Saturday, December 29, 2012

CHARLIE WEAVER sings HAPPY NEW YEAR

If Cliff Arquette was still alive, yesterday he would have celebrated his birthday. He would only have been 107.

Many still remember Cliff's rustic alter-ego, "Charlie Weaver," who at one time was so well known, you could not only buy a book or a few records, but even a toy replica of him (which still commands a high price on eBay). Charlie's humor was not usually based on him enjoying an alcoholic nip now and then, but fermented cumquat juice never hurt anybody.

Charlie Weaver is probably best remembered by baby boomers who saw him on "The Hollywood Squares," and enjoyed the old rascal's often risque quips. The download below might raise a slight smile for those fans. "Happy New Year" is part song, part monologue, and if it amuses at all, it's because Arquette created such a wonderful voice for the Weaver character. If you never heard of the guy, the track might be a tad mystifying, although you'd get the idea that he was in the same comic league as fretful old cuss and 50's sitcom star Walter Brennan, and that the way he gradually gets tipsy is a slight homage to corny Red Skelton's "Guzzler's Gin" bit. Weaver was popular on radio and on TV at a time when subtle comedians such as George Gobel and Lum & Abner were successful, and homespun, recognizable characters (including Andy Griffith's Mayberry bunch) were beloved by millions.

The track is from Charlie's second (and last) album, "Charlie Weaver Sings (?) For His People" on Columbia. His earlier album was an audio assortment of "Letters from Mama," which he became famous for reading on the old Jack Paar "Tonight Show," and you'd either have to be 70, or a comedy buff, to know about that. (I hasten to add, I'm in the latter category.) And in case you missed the previously posted "Cumquat Time in Mt. Idy," no need to search the blog for it. It too is right down below.

CHARLIE WEAVER Happy New Year

CHARLIE WEAVER It's Cumquat Time In Mt. Idy

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

CharLEY Weaver, not Charlie. Nice post.

Ill Folks said...

Interesting point...it's "Charley" on the bartender toy, but...

The Columbia record album bills him as "Charlie Weaver." As does the Coral album he did, as does the Goldmine Comedy Record book. As does Wikipedia.

Digger said...

I found your post by doing an exact word search on Google. Your post has been plagiarized without any credit to you here:
http://best-americantalent.blogspot.co.uk/search?updated-min=2012-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&updated-max=2012-12-29T21:34:00-08:00&max-results=50&start=63&by-date=false
She is just passing off your comments as her own.
She has stolen tons of stuff from my blog without any credit to me and I’m as mad as hell. See here:
http://grumpymanwithtoomuchtimeonhishands.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/do-you-want-advice-on-how-to-write_12.html

Ill Folks said...

Thanks for the heads-up. Yeah, I see my Charlie Weaver entry, Jack Klugman, Fontella Bass and G.E. Smith all in a row. Lifted entirely. Just says "posted by Charles Young" on the bottom.

And what good has it been? No comments on any of them. Not a single, "Thanks, Chuckles."

There's also no Paypal banner or Google ad links, so the motive behind this plagiarism is very baffling.