[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.
