Peanut Pie In The Sky

As this Thanksgiving pie-time wanes, so must Part 1 of the Jimmy Carter novelty song project come to a close. And "Peanut Pie In The Sky" is the perfect song, crass and depressing, to go out on.

It's 1980. Carter is losing. Such awkward phrasing, this "trying hard to stay inside" hook. No funky ad hoc novelty band name here. (Just a list of four theater majors with a jug of chardonnay and a contract from a morning zoo crew to make a Carter-is-losing song?) The label tells us that this is from an album called "The Last Of The First Family." Scared/Interested.

The drum machine signals an entry into the cold inverse-Kremlin Reagan era.

President names hold weight.

I hope to run a Part II of the Jimmy Carter song feature in the future - there are more out there! Until then, I will get back to the original blog plan of small groceries and lost songs of all types.

Enjoy Kurt Kilpatrick, Marilyn Eastman, Teri Rini, Karl Hardman:







Update: just found out that Karl Hardman produced the original Night of the Living Dead film in 1968, and starred in the film along with Marilyn Eastman as the bickering older couple whose daughter was catatonic after being bitten by a zombie!

From Peanuts to President

You thought I was done...Nope. Two more stunners before I am through with the Jimmy Carter novelty record project.

Today's entry is the kind of real-deal recording that will bring tears to the eyes of perfectionists and Plains residents alike.

This is an ultra-obscure (autographed!) record by Max Culler, written by Gail Davis. I'm not sure where this is from (BMI gives the current address for Rusty York publishing in Greensburg, Indiana), but it will sure make you feel good about "the great state of Georgia".

The only Gail Davis I can find with any creative credentials is the one who portrayed Annie Oakley on TV in the 1950s. Wikipedia says she lived until 1997. Might she have been struck with populist Carter pride in 1976, and written this song? The flip side, "The Hurt Is Slowly Going Away" is also sung by Max Culler and written by Gail Davis.

OUR COUNTRY'S PRESIDENTIAL RACE...YOU GUESSED IT, JIMMY WON: