#939. Lineage of Song “Theme from M*A*S*H”

As a kid who grew up with a dad who loved M*A*S*H, listening to the instrumental theme song was just a fact of life. It was years, decades, before I finally saw the movie (both were based on a book by Richard Hooker, which I read a few years ago), and found out the theme song had lyrics! The film’s director, Robert Altman, contracted the job of writing the lyrics to his son, who subsequently, as the legend goes, raked in perpetual piles of cash when the song played weekly and then forever in syndication, thanks to the show.

#938. Lineage of Song: “Theme from Rawhide”

 

In Blues Brothers, the boys are challenged to play Country/Western music, an archaic term at this point (my parents always used it, too), but historically relevant. Western was basically traditional American folk, the original pop music (“Oh My Darling, Clementine;” “Home on the Range,” “Oh! Susanna”), part and parcel with the genre being a longtime staple in film and television, the classic cowboy way. So they didn’t do a Country song, of course, but a Western, the theme to the classic TV show. Today, like cowboy movies, Western doesn’t really exist in the pop culture, and Country is associated most with Southern living. Probably the cowboy hats the guys invariably wear are a relic of the Country/Western days.

#937. Lineage of Song: “Everybody Needs Somebody to Love”

 

Blues Brothers

Solomon Burke

Wilson Pickett

Rolling Stones

Here we enter Blue Brothers territory. John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd first portrayed Jake and Elwood Blues on Saturday Night Live before filming the movie (which also happens to share the basic plot of most Muppets movies), although “the Good Ol’ Blues Brothers Boys Band” plays a lot more actual blues music in Blue Brothers 2000 (and a lot more played around them).

Bit of housekeeping this edition…As of this one Blogger isn’t just letting me watch the videos in the post. Not sure if it’s just me. But they still populate once I go to YouTube itself to play them. 

#936. Lineage of Song: “With a Little Help from My Friends”

 

Joe Cocker

John Belushi

I’m including the Belushi version because I love that it exists, it’s Belushi doing a straight version of Cocker, from the first season of Saturday Night Live, which for those who’ve never seen it, it’s amazing how little time the original cast really had; it was originally much more a spotlight for the celebrity host. Belushi, and Chevy Chase’s Weekend Update, was pretty much the exception. That’s exactly why things played out the way they did. Belushi and Chase were the breakout stars for a reason. But to be fair, they had a little help from their friends. So to speak…

#935. Lineage of Song: “Respect”

 

Otis Redding

One of the most famous songs originating with one artist but ending up owned by another is undoubtedly “Respect.”

#934. Lineage of Song: “That’s All Right, Mama”

 

Arthur Crudup

The song that launched Elvis’s career, “That’s All Right” was originally composed by Arthur Crudup on the bones of earlier blues music, and wasn’t particularly successful for his own career (he actually did another song that was basically the same thing just to get a little more mileage out of it).

#933. Lineage of Song: “Hound Dog”

 

Big Mama Thornton

Dipping back into the Elvis playbook…

It’s become somewhat popular in recent years to claim Elvis simply ripped off black performers, but the counterargument is that his willingness to sing their songs made it widely acceptable to appreciate them. Either way, great music was happening.