"RESISTING TEMPTATION" Wilmouth Houdini (aka "Bamboo Orch") Bluebird B-10619 E+
$
30
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Description
WILMOUTH HOUDINI, that great Calypsonian, hurls forth two of his finest numbers, "POOR BUT AMBITIOUS," and "RESISTING TEMPTATION."
What made Houdini (he named himself after the great Harry, whose daring escapes mirrored his own nimble, spontaneous lyrical adventures), the best calypso artist of all, was his perfect willingness to mine his own emotions and personal experiences to craft amazing songs. These usually were vastly more entertaining and topical, not to mention adult, than the typical fare from Trinidad.
In "POOR BUT AMBITIOUS" he tells us frankly of his financial plight:
Too proud to beg, too honest to steal!
Employers, please listen to my appeal!
Night and day I’m walking the streets,
Nothing to eat and nowhere to sleep!
So kind-hearted employers, my case is up to you
Pleas give me something to do!
I’m not the crooner Rudy Vallée;
Or the songbird Mister Bing Crosby.
People, I want you to understand
I’m not Guy Lombardo or Paul Whiteman!
This is plain Papa Houdini!
The Calypso King of the West Indies!
And every man was born to be free,
And to be happy from oppression and misery!
In "RESISTING TEMPTATION" he gives admirably earnest advice to a comely young thing who WANTS him:
Little girl, please leave my bachelor room!
You are so brazen – you are too free!
You should remember you are not too age [sic],
Little girl, please leave my bachelor room!
Little girl, I’m going to tell you the truth:
I don’t intend to eat the forbidden fruit!
I’d rather commit suicide, than make love to a little child!
Little girl! Please leave my bachelor room!
All of Houdini's lyrics are as uncompromisingly frank as this. The BAMBOO ORCHESTRA accompanies him in the solid, Trinidadian, Calypsonian manner.
This original 1940 Bluebird B-10619 is in glossy, lovely E+ condition.
*****
These records come from my private collection, which I have been accumulating since 1967, and now am downsizing! My highest priority in these eBay auctions is to give you the best possible idea of a record’s true condition and aesthetic value. I always post at least four clear images, showing the record fore and aft, a close-up of the label, and the whole disc, warts and all. If my purple prose won’t cut it, the pictures will! Shipping is done with expert care. Your record will brave Media Mail in a stout corregated box, between four sheets of cardboard and a couple of “packers.” I hope you are amused by these descriptions, and by the quality of service being offered.
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