This song is incomprehensible to kids today. It was recorded in 1972.
My older brother had this on a 45 RPM single. I think I was in 7th grade.
In hindsight, I think Sylvia was pregnant and was moving away to have her baby and give it up for adoption. The prospective husband in Galveston seems too flimsy and out-of-the-blue to be plausible.
What do you guys think?
Bonus video
Second Bonus video
Wow ERJ. That is a walk down memory way. " 40 Cents for 3 more minutes". You are right - simply no idea.
ReplyDeleteHarry Chapin. Mr. Tanner--
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fo-tCNtFI10
And who remember "Taxi", and the sequel?
40 cents for 3 minutes. That brings back memories of standing in the rain using a payphone calling my mom and dad when I was stationed in Alameda. That was back when we had rain in calif.
ReplyDeleteA great song from an often overlooked group. You are correct. Who under 40 knows what this is all about? 40 cents back then would buy you a gallon and a half of gas...isnt inflation grand. In this day of cell phones...they have no clue about pay phones and shoving more coins in the slot as you talked.
ReplyDeleteI think the " Husband" in Galveston is maybe wishful thinking on Moms part. She is for sure pushing Sylvia. The " nice boy down the block" ie not YOU, and is either a Doctor or Oil man ( Galveston) and though Sylvia doesnt love him...he is rich ( or will be) and safe ( and again, not YOU). So please, let Sylvia wed and live the good life. ( From Sylvias point of view...I am also reminded of a line from " Same Old Lang Syne" Sylvia in 15 -20 years..." … She said she'd married her an architect
Who kept her warm and safe and dry
She would've liked to say she loved the man
But she didn't like to lie".
Worked for my welfare back during the economic boom of the early Reagan administration at the local coliseum . Tanya showed up friday night for her concert blind stinking drunk . Refused to go on stage because her favorite brand of piano was not on stage . She was disgustingly vulgar and cussed everyone within earshot . Luckily a rich Jewish man in the capital city heard about her tantrum and sent his own personal $800000 grand piano down for the rescue . The bitch puked all over the dressing room . She was the apex of white trash .
ReplyDeleteBack in 1978, Grace Slick, a member of Jefferson Starship, was too drunk/stoned to perform at a concert at Lorilie on the Rhine, in Germany. It resulted in a riot and a bunch of destruction and theft of band equipment. I've actually still got my ticket stub around somewhere.
DeleteInteresting if true;
ReplyDeletehttps://youtu.be/qZMUx2CfpXI
Still have a huge Dr. Hook playlist after all these decades. Just something fun about that music. Brings back what good times I can remember about the '70's.lol
Wow!
DeleteThanks for sharing.
Shel Silverstein wrote some awesome kids books. Who could have imagined?
My best friend in high school had a medley(?) of "Sylvias Mother" and "The Cover Of The Rolling Stone". Sylvia's mother said I got a creepy old lady named Cocaine Katy who embroiders on my jeans... I have never heard another copy.
DeleteShel had his own album. One of the songs I remember was "Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take The Garbage Out".
Happened in my extended family back in the late forties. That particular female wasn't the brightest in the family, and she went across the state to have her little boy. Her parents adopted him and raised him as their own....
ReplyDeleteI had a crush on Tanya... Loved her voice when I was a kid. I think she was a year or two older than me. I loved listening to her rasp through "Delta Dawn" and she was cute... to me.
Any child star that isn't an alcohol sop by twenty and a liver transplant candidate by fifty is some special, I reckon. Working in TV back in Houston, I learned most movie stars believe their own publicity releases. Sad thing. I've only heard of a few that were worth the air they breathed.... less of them now.
Now we all have a couple more years on us.
ReplyDeleteWe had the best music
Maxx
I met Dr. Hook back in the 80s when they were in town (Amarillo) and made an appearance on the local noon news/entertainment show at the TV station where I worked. I was on one of the studio cameras. They were a real blast. they were cutting up with the host and having a real good time. Ray started drawing on the weather map and pretending to do the weather. It was one of the more memorable experiences. Definitely not as egotistical as most big name musicians.
ReplyDeleteThey looked like they genuinely enjoyed performing.
DeleteOne of my former neighbors was a set-up man. He specialized in speakers and worked with many acts during the touring season. I got the sense that he didn't spend much time in Michigan for that part of the year.
He was pretty tight-lipped about the acts he had worked for but he was willing to share that Dolly Parton was a wonderful person to work with.