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:: Burl Ives - Wild Side Of Life ::

:: Burl Ives - Close The Door Richard ::

To look at the photos of Burl Ives on this album cover, you might assume that he really did know a thing or two about the wild side of life, and he did. He almost got kicked out of college for drunken rowdiness, but he quit instead. With only the clothes on his back he walked off down the road and never came back. He traveled the country learning to play folk songs from the people he met along the way. In New York in the late 30s he broke into show business by way of Broadway, then got his own radio show. By 1940 he was a household name and was making hit records to boot. By the early 50s he began appearing in films. About this time he was called before the House Unamerican Activities Committee to name some of his communist ex-friends like Pete Seeger, which he did. This of course angered many of his fans, but Burl kept himself off the blacklist and continued to record and act in films.

He made a ton of records in the 50s and 60s, all of which are highly entertaining. In 1962 he went Nashville and enjoyed some of his biggest hits like A Little Bitty Tear and Funny Way of Laughing. I remember seeing his portrayal of Capt. Morton in Ensign Pulver, the pretty lame sequel to the pretty great WWII film, Mister Roberts. Ives played the evil Capt. Morton, taking over the roll made famous by James Cagney in the original film. I was maybe about 10 years old when I saw Ensign Pulver, and I remember absolutely hating Burl Ives. A more disgusting person could not be possible.



In real life, despite ratting out a few friends, Burl Ives was basically a hell of a good guy. He loved to perform for people, but wouldn't allow his records to be sold at shows because he didn't want to appear to be a shill for himself. He once opened up his home to some folks who blew into town on a boxcar, fresh from the dust bowl. Burl had heard that one of these people played a mean guitar. It turned out to be Woody Guthrie and family.

Mainly though, Burl Ives had a way with a song that was as unique as it was fun to listen to. Folk music was his beat, and whether he was doing a country song, a Christmas song or an American standard, that voice which was tailor made to sing sea chanties and lonesome hobo ballads always came through and never disappointed, even on a wacky novelty song like Close The Door Richard. And by the way, what the hell is "The Thing"?


Mike

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 07, 2006 at 6:16 AM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.