Monday, August 17, 2009

Roland the Roadie and Gertrude the Groupie - Roudari Roope ja hengari Hertta


We leave the Finnpick Humour Week with a couple of Shel Silverstein songs. Vesku Loiri - yes, again - released "Roudari Roope ja hengari Hertta" (Roope the Roadie and Hertta the groupie) in 1973 on the B-side of his "Uuno Turhapuro" single (Uuno Turhapuro is the most legendary of Vesku's 'alter egos'). The lyrics were done by our (and Loiri's) old friend Jukka Virtanen. The original song "Roland the Roadie and Gertrude the Groupie" was written by poet and singer-songwriter Shel Silverstein and performed by US pop-country rock band Dr. Hook. It was on their 1973 album "Belly Up" and was also released as a single. They started as Dr. Hook and The Medicine Show releasing in 1971 their debut album, which included their first hit, "Sylvia's Mother." Shel Silverstein wrote the lyrics for many of Dr. Hook’s early songs - in fact, he wrote their entire second album.

Here's the pair:

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