Author: Alan Ashworth

As daddy Loudon attested back in 1975, Rufus was very much a tit man in his babyhood but nowadays his proclivities lie in a very much different direction.

Introduced by the silver-tongued (not!) Red Foley on the 1950s country music TV show Ozark Jubilee, here’s the Patster.

Blink and you’ll miss it: Eighty energy-packed seconds from the 1981 album Sorry, Ma, Forgot to Take out the Trash!

This was written by the American musician, songwriter and later album producer Robin Frederick. She met Drake in 1967 in Aix-en-Provence, where she was appearing in cabaret, and agreed to … Continue readingNick Drake: Been Smoking Too Long

Fezza released his first version of the Jerome Kern/Otto Harbach classic, written in 1933 for the musical Roberta, on the 1974 oldies album Another Time Another Place. Here’s the sweaty … Continue readingBryan Ferry: Smoke Gets in Your Eyes

Amazingly, Otis was just 25 when he recorded this, in 1966. He sounds like he’s been singing for ever.

FoM were a West Coast blues and psychedelia band most famous for this song which featured on the soundtrack of Easy Rider. Members included Richie Hayward, future drummer of Little … Continue readingFraternity of Man: Don’t Bogart Me

From the 1980 LP Doc at the Radar Station. And while we’re on the subject of the good Cap’n, here’s one of his weirder TV appearances.

Following on from yesterday’s That Reminds Me, commencing a short season of songs about smoking. This is a live version of the track from 1974’s Paradise and Lunch. Picture quality … Continue readingRy Cooder: Fool for a Cigarette