From the squarest show on TV, Lawrence Welk somehow offered this duo in 1971 singing the pot classic "One Toke Over the Line," I guess because there's a Jesus reference. He even refers to it as a "modern spiritual." Indeed. Historic note: I interviewed the writers and hitmakers Brewer & Shipley for Zygote a few months before. According to Wikipedia,
Brewer responded to the Welk airing by saying that although it was "absurd," the duo "got more
publicity than we could pay for" from the out-of-place performance. Some radio stations had banned the song due to the drug thee but "neither Welk nor anyone else received any sort of
punishment from the FCC for performing the song." (h/t Stu Levitan)
6 comments:
I also once saw a horrendous version of Jim Croce's "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" on the Welk show. Shudder.
Oh this is too funny. "A modern day spiritual", he said...just, wow.
Welk had a side you didn't see on the teevee; and it wasn't exactly wunerful, wunerful, hard-core developer. When he presented plans for Lawrence Welk Village to the Escondido (CA) Planning commission (not in city, but necessary since it was inside the general plan boundary) he encountered opposition which he really ripped into in, ah, less than politic language.
Here's a hilarious performance on a similar show if not the same show. Watch the bass player. I think they've all been toking.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=3485320188855
Thanks for the best laugh of the day!
Greg, you say you interviewed the boys for Zygote. I am currently digitizing the photo archive of a former Zygote photographer and have uncovered about 70 images that may have been for that interview
would love to talk about the photos and zygote etc etc and see if these are from your interview or another photo session.
Eric @ lonestardeadradio DOT com
get in touch sometime
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