Stone Age Woo

Nervous Norvus | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 10, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Norton
• ASIN: B0002AAPIA
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #187,239 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Transfusion

2. Dig

3. Ape Call

4. Wild Dogs of Kentucky

5. The Fang

6. Bullfrog Hop

7. Stoneage Woo

8. I Like Girls

9. Does a Chinese Chicken Have a Pigtail?

10. Noon Balloon to Rangoon

11. Kibble Kobble (The Flying Saucer Song)

12. The Lean Green Vegetable Fiend (From 'Tuther Side of the Moon)

13. Little Cowboy

14. The Blackout Song

15. Kangaroo Hop [Partial]

16. I Listen to Red in Bed

17. Sparks [#1]

18. I Hate Bugs

19. The Clock Shop [#1]

20. I'm Waitin' Up for Santa Claus

See all 33 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Norton's Stone Age Woo: The Zorch Sounds of Nervous Norvus is a long-overdue collection of the novelty songs and song-poem demos of "Singing" Jimmy Drake, whose wilder moments were ascribed to Nervous Norvus. The album features not only his best-known songs, the "Dot Six" (including the million-selling novelty classic "Transfusion"), but many, many other songs, including some that existed only as single-copy or small-pressing acetates. Most excitingly for die-hard Nervous Norvus fans, Stone Age Woo also includes the original demos that Drake sent to his inspiration and eventual mentor, novelty radio DJ/performer Red Blanchard. Drake's admiration for Blanchard even pops up in a few of the songs here: set to the tune of "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus," "I Listen to Red in Bed" is an homage to Blanchard that follows a fan who listens to Red on a radio hidden in a teddy bear as a little boy to avoid the wrath of his parents, and switches to a shortwave radio concealed in a jug of booze as a grown man to avoid his nagging wife. "The Bully Bully Man," meanwhile, sings Red's praises more generally, and appeared on Drake's initial demo tapes; indeed, Drake sent Blanchard the tapes with the intention of becoming a songwriter for him. However, Blanchard liked Drake's shaky, appropriately "nervous" (which also meant cool or hip in Blanchard's distinctive radio lingo, which he called Zorch) delivery of his own songs so much that he helped Drake develop the Nervous Norvus sound with the use of some well-timed sound effects, which became the trademark of virtually all of Drake's best songs. Their collaboration was most spectacular on 1956's "Transfusion." The audio equivalent of the gory driver's-ed films of the '50s, the combination of Drake's one-liners like "Put the crimson in me, Jimson" and Blanchard's car crash sound effects (which, according to Stone Age Woo's extensive and colorfully written liner notes, were also used on the Shangri-Las' "The Leader of the Pack") make the song impossible to forget. The rest of the Dot Six are nearly as good, particularly the lusty "Ape Call," which boasts Tarzan-like yodeling, and "The Fang," a tale about a lady-killing Martian backed with jet-like sounds. Even when Drake tackled themes and motifs used by other novelty songwriters in the '50s and early '60s, his music still managed to stand out as particularly weird. "Stoneage Woo" itself is a nonsense-language caveman love song, but it's much rawer and looser than, say, the Hollywood Argyles' "Alley Oop" or David Seville's "Witch Doctor." However, many of these songs are uncharted territory, even in the realm of novelty music: "The Clock Shop" traces the growing insanity of a clerk in a clock shop surrounded by ticking, tocking, and chiming all day. Still other songs, like "Wild Dogs of Kentucky" and "When I Hear the Honkin' of the Diesel Train," have a mutant folk feel, which could be a holdover from Drake's years riding the rails as a hobo in the '30s. Most of the collection, though, is '50s through and through, from song subjects like sci-fi creatures, dance crazes, and daddy-os to tracks like the gleeful "Elvis You're a G.I. Now." These glancing references to the world of pop culture make Drake's work that much more surreal, especially considering the fact that he was well into his forties by the time he stumbled into being a novelty songwriter. Drake's day job during this time was recording demos of songs by amateur lyricists, some of which are also included on Stone Age Woo. "I Like Girls," for example, could almost pass for innocuous '50s pop, were it not for Drake's charmingly creepy vocals, kissing noises, and a harpsichord and banjo breakdown. Though this is a generous collection at 33 songs long, it's just a drop in the bucket compared to Drake's overall recording career, which numbered into the thousands of versions of other peoples' song

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Fun vintage novelty rock n roll (3.5 stars), August 14, 2005

By 

TimothyFarrell22 (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stone Age Woo (Audio CD)

Of course, those who actually know the name Nervous Norvus are either devoted listeners of Dr. Demento or one hit wonder fans {both camps are familiar with the classic "Transfusion"). If you enjoy that single, you'll probably enjoy this collection, which is really all the Nervous Norvus you'll need. Its far from great art, but it was never meant to be. Looking back it is dated and surreal, but still fun for fans of this type of music. Jimmy Drake (the alter ego of Nervous Norvus) was reasonably innovative in his use of sound effect for novelty records. Its interesting how he used sound effects from a library or archive and inserted them into his songs, making them an accompaniment for his one man band. The songs themselves are amusing if not laugh out loud funny, and are strange enough to appeal to fans of outsider music. The themes include prehistoric times, flying saucers and sci-fi, and even a song about a clockmaker slowly going insane. A fun if unessential addition to the library of those who enjoy either novelty of strange music.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Red Blanchard & Nervous Norvus fans rejoice!, October 5, 2005

By 

Bear in the Canyon "libros del oso" (Albuquerque, New Mexico USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Stone Age Woo (Audio CD)

Great CD for you dinosaurs who remember listening to the Red Blanchard show in the Bay Area in the early to mid 50s and digging his Nervous Norvus platter-spinning. Some rare demos included here and some downright strange music. Mmmm-bully-bully-bully-bully...

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Don't be a cube, rube!, November 22, 2011

By 

Johnny Heering "trivia buff" (Bethel, CT United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Stone Age Woo (Audio CD)

Jimmy Drake was a fan of disc jockey Red Blanchard who sent his song demos to Blanchard in hopes that the DJ would help him get a recording contract. In most of these songs, Drake imitated Blanchard's unique brand of jive talk. One of these songs, "Transfusion", caught Blanchard's ear. Red added car crash sound effects to Jimmy's simple voice and king sized ukulele demo. He played it on the air, then a record company executive heard it and released it as a record, with Drake calling himself Nervous Norvus. "Transfusion" became one of the biggest novelty hits of 1956 and Singing Jimmy Drake was a "rock and roll star" at the age of 44. The follow up single, "Ape Call", was also a hit although not a big one. The third single, "The Fang", bombed and Nervous Norvus was now a has been. He released a handful of other singles before he drank himself to death, all of which are very obscure. He got most of his drinking money by recording demos for aspiring songwriters. He took out ads in music magazines, offering to record demos for songwriters (for a fee, of course). One such ad claimed that he had recorded over 3000 demos! This CD features most of his records, plus many of his demos. Some of the demos are of his own songs, some are songs other people wrote and some songs we have no idea who wrote them. Not all of the demos are novelty songs. A fun CD for fans of the Golden Age of novelty songs.