[Image: B.B. King and Boynton sock puppet]
I had occasion recently to be searching around for an image from the 1970s, the cover of possibly the biggest-selling greeting card in the planet’s (if not the universe’s) history. It was a cartoon, at the top of which was depicted a single hippopotamus, a small avian creature, and a pair of sheep. Beneath, in a charming apparently hand-lettered caption, it said:
Hippo Birdy Two Ewe
This search made me wonder what had happened to the artist, Sandra Boynton. I took it for granted she continued to work in some capacity, even though she — something like the J.K. Rowling of greeting-card creators — surely could have retired after her first few products hit the market.
She hasn’t retired, not at all. She’s certainly branched out, though. Among her other accomplishments, Wikipedia identifies her as a songwriter and I wondered what that was all about. Hence I came to her 2007 album (actually her fourth), Blue Moo: 17 Jukebox Hits from Way Back Never. The Boynton-crafted songs on it purport to be (per the subtitle) actual hits from some imaginary parallel universe’s past; the album as a whole is marketed as children’s music. The performers featured, though, include folks likely to be appreciated by adults in our own universe’s past (and present) — Steve Lawrence, Patti LuPone, Sha Na Na, Brian Wilson, and so on.
And buried in the middle, a true gem: “One Shoe Blues,” upon which B.B. King lavishes his signature attentions:
[Below, click Play button to begin One Shoe Blues. While audio is playing, volume control appears at left — a row of little vertical bars. This clip is 3:09 long.]
Lyrics:
One Shoe Blues
(by Sandra Boynton; performance by B.B. King)Well, I woke up this morning
Couldn’t find my shoe
Yes, I woke up this morning and I couldn’t find my shoe.
Although the right one is here, I need the left one too
(Yes, I do)
I can hear my mama calling.
She says it’s time to go.
Yes, I can hear my mama calling.
She says:
Really now, it’s time to go.
I say:
Mama, I can’t find one of my shoes!
And she says, Oh no. Not again.
I’ve got the one shoe blues
It seems they’re never gonna stop.
Yes, those one shoe blues.
Oh, they might never ever stop.
Mama says,
Just come along now!
One shoe.
Do you expect me to hop?
Did you look in the closet and under the bed?
Yes, I did
Did you look carefully in the closet and under the bed?
Yes, yes I did.
Try and think where you left it.
That’s what my mama said.
Last night I left it right here next to my other shoe.
I know I put it right here next to my other shoe.
I think somebody took it.
But I don’t know who.
No, I don’t.
I’ve got the
One shoe blues.
That’s why I’m singing this song.
I’ve got the
One shoe blues!
And so I’m singing this sad song.
You know it’s been
At least twenty minutes
That I’ve been looking in every possible place
For that…
Huh.
There it is.
I guess it was on my foot all along.
Okay, I’m ready to go now.
Anybody seen my coat?
If you prefer action, you can also see on YouTube a Boynton-directed video of the performance.
Boynton’s Web site, by the way, really impressed me. No flash, no dazzle (except that from the artwork). Just well-written, funny, unpretentious, and altogether artless in the very best sense.
Froog says
Ha!
Don’t make me laugh like that when I’m about to go to bed.
Must not check out her website now. Must NOT…..
Froog says
Oh dear – started watching her other stuff on YouTube. The Duck song is fabulous.
John says
Froog: So pleased you liked it!
So much of this song’s lyrics sounded “true” to me. Especially, I cracked up at the “Do you expect me to hop?” line. All the little kid’s frustration at adult unreasonableness concentrated into one bitter pill of sarcasm. :)
For the rest of you, here’s the “Duck song” which Froog mentioned. It’s from Boynton’s Philadelphia Chickens album:
After a brief search, I haven’t found the lyrics anywhere online. You probably won’t need them, though — even I didn’t!
s.o.m.e. one's brudder says
Thank you for this, for sure. A re-acquaintance with two artists who always remind me of the joy of creation. I always thought of Boynton as a guilty pleasure. Stopping by a card shop in the hey-day of her short (talking format, here) writing career inevitably meant giggling/guffawing to her latest/greatest tickling of the old funny-bone.
BB is just simply a wonder, every time I hear him. Although one of the performers I’ve never seen live, every single time i see him in performance video he just makes me smile! Such joy in the performance! Pretty great to bring such bliss via “the Blues”!
Coupling that creativity? Isn’t this a genius moment?
Thanks for a great capper to an otherwise lousy ending to a hump-day!
Ashleigh Burroughs says
We sing “hippo birdies 2 ewe” at every birthday. It IS the best card ever. No doubt. Now you amaze me by finding BB King singing her work – I have a new favorite song, it seems.
Now all I need are some little ones for whom I can shop! Thanks, JES!
a/b
Nance says
Popped that One Shoe video right off to my grandson, who’s four. Made me laugh first thing this morning!
cynth says
I’ve always loved Boynton’s things! I used to buy those little books she would write and give them for cheap birthday presents, but my friends would love them! Those videos were great, too. I’ll have to find her site. Thanks for starting the day for me with a smile, John.
John says
brudder: I know what you mean about the “guilty pleasure” feeling. Our younger selves — well, mine, anyhow — probably imagined that liking greeting-card art, even humor, even good art and humor, had a whiff of unsophistication and corniness about it. Of course it helped that the company which produced Boynton’s cards used recycled paper, which made it sorta-kinda all right to like and admire her (and her art, and her humor). Our younger selves were dopes. (Well, mine was.)
I’ve never seen BBK live, either. My response to his recordings and appearances on TV matches yours: he looooves music.
John says
a/b: Your family’s birthday parties must be a riot of all sorts of pleasures, especially people laughing. I’ll even pretend not to have noticed the way you worked in that little zinger about missing grandchildren, Ha!
John says
Nance: When I heard this song, I laughed too — I could just see a little kid in shades, lip-syncing to B.B. King’s voice. Haven’t checked YouTube yet, but I bet someone has done just that — a Milli Vanilli-style “cover.”
John says
cynth: Oh, I am almost 100% sure you’ll love her site. I especially hearted this, from the end of her Autobiography page:
Plus she’s about our age, and grew up in NJ. Surely we loved the friends we had, but how come we never crossed paths with her?!?
Jayne says
What a joy! (I had no idea how prolific Boynton has been.) And how I can relate to those one shoe blues. In my house, it’s often no shoes blues.
Fantastic–so enjoyed King’s craft and Boynton’s brilliance. My 12 year old loved the videos, too. :)