ADD: Luci Baines & Mitchell Trio topical songs

Subject: Lyr Req: Luci Baines (Chad Mitchell Trio)
From: GUEST
Date: 04 Apr 14 - 02:22 AM

Do anybody remember the song Luci Baines by Chad Mitchell Trio? From album "Violets of Dawn" I believe. It begins with Joe Frazier speaking of each state's flowers, and includes a verse of parody of "Twelve Days". Thanks very much!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Luci Baines (Chad Mitchell Trio)
From: GUEST,Gerry
Date: 04 Apr 14 - 07:50 AM

It's Lucy Baines, it's on That's The Way It's Gonna Be, Side 1, Track 2. Written by H Liebling and M Hamlsich, from Julius Monk's production, Bits and Pieces, according to the liner notes.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Luci Baines (Chad Mitchell Trio)
From: JJ
Date: 05 Apr 14 - 08:36 AM

If the composer isn't Marvin Hamlisch, I will be very surprised. But I don't know the lyricist...

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Luci Baines (Chad Mitchell Trio)
From: GUEST,Gerry
Date: 06 Apr 14 - 07:07 AM

Howard Liebling. He wrote a few songs with Hamlisch, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Hamlisch. Liebling and Hamlisch were brothers-in-law. See also http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0509485/

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Luci Baines (Chad Mitchell Trio)
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 06 Apr 14 - 11:27 AM

Yes, I remember the song. And young as I was, I felt there was something cheap and cowardly in a popular, well-paid 40-year-old guy(s) ridiculing a young woman with no real power.

"Stick in a woman and make it all her fault." It's a tired, tired literary convention -
   
Eve,
Pandora,
Guinevere,
Snow White's stepmother,
Nurse Ratched,
Cruella de Ville,
and now Luci Baines Johnson.

Subject: ADD: Luci Baines (Chad Mitchell Trio)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 07 Apr 14 - 03:14 AM

I would agree with the post above that the song seems mean-spirited. Luci Baines was born in 1947, so she was only 16 when her father became President. She was 19 when she got married, and 21 when her father lost to Richard Nixon. Seems a little young to be a political target, or to be "the brains behind our foreign policy."

"Luci Baines" was written by Marvin Hamlisch (music) and Howard Liebling (lyrics). I suppose Liebling's "greatest hit" was "Sunshine, Lollipops, and Rainbows," written with Hamlisch. Hamlisch also wrote "Nobody Does It Better," "The Way We Were," and "What I Did for Love."
"Luci Baines" was on The Mitchell Trio's That's the Way It's Gonna Be, which was released on the Mercury label in August 1965.

Performers were Mike Kobluk, Joe Frazier, John Denver - Chad Mitchell had left the Trio by that time.

LUCI BAINES
(Howard Liebling (words), Marvin Hamlisch (music)
[as recorded by The Mitchell Trio on That's the Way It's Gonna Be (1965]

[Spoken}
Across this mighty land of ours, each state has its birds and flowers;
St. Louis has its Cardinals, and Baltimore its Orioles,
And Washington DC, too, has a specie (sic) of its very own:
A high-breasted front-runner who makes every [unknown] say:
"I wish I might fly away [unintelligible]

(sung)
Luci Baines, she is no Jackie, but then who complains,
She may be tacky, but she is the brains behind our foreign policy;
Who else but Luci could it be?
Lately she has grown addicted to the royal "we,"
She tolerates no impropriety when Bobby Baker comes to tea.

[spoken] It's been a pleasure to serve you, y'hear?

(sung)
Guess who all was there on my date with Luci Baines...
12 of Lynda's roommates,
11 Life reporters
10 Texas Rangers
9 Supreme Court judges
8 Stingray salesmen
7 Secret Service
6 Geese a-laying
Lyndon B. himself....
4 Beagles
3 Congressmen
2 Baptizing clergy
Luci Baines and me

Luci Baines, just like her pop
Her popularity gains.
She loves to sing out all those old refrains....

Oh, those TV towers of Texas, belong to Mom and me,
You'll find no Texas real estate in the name of Lyndon B....

The eyes of Bishop Pike are upon you...

My pop can make U Thant say no.

Pop said, "Tut-tut, we'll have to cut, deep in the heart of taxes...

Luci Baines, let other girls indulge - my girl abstains,
But you should see her on the backs of trains,
Why, she stands ten feet tall;
Oh, Lady Bird is sweet, and Lynda Bird's a tweet;
But Luci Baines, you're the biggest bird of them all.

Oh, what a bird.....

• The "baptizing clergy" - Luci was baptized Episcopalian, but became a Roman Catholic as a teenager. She received "conditional" baptism from the Catholics, just in case the Episcopalian baptism was invalid for some reason. The Episcopalians objected. Maybe Bishop Pike was one of those objecting, but I thought Bishop Pike had other issues on his mind.
• TV Stations and real estate: there was something about Lady Bird and the daughters owning TV stations and other assets, so LBJ could appear to be "clean."
• Burmese diplomat U Thant was Secretary General of the United Nations.
• Stingray Salesman: I think I recall seeing a photo of Luci driving a yellow Corvette Stingray convertible.
• Bobby Baker was a political advisor to LBJ, investigated for questionable financial dealings.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Luci Baines (Chad Mitchell Trio)
From: GUEST,Gerry
Date: 07 Apr 14 - 08:53 AM

"21 when her father lost to Richard Nixon." Whatever became of Hubert?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Luci Baines (Chad Mitchell Trio)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 08 Apr 14 - 03:30 AM

Hubert Humphrey was a U.S. Senator from Minnesota 1949-1964. He was Vice President under Lyndon Baines Johnson 1965-1969. He ran for President against Nixon and lost in 1968 - Humphrey's running mate was Senator Edmund Muskie from Maine.

Humphrey was reelected as a Senator from Minnesota, and served from January 1971 until he died in 1978. His wife, Muriel, succeeded him.

I think Hubert Humphrey was one of the most admirable people ever to serve in American politics.

-Joe-

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Luci Baines (Chad Mitchell Trio)
From: GUEST,Gerry
Date: 08 Apr 14 - 08:33 AM

Let me try again.

"Luci Baines was born in 1947, so she was only 16 when her father became President. She was 19 when she got married, and 21 when her father lost to Richard Nixon." Joe, was that before, or after, the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Luci Baines (Chad Mitchell Trio)
From: GUEST,gillymor
Date: 08 Apr 14 - 09:08 AM

That song seens mean-spirited, non-sensical and non-funny.

Subject: Lyr Add: Ecumenical March (Mitchell Trio)
From: GUEST
Date: 08 Apr 14 - 10:12 AM

That's the Way It's Gonna Be, from 1965. Apart from this song, that album contains a few other not-so-funny satires not yet on mudcat. There also was this weird anti-Semitic piece:

ECUMENICAL MARCH
(Robert Ascher, Patricia Eliran)

Sholom aleichem
Sholom aleichem
Sholom aleichem
Sholom, sholom, sholom aleichem

Sholom aleichem
Hevenu sholom aleichem
Hevenu sholom aleichem
Hevenu sholom, sholom, sholom aleichem

Hava nagila
Hava nagila
Hava nagila venis'mecha

Hava nagila
Hava nagila
Hava nagila venis'mecha

[Spoken]
The Vatican has made it official, us Jews didn't kill Jesus.
They shouldn't blame us, we're not responsible!
As for me, last night I had my first good night of sleep in two thousand years.

Ecumenically we're acceptable
Oh, what a joy to be clean

We're clean, we're clean
The Vatican says we're clean
We're good and sweet and gentle too
We did no harm to you know who
We're clean, we're clean
The Vatican says we're clean

Mazel Tov!

Hava nagila
Hava nagila
Hava nagila venis'mecha

We'll erase all the old persecution
It wasn't vicious, just capricious
We'll forget and not fret over what has been
Oh boy, what a joy to be clean

We're clean, we're clean
The Vatican says we're clean
We're good and sweet and gentle too
We did no harm to you know who
We're clean, we're clean
The Vatican says we're clean

Everybody dance!

Hava nagila
Hava nagila
Hava nagila venis'mecha

We'll forgive all the old inquisition
We won't lament it, they never meant it
We'll be raised and be praised with gentility
Oh gee can't you see we're absolved

Absolved, absolved
The Pope says we're absolved
So take a Christian by the hand
And let's all shout "It's grand, it's grand!"

[Spoken]
-Wait a minute... If we didn't do it, who did?
-The Puerto Ricans.

Absolved, absolved
The problem is all solved
Solved, solved, solved, solved
The Pope says we're absolved

Subject: ADD: What Kind of Life Is That? (Mitchell Trio)
From: GUEST
Date: 08 Apr 14 - 10:23 AM

WHAT KIND OF LIFE IS THAT?
(Norman Martin, Fred Ebb)

When I think of Elizabeth Taylor
And many's the times I do
I think what that poor kid puts up with
And it tears my heart in two

She's out every night in a swank cabaret
Gets breakfast in bed on a solid gold tray
I hear that she earns seven thousand a day
What kind of life is that?

She gets what she wants irregardless of price
Yeah, Did you see her ring, that was some chunk of ice?
Why, she has thirty minks that she's never worn twice
What kind of life is that?

What kind of life, what kind of life, what kind of life is that?
Facing snakes and other dangers
Making love to perfect strangers
I read in the news she buys booze by the vat
Now what kind of life is that?

Poor Liz, poor Liz
Does she know what it means to make a pot roast last a week
To wrap a towel around a pipe in case it springs a leak
Does she know what it means to get down on her hands and knees
To wash her kids' pajamas or her old man's BVDs?

These simple pleasures don't delight her
She's too busy with "la dolce vita"

Wherever she goes something thrilling occurs
She goes out to dine and the restaurant stirs
She's had twenty husbands, yeah, five of them hers!
What kind of life is that?

I'm sure Liz must think things look dandy so far
But will she, like poor Sybil, one day wear a scar
Will she wind up too with a rock and roll star
What kind of life is that?

What kind of life, what kind of life, what kind of life is that?
At MGM they silver-spooned her
I think "National Velvet" ruined her
I pay for a house what she pays for hat
What kind of life is that?

They packed up the crew at the Fox Studio
They headed for Egypt, but Nasser said "No"
They wouldn't let her in, she's Jewish, you know
What kind of life is that?

So for all of her glamour and her whoop-dee-doo
And her house in the best neighborhood
Would you take that lousy life if it was offered to you
You can bet Cleopatra's asp, you would!

Subject: RE: ADD: Luci Baines & Mitchell Trio topical songs
From: GUEST,Gerry
Date: 08 Apr 14 - 08:07 PM

Anonymous Guest, thanks for posting those lyrics. Ecumenical March is poking fun at the Vatican. I don't see anything anti-Semitic in it.

Subject: RE: ADD: Luci Baines & Mitchell Trio topical songs
From: Jason Xion Wang
Date: 09 Apr 14 - 07:47 AM

"Whatever Became of Hubert," is it a Tom Lehrer song?

Subject: RE: ADD: Luci Baines & Mitchell Trio topical songs
From: Greg F.
Date: 09 Apr 14 - 12:45 PM

A few folks here could benefit from looking up the term "presentism" as applied to literary and historical analysis when talking about songs from half a century ago.

Subject: RE: ADD: Luci Baines & Mitchell Trio topical songs
From: frogprince
Date: 09 Apr 14 - 01:04 PM

I would agree with Gerry that "Ecumenical March" isn't anti-Semitic; what I get is, "Are we supposed to celebrate because someone presumes to "absolve" us of something that no one had any right to blame us for in the first place?"

Subject: RE: ADD: Luci Baines & Mitchell Trio topical songs
From: Joe Offer
Date: 09 Apr 14 - 03:04 PM

I don't quite get Greg F's allegation of "presentism." Wonder what he's talking about.

To my mind, it was mean-spirited even in 1965 to write a song attacking the President's teenage daughter even before she finished high school. I certainly don't recall anything Luci Baines Johnson did to warrant such an attack.

Here's the historical context for "Ecumenical March": The Vatican statement, issued in 1965, was an attempt to give public repudiation of a common rationalization for anti-Semitism [Jewish deicide]. No, it didn't "absolve" Jews of the death of Jesus - it said the Jewish people as a whole never were to blame. The song was a misinterpretation of the Vatican statement.

Another Mitchell Trio song that I found mean-spirited was the I Was Not a Nazi Polka, which was steeped in stereotypes.

I think the Liz Taylor song hit the mark well, as did "John Birch Society," "Barry's Boys, and "Friendly, Liberal, Neighborhood Ku Klux Klan".

I suppose that's what happens when you write political satire. Sometimes it doesn't work, sometimes it misses the mark, and sometimes it crosses the line and comes out looking mean-spirited.

All in all, though, I think Tom Lehrer did a far better job than did the songwriters of the political satire recorded by the Mitchell Trio.

-Joe-

P.S. Gerry, I finally get the point you were trying to make. Oh, DUH. Of course I knew it was Hubert who ran against Nixon, but it seemed at the time that Hubert was acting as LBJ's alter ego....even during the 1968 election, Hubert was forgotten. I'm sorry, Hubert, but I supported Gene McCarthy that year. I plumb forgot you.

Subject: RE: ADD: Luci Baines & Mitchell Trio topical songs
From: GUEST,Gerry
Date: 09 Apr 14 - 09:40 PM

Jason, yes, Whatever Became of Hubert is a Tom Lehrer song, from the album, That Was The Year That Was.

Subject: RE: ADD: Luci Baines & Mitchell Trio topical songs
From: Greg F.
Date: 10 Apr 14 - 10:21 AM

I don't quite get Greg F's allegation of "presentism." Wonder what he's talking about.

Didja look it up, Joe?

I hate to use Blog-O-Pedia, but its easily accessible, so for your brnefit See: http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Presentism and pay particular attention to the sections about "reading primary documents outside of their historical context", "allowing present-day moral judgments to creep into characterizations of the historical figures" and "characterizing the actions or decisions of historical figures as if they had access to all the information we have now in the present".

You seem to have forgotten - assuming you ever knew -what the country was going through during the 1960's.

In Re: political satire- better styled political COMMENTARY** - what's your take on Phil Ochs, Tom Paxton, Patrick Sky, Pete Seeger & etc? Is THEIR work "mean-spirited" as well.

** I'm sure you must remember Tom Lehrer's comment that political satire became obsolete when they awarded Henry Kissinger the Nobel Peace Prize.

Subject: RE: ADD: Luci Baines & Mitchell Trio topical songs
From: GUEST,gillymor
Date: 10 Apr 14 - 11:23 AM

Greg, I hope you're not equating this P.O.S (the Luci Baines song) with the work of those fine songwriters that you mentioned, much of whose work remains relevant.

Subject: RE: ADD: Luci Baines & Mitchell Trio topical songs
From: Greg F.
Date: 10 Apr 14 - 11:49 AM

No, not in the least, but Joe apparently is.

I'm waiting for him to deconstruct Och's "Here's to the State of Mississippi" or Sky's "Jimmy Clay" or Paxton's "Lyndon Johnson Told The Nation" for us, especially on the basis of "mean-spiritedness".

Particularly as rlated to the passions and the state of the country at the time.

Subject: RE: ADD: Luci Baines & Mitchell Trio topical songs
From: Joe Offer
Date: 10 Apr 14 - 05:49 PM

Get a life, Greg F. As I said above, I'm talking specifically about the mean-spiritedness of writing a song attacking the teenage daughter of the President. LBJ was a very apt target - his younger daughter was not. I also pointed out the inaccuracy of the "Ecumenical March," which misinterpreted and then attacked a Vatican attempt to repudiate anti-Semitism. Lehrer and the others you list (Phil Ochs, Tom Paxton, Patrick Sky, Pete Seeger) generally did a very good and very effective job of political commentary.

But many of the songs of the Mitchell Trio missed the mark, and ended up sounding mean-spirited (and many others were very good). I suppose there were times at the end when Ochs crossed the line into mean-spiritedness, but I think that was due to his deteriorating mental condition.

So, if you wish to make condescending remarks about "presentism," give us specific reasons to back up your remarks. And while you're at it, tell us why attacking a teenage girl is effective political commentary.

-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: ADD: Luci Baines & Mitchell Trio topical songs
From: Greg F.
Date: 10 Apr 14 - 08:07 PM

Get a life, Greg F.

Well then, in the same spirit, fuck off, Joe.

Subject: RE: ADD: Luci Baines & Mitchell Trio topical songs
From: Joe Offer
Date: 10 Apr 14 - 08:22 PM

So, Greg, why is it that you think you have a right to haughtily put me down without mentioning any specifics? Show some courage, and answer the question I posed directly. Tell us all why it is appropriate and effective to attack a teenage girl, even if she is the daughter of the President - because the songwriter was too cowardly to attack the President directly?

And as for the Vatican's 1965 attempt to repudiate Christian anti-Semitism, what about that?

Surely, a man as erudite as you must have more to say about the matter than merely "fuck off." You took what I said about something specific - the Mitchell Trio's choice of topical songs - and applied it to a much broader area than I specified, and then held it up to ridicule. That's not fair (and it's not logically correct).

I'll stick to my position - many of the later Mitchell Trio's political songs were poorly chosen and mean-spirited. And this was in an era of very good political songs by the likes of Ochs, Paxton, Seeger, Lehrer, Sky, and others.

-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: ADD: Luci Baines & Mitchell Trio topical songs
From: Larry The Radio Guy
Date: 11 Apr 14 - 04:15 AM

I was always a great Chad MItchell Trio fan.......maybe not quite so much when Chad Mitchell left.   I'd have to re-listen to all those songs again to make any intelligent rebuttal to Joe's comments, but I would like to say that I totally agree with you, Joe, about the Lucy Baines song....but I figured maybe I was just missing something.

I remember really liking Ecumenical Waltz. But maybe the difference comes form my Jewish heritage, where Joe comes from a Catholic background.

As for I Was Not a Nazi Polka.......I had mixed feelings, and still do.   Somehow it seemed to have the potential to 'tar' a lot of innocent Germans.   Yet......there was probably a lot of truth in that 'denial', and individuals failure to take responsibility for the part they played. But I'd have to listen to it again.   And I liked their "12 Days of Christmas" parody (as the Chad Mitchell Trio) even less.

Subject: RE: ADD: Luci Baines & Mitchell Trio topical songs
From: Joe Offer
Date: 11 Apr 14 - 04:35 AM

Hi, Larry -

In the early years of the Chad Mitchell Trio, they were really, really funny. Their political commentary was intelligent, and it was right on the mark. As time went on, they lost that spark. Maybe it was Chad Mitchell's drug use, or maybe it was just the passage of time that made them dysfunctional. I have the feeling that the marriage of John Denver and the Mitchell Trio, was not a Match Made in Heaven. I like John Denver's songwriting and his solo work, but it seemed that his joining the Mitchell Trio was simply a business deal.

"Luci Baines" is a good example of how their later political stuff just missed the mark. I had forgotten about their Nazi "12 Days of Christmas" parody - that one just didn't work, either.


-Joe-

Subject: RE: ADD: Luci Baines & Mitchell Trio topical songs
From: Greg F.
Date: 11 Apr 14 - 10:00 AM

Show some courage...Surely, a man as erudite as you & etc.

Yeah, right, Joe.

Allow me to repeat my 10 Apr 14 - 08:07 PM suggestion.

Subject: RE: ADD: Luci Baines & Mitchell Trio topical songs
From: GUEST,murrbob
Date: 11 Apr 14 - 11:31 AM

Agree with Joe.   Certainly many better LBJ zingers on "The Ides of Texas" (Billie Sol Estes). And for good satire, don't forget "Alma Mater."

Subject: RE: ADD: Luci Baines & Mitchell Trio topical songs
From: Larry The Radio Guy
Date: 11 Apr 14 - 01:18 PM

Re. "Chad Mitchell's Drug use". He wasn't a drug user----despite getting caught transporting 100 pounds of marijuana over the border in 1975---and it was apparently out of financial desperation as his career was doing poorly. His conviction was later overturned.

Chad Mitchell was so straight laced that Roger McGuinn recalls how Mitchell punched him in the mouth in 1962 because he used the f*** word.