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GEERHART'S PERIODIC TABLE OF ATOMIC MUSIC  RANDOM PLATTER: Fallout Shelter Pop culture historians and music scholars have long noted that the so-called teenage 'death' songs of the late 1950s and early 1960s (1959's Teen Angel, 1960's Tell Laura I Love Her 1962's Patches, etc.) were, in effect, allegorical Bomb songs... |
EMAIL THIS PAGE PRINT THIS PAGE CATEGORY: SONGS: COLD WAR
Red's Dream: Louisiana Red [1962]
A topical talking blues punctuated by harmonica that was inspired by the Cuban Missile Crisis. In it, the song's narrator dreams of fixing the situation in Cuba by giving Castro's beard "a Georgia shave" and bashing Khrushchev's head in with a bat. For good measure 'Red' goes one step beyond solving the Missile Crisis and recommends installing some "soul brothers" into the Senate. He then proceeds to suggest Ray Charles, Lightnin' Hopkins, Jimmy Reed, Bo Diddley and Big Maybelle. Now that's a caucus we can get behind!
Louisiana Red was born Iverson Minter in Vicksburg, Mississippi in 1936 and led a tragic early life: his mother died when he was one year old and his father was lynched by the Ku Klux Klan. After spending a few years in a series of orphanages, Red was raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania by his aunt. At age 11 the future blues performer got his first guitar. At the age of 16 Red joined the army and served in Korea. Upon his return to the States, Red traveled throughout the South and recorded under several different names (Playboy Fuller, Guitar Red) for various labels including Chess. In 1962 it was producer/songwriter Henry Glover who guided Red to record the song featured on this set. Red's Dream also appeared on the artist's LP 'The Back Porch Blues,' released on Roulette. In 1963 Red released the follow-up LP entitled 'The Lowdown Backporch Blues.' In 1976 Red moved to Germany where he continues to actively tour.
LYRICS/TRANSCRIPTION:
Red's Dream: Louisiana Red [1962]
It was a dream, dream I had last night
I dreamed I went to the UN
And set the whole nation right
I dreamed of callin' old Castro
To the morning flo'
Looked him right in the eye and said, "Boy,
You got to go!
I'm tired of your foolishness
And if you don't behave,
I'm goin' grab you by your beard,
Give you a Georgia shave!"
It was a dream, a dream I had last night
I dreamed I went to the UN
And set the whole nation right
Then I told old Khrushchev
Sittin' there looking bad,
"Get that junk outta Cuba
‘Fore you make me mad.
Dig up them missile bases
Take them planes and all
Or I'll grab me a bat
With your head for the ball!"
It was a dream, dream I had last night
I dreamed I went to the UN
And set the whole nation right
Then into Washington they call me
An' I went
Hadda be the guest
Of the President
He said, "Red, I'm glad to see you,
So glad you come down here
To help me run the Russians
From the western hemisphere!"
I said, "You can run the country
I'm goin' to run the Senate
Oughtta make a few changes
With a few soul brothers in it.
Ray Charles and Lightnin' Hopkins
And a guy like Jimmy Reed
Bo Diddley and Big Mabel
Be all I need!"
It was a dream, a dream I had last night
I dreamed I went to the UN
And set the whole nation right
Red's Dream: Louisiana Red [1962]
It was a dream, dream I had last night
I dreamed I went to the UN
And set the whole nation right
I dreamed of callin' old Castro
To the morning flo'
Looked him right in the eye and said, "Boy,
You got to go!
I'm tired of your foolishness
And if you don't behave,
I'm goin' grab you by your beard,
Give you a Georgia shave!"
It was a dream, a dream I had last night
I dreamed I went to the UN
And set the whole nation right
Then I told old Khrushchev
Sittin' there looking bad,
"Get that junk outta Cuba
‘Fore you make me mad.
Dig up them missile bases
Take them planes and all
Or I'll grab me a bat
With your head for the ball!"
It was a dream, dream I had last night
I dreamed I went to the UN
And set the whole nation right
Then into Washington they call me
An' I went
Hadda be the guest
Of the President
He said, "Red, I'm glad to see you,
So glad you come down here
To help me run the Russians
From the western hemisphere!"
I said, "You can run the country
I'm goin' to run the Senate
Oughtta make a few changes
With a few soul brothers in it.
Ray Charles and Lightnin' Hopkins
And a guy like Jimmy Reed
Bo Diddley and Big Mabel
Be all I need!"
It was a dream, a dream I had last night
I dreamed I went to the UN
And set the whole nation right
Louisiana Red [1962]
Red's Dream
(Glover-Levy-Reig; arranged and conducted by Henry Glover)
Roulette 4469
Red's Dream
(Glover-Levy-Reig; arranged and conducted by Henry Glover)
Roulette 4469
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TECHNORATI TAGS:COLD WAR CULTURE
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RELATED TITLES:
Ballad Of Francis Powers (There's a Star Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere)Civil Defense March (Heads Up America)
Down in Havana
Guided Missiles
High School Drag
I Dreamt I Saw Khrushchev (In A Pink Cadillac)
Iron Curtain Has Parted, The
No, No Joe
Rockin' Behind The Iron Curtain
Russian Love Song, A
They Locked God Outside The Iron Curtain
This Cold War With You
Trial Of Francis Powers
West Of The Wall
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