Saturday Matinee: PoorHamsterElPasoPleasePleasePlease

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Here’s the original English version of “Poor Hamster.”

Pleasant harmonies with a good plot and a twisted father with a lot of video editing time makes this a must see. Bunk has been out of the loop on this one, but gives it 5 stars. (2 stars go to the cloying animated version.)

A related song immediately comes to mind. Here’s Marty!

marty-robbins-fan-website.jpg

I don’t know how Marty Robbins pulled this one off, but here’s the MTV clip of his hit “El Paso” from 1959. The late Imogene Coca appears in a cameo as “Bellina.”

And speaking of Ike Turner, he passed on to Rock N Roll Heaven this past week.

Ike and his Kings of Rhythm recorded what’s regarded as the first Rock N Roll hit in 1951 with “Rocket 88.” Regardless of what you think of him, Ike & Tina Turner’s Rhythm & Blues Review was also very influential, but without the Ikettes, and especially Tina, he’d have been left as a footnote in the Cobra Records archives. (Ike’s in the gray Nehru jacket in the middle, but who’s that white guy on rhythm guitar? Steve Cropper?)

This is the best version of James Brown‘s “Please Please Please” that I’ve ever heard. Tina was amazing when Janis Joplin was still taking notes.

["Poor Hamster" English version from here. Marty Robbins' pic from here. His video is from the UToobage. Ike & Tina from here.]

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3 Responses to “Saturday Matinee: PoorHamsterElPasoPleasePleasePlease”

  1. Sue Dunham Says:

    Good spotting! It sure does look like Steve Cropper – as far as one can tell from these tiny, compressed little YouTube videos.

  2. Bunk Says:

    Sue D.–

    I couldn’t confirm it… I spent about an hour trying to find the band lineup with no success and then ran out of beer. By the time of that video, Ike had already hooked up with Sam Phillips at Sun Records when Cropper was surely sniffing around the Memphis studios.

    Lemme know if you Turner up any info… I’m kind of a trivia hound.

  3. Finicky Penguin Says:

    I pity da hamstah!

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