Wednesday, April 21, 2010

The Sande & Greene Fun-Time Band

Artist: The Sande & Greene Fun-Time Band
LP: The Ol' Calliope Man at the Fair
Song: "The Surrey With the Fringe on Top" 
[ listen ]

Here's a delightful little something to bring you the cheery pleasures of the county fair—even though it's the wrong time of year and even though it might be gloomy and raining today in your city too and even though you might be stuck in a European airport because of Icelandic ashes in the sky. I've always thought that a "surrey with the fringe on top" was some sort of sugary, foo-foo lemon dessert, but now I realize it's actually one of these. Here's a picture of a calliope, here's one option if I decide I never want to hear this record again, and below you'll find the liner notes from this 1961 Sande & Greene Fun-Time Band LP, which have me wondering: do homemade pies and jams give off a different kind of smell when they're competing for a prize?

1 comment:

  1. Calliopes were a staple of small town Main Street parades. Such a distinctive sound. When I become old and have a poorly produced childrens television show on local cable access, complete with bad puppetry and corny adult double-entendres, I am going to use this as my theme song.

    This is my prototype with Charles Nelson Reilly:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsfQIst5S9s

    In other news, I recently heard a version of this on Pandora that was unique, but I can't remember what was unique about it. Maybe on an organ? Or with a soul choir? Frustrated I can't remember.

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