10 More Risque and Often-Censored Songs From the 1950s
The very first piece I did for REBEAT back in September 2014 was called “10 Often-Censored Songs From the Early ’50s.” There, I noted that although many people think of the 50s as an age of purity, of sock hops, drive in restaurants and theatres, ponytails, and all the other mid-century Americana your mind can conjure up, obviously, then, as now, people thought about sex. They also sang about sex of course, and despite the much more rigid censorship radio stations imposed on music in the 1950s, early-50s African-American R&B music took quite a few liberties with song content, and double entendres ruled the day.
Last time, I looked at 10 ’50s songs that really pushed the envelope, and this week, I present you with a chronological list of 10 more songs bound to make you reconsider whether or not the ’50s were as innocent as they’ve always been made out to be.
1) “My Man Stands Out,” Julia Lee and Her Boy Friends (1950)
Julia Lee was a very popular performer in the 1940s, and “My Man Stands Out” came right as her career was going into decline. You could assume that this song is pretty innocent, as if “stands out” means “distinguished.” Somehow, though, when Lee sings
“Down at the beach when we walk by
The other girls give him the eye
’cause my man stands out
Yes my man stands out
I’m crazy about the way my man stands out.”
I don’t think she means “distinguished”; but I do think she’s trying to say something does “stand out.”
“I like the way he fools around
And then the way he goes to town
’cause my man stands out
Yes my man stands out
I’m crazy about the way my man stands out.”
I should probably mention that among Lee’s repertoire in the ’40s and ’50s were such tunes as “Don’t Come Too Soon,” “King-Sized Papa,” and “Snatch and Grab It.” Kinda hard to attribute all that innuendo to innocence.
2) “Silent George,” Lucky Millinder and His Orchestra (1950)
Lucky Millinder had a prolific career as a bandleader, scoring a number of big hits in the 1940s. As the bandleader, and not the vocalist, he wasn’t the one singing those hits, and Wynonie Harris (see below), Ruth Brown, and Rossetta Tharpe were among some of the lead vocalists who sang with his band and then would go on to substantial acclaim later. On this cut the lead vocalist was Myra Johnson, who sings about George “blowing his top,” which seems to have been the standard euphemism for having an orgasm in the 1950s world of double entendre R&B. Still, it’s tamer than most of the songs listed here.
3) “Butcher Pete,” Roy Brown and His Mighty Men (1950)
I guess today we’ve become so used to reading about serial killers and mass murderers that hearing this simply as a risqué song is not as easy as it used to be. Butcher Pete is a guy who has a pretty big “knife,” and “he’s been havin’ a ball / just cuttin’ and choppin’ for miles around / single women, married women, old maids and all….he’s choppin’ up all the women’s meat.” It’s difficult to hear the song today and not be a bit uncomfortable, and that may also be because for most of us, butchers aren’t as common as they were 65 years ago. Thus, the idea of “cutting meat” tends to move away from the utilitarian meaning of 1950 and take us somewhere not so pleasant.
Brown is pretty clear what listeners were supposed to think in 1950 though
“There’s an old woman, who’s 92
Lives down the street
She said, one thing more I wanna do
Is find ole Pete and let him chop my meat
He’s hackin’ and wackin’ and smackin’
He’s hackin’ and wackin’ and smackin'”
4) “Rocket 69,” Todd Rhodes and His Orchestra (1951); vocals by Connie Allen
Todd Rhodes was a bandleader who, like Lucky Millinder, had a number of famous singers fronting his band. In this case, it was Connie Allen, who, though she arguably sounds like a man, was in fact a woman. Since that has become a debating point over the ensuing decades (and when listening to the song, you’ll know why), let me clarify that she was born Constantina Allen, was married to and divorced from three men, and was the singer on hits such as “Sugar in My Bowl” and “You’ll Never Change Me.” When Allen quit singing for Rhodes, she would be replaced by Lavern Baker, soon to be very famous in her own right.
Do I really need to discuss the obvious innuendo here?
“I’ll make you mighty happy that I’m your girl
We’ll fly through the sky and go out of this world
I’ll bet you sweet papa I can make you feel mighty fine
When you take a little trip on a rocket 69.”
5) “Ride, Daddy, Ride,” Fats Noel (1951)
In my last list of risqué songs, I looked at 1952’s “Drill, Daddy, Drill,” by Dorothy Ellis. Though I don’t know it to be the case, I have to imagine it was at least influenced by Orville “Fats” Noel’s song. Just as Ellis’ song wasn’t really about oil drilling, this song isn’t really about riding in a car. All Fats’ girl wants to do is “ride all night, ride all day,” saying “ride Daddy, ride / shove, Daddy, shove / push, Daddy, push.” I don’t think she’s talking about a Sunday afternoon drive in the country.
6) “The Walkin’ Blues,” Jesse Powell (1952); vocals by Fluffy Hunter
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhLMcln87Nw
The Jesse Powell Orchestra, fronted by vocalist Fluffy Hunter, cranked out a lot of double entendre hits in the ’50s, such as “Hot Box” and “My Natch’l Man.” “The Walkin’ Blues” uses the “last-word-unsaid-bait-and-switch-technique,” whereby the lyrics roll along and, instead of the expected dirty word that rhymes, the vocalist instead says “walk right in, walk right out.” If this is confusing, just listen to it.
“Well I got a man
Who likes to hucklebuck
Well I got a man
Who likes to hucklebuck
When he comes home in the morning all he wants to do is……. walk right in/walk right out.”
This is part of every verse: “Let’s pick some berries, and don’t forget your bucket / If you forget your bucket, ahh baby just…” and “I like to dance the Suzie Q, the conga, and the truck / when I get romantic all want to do is….” and so on. Not exactly subtle.
7) “Poon-Tang!,” The Treniers (1953)
This band, led by twins Cliff and Claude Trenier, has been credited for recording some of the earliest songs that incorporated the words “rock” and “roll,” and thus influenced the genre. By the late ’40s, they were calling themselves “The Rockin’ and Rollin’ Treniers,” and from that point on recorded songs such as “Rocking on Sunday Night,” “It Rocks! It Rolls! It Swings!,” “Rock and Roll Call,” “Rock-a-Beatin’ Boogie,” and “Rock and Roll President.” They also appeared in early rock ‘n’ roll films such as The Girl Can’t Help It and Don’t Knock the Rock.
Here, though, there are no claims of seminality. The singer has been marooned on an island and the first thing he’s gonna do when he gets off is get some “poon-tang.” According to the singer, “poon is a hug and tang is a kiss,” I don’t think any one will buy that, do you?
8) “Wasn’t That Good?” Wynonie Harris (1953)
Wynonie Harris is the only artist to make both of my risqué ’50s lists, and if I were to do 10 more lists, I think I could find a song of his for every one of them — the double entendre was his milieu. As I noted last time, he’s a rock ‘n’ roll pioneer, with songs like “All She Wants to Do Is Rock” and “Good Rockin’ Tonight,” even though “rock” is usually a euphemism for sex. Here he forgoes the “rock” references, but he arrives at the same place nevertheless.
“Let’s play a little game called ‘little Jacky Horner’
Go over there and sit in the corner
Gonna stick my finger in the pie
When I pull it out, you’ll know the reason why
Wasn’t that good?”
9) “Baby Let Me Bang Your Box,” The Toppers (1954)
The Toppers were the first band to do this song, though it’s been covered multiple times by groups such as the Bangers and Daddy Cool. My favorite is the first one I ever heard, by Doug Clark and the Hot Nuts, a group who built a career out of singing double entendre R&B at frat parties throughout the south. Rumor has it they were the model for Otis Day and the Knights in Animal House, and although I can’t verify that, I do know I saw the Hot Nuts a couple of times during my frat-boy days, and they put on a hell of a show.
The Toppers were first known as the Tune Toppers, shortened to just the Toppers about the time they signed with the Jubilee label around 1954. They recorded a few sides for Jubilee, including “Baby Let Me Bang Your Box,” which has since become a classic.
“Well my baby had a party the other night
The party was gettin’ dead
I spied a piano in the corner
Looked at my baby and saidBaby let me bang your box, baby let me bang your box
I’ve been bangin’ since I was a kid of four
I’ve been bangin’ since I was a kid of four
I’ve been bangin’ along ’til I can’t bang no moreOh-oh baby let me bang your box, baby let me bang your box.”
The song was not a hit at the time, however, and the Toppers would eventually leave Jubilee and sign with King, where they’d once again change their name, this time to the Hurricanes. Later, they changed their name again, to the Memos. As the constant name changes suggest, long-term success was elusive.
10) “Slow, Smooth, and Easy,” The Drivers (1956)
The story — though whether it was a publicity stunt or not, I don’t know — was that the members of this Cincinnati group were truck drivers by day, and singers by night. They only recorded less than a half-dozen songs, but oddly enough, this 1956 recording is one of the most polished-sounding releases on this list. To me, it’s one of the funniest, too, as lead singer Willie Price says you better fill his body with “aka-hol” if “you want my motor to roll.” But even under the influence of alcohol, he likes it “smooth, slow, and easy.”
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