Despite the fact that a Bob Hope Centenary question should be in order, I've come up with exactly bupkis in that department, so we're moving on. Therefore, what with the pre-quiz comments (see the chatter attached to yesterday's headlines) heading for Dollywood and other parts where the Wombat rarely treads, it seems appropriate to pose the following as today's exercise in pointless factoidalization.
The great country artist George Jones (who incidentally, while in the Marines, performed as "Little Georgie Jones, the Forrester Hill Flash" and was nicknamed at one point early in his career "The Possum") had his first country #1 record in 1959 with a hit written by a man generally famous for completely different reasons.
Who wrote George Jones' first #1 country single?
First correct answer posted to comments wins a pair of thigh-high tarantula-skin boots with rhinestones on the instep which spell out "Lenny" on the left boot and "Squiggy" on the right. Worn once, with a small Southern Comfort stain on one toe. No Googling or emailing that know-it-all Tanya Tucker. One guess per comment, but post as often as you like.
Posted by BT at May 30, 2003 09:59 AMRobert Rauchenberg!
PS. Per Scott's delightful Parton Appreciation, can we refer to Wm. Nelson forevermore as the Plaited Rizzler?
PS x2. Happy 35, Mr. Positivland.
Posted by: bootsy on May 30, 2003 10:28 AMAbout half of the Willie stories are about his love for Bob Hope, and the other half are about how generous he is, how much he takes care of his friends.
My guess, though he isn't so very famous, is for the singing governor, whose name may have been Jimmie Davis. But his "You Are My Sunshine" is pretty well known. But it's the best I can do right now. Mostly, I'm just sitting back and waiting for Hackly to slam this mutha out of the park.
OK, Mr. Mutha-slamma, show us your stuff!
Posted by: Scott on May 30, 2003 10:36 AMI like the Rauschenberg guess.
I would guss Gene Simmons, but we'd have heard about that before now.
Chuck Barris.
Posted by: bup kiss on May 30, 2003 10:38 AMArthur Miller!
SriSri M. Slamma's in Breuklyn---do they have the internet there?
Posted by: bootsy on May 30, 2003 10:52 AMGeorge Barris I likey.
I'll guess Kris Kristofferson if that's not too obvious.
Posted by: teenidol on May 30, 2003 10:53 AMNo slams of the mutha yet. Some good guesses, but it's no titan of the country charts, James. Nor any psychotic game show hosts.
Posted by: BT on May 30, 2003 11:04 AMBob Hope.
Posted by: bup on May 30, 2003 11:22 AMWell, if it's not Bob Hope then it's just gotta be Johhny Walker, no?
Posted by: bootsy on May 30, 2003 11:31 AMCOMPLETELY different reasons. . .
1959.
Probably a pirate, but I can't really say which one.
Posted by: Scott on May 30, 2003 11:31 AMJames Dickey
Posted by: teenidol on May 30, 2003 11:47 AMHere's one -- Strom Thurmond.
Hell, he's old enough to have written songs for Bach. And in retrospect, I really wish that I'd guessed him for last week's quiz.
Which brings us to this truly remarkable obituary from the end of 2001.
Posted by: Scott on May 30, 2003 11:50 AMHint: the writer is well-known for another popular song.
Posted by: BT on May 30, 2003 12:14 PMWhillikins! Is it Dolly-o, daddy-o?
Posted by: bootsy on May 30, 2003 12:20 PMBuddha on a flaky biscuit -- another popular song? That's not COMPLETELY different. You're a deceiving wombat today!
But I'll assume that maybe it isn't a country song. . .
Posted by: Scott on May 30, 2003 12:25 PMIn point of fact, not.
By the way, when I said "completely different reasons" I simply meant that the person's fame didn't depend on penning a hit for Jones, or for anyone else in the country-music realm. In point of fact, this individual's fame rests largely on two points -- one a song, the other on an event.
The individual in question is, by the way, deceased. Thus, it is not the quite lively Ms. Parton.
Posted by: BT on May 30, 2003 12:25 PMSorry about the "completely" then. But if you didn't know I was among the most duplicitous and oily of marsupials, then you have known me not.
Posted by: BT on May 30, 2003 12:26 PMA song, an event, and dead. Hmmm. JFK gives us Bay of Pigs and postage stamp eligibility, but no songs, so he's off the list.
Wracking my brains, I am. In case anyone wonders what that rattly clunking sound is, and realizes that it is too late in the year for it to be the radiator.
A tantilizing quiz, there, Mr. Wombat, even if you did lead us far from the rails in your initial phrasing.
Posted by: Scott on May 30, 2003 12:29 PMAnd -- final clarification -- the famous song I mentioned was in fact a big rock'n'roll hit, although it might by some to be considered acceptable within the country canon.
Posted by: BT on May 30, 2003 12:30 PMWasn't "completely different" an oblique but clever nod to the Hope-Walker Pharmacalogian Tinge?
The thought of Strom Thurmon as a baby sends me bedward. Oh, my mattress for a mutha-slamma.
Wrote, but did not, apparently, perform, a big rock and roll hit. Perhaps acceptable to country. Which leads us to Elvis Presley. . .
Hound Dog -- Leiber-Stoller. Too many guys.
Blue Suede Shoes -- Carl Perkins. Performer, maybe still alive, no event.
(Oh Let Me Be Your ) Teddy Bear -- I don't know.
I am so freaking vexed. Fortunately, I'm playing from work, so it's paid vexation.
Who says the individual didn't perform the hit in question?
Posted by: BT on May 30, 2003 12:52 PMRichie Valens?
Posted by: Soren deSelby on May 30, 2003 12:55 PMOr the Big Bopper?
Posted by: Soren deSelby on May 30, 2003 12:55 PMBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-BY!
Ah, Mr. de Selby sniffs out the truth.
Indeed it was Jiles Perry Richardson, AKA El Bopper Grande, who penned "White Lightning", before going on to record "The Purple People Eater Meets the Witch Doctor," which inexplicably wasn't as popular as the b-side to that single, "Chantilly Lace."
Well done, sir.
And sorry I am for any vexation caused by that poor phrasing in the initial clue. But didn't we all learn something along the way? Something about forgiveness and caring?
**ducks**
Triumph at last!
Posted by: Soren deSelby on May 30, 2003 01:19 PM(runs in) huff puff puff huff puff, wait a second, gimme a minute, did I miss anything?
Y'all should check "white lightning" if you haven't heard it; ultra-silly, and the BBopper thing makes total sense afterwords.
Posted by: hackly_fracture on May 30, 2003 06:38 PM