled this-a-way and that-a-way. [16]
break down: She started to climb up there on the scaffle, says, "You pput your shoulder under it, Jack. I'm mighty heavy and I'm liable to break it down." [16]
shove: Jack put his shoulder under the far end, and when the old woman went to turn around and sit, Jack shoved up right quick, fetched her spang in the oven. [16]
fetch: Jack put his shoulder under the far end, and when the old woman went to turn around and sit, Jack shoved up right quick, fetched her spang in the oven. [16]
spang: Jack put his shoulder under the far end, and when the old woman went to turn around and sit, Jack shoved up right quick, fetched her spang in the oven. [16]
break up: You quit that now and get on out of here! I done killed that old giant! No use in you a-breakin' up them chairs. [17]
tumble: Then Jack 'uld tumble over some more chairs and throw the dishes around considerable. [17]
bound out: One time Jack was bound out to a man who was rich and had lots of land and cattle. [19]
scrappy: He had to work awful hard, and all he got for it was a few ragged clothes and scrappy vittles. [19]
pone: Jack took off the bull's left horn and gave it a shake and out fell as fine a little pone of bread as ever you'd want. Jack grabbed it up and started eatin'. [20]
flesh: Well, the bull stayed there and Jack got fat as a pig. The old woman she wondered how Jack could be gainin' flesh when she wasn't givin' him anything to eat. [20]
sleepy: Jack got out his fiddle and played another sleepy tune. [21]
milt: Well, the next day, the old woman told 'em she wanted a bull's melt to eat and that Jack's bull would have to be killed so she could get his melt. [21]
mislick: You agree to knock me in the head and I'll let the old woman get a hold on me, and when you go to strike me, you make a mis-lick and hit the old woman, and then you jump on my back and we'll run away. [22]
rare: The bull came right along, acted peaceable enough, but when the old man undertook to get hold on him, the bull r'ared around and backed off; wouldn't let the old man come anywhere near him.
sook: "Sook buck," says the old lady. "Sook here! Sook buck! Stand still now." [22]
salt gourd: She came over to him with the salt gourd in her hands and he stood still and let her get to petting him and feedin' him salt. [22]
clip: Jack came a runnin', swung that pole axe, and when it came down it clipped that old woman right between the eyes, killed her dead. [22]
blubber: Then one day the bull put his head down to drink out of a spring and a lot of blue blubbers came up in the water. [22]
paw: Directly they came on that other bull, a big blue one, standin' in the road a-bellowin' and pawin' up the ground. [22]
finally: They fought and fought till fin'ly Jack's bull got the other'n down and broke his neck. [23]
pick: His bull picked grass by the road. [23]
have it: The two bulls locked horns and just had it up and down the road, fought and fought and fought. [24]
uncoil: And the strop unquiled and went after that old woman like a snake, wropped all around her and tied her good. [26]
wrap: And the strop unquiled and went after that old woman like a snake, wropped all around her and tied her good. [26]
witch-woman: And the strop switched around that old witch-woman and the horns knocked her down and beat her around. [26-27]
switch: And the strop switched around that old witch-woman and the horns knocked her down and beat her around. [26-27]
whippling: "Oh yes, you little whiplin' devil!" [27]
big-sized: Happened she swept up a right big-sized bean. [29]
puppy: Why, you little lyin' puppy! [29]
sure enough: That bean tree's done got as high as a sure 'nough tree! [30]
sweet milk: She went and got Jack, and gave him a big slice of cake and some sweet milk. [30]
pike-road: Then, just about dark Jack came to a big pike-road up there. Went along it a little piece, came to a great big house, walked up and knocked on the door. [30]
bake-oven: So Jack went on in the house and the giant woman took him and put him in the bake-oven, set the lid over him. [32]
rifle-gun: When Jack heard the giant snorin', he came out the bake-oven and went lookin' around the house. Saw a rifle-gun a-hangin' over the fireboard, so he took that and went on back down the bean tree. [32]
cover-lid: Now, there was a coverlid on the old giant's bed, had little bells sewed all over it about an inch apart. [34]
creep: Then Jack crope up and raised one corner of the rug. [34]
dingle: The bells went "dingle!" and woke the giant up. [34]
small-like: This here's another tale about Jack when he was still a small-like boy. [38].
help: Jack holp the old dog up behind him, and they went on down the public road. [40]
squall: Came to an old tomcat climbin' along the fence. Hit was a squallin' and meowin'. [40]
rook-a-roo: Came to where they saw an old rooster settin' on a fence post, crowin' like it was midnight, makin' the awfulest lonesome racket-- "/Ur rook-a-roo! Ur-r-r rook-a-roo-oo-oo!/" [41]
staying-place: Directly they came to a little path leadin' off in the woods, decided to take that, see could they find 'em a stayin' place in there. [41]
take up: Then hit looks to me we might as well take up and stay here. [42]
lack: "I bet it's pretty close to midnight right now." "Hit lacks about a hour." [42]
comb: The old rooster flew up on the comb of the roof. [42]
hearth-rock: The cat had his head right down on the hearth-rock and that man thought its eyes was coals of fire. [42]
streak: The one they'd sent in the house finally got up and started runnin' like a streak, caught up with 'em in no time. [44]
knot-maul: Time I got out the door, a man out there hit me with a knot-maul, knocked me clean off the porch. [44]
time: Time I got out the door, a man out there hit me with a knot-maul, knocked me clean off the porch. [44]
turn off: Well, winter came and directly the weather got awful bad. It turned off real cold and set in to snowin. [46]
state line: There ain't another house between here and the state line. [48]
recollect: You recollect now and not stop at that place where them devilish boys are. [51]
sight: The boys' father took on a sight when they showed him about that rooster. [51]
bobble: Hit's a failure, Jack. You made a bobble this time, too. [52]
hurricane: And then that North West Wind started blowin' the hardest yet. It blasted right on through the house and whistled around the chimney and it commenced snowin' in all over everything. Looked like a regular harricane was comin'. [52]
piece: When he got near that old man's place, he cut out through the woods so he wouldn't see him at all. But he hadn't gone any piece at all hardly 'fore he came on the old man out there a-rabbit huntin. [52]
tight: They had that old rickety house fixed up tight against the Wind, too. [57]
whittle: He passed by a place where a man had rivin' boards, saw a little thin piece and picked it up, started in to whittlin' on it. [58]
brad: He got the blacksmith to take some brads and make him a sign in big letters on his belt. [58]
splap: Directly he came to a muddy place in the road where a lot of little blue butterflies had lit down to drink. So Jack slipped up right close to 'em and came down with that paddle right in the middle of 'em--/splap!/ [58]
use: So the king took Jack over on the mountain where that wild hog was a-usin'. [59-60]
plunder: Well, directly Jack got to plunderin' around in there tryin' to get out. [60]
gain: They say Jack com-menced jumpin' fifteen feet ever' step, but the old hog kept right on a-gainin'. [60]
waste-house: Jack came out in a field, looked down it a ways and saw a old waste-house standin' there with no roof on it. [60]
bristle: Well, there wasn't nothin' but a little old boar shoat, came bristlin' up to me, kept follerin' me around. [61]
follow: Well, there wasn't nothin' but a little old boar shoat, came bristlin' up to me, kept follerin' me around. [61]
tag: I ran it off a time or two, but it kept on taggin' after me. [61]
run off: I ran it off a time or two, but it kept on taggin' after me. [61]
blame: The blame thing got playful after a while, jumped up and jerked a piece out of my coat-tail. [61]
sight: They say there's a unicorn usin' back here on another mountain, doin' a sight of damage to people's livestock. [61]
out of sight: Jack watched the King out of sight, says "Thousand dollars'll do me a right long while." [61]
overall: Time he saw that, he snatched some nails out'n his overhall pocket. [63]
swarp: Then he dagot him a switch and swarped the unicorn a few times to see could it break loose. [63]
luck: What luck did ye have this time, Jack? [63]
danger: Well, King, that sounds like the dangerest thing of all. [64]
skin: He made for the tree nearest to him and skinned up it like a squirrel. [64]
brickly: He was keepin' such close watch on that lion's eyes to see would he wake up or not, Jack never noticed when he set his foot on a brickly snag. [65]
bead: The King's men came and started in tryin' to shoot the lion without hittin' Jack, till fin'ly one of 'em drawed a bead on the old lion's head and tumbled him up. [66]
brush: Jack picked himself up out the dirt, com-menced breshin' it off. [66]
riding-horse: After I'd caught it and 'gun to get it gentled up now, bedads, your men have done shot it. I was just a-ridin' it down here to get it broke in for you a ridey-horse. [66] ["it" is a lion]
gentle: After I'd caught it and 'gun to get it gentled up now, bedads, your men have done shot it. I was just a-ridin' it down here to get it broke in for you a ridey-horse. [66] ["it" is a lion]
nary: You done just fine, Jack. You never lost nary sheep today. [68]
everwhat: Told the doctor to take care of Big Jack, said he'd pay ever-what it cost when he came by that way again. [69]
every which way: Jack let the horses drag the plow across the fields ever' which-a-way they were minded to. [71]
minded: Jack let the horses drag the plow across the fields ever' which-a-way they were minded to. [71]
boot: "Why, I got nothin' to pay ye any boot." "Boot? Why, bedad, I'd 'a 'lowed you'd want the difference." [71]
forwards: Then he fastened it on behind the horse and com-menced draggin' it back'erds and for'erds across the field. [72]
particular: No, I'm not particular mad. [72]
beside: You run down to the house and get that ladder settin' up 'side the barn. [72]
nation: Jack! What in the nation you a-doin' now? [72]
window light: There were twelve little windows rather high-up on the walls, had no window lights in 'em. [77]
turn: Jack had to grind gight on till it was plumb dark. Fin'ly got the last turn ground out and shut the mill down. [77]
common: "I hope you're well." "About like common." [77]
right: Now Jack didn't have no lamp, but the fire gave out right much light. [78]
doll: You better not sop your doll in my meat or I'll cut it off. [79] [p. 199-200: The phrase "Sop doll! is puzzling. R. M. W. says he thinks "doll" means "paw." When Marshall Ward tells this tale his "Sop doll-ll!" sounds more like "sop darr-rr!" with a high inflection on the "sop."]
sop: You better not sop your doll in my meat or I'll cut it off. [79]
switch: The old cat drawed back, set on there switchin' it's tail. [79]
meowl: Them other cats stirred a little, one or two of 'em sort of meowled. [79]
fop: Then that cat fopped its foot right smack in Jack's gravy. [79]
sword: Hit's a swoard my grandpa gave me. Hit was used in the Revolutionary War. [85]
figure: They made music and got to playin' Weevily Wheat and Skip to My Lou and runnin' eight-handed reels and all. Jack never did have such a good time and his uncle was an awful good hand to call figures. [87]
struck: But then some boy would get so struck on one of the girls, he'd venture, and get his head cut off. [90]
tolerable: "Are you familiar with what you got to do to get one of them girls?" "Tol'able familiar," says Jack. [90]
flush: Now, Jack, you take this stick here and go up there in the woods a ways till you come to a very flush spring. [91]
against: And against ye get that done, I'll come up there with somethin' to help ye. [91]
bold: So Jack took that walkin' stick and went on to where there was a very bold spring comin' out the ground. [91]
wild: I've done made ye a drill here, Jack. You can take that and stick it down in the middle of the ring that man'll make and your rabbit'll stay in there till it dies; it don't differ how wild he is. [92]
oration: So the King put out an oration that any man who could break the enchantment on his girl could marry her. [96]
cripple: She got out the hackle and made her bet with Tom, and she bounced off of it, and Tom lit on it and it stove into his back and crippled him up considerable. [97-98]
weezledy: Jack sat down under that oak tree and had just reached in his little poke for the ash cake when there stood that weezledy old man. [98]
spice cake: When Jack took out his ash cake it was a great big spice cake instead, and when he got out his bottle of water it had turned into the finest reddest wine you ever saw. [98]
use: Then you just sit right here till I get back Jack, and I'll bring ye something that might be a little use to you. [98]
trick: Jack waited and in just a few minutes the old man came back with a little trick made out of wood and all folded up. [98]
pasture-field: Then Jack saw a man runnin' across a pasture-field eatin' cows up as fast as he came to 'em. [99]
ocean-sea: The old witch was stoopin' over to get up water in her shell, and Runwell gave her a good kick, knocked her clean out in the middle of the ocean-sea. [105]
notch: There wasn't no house up there, so they cut poles and notched 'em up a shack. [106]
scrouge: When Will saw the old giant was headed right for the house, he ran and got behind the door, pulled it back on him and scrouged back against the wall a-shakin' like a leaf. [107]
chunk: Snatched him a chunk of fire and lit his pipe. [107]
bile: Snatched him a chunk of fire and lit his pipe; the smoke came a-bilin' out. [107]
get: "Law me!" says Tom. "Where'll I get?" He ran and scrambled under the bed. [108]
nation: "Where's our dinner, Tom?" "Dinner, the nation!" [108]
beating: Old Fire Dragaman came back up here. Law me! Hit was the beatin'est thing I ever seen. [108]
split: So they got a big basket made out of splits, and gathered up a long rope they'd done made out of hickory bark. [110]
dodge: Jack he went a-dodgin' around tryin' to get at the old giant with that swoard. [112]
glance: Once in a while one of them fireballs 'uld glance him, but Jack rubbed on that ointment right quick and it didn't even make a blister. [112]
plat: So she took a red ribbon and got Jack to plat it in her hair. [112]
wishing ring: Then she gave Jack a wishin' ring. He put it on his finger and they went on out and got the other girls. [112]
bit: They told Jack they were such little bits of children when the old giant catched 'em they barely could recollect when they first came down there. [112]
chunky: I wish I was back at home settin' in my mother's chimley corner smokin' my old chunky pipe. [113]
smart: Jack got to goin' down there to see the girl and 'fore long she began to think a right smart of Jack. [114]
pull out: His mother fixed him up a sack of rations and he pulled out. [114]
wilderness: Traveled on, traveled on, got 'way out in a wilderness directly, didn't see no houses or nobody nowhere. [114]
log house: Struck up for where that light was at, came to a little log house settin' up 'side the mountain. [114]
bent over: Jack went and knocked on the door. A little bent-over lady came and opened it, says, "Law me, stranger! What in the world you a-doin' up here?" [115]
blame: "Oh, law! You can't come in here, stranger! Them highway robbers don't let nobody come here." "Blame the robbers!" says Jack--"And you too! I'm a-comin' in there out-a this rain." [116]
hard: He querled right up and went hard and fast asleep. [116]
begin: Opened the sacks and 'gun to divide the money. [116]
rouse: One of 'em shook Jack right good, says, "Wake up, stranger! What's your name?" Jack sort-a roused up, says, "My name's Jack." [116]
stout: Happened he saw a stout piece of rope hangin' there on a peg, took it down and stuck it under his arm. [118]
study: Got down to the road, waited around tryin' to study out some way to steal that ox. [118]
saw: Believe I'll hitch my ox right here and run back and get that other shoe. Hit won't take me but a minute. Saw, buck! [119]
bawl: Jack ran up in the head of a holler, broke bresh, and bawled like two oxen. [120] ["bawl like two oxen" is not a figure of speech. Jack is imitating oxen to lure in a farmer.]
dodge: Well, Jack kept on runnin' and bawlin' till he got the old man all tangled up in a laurel thicket. Then Jack turned and gave him a dodge, went and got that last ox. [121]
not: Hello, Jack. Not come in here now. You just stay on the outside. [122]
sup: "Let me have just a little sup of that, Jack." Jack handed him up the keg and that man took a little dreen on it. [122]
chloroform: Jack had gone down to the drugstore and got a little chloryform to put in that likker. [122]
heap: There's another'n. Why, hit's a heap bigger'n the one we got in the pot. [123]
lord of mercy: The old doctor jumped up out of his chair the first one, hollered, "Lordamercy! Look yonder what a big rabbit! Come on, you all, let's catch him." [124]
gouge: So that night the old doctor and his wife were a-layin' in the bed upstairs, heard somethin' rattle against the side of the house, looked over at the window, saw a head raise up and gouge against it. [124]
souse: The head jerked back down. Came up again directly, soused against the window, /Wham!/ [124]
boomer: Then all kinds of pizen snakes and wildcats and weasels boomers and ground hogs came and tried to get in. [129]
wrinkled: It wasn't long till a little ugly old wrinkled-up woman came hobblin' in the door, looked like she was about a hundred years old. [130]
outdone: The old witch looked sort of out-done, but Jack kept right on. [130]
tend: I don't want you messin' with my meat. I'll 'tend it myself. [130]
flesh fork: There was an old flesh fork a-hangin' there, big old fork they used to cook meat on. Jack grabbed that up and ran at the old woman with it, hooked her and rammed her right on in the fire. [130]
backlog: Jack grabbed that up and ran at the old woman with it, hooked her and rammed her right on in the fire. He held her down between the backlog and the forestick and such a crackin' and a poppin' and a fryin' and a singein' you never heard. [130]
forestick: Jack grabbed that up and ran at the old woman with it, hooked her and rammed her right on in the fire. He held her down between the backlog and the forestick and such a crackin' and a poppin' and a fryin' and a singein' you never heard. [130]
singeing: Jack grabbed that up and ran at the old woman with it, hooked her and rammed her right on in the fire. He held her down between the backlog and the forestick and such a crackin' and a poppin' and a fryin' and a singein' you never heard. [130]
banter: Jack and King Marock got to talkin', and directly the King bantered Jack for a game of cards. [135]
shade bush: He walked on up to the gate, and there was King Marock settin' on a bench under a shade bush. [138]
home-dug: Next mornin' he led Jack out to an old-fashioned home-dug well, says, "Jack, my grannie's great grannie lost her thimble in that well and it better come out of there 'fore I get in tonight or I'll cut your head off and put it on a spear." [140]
riddly: He handed Jack a new bucket and an old banged-up riddley one. Jack took the old bucket and saw it was full of holes, so he set it to one side and reached for the new one. [140]
rock-axe: Tomorrow there'll be a big stone house to build out of one rock, and he'll give ye a big sledgehammer and a little rock-axe; and on the peril of your life you take the little rock-axe. [141]
square up: Jack, you take that rock and bust it and square up the blocks, and by the time I get in tonight you better have me a twelve-story house finished and the stone well dressed, and I want twelve rooms twelve foot square on every story, and if you don't get it all done by the time I get here I'll sure kill ye and put your head on a spear. [142]
block out: Jack swung that big hammer and tried to block him out some stone. [142]
belly band: Then she heaved on the mule and when she tightened up the belly-band, that old skinny mule filled out just as fat as his hide could hold him. [144-145]
blackberry briar: All between them and the King was a big thorn thicket, locusts as big as poplars and blackberry briars as big as saplin's. [145]
gain: King Marock had to go back and find that old axe to cut him a way and by that time Jack and the girl had got a good gain on him. [145]
riddledy: He had to go back after that old riddledy bucket to dreen the river off. [146]
water-toting: So she stayed on there and did this old man's cookin' and house-keepin' and water-totin' [147]
ruin: Hit 'uld not do for such a tale to get out on him and him about to get married; it would 'a ruint him. [149]
banty: Jack had just stepped out on the floor to get married when she ran her hand in her pocket and pulled out a little box. She opened it and a banty hen and rooster jumped out. [149]
hold: Well, he got the deer all right, but that other bullet struck the limb of ever' one of them turkeys and just helt 'em there so they couldn't fly at all. [152]
sourwood honey: Then Jack saw where the bullet had glanced into a holler tree. There was somethin' sticky oozin' out the hole. Jack stuck his finger in it and tasted it. Hit was sourwood honey. That holler tree was packed full of wild honey right up to the top. [152]
stumpy: Well, they kept right on up over the tops of the trees, and fin'ly Jack saw they were headed to fly right over an old stumpy tree standin' up on a ridge. [152]
all of a sudden: Then directly somethin' cut the light out above him all of a sudden-like and Jack heard the old grizzly bear a-scrougin' down the holler. [154]
untie: So Jack ontied his legs and kicked around till he shook 'em all out. [155]
bee tree: Then they cut the bee-tree, and after they'd filled both barrels, the holler was still half full. [156]
cure: They skinned out the deer and the bear and cured up the meat. [156]
can: Jack made him a couple of pens for his ducks and his turkeys, and his mother canned up all them fishes. [156]
tame: Jack tamed up them young bear cubs and carried 'em down to the King's house. [156]
cut off: We went down the river a pretty far piece, and then we struck out through the woods where the timber hadn't been cut off. [156]
job: Then I opened my knife, cut me off a chunk of meat, and jobbed my knife down in that log. [157]
blamed: Hit was the biggest blamed blacksnake you ever saw. [157]
swag: Got on down the mountain and came out in a wide swag doward the river and a big deer jumped, ran off a little ways and stopped. [157]
peach rock: Well, sir, Jack kept loadin' up with peach seed and the deer kept jumpin' and Jack kept on tryin' to get one till I didn't have any peach rocks left. [158]
blamed: Then blamed if that whole peach orchard didn't rise up and run off through the woods. [160]
shuck: Jack went and skinned it out, left the hide pretty near whole. He salted the meat down, stuffed the hide full of shucks. [161]
salt: Jack went and skinned it out, left the hide pretty near whole. He salted the meat down, stuffed the hide full of shucks. [161]
fump: Hit was about the funniest thing you ever saw; him a-travelin' down the road with that old heifer hide by the tail and hit a-goin' fump! fump! fump! ever' step Jack took. [162]
fump: And he went a-fumpin' right on in the house. [163]
fump: So Jack went on up the stair steps, his old hiefer hide fumpety, fump, fump! right on in behind him. [163]
knothole: Got down on his knees and looked through a knothole in the puncheon floor. [163]
puncheon: Got down on his knees and looked through a knothole in the puncheon floor. [163]
lightbread: Said there was all kinds of good fried ham and roast pig and chicken pie and lightbread in the cupboard yonder. [165]
blobber-mouthed: You blobber-mouthed thing! I done told you to hush. You keep on tellin' lies now and I'll put you out the door. [165]
notion: I told you when I brought you down here you'd have to keep your mouth shut. Now I'm a good notion to take you right out of here. [165]
bum: Jack was a-walkin' on the highway with those loaves of lightbread stuck under his arm when he met up with a beggar, and the beggar he bummed Jack for somethin' to eat, so Jack gave him one of his loaves of bread. [172]
grow up: The yard was growed up in weeds and there wasn't no curtains in the windows. [174]
haunted: Met a boy in the road directly and the boy told Jack the house was ha'nted. [174]
haunt: That house has been ha'nted for thirty or forty years. There can't nobody stay there overnight. I've promised several fellers that if they'd stay all night up there I'd deed 'em the house and a thousand acres and give 'em a thousand dollars, but there ain't nobody ever broke the ha'nt yet. [174]
invest: The little devils had some sacks of money with 'em and they came over to the fire and com-menced banterin' Jack for a poker game. Jack didn't have no money except that change from the ho-tel, but he sat down and invested it, and got to winnin' off the little devils. [174]
hole card: They lost ever' time, and started tryin' to peep and see Jack's hole card, but he was slick and played close to the floor, and it wasn't long till he cleaned 'em out. [174]
ballad hunting: On the other hand, ballad hunting became, and still is, a recognized scholarly sport. In part this was due to the discovery that folksongs were still sung in the United States. [185]
noodle: Elsie Clew Parsons and her fellow workers found that the Negroes had adopted, not only the tall tales and "noodle" stories of the whites, but that Negroes in this country, in Nova Scotia, and in the West Indies also knew the longer European folktales. [186]
you ones: I'll go in and get the money and if they wake up and find me out, I'll whistle and you'uns can get away. [204]
bureau: So they went to the old rich man's house and Jack he went in and opened the burroh drawer and he found so much gold and silver that he went to patting his foot and whistling. [204]
saddle horse: You got to steal my sadle horse to night or I'll have you hung or shot certain tomorrow morning. [205]
guard: So that night the old rich man Locked the door and Placed two gards at the stable door. So the gards built them up a big fire and laid at the stable door. [205]
midnight: Along about mid night along came a old ragged man a Limping along. [205]
gray: "My horse is gone," he said. "I gray Jack's got him." [206]
if I: "You've got to steal all my Brother Dickie's money or I'll have you hung or shot tomorrow morning." Jack say, "'Fi do, is it mine?" [206]
appointment: There was a meeting house purty close to Brother Dickie's, and away in the night Brother Dickie heard preaching going on in the church and there wasn't no appointment of any meeting so he went up and knocked on the door and says, "Who's this?" [206]
Gabriel: It's the angel gable. [206]
slip: So Brother Dickie goes back after the rest of the mony and Jack slippes along to lissen. [206]
servant: He went on Back home and By that time the sarvants had went out to feed the hogs. [207]
naked: Jack killed him a sheep and got him a bladder of blood and run on a head and stripped his self nacked and hung his self over the road by the hill and Put the Blood on his face. [207]
chamois: You've got to steal my wife's shimmy off her back or I'll have you hung or shot to morrow morning. [207]
bury: Jack knew of a man that was burried the day Be fore. [208]
key bang: The next time "Key Bang" goes the gun. [208]
sow: Next morning Jack caught him a old sowe and went from one side to the other with one foot touching. [208-209]
978-1-58005-916-9 52800
feter: Once, when I visited our uncle and I told him of my father-in-law, his family, and our lineage, /Der Feter/ said in awe: 'Your children are among the most exalted in the world.' [xiii]
Skv'er: his uncle was Rabbi Yaakov Yosef Twersky, the rebbe of the Skv'er Hasidic community. [xiii]
Skver'a: For a few years, when he was young, Zeide even lived in the Skver'a Rebbe's house so he could attend a nearby elementary school. [xiii]
high: due to their holiness, their closeness to God and to the inner workings of the divine world, they secured higher souls for their children, grandchildren, and descendants for generations to come. [xiv]
Moses: Our sages have said that if the Baal Shem Tov had lived in biblical times, he would have been a patriarch. He would have been a Moses, and we would have counted him among Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob! [xiv]
spurned: I hadn't heard of /Friends/ or /Seinfeld/, or many major historical events, from Woodstock to the Stonewall Riots-- they were spurned topics, and we were kept from ever learning about them. [xv]
shtetl: Undaunted, they set out to re-create Eastern European Hasidic shtetel life. [xv]
guardrail: So the Hasidic community added new guardrails to its own culture. In addition to creating a lifestyle that resembled life in Europe as much as possible--the food they ate, the clothing they wore, the language they spoke--the Hasidim in America developed new concepts that now came into play. [xvi]
Mormon: My father is the tenth generation of the Baal Shem Tov, the founder of the movement--similar to a Morman being a descendant of Joseph Smith, the founder and leader of Mormonism. [xvii]
Reb: In a small house at the edge of the village of Okopy, in the Kingdom of Poland (modern Ukraine), the old Reb Eliezer was saying his last goodbyes to his only son, who was born to him in old age. [xvii]
Shilonite: There is a widely held belief that the biblical prophet Ahijah the Shilonite came to teach him--not in his dreams, but while he was awake. [xviii]
sanctification: It is hard to know which of these stories are accurate, fully or partially, and which are the results of hundreds of years of sanctification. [xviii]
upshern: There was my birth and my /bris/, or circumcision, and then my /upshern/, first haircut--and first physical distinction as a boy--at age three. [xxi]
romanticizing: the romanticizing of a mysterious religious sect. [xxi]
transness: Trans representation tends to follow a similar path: there is overt sexualization and the casting of transness as a mental illness [xxii]
shadchan: A few weeks after a /shadchan/ suggested a match between my parents, and my four grandparents had agreed it was a good pairing, both sides of the family were ready to proceed with an engagement. [2]
shpitzel: It was even decided that following the marriage, after my mother's head was shaved, as was the custom, she would cover it with a /shpitzel/, a silk head covering made of a solid material--as opoposed to a lined one that looks remotely like hair--as was the Stein family custom. [2]
shpitzel: Married women must shave their hair and then cover their heads with various versions of headwear--knitted caps, sometimes, or a /shpitzel/--a partial wig with a scarf around it. [52]
knitted: Married women must shave their hair and then cover their heads with various versions of headwear--knitted caps, sometimes, or a /shpitzel/--a partial wig with a scarf around it. [52]
shtern tichel: On Friday nights and holidays, my mother and my married sisters wore a /shtern tichel/. This is a piece of brown material that wraps closely around the head, covering the hairline in front and falling low in the back. [52]
shtern tichel: Whenever anyone in my family walked outside with the /shtern tichel/, passersby would turn their heads. It said one thing, and it said loudly: /I am royalty/. [52]
strokes: My father would wear /strokes/, a long silk-and-velvet coat resembling a graduation gown, a royal rabbinic garment worn by the Meisels family on the Sabbath--or Shabbos, as we called it--as well as on holidays, at family weddings, and during other festive occasions. [2-3]
Tishrei: On October 1, 1991--or, the way I knew it growing up, the 24th of Tishrei in the year 5752--my mother went into labor. [4]
Tevet: Our wedding was held on Monday, December 27, 2010--or, as we knew it, the 20th day of the Hebrew month of Tevet 5771. [204]
Simchas Torah: It was the final day of the Jewish High Holy Days season, and the last day of a nine-day holiday, Simchas Torah. [4]
holy day: It was the final day of the Jewish High Holy Days season, and the last day of a nine-day holiday, Simchas Torah. [4]
nonreligious: My parents rushed to secure blood from the community's Jewish blood bank to prevent the use of "impure" nonreligious blood, or, God forbid, non-Jewish blood. [5]
lichtige: For the first time, after five births with no complications, my mother had to leave the hospital without a /lichtige/, a shining baby in her arms. [6]
feter: Once again, Feter Avrom came to the rescue. [7]
derech: You see, I had gone off the /derech/--off the path. To complete my self-determination, to live an authentic life, I would have to leave the community, the most egregious offense imaginable. [8]
path: You see, I had gone off the /derech/--off the path. To complete my self-determination, to live an authentic life, I would have to leave the community, the most egregious offense imaginable. [8]
brakh: At age two, I was diagnosed with a hernia. In Yiddish we called it a /brakh/--literally, a "disaster"--as it happens when part of an organ or tissue grows or moves outside of its proper place inside the body. [12]
shefele: We're going to have a fun ride, and then the doctor is going to make sure you feel better, /Shefele/. [12]
shefele: I was her /shefele/, or sometimes her /shefele zisse/. Literally, it means "little lamb," and in Yiddish, it is used as an expression of endearment, like sweetheart or /liebling/. [12]
liebling: I was her /shefele/, or sometimes her /shefele zisse/. Literally, it means "little lamb," and in Yiddish, it is used as an expression of endearment, like sweetheart or /liebling/. [12]
soothe: "You will feel better soon," Mommy soothed. [12]
flasher: Look here, look at this fire truck! It has flashers and sirens, and if you push the button at the bottom, it moves by itself. [13] [the fire truck is a toy]
Days of Awe: When I was a child, Sukkos was one of my favorite holidays. It came immediately after the Days of Awe, long days spent at synagogue where parents and teachers would talk about how we must repent to God and be better people. [15]
shtern: Mommy hung the most beautiful handmade /shterns/, stars shaped from glossy paper, from the bamboo mat that formed the roof for the sukkah. [16]
parade: While my mother and sisters decorated our sukkah and cooked meals for the parade of guests who would soon come to visit, my father would walk the streets of our neighborhood, shopping for the "Four Species"--the four plants mentioned in the Bible as part of the Sukkos celebration. [16]
Four Species: While my mother and sisters decorated our sukkah and cooked meals for the parade of guests who would soon come to visit, my father would walk the streets of our neighborhood, shopping for the "Four Species"--the four plants mentioned in the Bible as part of the Sukkos celebration. [16]
Four Species: In the days leading up to Sukkos, the streets of Williamsburg, and especially the main street, Lee Avenue, are packed with tables of people selling the Four Species, sukkah decorations, and pieces of wood and bamboo that can be used to create sukkah roofs. [17]
lulav: He would purchas an /etrog/, the fruit of a citron tree; a /lulav/, a palm frond; a /hadass/, a branch of a myrtle tree; and an /aravha/, a branch of a willow tree. [16]
hadass: He would purchas an /etrog/, the fruit of a citron tree; a /lulav/, a palm frond; a /hadass/, a branch of a myrtle tree; and an /aravha/, a branch of a willow tree. [16]
aravha: He would purchas an /etrog/, the fruit of a citron tree; a /lulav/, a palm frond; a /hadass/, a branch of a myrtle tree; and an /aravha/, a branch of a willow tree. [16]
citron tree: He would purchas an /etrog/, the fruit of a citron tree; a /lulav/, a palm frond; a /hadass/, a branch of a myrtle tree; and an /aravha/, a branch of a willow tree. [16]
myrtle tree: He would purchas an /etrog/, the fruit of a citron tree; a /lulav/, a palm frond; a /hadass/, a branch of a myrtle tree; and an /aravha/, a branch of a willow tree. [16]
shtetl: I didn't live in an eighteenth-century Eastern European shtetel, but I imagine that Williamsburg during the holidays has a similar feel. [17]
bendel fleish: My favorite holiday food, which my mother made every year for Sukkos, was /bendel fleish/, or pickled chicken, which got its name from the /bendel/, or the netted string, that was wrapped around it during the pickling. [17]
bendel: My favorite holiday food, which my mother made every year for Sukkos, was /bendel fleish/, or pickled chicken, which got its name from the /bendel/, or the netted string, that was wrapped around it during the pickling. [17]
yingel: "Look who is here!", Zeide Stein exclaimed as I walked into the sukkah one afternoon. "It's the /upshern yingel/!" It's the boy who is about to get a haircut. [17]
upshern: "Look who is here!", Zeide Stein exclaimed as I walked into the sukkah one afternoon. "It's the /upshern yingel/!" It's the boy who is about to get a haircut.[17]
sidelock: To be clear, an upshern is not just a haircut. Most of the head is shaved by a razor set on a triple-zero blade, and only the sidelocks, called /payos/, are kept long. [18]
payos: To be clear, an upshern is not just a haircut. Most of the head is shaved by a razor set on a triple-zero blade, and only the sidelocks, called /payos/, are kept long. [18]
triple-zero: To be clear, an upshern is not just a haircut. Most of the head is shaved by a razor set on a triple-zero blade, and only the sidelocks, called /payos/, are kept long. [18]
block out: I blocked out the rest of the day. [18]
bekishe: First, Zeide Stein gave me my first /bekishe/, a silk coat. A bekishe is usually only worn by boys after their Bar Mitzvah at age thirteen, or in some exclusive rabbinic families, at around age nine. In my family, though, boys wear a bekishe beginning at age three. [20]
exclusive: A bekishe is usually only worn by boys after their Bar Mitzvah at age thirteen, or in some exclusive rabbinic families, at around age nine. [20]
negel vasser: "You sure you washed /negel vaser/ this morning?" Mommy would ask whenever we hurt ourselves more than once in a day. [20]
upshern: Zeide Meisels brought me a small Torah scroll as an upshern gift. [20]
Other Side: Tradition says that on the day a boy turns three, the Other Side--a mystical reference to evil impure forces--will do whatever it can to corrupt a boy's holiness. [21]
impure: To ensure he doesn't see anything impure, he is covered. /Impure/, in this case, is Hasidic slang for a non-Jew, and just looking at a non-Jewish person could have negative effects for the rest of a boy's life. [21]
beis: /Aleph. Beis. Gimmel/. My journey of learning had begun. [21]
black out: I also don't know what my mother said after that. Again, the memory of what came next is blacked out for me, and whenever I try to force my memory to recall it, I feel a shiver in my whole body. [24]
pole: There she was, walking around with an IV pole, and we were only told that "Mommy isn't feeling so well, so she has to be connected to a special soda." [26]
soda: There she was, walking around with an IV pole, and we were only told that "Mommy isn't feeling so well, so she has to be connected to a special soda." [26]
bashefer: After all, I figured, since I was apparently the only girl in the world who was told I was a boy, only Der Bashefer, the Creator, could help me. [28]
studied: I promise, if I wake up as a girl, I will make up for it by having many boys, who will be the most studied and pious boys. [29]
Shema: We recited the /Shema/, "Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One," and Psalm 31, "In Your hands I leave my spirit." [29]
shpiel platz: Why are you not in the /shpiel platz?/" my teacher asked me, tipping his head to gesture toward the playground. [31]
heaven forbid: No one in the Hasidic community attended public school, heaven forbid. [31]
Magid Sheir: We attended the school because Tati was a /Magid Sheir/ in that yeshiva, meaning that he taught the subject of Jewish law to the tenth-grade students. [32]
child factory: In the bigger schools, which some of the adults called a "child factory," there were easily five hundred boys per grade, and often over thirty students per class. [32]
Satmar: Shopron was aligned with the Satmar sect, but this didn't bother Tati or Mommy much, even though we were not fully Satmar. [32]
Bobov: the Stein family had followed the Viznitz Hasidic sect since the eighteenth century, and the Meisels were Bobov Hasidim and direct descendants of the first Bobov'er Rebbe [32]
Bobov'er: the Stein family had followed the Viznitz Hasidic sect since the eighteenth century, and the Meisels were Bobov Hasidim and direct descendants of the first Bobov'er Rebbe [32]
Viznitz: the Stein family had followed the Viznitz Hasidic sect since the eighteenth century, and the Meisels were Bobov Hasidim and direct descendants of the first Bobov'er Rebbe [32]
Viznitz'er: But their only true rebbe, the one spiritual leader that mattered, was the Viznitz'er Rebbe. [33]
shpiel platz: At 1:00 p.m. we ate lunch, and then came the dreaded forty-five minutes of playing in the /shpiel platz/, an indoor playground. [35]
loose end: This seemed to suit everyone else, but as a girl who was thought to be a boy, I was at loose ends. [36]
street: Meanwhile, the kids on my block enjoyed a robust social street life. [36]
rebbe card: The boys rode their bikes, traded rebbe cards, and played made-up ball games using rolled-up belts as balls, as real balls were considered off limits. [36-37]
semiprivate: We lived on one of only six blocks in the entire neighborhood in Williamsburg that had semiprivate houses. [37]
catch the flag: Some days we played Catch the Flag, with a belt standing in as the flag. [38]
Kolokach: Other popular games were /Kokolach/, which involved juggling five small rocks, and Pinocchio, a game resembling musical chairs, in which you tried to step on other kids' toes. [38]
Pinocchio: Other popular games were /Kokolach/, which involved juggling five small rocks, and Pinocchio, a game resembling musical chairs, in which you tried to step on other kids' toes. [38]
roughhousing: I was through with the brutal games of roughhousing boys. [41]
derech: If you continue to ask questions like these, you will end up going off the /derech/. [44]
steel head: He said I had an /eisener kup/, a "steel head," an expression for a bright mind. [45]
siyum: We had just attended a beautiful /siyum/, a religious occasion celebrating a significant learning accomplishment, such as completing the study of a sizable portion of the Talmud. [45]
thunder: His words landed like a bomb, and my ears thundered with noise. [46]
sheath: the Hasidic community's ability to fashion a protective sheath around our lives was masterful. [49]
veise zoken: Why do you keep staring at your /veise zoken/? [51]
quiet: For women, it requires "quiet"-colored clothes, with fully covered collarbones, ankles, and knees. [52]
shtreimel: Black hats complete the outfit, and, for married men, fur hats, called /shtreimel/, are to be worn on Shabbos and on holidays. [53]
pony tail: On Tati's side of the family, there were rules about girls never wearing loose hair, something Bobbe Stein was particularly impassioned about, and so my sisters always wore a pony tail, and most of our cousins always kept their hair in a braid. [52]
rebbishe: Beyond these basic guidelines for all Hasidic people is the /rebbishe/ dress code--the unique dress code for people of rabbinic descent. [53]
rebbishe: Well, I believe in you, you are a /rebbishe/ child. [150]
dress code: Beyond these basic guidelines for all Hasidic people is the /rebbishe/ dress code--the unique dress code for people of rabbinic descent. [53]
veise zoken: I want our boys to wear /veise zoken and/ a /kolpik/. [53]
kolpik: I want our boys to wear /veise zoken and/ a /kolpik/. [53]
kolpik: A /kolpik/ was a brownish fur hat that some boys of rabbinic descent wore as teenagers--other men wore fur hats only after they married. [53]
shtisim: "/Shtisim/," Miriam replied, using the Yiddish word for BS. "You have a choice, you are just not trying hard enough!" [55]
displace: So to dream she rejected me because I was not living like the girl I was--clearly a reflection of my own fears displaced on her--was painful. [55]
feathering: I had noticed my first facial hairs, a feathering of soft, fine hair on my neck, in the weeks leading up to my birthday. [56]
Bittul Torah: Based on biblical verses and rabbinic teachings, a Hasidic Jew has an inherent obligation not to waste a single minute of the day. "/Bittul Torah/," a phrase used to describe anything that gets in the way of studying, is a concept Hasidic boys are lectured about from a young age. [60]
Sheir Eyin: The session was dedicated to studying Talmud using a form of learning called /Sheir Eyin/, which literally means "deep study session." Our cohort of students and rabbis would read the Talmud, line by line, word by word, and dissect every possible meaning, every possible interpretation. It could take us a week to cover half a page. [61-62]
smartass: "That is heresy!" Reb Shimon exclaimed, and then added, "Where do you get such smartass opinions?" [64]
machshovos zoros: These questions were considered /machshovos zoros/--foreign thoughts, evil thoughts. [66]
yeshiva: Many boys would not think twice before skipping the ritual bath for just one day. [65-66]
perfect crime: The best part of it all: I could do it without anyone knowing. Which made it the perfect crime. [71]
yiras shamayim: "Whoever is doing this is not just showing immense disrespect to me as a teacher, but also to the whole Torahand to this whole class and school!" he fumed. "And to God!" he went on. "This person has no /yiras shamayim/, no respect for the Divine, and no respect for Judaism!" [73]
general: Leader of the pack was Moishy, a sweaty six-foot-tall boy and the uncrowned general of our inter-grade wars. [75]
uncrowned: Leader of the pack was Moishy, a sweaty six-foot-tall boy and the uncrowned general of our inter-grade wars. [75]
world to come: Satmar Hasidim consider people who support Israel to be heretics, akin to people who deny the world to come. [79]
coloring book: "Why aren't you going to the class?" he asked. "V'yoel Moshe is a coloring book," I responded, as if to say it was silly and not worth my time. [80] [the class is on V'yoel Moshe]
poop: One morning, a mystery student mixed that coffee-sugary poop recipe I invented and somehow got it onto Reb Shimon. [81]
orphan: He is like a living orphan. His parents might still be alive, but his opinions are all his own! [85]
mevakesh: How can we make sure that everyone is satisfied--you as the teacher, and my child as a /mevakesh/? [86]
coda: Tati had been swayed by my crying, my promises that I would behave better, and my convincing case that Reb Shimon had been wrong to hit me--with an added coda that "the whole semester he wanted me to fail because I am your son"--and we were all in agreement. [87]
pluralistic: Tzhelim was one of the few pluralistic yeshivas in Williamsburg--not in the modern sense, but in the Hasidic sense. It contained a mix of different Hasidic sects instead of being dominated by just one. [87]
wet: Hasidic people also do not eat "wet matzah" during the first seven days of Passover--that meant no matzah balls, no matzah meal pancakes or fried matzah, no matzah and cream cheese. [90]
Baal Shem'sker: There is a Hasidic term that is used to describe any story that tells of a rebbe performing an open miracle: it is called "a Baal Shem'sker story." [100]
seeker: "My son is a seeker," Tati told him. "Perhaps the problem is not his but rather the lack of educators to address his concerns. [104]
soul friend: After all, my grandfather, Zeide Stein, was the son of the Rebbe's "soul friend," his childhood friend from his old home in Eastern Europe. [110-111]
gitten moed: "A /gitten moed/--happy holidays!" he exclaimed, in what I suspected was amped-up enthusiasm. [113]
amped-up: "A /gitten moed/--happy holidays!" he exclaimed, in what I suspected was amped-up enthusiasm. [113]
seforim shteeb: We entered his /seforim shteeb/, a typical office for a Hasidic religious professional. The walls were lined with bookcases prominently displaying religious texts, probably including every single book ever published by a Viznitz Hasidic leader. [113]
liebling: Colloquially known as Gibbers, as it sits on Gibber Road in Kiamesha Lake, New York, it is the pride of the Viznitz-Monsey Hasidic community and the /liebling/ of its late founder, the Viznitz'er Rebbe. [115]
Catskill: All three buildings were connected by an indoor bridge so that students never had to go outside, something that was helpful during the harsh Catskill winters. [116]
Shalom Aleichem: "/Shulem Aleichem!/ My name is Chaim Meir Viznitzer, and I am the spiritual counselor for the first class. Welcome to Gibbers!" [116]
Shalom Aleichem: "Shulem Aleichem!" Rabbi David greeted him, using a Yiddish pronunciation of the Hebrew greeting. [229]
vort: The next day, Hindy got engaged to Avrom Shimon Weinberger, and the /vort/, a small celebration marking the engagement--not the main engagement party, which would be later--was held in our house. [129]
git shabbos: It turned out that about a third or so only spoke to their parents on Fridays, before Shabbos, to wish them a /Git Shabbos/, unless there was a specific reason to call them in the middle of the week. [130]
mikrai lilah: "If you ever wake up, and you realize that you had a /mikrai lilah/," Reb Yossel started, "do not fall into despair." [143]
down there: I was always warned against touching "down there". [144]
blue-covered: Tati kept that blue-covered booklet hidden behind a row of books. [146]
magnifying glass: I was under a magnifying glass, and I was not happy about it. [150]
deep study: My resistance to deep study had percolated among the students and reached the administration, and they were worried. [162]
deep study: When the Rebbe opened the yeshiva in 1954, there was no deep study program, just like most Hasidic yeshivas in Europe. [163]
kosher: I became known as the "kosher rebel," the student who used religious, Hasidic-infused arguments to be rebellious. [165]
Leil Shishi: Called /Leil Shishi/ in rabbinic Hebrew--literally, the night of the sixth day, though in modern Hebrew that term is used to refer to Friday nights rather than Thursday nights--it is a time when the gates of heaven and the gates of wisdom are wide open. [165]
Leil Shishi: In yeshiva, we celebrated Leil Shishi in many ways. [166]
bashow: Our meeting had been arranged by a local matchmaker, and it was the first time either of us had been on a "date." Not that it was called that. It was called a /bashow/, a chaperoned get-to-know-you meeting with the stated purpose of deciding if we should marry--even though by the time many couples, us included, meet, it is already almost fully decided to move ahead with the engagement. [167]
gray braid: There was a joke that girls who are older than twenty already had a "gray braid." [170]
senate: In yeshiva, by the end of the fourth year, when most students are nineten or twenty years old, about 80 percent of the students are married. Some students will then stay for another year or two; they are already known as the "old" students, and in yeshiva we called them "the Senate," and not in a respectable way. [170]
rabbinic: Rabbinic families can also be divided into two groups: rabbinic families and /rebbishe/ families. Rabbinic families are the children and grandchildren of communiy rabbis and religious leaders, and families can gain or lose this status based on the occupations of the parents and grandparents. /Rebbishe/ families are the families of Hasidic rebbes, the Hasidic Supreme Leaders, whose children will take over the leadership from their parents. [171-172]
rebbishe: Rabbinic families can also be divided into two groups: rabbinic families and /rebbishe/ families. Rabbinic families are the children and grandchildren of communiy rabbis and religious leaders, and families can gain or lose this status based on the occupations of the parents and grandparents. /Rebbishe/ families are the families of Hasidic rebbes, the Hasidic Supreme Leaders, whose children will take over the leadership from their parents. [171-172]
supreme leader: /Rebbishe/ families are the families of Hasidic rebbes, the Hasidic Supreme Leaders, whose children will take over the leadership from their parents. [171-172]
candle lighting: And so Wednesday afternoon, before the Hanukkah candle lighting, Meir Horowitz went to the Rebbe to ask what he thought about the match. [174]
l'chaim: We are ready to agree to the match, and to drink a /l'chaim/! [180]
l'chaim: A /l'chaim/ is the way a Hasidic engagement happens. Both families drink vodka or another kind of liquor and shake hands, and just like that, there is a bride and a groom. [180]
place: So, there are two holes here, on the bottom of a woman's body, in between her legs. Just raise yourself a bit and have her guide your /organ/ into her /place/. [184]
niddah: Make sure there is no blood, and if there is, have her check herself with the special cloth. Always have cloths ready. After there is blood, she is considered a /niddah/. [184]
Midnight Ritual: As part of my exploration of Kabbalistic beliefs, I began learning about the importance of "the Midnight Ritual," a well-known but not widely observed Kabbalistic practice based on the Talmud. [186]
Midnight Ritual: From that week on, I woke up every Friday just before midnight, immersed myself in the mikvah, and recited the prayers of the Midnight Ritual. [187]
Kabbalist: According to the Kabbalists, it was necessary to immerse oneself in the ritual bath before consorting with the Divine. But the mikvah didn't open on Fridays until 3:30 a.m., so I'd have to break in. [186]
log: A few times a year, the yeshiva held study competitions to see who could log the most hours learning, and students would study for hours and hours without stopping for anything. [188]
smooth: Then she smoothed my brow. "Right, /Shefele/?" [189]
kollel: You are getting married anyway, so just continue your studies at a /kollel/, where there are fewer rules. [190]
unmarried: Talking about sex is taboo in the Hasidic world, particularly among the unmarried. [191]
pray the gay away: Another part of me thought that after I was married--and living with, sleeping with, and spending time with a "real" girl--maybe all my feelings would magically go away. I hoped for that outcome with a renewed intensity. I guess it was my own version of "praying the gay away," although it was more like "praying the girl away." [192]
groom teacher: Meanwhile, the wedding plans progressed, and two months before the big day, Tati arranged for Rabbi Yisroel Rosenberg to be my Groom Teacher. [192]
bride teacher: Due to the nonexistence of any sex-ed before marriage, everything about sexual relationships in the Hasidic community is taught to grooms and brides in the months leading up to the wedding. While for brides there is usually a Bride Teacher, a woman who is a real specialist on sexual life, for grooms it is usually a rabbi who is a "specialist" in the Jewish laws surrounding sexual relations and other practical matters. [192]
Groom's Shabbat: Celebrating the Groom's Shabbos and the Bride's Shabbos dates back to Talmudic times, but it has taken on a whole new meaning in the Hasidic world. [200-201]
Bride's Shabbat: Celebrating the Groom's Shabbos and the Bride's Shabbos dates back to Talmudic times, but it has taken on a whole new meaning in the Hasidic world. [200-201]
changing of the hats: In the week before the Groom's Shabbos, as part of the "changing of the hats," there is a tradition where his family and close frineds jokingly hit his old "unmarried" hat off his head and wish him well. [201]
Groom's Shabbat: In the week before the Groom's Shabbos, as part of the "changing of the hats," there is a tradition where his family and close frineds jokingly hit his old "unmarried" hat off his head and wish him well. [201]
s'past nisht: I soon realized that almost all the gender norms that society enforces, especially in our community, which was so radically segregated by gender, were entirely subjective and invented by society. Years later, I learned the common term for that: /social construct/. At the time though, it was simply /s'past nisht/, which translates to "not appropriate," and it referred to community norms that could not necessarily be explained with facts or logical reasoning. [218]
Shulem Zucher: We had a Friday night gathering called /Shulem Zucher/--literally, "peace of the boy." Our friends and family gathered at synagogue after the Shabbos meal, where they were served beans, chips, and kugel and sang celebratory songs. [219-220]
Vach Nacht: Then there was the meal the night before the circumcision, called /Vach Nacht/, or "night of watching." On the eve of our son's eighth day--the night before the morning when he was to be circumcised, in accordance with biblical law--hundreds of people joined my family and in-laws for a light meal and to give their blessings for the next day. [220]
transgender: In an interesting twist of coming full circle, as I am writing this in 2019, some of my own work and research on the topic of transgender and Judaism are quoted on that exact Wikipedia page--the page that first taught me the word /transgender/. [222]
kapel: Then he looked me over and saw that I was not wearing the yarmulke, the obligatory head-covering for boys and men. "Aw, you are not wearing a /kapel/?" Tati noticed. [229]
head-covering: Then he looked me over and saw that I was not wearing the yarmulke, the obligatory head-covering for boys and men. "Aw, you are not wearing a /kapel/?" Tati noticed. [229]
Kabbalist: "You know how the Kabbalists say that people's souls have a gender?" Rabbi David asked. [230]