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Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Larry Verne's novelty tune 'Mr. Custer' went all the way to #1 on the Billboard charts in 1960.
The flipside of the 45 was a down-home spoof of a hit dance record that year;
'It's Madison Time' by The Ray Bryant Combo.
Larry Verne was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on February 8th, 1936.
The legend goes that Verne had worked at a variety of jobs around the country (including TV stuntman) before finding work in a photographer's studio in Southern California.
In 1960, 'Mr. Custer''s songwriters had an office down the hall from the studio, and hired Larry Verne for a demo recording after hearing him perform a southern drawl.
The record was shopped around to several labels and rejected before finally being picked up by ERA records.
Larry Verne recorded an LP and several
follow-up novelty 45s after this one, but none were nearly as popular.
Before too long Verne segued successfuly into the movie set construction business, which kept him busy for 35 years before he retired.
Listen to:
Larry Verne -
Okeefenokee Two Step
Era Records 45, 1960
(click for audio)
An original jukebox label. ▶
(Note the spelling error)
