Tune Tag #29 with Christopher Bradley of "Daydreamin'...": Billy Joel, Texas Gentlemen, Ben Folds Five, Elaina Kay, Surfaris, Lulufin the Woo Hoo...and Orville Peck

🏄Chris & I surf the new waves from L.A. to Osaka, Japan, and manage to catch some Jellyfish; we also meet a mysterious cowboy who was once an Unrighteous Brother after Eating Out. This should be fun!

Hey, Chris! Tag, You’re It!

“I am very excited to be playing Tune Tag with Brad!”

Christopher Bradley: “I am a bit of a melomaniac, and I love all things physical media; I’d fashion myself as an audiophile-lite. By day, I am an attorney that loves the work I do. By night, I listen to my vinyl collection and write about records over at my Substack page, Daydreamin’ ‘Bout the Way Things Sometimes Are. I occasionally discuss hi-fi equipment, as well.”

Chris’s song #1 sent to Brad: The Texas Gentlemen, “That’s Right (You’re Not From Texas),” 2023

From the D-FW area, these Texas Gentlemen, aka The Gents, have spent several years as session players or backing band members for the likes of Kris Kristofferson and George Strait, among others. A fairly fluid amalgam, the group’s core members (in no particular order; they kept moving around during the shoot) are Beau Bedford, Nik Lee, Daniel Creamer, Scott Lee, McKenzie Smith, Matt McDonald, Aaron Haynes and Ryan Ake.

Chris’s rationale: I am starting off with a cover song by one of my favorite bands, The Texas Gentlemen, from Dallas. If you haven’t listened to them, check ‘em out. This song was on a compilation of songs, Texas Wild, performed as a benefit for the Texas Parks & Wildlife Foundation that features a whole lot of other excellent artists and covers.

It was actually the first release for the Lower Colorado Record Authority label (#LCRA001), under the auspices of the non-profit public utility, Lower Colorado River Authority!

The song was originally done by Houston native, Lyle Lovett, on his 1996 release, The Road to Ensenada, and written by Lovett, Alison Rogers, and Texas music legend, Willis Alan Ramsey (who wrote the oft-covered “Muskrat Love” aka “Muskrat Candlelight”).

I have always felt like I belong in Texas, and have been there a few times; I even applied to, and was wait-listed to attend law school at U-T Austin—unfortunately I stayed in the northeast, but maybe someday I can get myself a little piece of land in the Lone Star State!

Brad’s song #1 sent to Chris: Elaina Kay, “Rodeo,” 2019

Chris’s response: Brad, I think you picked this song because the Texas Gentlemen were the backing band on her debut album, Issues. However, I really think you picked it because that same album was produced by Paul Cauthen, who was featured on the Texas Gentlemen’s first album, 2017’s TX Jelly.

The Texas Gentlemen have really made their way as a backing band for a lot of artists, but they definitely stand well as a band on their own. I like that song, she’s got a great voice, and is also easy on the eyes! I hope to hear more from her in the future!

Brad’s rationale: In 2019, Dallas native, Paul “Big Velvet” Cauthen and the Texas Gentlemen produced Elaina Kay’s record, Issues (featuring “Rodeo,” written by Kay, Joey Green, and Heath Webb).

Chris’s song #2: The Unrighteous Brothers, “Unchained Melody,” 2020

Brad’s response: The Unrighteous Brothers appears to be a side project for Paul Cauthen, who co-produced the Kay track.

Fringe Artist—The Cover and the “Sub-version”: Superstar Reba and The Man in Pink have both recorded covers of Bobbie Gentry’s 1969 hit, “Fancy.” Men have covered the song before Peck, but not through the perspective that Peck has captured in his version, insists Esquire on August 14, 2020: “This one subverts gender and nods to this complex reworking of the story. With the same conviction as Gentry and McEntire brought to their iconic recordings, Peck manages to do exactly what ‘Fancy’ was meant to do: pique an interest and make you a bit uncomfortable.” Curious? Spotify link:

Chris’s rationale: Continuing a theme of brilliant cover songs, this one is Paul Cauthen and the great Orville Peck (above) as the Unrighteous Brothers. I happen to own two copies of the Record Store Day exclusive of this 7-incher (“Unchained Melody” b/w “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’,” produced by Beau Bedford and Butch Walker):

I had to dig in a few crates in order to find them, but that is something I love to do in my spare time. I think they do the songs justice. Their voices really complement each other.

Off the rack: In this video, Mo Heart “Walks In” on Orville; By all accounts, it was a clothes call:

Not unlike “The Masked Singer,” we’ve uncovered the real identity of one Master Orville Peck (details, and pix, at the very end).

Brad’s song #2: Todd Duncan, “I Got Plenty O’ Nuttin’,” 1935

Chris’s response: This one was tough for me to suss out. Then I realized that the song “Summertime,” also composed by George Gershwin, has been done a billion times like “I Got Plenty O’ Nuttin’” (both songs with lyrics by Ira Gershwin and DuBose Heyward)--with “Summertime” being recorded by The Righteous Brothers. Touché!

Brad’s rationale: A winding, but no less fascinating road to get to the link for this one: “Unchained Melody” is a 1955 song with music by Alex North and lyrics by Hy Zaret. North wrote the music as a theme for the 1955 prison film, Unchained, hence the song title. Baritone opera singer, Todd Duncan (born in 1903), sang the vocals for the film soundtrack, and was the first of the eventual 640 artists to record the song.

So, as the first to sing “Unchained Melody,” I tagged Duncan, as he was George Gershwin’s personal choice as the first performer of the role of Porgy in Porgy and Bess on stage in 1935, and played the role (and sang this song) more than 1,800 times!

Chris’s song #3: Ben Folds Five, “Philosophy,” 1996

Brad’s response: A guess would be, simply, the piano as a link from Gershwin to Ben Folds, whose ‘90s-era Five I paid little attention to (hey, it was the ‘90s, an apparently barren wasteland of the fading grunge gaggle o’ flannel and the threat of a burgeoning boy-band barrage)!

All the ‘90s I found worth salvaging to follow me into the new millennium (and find deserved space in my CD changer) were Jellyfish and A Man Called E, also known as a man called Mark Oliver Everett, about whom we wrote, at length, a year ago:

Audio Autopsy, 1992: The Man Who Put the "E" in Eels: Mark Oliver Everett, "A Man Called E"

I was introduced, fully, to Folds through his involvement as a judge on the U.S. NBC-TV a cappella singing contest, The Sing-Off, from 2009 to 2013. I enjoyed his musicality on the show (and his thoughtful and well-informed critiques, coupled with humor), and there’s nothing I’ve heard by the BFF that I don’t like, certainly including this one!

Chris’s rationale: I was trying to remember what Gershwin was best known for, a while after listening to Porgy and Bess a few times, and then it hit me: “Rhapsody in Blue”! If you listen closely, Folds sneaks in a little Gershwin at the end of this song. Also, “Rhapsody in Blue” just turned 100 years young in January, so I found this song with the tribute to Gershwin to be a fitting selection.

If I were to create a playlist that would describe my early college years, it would include a lot of Ben Folds on it. I can’t quite remember why, but I just got into a groove with his music at that time.

 Brad’s song #3: Billy Joel, “Prelude/Angry Young Man,” 1976

Chris’s response: I do love Billy Joel--always there to jam to with some excellent piano rock. I think you picked this song due to his exemplary piano virtuosity, much like Gershwin before him. Two guys well-known for tickling the ivories. Billy Joel is an artist my father jammed to a lot when I was younger, and after you sent this song, I went into a deep dive to reminisce.

Brad’s rationale: Long, beautiful piano intro for both (although I find Billy’s intro to “Summer Highland Falls”—a gorgeous song, and from the same album—a little more similar to the one in Ben’s “Philosophy”). But, with Ben’s self-doubting searcher of ways to cope, Billy’s angry young man seems a bit of a kindred spirit.

Gotta think Ben was hugely influenced by Billy (just overall)….and, I can’t possibly be the first to assert the direct, talented line from one generation to the next, from Billy to Ben as accomplished, piano-based singer/songwriters in the rock arena.

Brad: This just in: I think Ben heard us, Chris…Here, he melds your choice, his “Philosophy,” with one of Billy’s songs, to clearly illustrate the flow chart across decades, and the relationship therein…and, I didn’t even have to ask him(!):

Chris’s song #4: The Surfaris, “Wipe Out,” 1963

Then (1963)👆….and, now-ish (2019), with lone surviving member, Bob Berryhill, now 76👇

Brad’s response: Pretty shrewd tag, Chris…..Can’t imagine I’d have ever come up with the “Wipe Out” iconic drum intro to, then, match it with Billy’s frenetic piano riffin’ on “Prelude.” But, I’m guessing, Chris, that you know that, technically, a piano is a percussion instrument.

I learned that in 1973, when I befriended a percussion major at the U. of N. Texas in Denton. He lamented that he had to take piano lessons. “Say what?” was my likely reply, and he filled me in on the percussive nature of those little hammers under the lid!

Chris’s rationale: Billy Joel once said that his piano at the beginning of this song was a nod to the epic drum solo in the Surfaris’ “Wipe Out”--a well-known song that we’ve all heard once or twice. I still remember the first time I heard that broken board and maniacal laughter!

Brad: We’re in luck, Chris! We hear from Berryhill on just how the band (himself, Pat Connolly, Jim Fuller, and Ron Wilson) wrote “Wipe Out” (and, what exactly, stood in for the sound of the broken surfboard)! And, I didn’t even have to ask him!

Brad’s song #4: Lulufin the Woo Hoo, “Jellyfish,” 2018

Chris’s response: I am honestly at a loss as to why this track was picked, or maybe it’s because I am overthinking it. I think it is a great example of surf-rock-revival. I had to check and make sure it wasn’t the band from Kill Bill, Tokyo’s The 5.6.7.8.s--in a similar genre, though. I made sure to save it for when I am sitting down the shore this summer soaking in the rays.🏖

Brad’s rationale: While attempting some creative Googling, the word “Jellyfish” caught my eye: Hoping against hope, I think I overheard myself asking myself, “Hmmm…..Might ‘90s power pop wunderkind, Jellyfish, have recorded a song called, “‘Lulufin The Woo Hoo’”?

Sadly, no. Instead, with lifted spirits, I discovered that this instrumental surf-sounding song with drum intro belongs to one Lulufin The Woo Hoo, a female quartet from Osaka, Japan, at least according to Digitalradiocentral.com. The gals were featured on the bill of Livorno, Italy’s 2018 Surfer Joe Summer Fest.

2018 Poster by Tommaso Eppesteingher

Above and below: The FR&B unmasking of Orville Peck (aka Daniel Pitout), current country sensation, former skateboarding alt-punk singer. Blue button: The YouTube 2012 video of his Eating Out band (Pitout/Peck with video skateboard-concept credit, guitar, lead vocal):

In photos about a decade apart, this is Daniel Pitout (left), drummer and singer for Eating Out, as well as Nu Sensae, both alt/indie/punk bands. Center: Pitout's alter-ego, country singer, Orville Peck. In the photo below (which is too tall to fit into this gallery format), the right upper-arm tats in that photo (and the upper left one) appear to match. In recent interviews, Peck has made vague references to having "been involved in music before, and taken some time off before returning," now, in this new guise/career. Far right: The recent reveal of a connection to his early love...his new skateboard line.

Born in 1988 in Johannesburg, South Africa, Pitout moved to Canada just after the turn of the century.