Trump Vs. Hellary, Male Vs. Female, War Vs. Peace, Light Vs. Dark, Good Vs. Evil, Man Vs. Machine, Love Vs. Hate, Dog Vs. Cat, Sun Vs. Moon, Brain Vs. Brawn, Oscar Vs. Grammy, Angel Vs. Demon, Laurel Vs. Hardy, Beer Vs. Wine, TV Vs. Radio, Pitcher Vs. Batter, Paper Vs. Plastic, Reality Vs. Fantasy, Yeshua Vs. Beelzebub, Conservative Vs. Liberal, You Vs. Me, House Vs. Senate, Offense Vs. Defense, Kramer Vs. Kramer, Spy Vs. Spy, Fischer Vs. Spassky, W.C. Fields Vs. Sobriety, Harold Gimpy, Jr. Vs. Sheldon J. Pismire, Rock Vs. Paper Vs. Scissors, Islam Vs. Everything, Singer Vs. Singer, Band Vs. Band...
BATTLE OF THE BANDS! (‘BOTB’)
Shoop-Shooby
–
Shooby-duh-Dooby-Doop-Dooby-Dooby-Doo-Wah
–
Buh-Doo-Wah!
Yes,
it’s time once again for ‘Battle Of The Bands’
(‘BOTB’)
Alright,
let’s get on it...
 |
| EUGENE MARTONE VS. JACK BUTLER |
As a youngster I was fortunate that both of my parents had good taste in music but also that their tastes were slightly different. Therefore, I was exposed to a good variety artists. Pa and Ma agreed on Big Band and Sinatra and then their tastes diverged slightly.
Ma gave me Cannonball Adderley, Bill Black's Combo, Artie Shaw, Stan Getz, and believe it or not, Creedence Clearwater Revival. Pa gave me Nat "King" Cole, Dinah Washington, Willie Nelson, Louis Prima and Phil Harris. And those last two bring us to today's BOTB installment.
Everybody knows Louis Prima (and his wife Keely Smith) through classics like (link >>) Just A Gigolo / I Ain't Got Nobody. Man, if THOSE people did not have fun on stage, then no one EVER has!!
Fewer people are familiar with Phil Harris. Phil was born in Linton, Indiana, but very much like Prima, who was born in New Orleans, he was strongly associated with the South (I loves me "the South", y'all!). Both men were Big Band leaders, vocalists, and very fond of novelty songs. Novelty songs... naturally my Pa, with that goofy sense of humor, loved them both greatly!
Phil Harris had quite a number of songs that were popular back in the '40s and '50s. I think perhaps the one I dig most of all is (link >>) That's What I Like About The South. Is there any way not to enjoy THAT song? Seriously! Is there?
What might surprise a lot of people is that Prima and Harris are featured in Disney's "Summer Of Love" (1967) animated classic 'THE JUNGLE BOOK'. Louis Prima supplied the voice for "King Louie" and Phil Harris provided the voice for "Baloo The Bear".
'I WANNA BE LIKE YOU' -- The Jungle Book
Now, I ask you, what could possibly be more fun than having KING LOUIE and BALOO THE BEAR face off against each other in a 'Battle Of The Bands' installment? ...That's what I thought! So, here's Prima and Harris doing a novelty song, the type of music they both specialized in.
If you're already very familiar with The Bible, you can skip this next segment and go straight to the tunes. If not, you'd better read this first or the song is not going to make any sense to you.
 |
| GOODNIKS VS. NO-GOODNIKS |
First, one must know that in the Old Testament, God gave to the Israelites what's called "The Ten Commandments". The very first Commandment states:
"I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image — any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them."
Remember that, you'll need it later.
Now, in (link >>) the third chapter of 'Daniel', there's the story of how Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, made an image of gold that he set it up in the plain of Dura.
Then a herald cried aloud: "To you it is commanded that at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery ... you shall fall down and worship the gold image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up; and whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace."
But three Israelites, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, remaining true to God's "First Commandment" refused to bow down to Nebuchadnezzar's idol.
The King gave them one last chance before throwing them into the furnace, but they responded:
"O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up."
Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury ... He commanded that they heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego were bound in their coats and were cast into the furnace. Because the furnace was exceedingly hot, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, who fell down bound into the midst of the furnace.
Then Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and spoke to his counselors, "Did we not cast three men bound into the the fire? ... I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God."
They saw these men on whose bodies the fire had no power; the hair of their head was not singed nor were their garments affected, and the smell of fire was not on them.
Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, who sent His Angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him ... that they should not serve nor worship any god except their own God! ... There is no other God who can deliver like this." Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego in the province of Babylon.
OK, now you're ready for this fun song. "KING LOUIE" (Prima) versus "BALOO THE BEAR" (Harris) -- may the better Disney character win!
SHADRACH -- Louis Prima
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
 |
| RIDDLER VS. BATMAN |
After voting here, I suggest - actually I insist - you pop over to the blogs of the other 'BATTLE OF THE BANDS' participants to see which songs they have chosen and vote there also. (If their ‘BOTB’ blog bits aren’t posted yet, pour yourself two shots of ‘Grand Marnier’ over ice – do it twice – and then return to their blogs to
Voice Your Vote...
@ ‘TOSSING IT OUT’ by clicking HERE.
@ ‘YOUR DAILY DOSE’ by clicking HERE.
@ 'MIKE'S RAMBLINGS' by clicking HERE.
@ 'CURIOUS AS A CATHY' by clicking HERE.
@ 'THE SOUND OF ONE HAND TYPING' by clicking HERE.
@ 'DCRELIEF - BATTLE OF THE BANDS' by clicking HERE.
@ 'THE DOGLADY'S DEN' by clicking HERE.
@ 'CHERDO ON THE FLIPSIDE' by clicking HERE.
@ 'ANGELS BARK' by clicking HERE.
@ 'JINGLE JANGLE JUNGLE' by clicking HERE.
@ 'JANIE JUNEBUG, RIGHTING & EDITING' by clicking HERE.
@ 'J.A. SCOTT' by clicking HERE.
@ 'QUIET LAUGHTER' by clicking HERE.
@ 'REINVINTAGED' by clicking HERE.
@ 'EVIL POP TART' by clicking HERE.
As I've done in the past, I will continue to return to my 'BOTB' blog bits on the 7th and 21st of each month to post my own votes and announce the winners in the comment sections.
~ Stephen T. McCarthy
