The popularity of Arthur Godfrey, a recording then TV star, in the 40’s and 50’s is a mystery to me. He was on television into the 60’s, and I know of at least one friend who liked Godfrey’s easy and relaxed style; but to me he always seemed drunk, and there was something unsettling and decidedly uneasy about him that he kept hidden beneath the surface. Even feeling as I do, I was nevertheless stunned and shocked upon hearing a certain song recorded by Godfrey sixty years ago, in 1948. As much as I wanted some confirmation that my suspicions about the man were correct, I still wasn’t prepared for “Slap Er Down Agin Paw.”
This was a top ten hit! I can’t fathom who would have thought this was entertaining in any way at all, even as a novelty tune. As D.F. Rogers says in reference to this horrible song, in an intentionally ironic way, “There are just so many fascinating levels to study…”
Hey, thanks, Doug! I was getting pretty lonely over there …
Hey, Jan has a blog! Here’s Jan’s blog.
http://folktress-mythoughtsonline.blogspot.com
Let’s everybody leave nice comments and get her to write some more.
I have “The Thing” on my CD of songs by Arthur and various members of his cast. I think it’s Arthur who is doing all the high-pitched, silly-sounding voices on there, as well. Yeah, that’s a funny one! Sort of a novel take-off on the Pandora’s box story.
As a child I remember listening to Arthur Godfrey’s rendition of an old Phil Harris tune called “The Thing”. That song could certainly be described as a “novelty tune” as well. My father told me it was popular in his college days, especially after they had a few beers down their necks. I had great fun with “The Thing” and to this day it constitutes one of my earliest musical memories.
Somehow I can’t imagine having as much fun with “Slap Er Down Agin Paw”. Thanks for the post Doug… great insight into the 40’s and 50’s mindset for sure!
Cheers…
Gregory
Glad you liked it, but your other comments were really uncalled for, especially considering I did you a favor, so — guess what? — I deleted them. It’s my blog and I can do what I want.
I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS SONG & HAVE BEEN TRYING TO TRACK IT DOWN FOR OVER 50 YEARS. I AM ALSO GOING TO SEND IT TO MY FRIEND AT THE LOCAL RADIO STATION.
Hi, there!
Well, I’ve got my system at least partly upgraded, and I have this new gmail address through Google. Now, there should be NO MORE freezing up of this page!
Takes some getting used to, but it’s sure wonderful! Tech is very, very good!
— Jan
Today, August 31st, would have been Arthur’s 105th birthday. Those interested can go over to findagrave.com and leave him some flowers and/or a typed remembrance. It’s amazing how many people still remember him fondly after all these years. I think he would be pleased …
I am aware of Lee Munsick’s efforts to write a bio on Arthur. The link you supplied doesn’t work, of course, but if it’s the forum I’m thinking of, it’s the OTR (Old Time Radio) forum. Lee Munsick used to moderate it, but now it has no moderator. It’s a totally inactive forum at present.
When I tried to PM Mr. Munsick with some questions, he never replied. In one of his posts, he provided an e-mail address for people to send him material for his book. I tried e-mailing him there, but it came back as “undeliverable”.
It seems that Mr. Munsick has disappeared off the earth. I’m am wondering if he is alive, anymore.
I did acquire a copy the bio written by Arthur J. Singer, and have read that one.
Arthur’s two sisters wrote a book in the 1960s called “Genius In the Family”. While it’s mainly about their mother, there’s a lot of insight in there about Arthur, as well.
Arthur could never quite bring himself to write his own autobiography. Attempts were made, but nothing came of them. It must be very hard to write about oneself — to try to be objective and totally truthful without losing one’s humanity in the process. And if too truthful, others can be hurt. There are a lot of moral factors to consider in writing an autobiography. Still, I wish he had done so.
— Jan
Here’s something that might surpise you:
While Arthur recorded some songs written by others which are of questionable taste, he also wrote songs of his own. One is a very sweet and lovely love ballad called “Pale Potomac Moon”. While there’s no way to be certain, I have a strong hunch he wrote that for Mary, his second wife.
I recently found a CD album of his songs, and yes, Too Fat Polka and Slap ‘Er Down Again Paw are on it, but also some rather nice songs and nice renditions of songs. Most of the album consists of silly novelty pieces, but there are a few tender ones sensitively done, as well.
And Arthur cuts loose with a pretty thick Irish brogue in some of them — which he undoubtedly learned from his mother.
Definitely the style of another era, but a nice listeneing experience, nonetheless.
He wasn’t all just silliness and buffoonery in his musical endeavors. He joined ASCAP in 1956 as a legitimate songwriter in his own right, with at least two other original compositions in addition to the Virginia love song.
Multi-faceted, that one … The more I learn about him, the more I grow to respect and admire him, despite his very human shortcomings.
Just thought you all might find this interesting …
— Jan
Great news, Jan. Good luck! I make my living dealing with technology, and I assure that nothing but nothing about the quirks one can encounter while running Windows surprises me.
I’m hoping to work up some more Godfrey-related posts. Do you know about the Godfrey forum? It’s at this link. A man named Lee Munsick has been working on a Godfrey biography. I don’t have an e-mail address for him, but a few years ago he gave his street address as 804 Piney Ridge Road, RR 1 Box 134B, Pamplin VA 23958-9465.
Just a brief note to let you know I’m finally getting my computer system updated to Windows XP and a IE browser 6.5, so I should no longer have any problems with this page freezing my computer.
It was amazing what the technician found when he came out here! No wonder things haven’t been working well! So, now we need a memorial tribute to a tower that is about to see its last days on my desk, but has served me well for several years.
I’m excitedly looking forward to leaving the stone age of cyber technology and entering the 21st century, at last!
Wish me well, please … (Did I say “brief”?)
— Jan
And, I would like to hear her, too. That old big band music was really quite good. I’m a little young, actually, because all of that was primarily popular before I was born. But thanks to my parents’ old 78s, I was able to hear much of it while I was growing up. I don’t remember Jo Stafford, though.
Yes, there are many inspiring and admirable qualities about the Old Redhead that have given me good cause to respect and admire him in spite of mistakes he might have made or fallibilities he might have had (from which no human being is exempt).
Arthur was very generous and helped a lot of people, starting with his own mother and siblings, and many of his friends and others who needed help at the time.
He raised and bred prize Arabian horses on his Virginia farm, and learned the art of dressage. He attended and participated in many horse shows that were fund-raising events for numerous charities he supported. Arthur was a soft touch when it came to helping out charities. He also contributed money to hospitals and donated land for a new airstrip located not quite so close in to the town of Leesburg, so that peoples’ dishes wouldn’t rattle and they wouldn’t be so disturbed by the noise and vibration of his DC-3 whenever he came in to land.
In short, Arthur could be and often was very considerate.
He had a temper and could be mercurial, but he was just as quick to apologize after blowing up at someone as he had been in blowing up at them to begin with.
We need to consider, also, that Arthur was in constant pain from his old car accident injuries, and that pain grew worse and more excruciating as time went on. He eventually had to have a hip replaced so he could unlock his right knee.
The trouble with how we respond to celebrities, even today, is that we tend to idolize them — to make gods out of them — and they really are just people, like us.
It’s just unfortunate that Arthur never wrote his autobiography, although in 1999 a biography of him was written by Arthur J. Singer and published by McFarland and Co. A copy of it may still be available on Amazon.com.
And yes, you’re right. It’s that sense of personal connection that inspires poetry, art, songs and other creative expression.
Thanks again for this discussion forum.
— Jan
Well, that’s really it, of course. The sense of a personal connection. If it’s there, it’s there.
You’re just so gosh-darned nice yet insistent, Jan, that I now feel a re-examination ol’ Arthur is in order. Godfrey liked doing funny voices, and I’ve always enjoyed funny voices. His old ukulele routines are also of interest.
Before delving more into the life and work of Jo Stafford, I would have said that Helen Forrest was my favorite of the Big Band singers. But now, Jo is tops in my book.
Arthur deserves this special poetic tribute, in my humble opinion. And such is only possible for people who touch us.
Thanks again for offering this forum of discussion, and for being so open and respectful of differing viewpoints. I enjoy this forum for precisely that reason.
I just wish my current computer technology would be more cooperative.
— Jan
Great! At last. I would have sent the song earlier, but I took a do-or-die approach to making it work for you online, and didn’t want to die. The sound quality is outstanding for the time, being an early magnetic tape recording. And, yes, I admit I’m viewing a 60-year-old song through the political correctness of today.
Jan, I must say that although I don’t share your enjoyment of Arthur Godfrey, I certainly understand it. (Anybody else here like K3? No? Shucks.) I wish Cactus Lizzie would chime in, because she also liked Godrey, and she’s my age, so she saw the same man that I did, but got a different impression. I am impressed by how you so firmly, yet very nicely, have asserted your appreciation of Arthur Godfrey.
Your poem is particularly interesting, because it’s the sort of thing that’s normally reserved for someone of Elvis’ stature. I guess for myself Godfrey is an instance where I can’t separate the man from his work, and as a boss he was a tough egg, to be sure, and not at all the friendly, easy-going type he presented to his audience.
Hi, Doug.
Yes, it works. And thank you very much.
WHEW!!! That is SOME SONG!!! Pretty funny, though I think I like “Too Fat Polka” a little better. Probably the German in me that likes polkas, anyway. My mouth was wide open the whole time I was listening! Arthur, you rascal! Tee-hee-hee!
I can see where, if someone were to take that one too seriously, they might find it shocking. The trick with novelty songs is to remember they are novelties — meant to be silly, and most of them range in silliness anywhere from very clever to downright stupid. Where this one is along that scale I haven’t quite decided, yet. I think it’s more toward the stupid end, and was fully intended to be so. A great tension-reliever if ever there was one!
On my Dr. Demento album, there is a song that is very similar, which Arthur doesn’t do and I currently don’t recall who does it, called, “I’m Looking Over My Dead Dog, Rover”, and it’s sung to the tune of “I’m Looking Over A Four-Leaf Clover”. Animal rights people could easily be offended by that one, IF they are lacking a sense of humor. I thoroughly enjoy it, and I love singing it around certain fanatics I know of, just to annoy the heck out of them!
Thanks again for enabling me to hear that.
— Jan
Jan — Check your e-mail. Let me know if the attached file works.
Just thought I would let you know the song still doesn’t come up, even on the slower setting. I know this is a problem with my computer’s browser, not anything you are doing on your end. Just need to get the technician in one of these days and update everything.
Thanks for trying. I’ll just hunt around for a CD or tape of Arthur’s songs, and maybe that one will be on it. I’ve seen a few online, but I am very hesitant to shop online, as I don’t think the internet is secure enough. If they give a telephone number, I might call and place an order.
Then, too, I can search back over my folks’ entire collection of 78s (which I’ve inherited), and see if it is among them. Then I just need to find a working turntable (these days???), so I can dub them off onto a cassette.
Finding a CD would probably be a lot simpler.
By the way, people interested in ordering Arthur Godfrey songs need to be aware that there are TWO Arthur Godfreys. Our original Arthur from the 1950s, of course, and a modern day rock singer who also uses that name (it might really be his legal name, who knows?). One needs to read the labels very carefully and note the dates. I know of one person who has already been misled by this.
Anyway, thanks — Jan
I have read the Wickipedia article, as well as several others on Arthur’s life and career. He was one fascinating fellow!
I have found that there seems to be some confusion or disagreement over Arthur’s middle name. Some articles have him listed as “Arthur Morton Godfrey”, others as “Arthur Michael Godfrey”. One even has him as “Arthur Morton Leo Godfrey”, and not because he was born in August, either. He wasn’t a Leo, but a Virgo.
He named his youngest son (by Mary Bourke Godfrey) “Arthur Michael Godfrey, Jr.”, but later the couple agreed to have their son’s name legally changed to simply “Michael Godfrey”, because they both realized that having the exact same name as his famous father could cause considerable problems for him in school, etc. Especially after his Dad’s reputation in some people’s eyes became more infamous than famous.
His iniitally naming his son “Arthur Michael Godfrey, Jr.” indicates that his own middle name had to be “Michael”, as well. On the otherhand, his mother’s maiden name was Morton, so Arthur could have gotten that one, as well.
I’m curious as to what the real story is, there, and what his middle name (or names) actually was/were.
And by the way, Arthur, himself, even though he had his own Dad’s first name and surname, wasn’t a “Jr.” in the technical sense, because his Dad’s middle name was “Hanley”, and he didn’t give that one to Arthur.
Yes, there are a lot of fascinating articles and stories out there about this dynamic individual who perhaps isn’t as “forgotten” as everyone thinks he is, including himself when he was here.
As for the poem — that just flowed out of me very spontaneously, as they all do. I know Arthur loved flying, and that last “trip” on March 16, 1983 took him farther than ever before, and to a place more beautiful and wonderous than any of us here can ever hope to dream about!
I’ve written poetry throughout much of my life, and it seems to be a natural gift. I love sharing it, as gifts like that should never be left in the closet!
Thanks for your kind words and the information.
— Jan
Hi! On Wikipedia I was reading that Arthur’s father Arthur was an Englishman and civil rights supporter who gave a KKK backer an earful on a ferry ride that lasted 3 trips-forward, back and forward, when Arthur Jr. was young. And Jan nice prose! Arthur loved flying and flew a DC-3, (a gift from WW1 hero Eddie Rickenbacker when he was head of Eastern Airlines), going to and from work to his home in Virginia. Dishes rattled and fell as the plane came near and thru Arthur’s help the airport was moved and the new airstrip named Godfrey Field. Wikipedia.com is a great site for information on people, places, things and especially pop culture.
Your Final Vector (brought you home!)
That day in March, as Spring was new,
you made a flight in Heaven’s plane —
and, oh, the view you must have seen! —
beyond the clouds, beyond the stars,
beyond all things known to us
who live confined by gravity!
That day in March, you flew anew —
freed from all your earthly bonds!
No licenses were needed, then — no rules
of flight, no maps or charts. You turned
your face into the light and left behind
your battered bones and choking lung,
and found a freedom new and true —
A blessedness you found that day
unlike any you had known!
And all those hours and days you’d lived
froze themselves in history,
as you glided gracefully
along that runway out of time.
Bless you, Arthur — for now you rest
within the arms of Love, itself —
Eternal Love Personified!
As you touched down in His sweet breast,
your final vector brought you home.
Copyright 2008 by Jan Renfrow
Correct. Only I can see the e-mail addresses. In fact, it’s set up so you don’t need to bother entering one.
I notice that whenever I bring up this page, my e-mail address automatically shows in the strip above the comment box. Beside the strip in which it appears is the word “hidden”. Am I correct in assuming that I am the ONLY viewer of this page that can see my e-mail address? I certainly hope so! Just wondering ….
— Jan
Sorry about your technical troubles, Jan. I’ve put a second copy of the song on the page that will work even on a very slow connection, in case that’s part of the problem.
Still doesn’t work. Oh, well. I’m sure I’ll eventually find this song and some of his others on a nostalgia CD somewhere.
Computer still freezes whenever I come here. Time to consult with the technician about an upgrade….
— Jan
Sorry! It sounds like you may also have a slow connection. It needs to be about 256 thousand bits per second for the sound to play smoothly. Tell ya what. I’ll redo it with lower sound quality and see if that plays.
Doesn’t work. I click on the bold link, and the little hourglass just keeps spinning around and around, and the dark blue stripe in the activity box in my task bar moves about half way across, then stalls. The computer freezes again, and nothing opens up.
Guess I’ll need to consult my service provider about updating my browser. I’ve tried to get Firefox to run, to no avail.
Thanks, anyway. — Jan
You should see a little box that’s orange on the left and green on the right. Put the mouse pointer over the white triangle and the green will turn turquoise. Click there. If Internet Explorer has something called Flash installed, the player should open up and the song will start. If it works you’ll hear Arthur Godfrey sounding as though he were recorded yesterday, and not sixty years ago.
I’m not sure how to bring up the songs for listening. I know there’s a menu strip on this page with up / down arrows, but when I click on it, nothing happens.
I would enjoy being able to hear both songs.
Thanks for welcoming my viewpoints, here. I’ll try clicking on the link you provided in bold type, and see what happens.
— Jan
Wow, Jan! Thanks. Lots of good information there, setting the record straight on ol’ Arthur. Much appreciated. One of my regular comment writers appreciated Godfrey’s warm and relaxed style, and maybe she’ll toss in her viewpoint.
As a good contrast to Godfrey’s hillbilly novelty tune, I suggest listening to Jo Stafford from the same time period, in “Tim Tayshun.” It’s the second song on the audio player at this link. I hope you can hear it without your browser locking up, Jan.
I have version 5.0. I guess that explains it.
The man who was teaching me about this computer died before he could teach me all I needed to know — so I am only semi-cyber-literate.
Arthur’s spirit, I’m sure, is very much alive, all kidding aside.
I’ve heard OF this song, but I’ve never actually heard it played. I recently read the lyrics of the refrain somewhere, but not the whole set of lyrics — not all the verses. I have Too Fat Polka on my Dr. Demento album, and it’s also on one of my folks’ old 78s. On the other side, I believe, is a cute song titled “Candy and Cake”.
As for seeming to be always “drunk”, Arthur actually didn’t drink much. An occasional beer or a vodka martini, but in his own words, he said he “I don’t drink enough to make a barn owl happy.”
The reason he appeared drunk is probably due to the way he had to walk after being so badly injured in that horrible car accident that nearly killed him in 1931. He had shattered a hip and broken dozens of other bones. It resulted in him walking with a kind of strange waddle that resembled someone half crocked. Sometimes, he had to use a cane.
If you think about it, there’s no way he could have been as witty and clever as he was doing those live commericials if he were drunk. Doing all those live shows — he and everyone else in them had to be completely sober and on their toes to pull them off as successfully as he / they did.
Arthur ran a tight ship, and a lot of people didn’t like him. He was tough, and didn’t put up with any crap. Most of the performers on his shows were very young kids who perhaps liked to goof off during rehearsals and didn’t always take seriously the work ethic Arthur had. He had to crack down, and that’s understandable.
Another terrible lie told about Arthur is that he was “anti-semitic”. That was a complete falsehood. Many of his closest friends were Jewish, and when he bought a share in that hotel that banned Jews, he only bought it AFTER they abandoned that policy. He didn’t know about it for a long time, but when he found out, he hit the roof. He told management that policy was going to end right then and there, and if it ever returned, there would be an entirely DIFFERENT management!
Arthur was very tolerant of different races and religions. When the CBS people in the deep South protested because he had mixed black and white dancers on his show, he became enraged and refused to remove them. He bombasted the critics for their racism.
He also once kicked a comedian off the air because he tried to tell an ethnic joke. Arthur later explained to his listening audience that he didn’t tolerate that kind of thing on his program.
Well ahead of his time, that one!
As for my computer freezing, I guess I’ll just have to live with that until I can update my browser. Thanks for your help.
— Jan
Now why didn’t I think of that? It’s the most obvious explanation!
Maybe it’s the ghost of Arthur Godfrey since we’ve been talking about him and his song! 🙂
It’s a browser lock-up. In Internet Explorer click HELP then ABOUT INTERNET EXPLORER to find out what version you are running.
I’m running a recent version of the blogging software, and the pages it creates may not work right with Internet Explorer older than version 6.
I am using an older version of Internet Explorer — don’t recall exactly what version, as it came with the computer when I got it, and I inherited whatever was on here.
My mouse arrow still works, as I can still use the start menu to shut down the computer. That’s the ONLY function that still works when this happens.
I can’t even get the song to come up to play. The freezing occurs just by going to this page.
Hope this helps. Thanks — Jan
Thanks for letting me know. Some questions:
– What Web browser are you using? Internet Explorer or something else?
– Does just your Web browser freeze, or does your mouse pointer also stop moving?
– Does this happen just by going to the page, or only after playing the song?
I’ve been finding that whenever I bring up this page, my computer freezes. Any suggestions on how to remedy this? Thanks.
Alright, folks! Now I’m more curious than ever about this song! I think Arthur just meant it in good fun. Which is worse — “Slap ‘er down agin, Paw”, or “Too Fat Polka (She’s Too Fat for Me)? Neither are in the best of taste, and yes, the humor is on the wicked side, but that was a different era and the occasional UNinhibited novelty song probably did a lot to release some folks’ pent-up tensions and helped prevent some episodes of REAL abuse. In otherwords, none of that stuff was intended to be taken too seriously.
Ha-Ha! That was abuse! I played her other records but always left that one in the case! My sister would play it though. My one great-uncle, born in the late 1800’s was in his 80’s when I knew him-I was like 6 or 7 (1966), but he let my mom borrow his old 78’s, and let my sister and I handle them if we promised to be careful-which we were! That was great because he had all types-bluegrass, gospel, jazz. I’ll have to ask my aunt if she kept them. I haven’t had a turntable for over 20 years but I’d love to see her turn them over to a music preservation group. I know,(“Yak.Yak.Yak”), it’s late-I have insomnia tonight-but I think my love of early music and silent movies came from my Uncle Warren and I love the look on kid’s faces when I tell them I talked to someone born in the 1800’s! 🙂
Yes, that’s it, Joan! Well put. You actually listened to “Slap Her Down Again” as a child? That right there constitutes abuse! 😉
Hi! I remember my parents watching Arthur Godfrey when I was very young and recently saw on PBS’s “Pioneers of Television” where he imploded his popularity by exploding at Julius LaRosa on the air. I hated that song “Slap…” because my aunt used to go around singing it alot and when I borrowed her record collection, I wanted to break the damn thing, but I didn’t. He just seemed like a weird neighbor or relative that your parents told you to stay away from.
I actually knew someone whose mother ran off to marry a traveling salesman as a teenager in South Carolina! The family chased them, found her, and because they had crossed state lines, the marriage was easily annulled. Fortunately for all concerned, there was no child left behind as a result of the brief marriage.
Arthur Godfrey certainly takes an uncomfortable amount of pleasure in singing this tale of Hillbilly Birth Control – that creepy laugh at the end sends chills down my spine. However, we can’t lay all the blame on him (unfortunately!) He didn’t write the song nor was his performance the only one released at the time. There were at least five other versions of this slap-happy song available, although the others were aimed at the Country market. Esmereldy (“The Streamlined Hillbilly”) and Her Novelty Band had the biggest hit with it on the Country Charts. Probably the oddest thing about the song is that two of the three songwriters were women – Polly Arnold & Alice Cornett, along with Eddie Asherman! Maybe it was based on a “humorous” incident from their past?
Once you hear the song, you can’t forget it – no matter how hard you try. It’s a catchy tune, as they say. Hear it once and you’ll probably be able to easily sing the chorus from memory, as cringe-inducing as it may be. Just don’t do it in public.
While researching the song, the oddest thing I found was a fairly extended series of posts about the song in a message board on BobVilla.com. I could not make this up. There on the “Fix-it For-em”, among the requests for info on doors and interior spaces, is a nostalgic “Slap ‘Er Down Agin Paw” discussion. They even have the lyrics, for those who may want to sing along. Yow!
On the original topic…I always liked the tongue-in-cheek song “Put Another Log on the Fire” (lyrics by Shel Silverstein) that presents a similar situation from another perspective. I went looking for a link and came up with a Dr. Who-themed YouTube video of the tune. You can indeed find ANYTHING on the web!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqPCcV7lHzc
You’re right. That’s the problem. I don’t really like Hillary, either. That voice. That cackle. OK, I cackle, too. But still! Now all this mudslinging and people snooping into passports. I’m so tired of it I could scream. This election year reminds me of 1988, when we had George, Sr. and Dukakis. I wasn’t thrilled with either one. Remember the slogan “Wimp or Shrimp?” I voted for the Shrimp ONLY because I did not want Bush in the White House, but I still felt unclean. Tom actually said he may not even VOTE this year. I may not, either.
The movie link for “So White/Coal Black” is indeed no longer valid. I’ll be either stealing a better quality transfer or making a new one myself.
I found Godfrey’s laughter to be downright creepy, as if he were taking sadistic delight, and he was saying “hot stuff” about her and the beating, and not the circus organ, as I hope was intended.
If Hillary is going to claim she gained valuable experience as first lady, I think she should assure everybody that her husband will be involved with policy making if she’s elected. Seriously, the only way I’ll vote for her is if it’s a vote for “Billary.”
Unspeakable, and unforgivable.And we thought “Coal Black” was bad (by the way, that link no longer works on “Good Old “Dograt”).
To give you some insight into the mindset of the late 40s and 50s as a whole, Tom was NOT appalled by the song! In fact, he knew of another old drinking song in a similar vein, where the husband hits the wife for being unfaithful. His Uncle Tom (a drunk) used to sing it all the time, much to the horror of Tom’s mother!
I never liked Arthur Godfrey, either. For the record, I get that same uncomfortable feeling about Obama, and it has NOTHING to do with his race.