Lyr Req: Get a Load of This (from R Crumb)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Get a Load of This (from R Crumb)
From: GUEST,GUEST Wonk
Date: 28 Aug 18 - 01:36 AM

The lyrics above shared by Comic Book Fan are what I was looking for and brought me here. Those lyrics were in the version played on Dr. Demento back in 1973, 1974.

Interesting background on the song from 1930 tells me the version I searched for is a parody of that original. In the '70s version, as indicated, it was clearly Pink Burrito, not Big Burrito. Dunno for no ice cream though.

Thanks, folks.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Get a Load of This (from R Crumb)
From: GUEST
Date: 14 Sep 16 - 07:18 PM

The lyrics about RC cola, a bunch of twinkies and a pink burrito come from a song sung by the Cheap Suit Serenaders. I think the title is "RC Cola," but I haven't found that. They perform it in nearly all of their annual concerts. If I can't find it in a web search, I'll look through their LPs and CDs.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Get a Load of This (from R Crumb)
From: GUEST,A Thin Man from Venus
Date: 30 Apr 16 - 02:24 PM

Armstrong told me he and Dodge were inspired by a faded 'Red's Burrito' sign hung outside an old Mom and Pop liquor store, while eating junk food they had just purchased. 'Red's Burritos' were cellophane wrapped items that were heated in a little infared oven, decades before the microwave appeared.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Get a Load of This (from R Crumb)
From: GUEST,Been there, done that
Date: 29 Mar 10 - 07:00 PM

A pink burrito was a dish served at some fast food restaurants in the early seventies. It was a regular beef and bean burrito with hot sauce or chili and two scoops of strawberry ice cream on top. Hence the, "for to keep me clean." Diarrhea was a given but it sure worked for those who were stopped up on junk food and it tasted delicious when the munchies visited.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Get a Load of This (from R Crumb)
From: 12-stringer
Date: 29 Mar 06 - 05:21 PM

Shoulda been "a couple of months earlier than JORDAN," in re: the Quillian Bros record.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Get a Load of This (from R Crumb)
From: 12-stringer
Date: 29 Mar 06 - 05:18 PM

"Pink Burrito" is a rewrite of the 1930 Charley Jordan hit, "Keep It Clean."

Went to the river, couldn't get across
Jumped on your daddy, I thought he was a hoss
Rode him over, give him Coca Cola,
Lemon soda, saucer of ice cream,
Takes soap and water
Baby just to keep it clean.

If ya wanna hear that elephant laugh
Take him down to the river, wash his yas-yas-yas

Your daddy was a grizzly and your mama was a bear
Gonna put the muzzle on ya cause ya got bad hair

and more, including the inevitable #2 and #3. At least the first two are listenable/downloadable at the Blues and Gospel Listening Room from juneberry78s.com, but you have to request a password to access the collection. It's been reissued on LP and CD, more than once. Grossman's "Country Blues Guitar" from Oak tabs it; it's in E, for "pretty Easy."

It was a Dave Van Ronk standard for years, which is probably where the rewriter got the song. Van Ronk's was the first version I ever heard, back in the late 60s.

Somewhere else Son House mentions that Patton used to do "Keep It Clean" with dirty verses -- maybe in Charters' book "The Bluesmen."

The Quillian Bros also did a "Keep It Clean" in 1930, which I've never heard, a couple of months earlier than Patton but maybe too close for him to have lifted it from their record, even if it is the same song.

Subject: Lyr Add: GET A LOAD OF THIS (from R Crumb)
From: GUEST,Comic Book Fan
Date: 29 Mar 06 - 11:55 AM

The song is "get a load of this" by R. Crumb and His Cheap Suit Serenaders.
This is the full song.
It is a Red Heads tribute but completely original.
Funny how so many people posted who had no idea what was going on.



My girl was over but I sent her away
Cuz she almost knocked the supper off my TV tray.
Bringt a loada
RC Cola
TV dinner
Plate of twinkies
and it takes a pink burrito,
for to keep me clean.
For to keep me clean.

TV dinner is the meal that Im lovin
Take off the foil, 30 minutes in the oven
Bring a loada
RC Cola
TV dinner
Plate of twinkies
and it takes a pink burrito,
for to keep me clean.
For to keep me clean.

Don't want no carrots. Can't stand no peas,
But a pack of ding dongs brings me to my knees.
So, bring a load of
RC Cola,
TV Dinner,
a plate of Twinkies.
It takes a pink burrito for to keep me clean.
for to keep me clean.

Girlfriend switching like no other.
Lets me spend all day in front of that 40 inch color.
Bring a loada
RC Cola
TV dinner
Plate of twinkies
and it takes a pink burrito,
for to keep me clean.

Only One thing makes me jump up and holler.
When TV breaks down during bowling for dollars.
Bring a loada
RC Cola
TV dinner
Plate of twinkies
and it takes a pink burrito,
for to keep me clean.
for to keep me clean.
Oh Yeah
Red Pride.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Get a Load of This (from R Crumb)
From: Barbara
Date: 06 Dec 05 - 09:01 PM

Well, I remember the "Get a load a tune from the SF Bay area" when I lived there, until 1979, and at that point it was a big burrito, and probably the cheap suit serenaders were doing it.
I, only having heard it sung, thought it was a Texas big burrito, not "It takes a..."
Guess the burrito went from Texas to pink over the years...
and the tune is different than the REd Heads tune.
Blessings,
Barbara

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Get a Load of This (from R Crumb)
From: GUEST,jomabu
Date: 06 Dec 05 - 07:27 PM

the red heads tune is not the same as the cheap suits'.

and it really is a pink burrito -- i think it's in line with the kitschiness of tv dinners in general, similar to pink-flocked christmas trees or pink flamingos on the lawn.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Song about TV Dinners
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 01 Jun 05 - 09:24 AM

I found this quote, which I'd bet is a better transcription. Why would a burrito be pink? Why would it need to be pink?

Don't want no carrots. Don't want no peas,
But a big burrito brings me to my knees.
So, bring a load of RC Cola,
TV Dinner, a plate of Twinkies.
It takes a big burrito for to keep me clean.

The song is GET A LOAD OF THIS, recorded by R. Crumb and His Cheap Suit Serenaders on their first album, "R. Crumb and His Cheap Suit Serenaders," Blue Goose LP 2014, 1974. The song was credited to Robert E Armstrong and Allan Dodge, members of the Cheap Suit Serenaders.

This recording was also included on a Dr. Demento anthology, "Dr. Demento's Delights," Warner Brothers LP BS-2855, 1975.

My guess is, Cookie overestimated the age of the song.

However, there is also a tune (no lyrics) called GET A LOAD OF THIS, recorded by The Red Heads (an earlier version of Red Nichols and His Five Pennies) in 1926. It was written by Eddie Lang and Arthur Schutt. You can hear it at The Red Hot Jazz Archive. Is it possible that the Serenaders lifted the earlier tune and wrote words to it? I don't know; I haven't heard the Serenaders' song, but the earlier tune comes from the right era and sounds like the kind of music R. Crumb likes to do.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Song about TV Dinners
From: Peace
Date: 29 May 05 - 04:44 PM

The lyrics this GUEST Cookie character remembers from Austin are punctuated exactly as are these found with a goole of 'and it takes a pink burrito'. I wouldn't waste any time on this character. BS--which seems to be what the post started wit--belongs below the line, IMO.

Date: Wed, 9 Mar 1994 13:21:43 -0500 (EST)
From:
Subject: This is a foul turn of events...
To: Donkey


If smoking becomes illegal, how many of you who have quit intend to
take it up again, just out of spite?

If guns are outlawed, will Robert's feet receive sufficient ventilation
in his next vehicle?

How many of you have given up sex, at least for Lent?

How many of you have given up sex because you don't make enough money
to induce anybody to sleep with you?

How many of you like to offend people at your parent's parties by
prefacing every remark, ala Phil Ochs, "Here in Fascist America..."?

Malibu Skipper
Compiling Data

"TV dinner is a dish that I'm lovin',
you take off the foil, twenty minutes in the oven;
get a loada
RC Cola
TV dinner
Plate of twinkies
and it takes a pink burrito,
for to keep me clean.
(For to keep me clean)"

R. Crumb

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Song about TV Dinners
From: Blackcatter
Date: 29 May 05 - 09:45 AM

Not that it really matters, but while ZZ Top hasn't been around since the 50s, their first album was released in 1970, so they're a 35 year old rock band. That album was most appropriately entitled "ZZ Top's First Album"

They've released 14 albums - most recently in 1999.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Song about TV Dinners
From: GUEST,Cookie
Date: 28 May 05 - 06:58 PM

Thanks for the info. I just found the song.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Song about TV Dinners
From: GUEST
Date: 28 May 05 - 06:32 PM

'Get a Load of This'    by Cheap Suit Serenaders?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Song about TV Dinners
From: GUEST,Cookie
Date: 28 May 05 - 05:23 PM

Thanks for trying but that isn't the song. ZZ Top is a new artist (2000). I'm looking for a song from the 50s or 60s.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Song about TV Dinners
From: GUEST,sixtieschick
Date: 28 May 05 - 03:04 PM

sorry sorry sorry - the two previous posts were from me. Not having a good day.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Song about TV Dinners
From: GUEST
Date: 28 May 05 - 03:03 PM

Sorry--don't know where those question marks came from--I added in apostrophes that weren't in the lyrics posted on the ZZ Top site.

Subject: Lyr Add: TV DINNERS (ZZ Top)
From: GUEST
Date: 28 May 05 - 03:01 PM

The group is ZZ Top. The song is TV DINNERS.

TV dinners, there's nothin' else to eat.
TV dinners, they really can't be beat.
I like 'em frozen but you understand
I throw 'em in and wave 'em and I'm a brand new man, oh yeah.

TV dinners, they're goin' to my head.
TV dinners, my skin is turnin' red.
Twenty-year-old turkey in a thirty-year-old tin.
I can't wait until tomorrow and thaw one out again, oh yeah.

TV dinners, I'm feelin' kinda rough.
TV dinners, this one's kinda tough.
I like the enchiladas and the teriyaki too.
I even like the chicken if the sauce is not too blue.

And they're mine, all mine, oh yeah
And they sure are fine.
Gotta have 'em,
Gimme somethin' now.

Excess '?' deleted. --JoeClone, 1-Jun-05.

Subject: Lyr Req: Song about TV Dinners
From: GUEST,Cookie
Date: 28 May 05 - 06:05 AM

Does anybody know the title and/or artist of this old song?

I don't know the title or artist, but it was heard at a bar in Austin LONG time ago; the lyrics I remember go as such:
"TV dinner is a dish that I'm lovin',
you take off the foil, twenty minutes in the oven;
get a loada
RC Cola
TV dinner
Plate of twinkies
and it takes a pink burrito,
for to keep me clean.
(For to keep me clean)"

Thanks
Cookie