Dennis thought the best way to help people ID Del Porter was to share this 1946 clip in which he serenades gossip columnist Hedda Hopper. Behind Del, bandleader Spike Jones plays a hootenanny, which has been customized to include a gun.
Thanks for showing us Del Porter, Dennis. Now can you explain about the hootenanny?
For fans of director Spike Jonze, yes, this Spike is the man Adam Spiegel (aka Spike Jonze) chose to name himself after.
1 response so far ↓
1 dennis // Dec 11, 2008 at 5:45 pm
Performer Texas Jim Lewis coined the term for a musical instrument he built that looks like a V8 Ford engine with added washboards, bells, whistles, a siren and gun shots. Texas Jim rode it while he played it. The term Hootenanny caught on to describe all manner of enhanced washboards, such as the one Spike Jones plays here. As the era of the enhanced washboard faded, Peter Seeger used the word to describe gatherings of folk singers. Texas Jim threatened to sue Seeger over this outrage but thought better of it. Texas Jim died in Seattle in 1990.
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