The Yodelling Blonde Bombshell....
The boy is quite influenced by Slim Whitman, Elton Britt and even Hank Sr. (among others) who all rank among the great early/mid 20th century country yodelers. He floored me immediately with his ability to crack and yodel...though in our band, we don't really do all that much that calls for full yodel runs. But still...that crackability certainly figures in a lot of the Hawaiian/hapa haole stuff we perform....and for fun, we often mess around with 40s/50s country stuff...Marty Robbins tunes, whatever. Any of that is seriously lacking without some crack, if you ask me! And it's kind of been the boy's trademark for a long time, even before I happened along. It certainly figures here and there in Western swing, which was in his past.
After we got together, musically and otherwise, I became completely intrigued by this strange mechanism. It's even hard to describe to someone in words and clear concepts how to do it. I mean, really, imagine explaining to someone how to whistle. That's something we all know how to do, but to describe it...something which takes just a small combination of face muscles and exhaling...it's tough. Until it just happens. Remember? As a kid? Trying to whistle? Then that one day after huffing and puffing with a frustrated fishface, seemingly forever....it's...all of a sudden.... "Eureka!!" It's similar with yodeling. You try and try and try, frustrated as hell, even reading, watching or listening to someone explain how, over and over. But it just doesn't make sense until it magically happens. I practiced for months in my car...then one day....magic!
I'm not good enough to do real runs, but can easily toss some nice, solid cracks into most songs now...."Am I Blue?," "Stormy Weather," "The Wayward Wind," "Carolina Moon," "What'll I Do?"...those are a few we actually do where I sing, and where a little crack here and there makes a nice interpretation, I think!
One of my biggest (and completely unattainable!!) inspirations when I was trying to learn how to even get a clean break at all was Miss Carolina Cotton ("The Yodelling Blonde Bombshell"). Wasn't she just something else???
She was so dang cute, you almost want to punch her in the face!
This (below) is my favorite tune of hers. If anyone knows the location of the deserted crossroad where I could go meet the Devil at midnight to swap my soul for this ability, please let me know. Only my steering wheel knows how horrible I may or may not sound trying to rock out the "Mockingbird Yodel" while barrelling down I-295 at 80 mph, in scrubs, between sips of coffee!
Another lovely female yodeler is Rosalie Allen. Here's her version of "Chime Bells"...given a then contemporary, sending-her-sailor-off-to-the-War angle. Though I prefer the regular, more Alpine lyrics, this is still pretty awesome!
Elton Britt does what many think is the definitive...talk about vocal pyrotechnics!!
And though I've never been into Jewel, you have to give her credit for the fact that she covers "Chime Bells"...a capella no less! That's pretty cool.
Last but not least, let's not forget the absolutely darlingly mind-blowing DeZurik Sisters, also known as "the Cackle Sisters" when they regularly sang on Purina's Checkerboard Time radio show. Too amazing! I'm a big sucker for harmonizing sister singers from that era (hi? Boswells?), let alone yodeling girls....and this pair is just marvelous. I used to know this website that has a ton of Cackle Sisters clips up from that radio show...forget where now...but here they are anyway!
I'll never get all that good, but just being able to crack up a standard a tiny bit or spice up an old country tune once in a while is good enough for me.
Edit: oooo, wait! Found it! Loads of Cackle Sisters snippets! Hot diggity!
2nd edit: I mean, come on!! I get the dipshittiest, goofy grin when I listen to those two. "Shanghai Rooster" is just too much, also!
And with that....ba-GOKK! Good night!
After we got together, musically and otherwise, I became completely intrigued by this strange mechanism. It's even hard to describe to someone in words and clear concepts how to do it. I mean, really, imagine explaining to someone how to whistle. That's something we all know how to do, but to describe it...something which takes just a small combination of face muscles and exhaling...it's tough. Until it just happens. Remember? As a kid? Trying to whistle? Then that one day after huffing and puffing with a frustrated fishface, seemingly forever....it's...all of a sudden.... "Eureka!!" It's similar with yodeling. You try and try and try, frustrated as hell, even reading, watching or listening to someone explain how, over and over. But it just doesn't make sense until it magically happens. I practiced for months in my car...then one day....magic!
I'm not good enough to do real runs, but can easily toss some nice, solid cracks into most songs now...."Am I Blue?," "Stormy Weather," "The Wayward Wind," "Carolina Moon," "What'll I Do?"...those are a few we actually do where I sing, and where a little crack here and there makes a nice interpretation, I think!
One of my biggest (and completely unattainable!!) inspirations when I was trying to learn how to even get a clean break at all was Miss Carolina Cotton ("The Yodelling Blonde Bombshell"). Wasn't she just something else???
She was so dang cute, you almost want to punch her in the face!
This (below) is my favorite tune of hers. If anyone knows the location of the deserted crossroad where I could go meet the Devil at midnight to swap my soul for this ability, please let me know. Only my steering wheel knows how horrible I may or may not sound trying to rock out the "Mockingbird Yodel" while barrelling down I-295 at 80 mph, in scrubs, between sips of coffee!
Another lovely female yodeler is Rosalie Allen. Here's her version of "Chime Bells"...given a then contemporary, sending-her-sailor-off-to-the-War angle. Though I prefer the regular, more Alpine lyrics, this is still pretty awesome!
Elton Britt does what many think is the definitive...talk about vocal pyrotechnics!!
And though I've never been into Jewel, you have to give her credit for the fact that she covers "Chime Bells"...a capella no less! That's pretty cool.
Last but not least, let's not forget the absolutely darlingly mind-blowing DeZurik Sisters, also known as "the Cackle Sisters" when they regularly sang on Purina's Checkerboard Time radio show. Too amazing! I'm a big sucker for harmonizing sister singers from that era (hi? Boswells?), let alone yodeling girls....and this pair is just marvelous. I used to know this website that has a ton of Cackle Sisters clips up from that radio show...forget where now...but here they are anyway!
I'll never get all that good, but just being able to crack up a standard a tiny bit or spice up an old country tune once in a while is good enough for me.
Edit: oooo, wait! Found it! Loads of Cackle Sisters snippets! Hot diggity!
2nd edit: I mean, come on!! I get the dipshittiest, goofy grin when I listen to those two. "Shanghai Rooster" is just too much, also!
And with that....ba-GOKK! Good night!
I am so glad I found this blog! Thanks for the link to the Cackle Sister music on WFMU. So much good stuff!
ReplyDeleteAw, glad someone's reading! Yours has quite a few interesting tidbits as well....
ReplyDeleteThis blog is sick but I love it. I am coming back for more.
ReplyDeleteDavid, NYC,
PS.I watch Lawrence Welk
Thanks, David! Though I'm a bit befuddled about the "sick" part...you mean that literally, or like the kids mean it these days?
ReplyDeleteEither way is flattering to me, anyhow.
Was taking a gander at yours as well.
You have me thinking more about reasons for the death of meaningful conversation (I was writing about it recently here, too). I blame the internet but also possibly the loss of curiosity and open-mindedness that happens as people age.
But now I think you are also onto something with cigarettes and cell phones....hmmm....
renee
In case this might interest you, there was a radio documentary last night (10pm tues 3rd august) on BBC Radio 2, "Yodel-ay-ee-ooo" you can listen to it on the iplayer by going to www.bbc.co.uk/radio2
ReplyDeleteEnjoy!
Miss P xx