Work and Prison Songs

I like Richard best on his fifties recordings. I collected most of them on vinyl.

Little Richard was great. He was there when it happened:

Men my age recall when there was no rock and roll and the only electronic gadgets to speak of were plug in radios. The first two rock songs I heard I thought of as novelty tunes, because nobody bothered to mention what they were. By the time my oldest brother came home from high school and asked, "Can I listen to Lucky Lager Dance Time?" the songs of Fats Domino, Elvis, Little Richard, Carl Perkins, Frankie Lymon and the Platters, to mention a few, were in full swing. Almost instantly, my family switched listening habits for these great sounds.

Workin on the levee:

Lost John, long gone
from that mean old chain gang.

Sonny's harp conjures up the ordeal of poor John tryin to run, swim, wade, slosh, and slog through the swamp with the hounds on his trail.

Ya done posted that tune, eh, Ed? I was thinkin about postin it my own damn self, but ya beat me to it.

Might as well throw in this here tune about a criminal, even though he never actually done no prison time, eh?

Might as well.

The Coasters, they ROCK, eh!?

I love the Coasters.