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Welcome to Installment #2 of my 'Mint Julep' series.
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Some of you may recall that I told a short story in Part 1 and I said I'd conclude it in Part 2.
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Granted, I seemed to be making mutually exclusive statements in my comments.
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In Part 1 > HERE, I told you how one afternoon in early 1992 The Countess & I went into Virginia City's Crystal Bar and we each ordered one of their advertised Mint Julep cocktails.
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| Today, what was once The Crystal Bar is now Virginia City's Visitor's Center. However, inside and out, it still looks very much like the bar did when The Countess & I enjoyed our Mint Juleps there in 1992. |
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| Photo taken by STMcME, yesterday (May 14, 2025). Keep in mind that if Jimmy Stewart drank at The Crystal Bar, so did his púca pal, > "Harvey". |
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I previously wrote that, due to her advanced age and the complexity of the recipe, it took the owner / bartender, Margaret Marks, "forever + a day or two" to make our Mint Juleps and set them in front of us.
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When I saw how much labor was involved for that nice old lady to make our two Mint Juleps, I felt guilty about ordering them.
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Now, to quote the late Paul Harvey, "Here's the rest of the story".....
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After taking maybe two or three sips from my drink, a group of about five tourists entered the bar. One of them asked me what I was drinking, and when I told him, the group then proceeded to order five Mint Juleps from Mrs. Marks. Now I felt like a real heel! (I also feared that the nice lady might pull out a pistol from behind the bar and shoot me! I whispered to the Countess, "We should drink up and get outta here".)
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Margaret Marks passed away in 1998, and for all I know, she may have still been working on those five Mint Juleps at the time that The Lord's angel of Eternal Rest came for her.
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Now you understand why I said the second half of this story was brief but goes on for a lo-ooo-ng time!
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Alright, let's get on it.
Let's get ON this thing!
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Please vote in the comment section for the recording you like best, and then please do the same in the comment sections of the other BOTBers. The Good Lord willing, I'll return here on May 22nd with my own vote & the Final Tally.
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ONE MINT JULEP
by Buddy Morrow & His Orchestra
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This next band was the long-time backing group for Louis Prima & his part-Cherokee wife, Keely Smith. One of the many great memories in my life is being with my Pa and getting to see Keely Smith with Sam Butera & The Witnesses live on stage at The Sands casino in Las Vegas. Not that I'm trying to influence your vote, MORF. (FYI, the Keely Smith song ‘I Wish You Love’ is J-1 on the jukebox in Heaven. You'll discover that I'm right... when you get There.)
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ONE MINT JULEP
by Sam Butera & The Witnesses
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~ Stephen (T. McCarthy)
Sam Butera's version is my favorite so far by far. You got more comin'? There seem so many versions of this song you could just have a "Battle of the Mint Julep's" that ran for several years.
ReplyDeleteThat was a funny story about the old bar owner. Did you consider saying to the tourists: "A mint julep, but it isn't that good."? Or: "This? Oh, this is a Cosmopolitan!" She might have thanked you.
Sixgun McItchyfinger
SIR 6-A-LOT ~
DeleteHey, I'm pleased as Everclear 190-spiked punch that you enjoyed the story. (Oftentimes I wonder why I even bother. It would be easier & a real time-saver if I did this via the BOTB Template method. But then again... what FUN would that be?!)
Yes, I do have one more Mint Julep Battle scheduled in my 66-IQ brain. A couple months back, I realized that May was coming and, with it, The Kentucky Derby. And then my brain miraculously made the Kentucky Derby / Mint Julep connection. So, I went to the SecondHandSongs website to see how many recordings of that song had been made. I was astounded! Not just by the number but by how good so many of them are. I'm beginning to think that there may be more top-notch recordings of this song than any other.
I have to cut the series off at some point and move onto other stuffs so, although I could go on for quite a goot number of installments, I'm going to make 'One Mint Julep, Installment #3' my final one. But!... it's gonna a be a real toughie (a Smooth Jazz version by one of the all-time great guitarists versus a down-'n'-dirty hardcore Blues rendition... WITH lyrics, for the first time). I have NO IDEA which recording will win because... I still have NO IDEA how even I will vote!
Thanks, Sixy, for always being here!
~ D-FensDogG
Oh, I'm going with Sam Butera as he added some, "Get up and go"...lol. I like the infusion of big band and jazz. I do like the first one which sounds Big Band but the 2nd had that extra. Here's to the old broad who knew how to make a mint julep...eventually
ReplyDeleteBIRGIT ~
DeleteThanks for your continued BOTB support!
Margaret Marks was quite a woman!
Margaret L. Kelley Marks passed away at the age of 80 at Carson-Tahoe Hospital. She was born to John and Mable Powers Kelley, and had lived in northern Nevada for the past 75 years, coming from [Butte] Montana. She was the owner of the Crystal Bar in Virginia City and also was a registered nurse for the Storey County School District for 40 years. She was a member of Saint Mary's in the Mountains Catholic Church in Virginia City, Parent Teacher Association, Nevada Nurses, Virginia City Alumni, 16th Service Squadron and active in Storey County Ambulance Operations.
The only thing I can say for myself is that...
I've had a Mint Julep in The Crystal Bar.
I'm almost ashamed o' muhself!
~ D-FensDogG
That Buddy Morrow version sure sounds familiar to me. I think my parents probably had an album with that version on it because I can remember hearing it often.
ReplyDeleteI had a big young boy crush on Keely Smith. My parents had one of their albums that I used to listen to often and enjoy greatly.
I this Battle setting I'm going to have to go with that laid back Buddy Morrow sound. Maybe it's what feels right as I listen in the morning or maybe it's me getting old.
Buddy Morrow for me!
Lee
R. LEE BOIDMAN ~
Delete"Muh Bruhthuh" (to quote Robert Barone), I hear ya! So far, no one in this comment section has used the word "Swing". Doth no one remember what "Big Band Swing" sounded like?!
Doth not the King James Version of The Holy Bible say: "Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the LORD, and Buddy Morrow's Big Band be Swingin' Bigly"?
Or... "Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount where the burning bush was Swingin' to the sounds of Buddy Morrow's hip Orchestra"?
Or... "...rejoice with the wife of thy youth... let her breasts satisfy thee at all times while ye dance to Buddy Morrow's Divinely-inspired Swingin' Big Band sound"?
Not more than two.5 seconds ago, I looked up the term "Swing music" in my 2,230-page copy of Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary and it said: "see Buddy Morrow's 'One Mint Julep'". So I looked up "Buddy Morrow's 'One Mint Julep'" and it said: "see Swing music".
~ D-FensDogG
They're both good, but Sam Butera's version is more of a toe-tapper - he gets my vote. I do, however, wonder what the cast of Bonanza would have thought of this music (if it played then) when they patronized the Crystal Bar? Cool battle! Made for a jazzy-good start for the day ;-)
ReplyDeletedEAR dIEDRE ~
DeleteI'm pleased as peach-flavored schnapps (a thing I would never drink until I was fully ready to relinquish my official 'Man-Card') that you enjoyed the show.
Here's a few FUN FACTS for ya:
Samuel Langhorne Clemens became "Mark Twain" while writing for the Territorial Enterprise newspaper in Virginia City. Well, that's what they say, and he hasn't yet risen from the grave to dispute it. (Don'tcha just LOVE his middle name? Reminds me - ah say, reminds me of a big, loud-mouthed, cartoon-colored rooster.)
Did you know that Mark Twain said, "Heaven for climate, hell for society"? I can't help wondering which place he went to. I guess I'll find out when I get there.
At one time, Virginia City, Nevada, was truly the richest place on Earth. When the silver (and gold) played out, the people left and the place became desolate. It was on the verge of drying up and blowing away in one of its famous "Washoe Zephyrs". But then in 1959, the TV show 'Bonanza' was born, and its constant references to and (fake) scenes in Virginia City turned the real Virginia City into a famous tourist destination. Today, the TV show that caused Virginia City to be "born again" is honored by bars called "Bonanza" and "The Ponderosa". And there are souvenir shops that sell all kinds of 'Bonanza' items like magnets, T-shirts, posters, and Bonanza-sized brassieres. (OK! OK! I might have just invented that last souvenir "item", but I'll bet it would sell BIGLY in Virginia City!)
~ D-FensDogG
VOTE = BUDDY MORROW
ReplyDeleteI like both of these. Buddy edged out Sam because of the trumpets... I think... Or maybe because his version sounded more like a striptease accompaniment than Sam's? I like saxophone, but Sam's (understandably) was a bit too sax-forward, at least compared to Buddy's. Either way, both of these versions have been added to my playlists. ~Ed.
HERMANO EDUARDO ~
DeleteI'm pert-dern pleased to learn that you were diggin' what I dug up.
~~>>... Or maybe because his version sounded more like a striptease accompaniment
Hey, c'mon now, man! This is a family-friendly blog! If I let you get away with using words like "striptease" you'll start pushing the boundaries even further, and the next thing I know you'll be writing about Bonanza-sized brassieres and dropping Bible verses about womens' breasts'n stuff.
Wackypedia sez: "You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?"
OK, seriously now... thanks, Ed!
~ D-FensDogG
You mean like, ""Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins, which feed among the lilies."?
DeleteGOL! That's *exactly* what I meant!
DeleteI once complimented this hot chick in a dance club by saying, "Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon which looks toward Damascus". Oddly enough, she refused to give me her phone number.
FUN FACT: I read The Word from Genesis 1 through Rev. 22 every year (about 30 times now), but every year I cringe when I get to S.O.S.
You may not approve of this but... in my Bibles, at S.O.S. 7:6-8 I have this notation in the margin: See 'The Joker' by Steve Miller.
Hey, mang, I gotta be me.
~ D-FensDogG
Hahaha! Did you ever hear Mark Lowry's song about Solomon's wives?
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOLo21sqehY
OK, that was hilarious! GOL! I just added it to my 'E-Ticket Christian Stuffs' playlist at YT.
DeleteBelieve it or not, when I first began posting things online back in 2004, it was with the principal intent of showing people that one can believe in Jesus Christ and yet still maintain a genuine sense of humor. I was deliberately portraying an Anti-Ned Flanders.
I also enjoyed Lowry's references to other music videos. Like, Dylan's 'Subterranean Homesick Blues', and... Tom Petty's 'The Waiting'? The Igor-like mad scientist... what's that a take-off from? I was thinking it was 'She Blinded Me With Science' but that's not it. Mang, that one's right on the tip o' me mind (...what's left of it).
~ D-FensDogG
Be sure to check out more of his stuff.
DeleteAye aye.
Delete~ Olde Sea DogG
Sam Butera has a delightfully raunchy sound, so I'm going with him.
ReplyDelete~~>>... "delightfully raunchy"...
DeleteJOHN, have you been hanging out with Ed again? Didn't your mother and the Sisters of Perpetual Punishment warn you about that?!
Tsk!-Tsk!
I shudder to think what is to become of this formerly family-friendly blog.
~ D-FensDogG
I have to admit, the punchline of this story made it all worth it, and I laughed out loud at the idea of dear Mrs. Marks working on those mint juleps up until the day the Lord came for her.
ReplyDeleteIf they make mint juleps in a can, I will definitely drink one. If I have to make it myself... I won't.
Meanwhile, I'm enjoying this ultimate mint julep BOTB, and while Buddy Morrow ain't half bad, Sam Butera and the Witnesses (two witnesses, I hope?) has this soulful sound that gets my toe tapping. Give my bote to Sam, and while yer at it, I'll also take a drink that doesn't take 6 years to make.
~Chief Julio (he who drinks impatiently)
Chief Joe "Big Shooter" Harpberry ~
DeleteI'm glad you liked the denouement of my short story. It was one of the longest of all short stories, and even I'm not 100% sure how or when it ended.
~~>>... "Sam Butera and the Witnesses (two witnesses, I hope?)"
Well, as The Good Book says, at least two or three witnesses. If only we could get folks to understand the "two witnesses" and the "it is written" laws it would help alleviate a lot of this "hopium" that people are so regrettably stoned on.
And speaking of hops & Stone, I've got some some surprising news for you, which I will likely be texting your way sometime tomorrow. Until then, do what I would do: Keep your friends close and your bottle opener closer.
~ D-FensDogG
And Stephen...
ReplyDeleteWhat if I don't care for Mint Juleps atall atall? Good battle nonetheless. Can I get a witness? I'm going with Sam Butera and the Witness. It was close though.
JW,
Poooh
...AND, POOH, THAT'S NOT ALL!...
DeleteDon't care for Mint Juleps atall atall?!
Hmmm.... Well, this is highly irregular, but... I suppose Margaret Marks can make you a Mojito instead... when you get to her Seven Heavens Lounge in the sky.
I wasn't sure if you would like either one of these recordings. I mean, they ain't exactly Thin Lizzy. But methanx ya for stopping by for one of our world famous No Gin Fizz cocktails! As our slogan sez: "We skip the hooch so you won't have to skip work tomorrow".
~ D-FensDogG
Al Bondigas here. This battle sure is a tough one and I could go either way. Ummm, I don’t mean I could go either way, but either one could be on top on any given day. No, no, no, I mean, uhhh….rulin’ fer Morrow as it had more feeling. Ohh screw it.
ReplyDeleteJUDGE AL ~
DeleteGOL! You been talkin' to Sailor Jerry again? How many times have you been warned to stay away from the ports and shipyards?!
[Link> "Uhm, well, there's just me and him, so we're just here together and, uh-- I mean, like, we're not *TOGETHER* - hu!-hu! - you know, like *THAT* way! Like, I mean, we're like, we're gonna meet some girls inside, man, you know? Like, pick 'em up, you know? - hu!..."
Arr! Thanks for the rulin', matey.
~ D-FensDogG
What did the pirate say on his 80th birthday?
DeleteAnswer: Ayy matey.
What do gay horses eat?
DeleteUh-- er... never mind.
~ D'DogG
Haaaaaay!!
DeleteBefore actually listening to each contestant in this battle, I thought for sure Sam Butera would be the winner by 16 lengths (in Kentucky Derby lingo). But, after listening to each one a few times, it turned out to be more of a photo finish! Both of these version tickled my earbuds, but in the end the decision goes to Sam Butera and the Witnesses. I was not really familiar with this song before, which sort of surprises me because it is right in my wheelhouse of preferred music. So thanks for “giving it to me”! I will also be listening to more Buddy Morrow in the future. I too was fortunate enough to see the lovely Keely Smith and Sam Butera perform in Vegas. I think it was in 1993 at The Desert Inn. It blew my mind that it was a “free” show in one of the lounges. They were so good!! Thanks for inviting me to this great battle!!
ReplyDelete"POOP!-POOP!"
DeleteIt's truly an honor (and apropos, too) having your vote here, Countess! I figured you were going to have a more difficult time with this Battle than you anticipated; I knew you were going to dig the Swingin' sound of Buddy Morrow.
So wonderful that you also got to see Keely & Sam in Vegas. Sadly, Keely, Sam, The Desert Inn & The Sands are all gone now. And Las Vegas has replaced all the classically cool casinos with gigantic corporate monstrosities that more closely resemble the Tower of Babel. But, hey, we'll always have The Algiers and The Crest House Lounge. Uh... Oops! They're gone, too.
I was at The Mint one time with my Pa (circa late '80s?) and saw Billy Preston performing for free on a small stage in the middle of the casino. I couldn't believe it. My Pa wasn't really familiar with Preston, so he didn't understand how far that cat had fallen in his career.
I began this 'Battle Of The Bands' Battle Of The Booze' series back on January 1st, 2024 ("Margarita Day") with Xavier Cugat & Buddy Morrow performing their versions of the song 'Tequila'. I voted for Buddy, but Xavier won 8-5. In case you're interested in hearing Buddy's version of that classic tune, you'll find it at [Link> BOTB's BATTLE OF THE BOOZE: JAN. 1, 2024 (Or, XAVIER CUGAT VS. BUDDY MORROW).
Muchos gracias for your participation, Countess!
"POOP!-POOP!" & TTFN...
~ Olde Bilge DogG
Dang. Losing side again!
ReplyDeleteHere's the good news (er-- well... correction: The Gospel is the good news).
DeleteHere's the goot news: any time a person's BOTB vote aligns with mine, they AIN'T on the "losing side"... musically. They may be on the losing side grammatically, but we AIN'T caring about that stuffs.
So, congratulations, Hermano! You were on the underrepresented winning side.
~ D-FensDogG
Yay! I mucho appreciato that perspectivo.
DeleteI can sling bullshit with the worst of 'em!
DeleteI majored in it at Wossamotta U.
~ D-FensDogG
That's a good outcome. And I could have voted either way.
ReplyDeleteLee
BOIDMAN ~
ReplyDeleteUnquestionably both recordings were good. Poor Buddy Morrow... that guy just can't seem to win in BOTB. Xavier Cugat beat him on Jan. 1, 2024, and now Sam & his Witnesses took him out.
I'd try to find a way to put Buddy up against Tiny Tim but... that probably wouldn't work out for him, either, seeing as Tiny has won more BOTB contests than he's lost.
~ D-FensDogG