Spade Cooley - Fidoodlin'

All Music Guide

This is one of a precious few studio long players to have been documented by the legendary and infamous Spade Cooley, the selfproclaimed “King of Western Swing". His long and illustrious career included stints as an actor during the 1930s for Republic Studios in a handful of serials and fulllength flicks. By the late 1950s, Cooley's star had significantly faded, however he was hosting a local variety TV show in Los Angeles at the end of the decade when Fidoodlin' (1959) was released. The sessions, which were his first in half a decade, also turned out to be his last. According to Joseph F. Laredo's liner notes, found in the 2004 CD reissue, the sides spotlight Cooley backed by the same combo that accompanied him on his shortlived weekly telecast. The results were delivered in a style fusing the buoyant and somewhat soulless effervescence inherent in adultoriented contemporary pop with the equally amiable attitude and instrumentation of Western swing. The support cast consists primarily... of younger ‘staff' musicians, including Jimmy Luttrell, who is credited as performing on “takeoff guitar" a 1959 euphemism for his lead electric pickin'. Thanks to Suzi Chandler's front and centre accordion, the frenzied “Gypsy Jive" takes on a Mediterrian feel, which seems slightly out of place on “Pony Tail Polka", for example. Cooley's sweet tone and nimble fretwork remain central to the adaptations of wellestablished tunes. A primary entry is “Mockin' Bird Is Listenin'", with a melody that should be familiar to all Three Stooges fans as the ‘theme' to the cinematic shorts. Another recognizable tangent is “Swingin' On The Blue Danube", which of course takes off Johann Strauss' “ On the Beautiful, Blue Danube" waltz. Perhaps the most entertaining especially from a kitschy perspective is “Skatin' On Thin Ice", a woozy derivative of the “Skater's Waltz", which had been covered to similar effect by the likes of Mantovani, Andre Kostelanetz and the ubiquitous Living Strings. Modern ears may find Fidoodlin' decidedly dated. However, within the grooves resides a rare carefree spirit guilded in hopeless innocence, making platters like this, equally timeless. - Lindsay Planer, All Music Guide Read more Less