Homer & Jethro - America's Song Butchers: The Weird World of Homer & Jethro

Now this is a vital reissue project. From the '40s to the '60s, guitarist Henry "Homer" Haynes and mandolinist Kenneth "Jethro" Burns often put their virtuosity and swing (not to mention those of Chet Atkins, Jerry Reed, and the great Nashville drummer Buddy Harman) into service as deconstructive tools applied to the hits of the day. You might say the duo's parodies struck blows against the straight-faced tyranny of both mainstream pop and "hillbilly" music; you'll also note that Homer and Jethro seem to be having too much fun to care about such high-flown notions. Still, listen to "Hart-Brake Motel" and hear how Elvis's RCA labelmates do more than, say, John Cale, to dissolve any saccharine looming in the original. "Turpentine" becomes an all-purpose rhyme (in separate songs, a girlfriend and a dog fall into barrels of it); eating crackers in bed is declared "a crummy habit"; and, in a move presaging Andy Kaufman's postmodern self-mockery, Haynes and Burns recommend that copies of their own "Billboard Song" be destroyed. The team even managed a final affront to good taste years after Haynes's death, when their anarchic treatment of "Misty" (included here) provided the template for Ray Stevens's follow-up to "The Streak." Oh, and "you know what a basketball nose is," don't you? "It dribbles all over the place." --Rickey Wright Amazon.com

Laugh til you cry! And, Hey, wait a minute!

Homer and Jethro are simply hilarious. Their stuff is great fun, and for those not familiar with their stuff, Kenneth "Jethro" Burns is a spectacular mandolin player. Look for their live album "At The Country Club" on vinyl to get a feel for just how great they were at working a crowd. January 6, 2009

Weird wacky and catchy

See my review of the other Homer & Jethro songs, the mandolin playing is tops, something you don't hear much any more !
September 23, 2008

I've got tears in my ears...

This one's great, but I'm still looking for "I've got tears in my ears (from lyin on my back in my bed while I cry over you)"

September 11, 2007

we want more of classic homer & jethro

great cd for studio cuts but where is the truly classic live at the country club? why RCA has not released this one is a mystery.
please before we all get to old to care put live at the country club
on CD for the rest of us.my old LP is about used up. these to guys were
also fantastic musicians that usually get overlooked. February 25, 2007

It's a dog, but I like dogs.

I let a guy at work burrow this CD but his wife made him give it back early. Got it just for "Camp Kukamonga" but I liked some of the other bits on here even better; certain things stick in your head, like the girl with a wart on her chin, "she said it was a dimple, but a dimple turns in."



Also lots of sage advice, such as "Don't let the stars git in your eyes if you've got water on the brain"



My eyes are granulated from laughing. November 11, 2006

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