Wednesday, October 01, 2003

Sheb Wooley

Gosh, darn it, I've been wanting to tell this one for weeks, and it slipped my mind. After going on for some length on my previous posts about the "proper" way to memorialize the passing of a well-liked entertainer, I think Sheb merited the one I had in the back of my mind. No speeches, no cheesy cartoons of the guy meeting St. Peter... as the composer of the Hee Haw theme (and now that there are "Hee-Haw" videos for sale, the official web site has become much more than the mere placeholder I first found), Sheb rates a big "Cornfield County Salute:"

"SA-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-LUTE!!!"

Sheb is best known for writing and performing 1958's "Purple People Eater," one of the few rock'n'roll novelty songs that's still fun to listen to after you've heard it a few times. His "Ben Colder" songs wear thin after a while, though. Anyway, Barb and I passed through his hometwon of Erick, Oklahoma on our 2001 Rt. 66 tour. There, the two main cross streets are named after him and fellow homeboy, his brother-in-law Roger Miller. The picture below shows the two streets, but the signs keep getting stolen. One is the old Rt. 66, the other is the road to the Interstate. Unfortunately, like many small, rural towns, there's not much left to see. The corner I stood on to take this 2-picture, expertly stitched together, panorama, was empty, just an old tile floor where a building had been. The cater-corner building is the "100th Meridian Museum," but it was apparently open only by appointment (besides, 100? W is actually the Texas Border, a few miles away). There's a story about our visit there that Barb wrote, perhaps I'll get around to posting it.

Here's a link to some other pictures of mine.

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