The Pretzel Sisters (Mamie and Trixie)Night of the Beagle
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Warning!!!
This one is a little complex...
This song is like Meet Me in Iceland, in that we took a song from my brother, this time one titled "Night of the Beagle", and made it interesting. Abstract: If you don't want to deal with the whole explanation, here's the executive summary. The song
has been fully re-imagined as being discovered on a
long-forgotten cassette in the back of a disused
closet in a sad and lonely room; a number performed by
the legendary Tim
Tew Four, with special guests The Pretzel Sisters (Tim
introducing the special treat, a young lady in the
audience). The song itself is one of those Carlos
Santana wannabes Tim could never remember the
name to, that's been lyrically written in the
vernacular of Thom Turner
(of famed "Mexico" music). Because it is titled "Night of the Beagle",
its narrative is themed around the concept of a
relationship between Snoopy
and Peppermint
Patty. Their relationship is
established by Patty's
call to Charlie Brown, in
which she invites Snoopy over to her house, as her
father is out of town. Snoopy, upon hearing this
news, cackles wildly, as he knows Patty's true intent
must be to have amorous relations. In Snoopy's
personality, this desire manifests in the form of a
strong Latin lover, with visions of "Golden Mexico" (which
comes to represent the concept of bestiality),
and he adopts a secondary persona that sings in the
voice of the
guy who does the durge version of "Roxanne" in
"Moulin Rouge" (the most macho, yet silly Latino
I could do). He sings in Spanish:
Soy tu perro (I am your
dog)
Eres mi puta (You're my
bitch)
Illegal
Night of the Beagle
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Background: In DeLand, where we all grew up, the music store was run by a guy named Thom Turner. Thom had visions of being a recording star of his own, and wrote country tunes. He especially seemed to favor songs about Mexico. He paid Trixie and Tim, the drummer from The Tim Tew Four, to play with him in the studio for some tracks, resulting in two of the inspirational sources found here, "Mexico" and "The Bull". Later on, alone with a drum machine and a four-track, Thom made his own solo recordings, which resulted in such gems as "Southern Loving Magazine." This is the same era, more or less, when my brother was working at the music store with Tim and Trixie, followed by his leaving and my joining the band. So the Banter Medley from the The Tim Tew Four is very much part of establishing the time frame for the piece along with Thom's recordings aka "The Turner Tapes." |
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Night of the Beagle (Original Version)
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Mark Carter-Night of the Beagle
<--Click here to listen |
Thom Turner's Tunes
I digitized Thom's recordings a few years back and
collected them into an album I call "They Don't Make 'Em Like
They Used To" (another of his originals). Even
made an album cover. |
Mexico "Love her, yes, I love
her, and she'll live forever in my memory" The Bull Southern Loving
Magazine |
Night of the Beagle (Pretzel
Sisters Mix)
So, what to do? After several rejected proposals, and at
least as many beers, Trixie suggested that Snoopy, being
the first well-known beagle we could come up with, could
have a "real" night, if you know what I mean, nudge
nudge, say
no more. |
Night of the Beagle
<--Click here to listen |
| Lyrics Night of the Beagle The Pretzel Sisters (feat. Mark Carter) <bass bump> Tim: Okay, I hope everybody's having a good time tonight, <bass bump> Tim: I know we are. Mamie: Look out! Tim: We've got a special treat coming up after this tune for you. We've got a young lady in the audience. Mamie: Look out! Tim: Ladies and gentlemen, we have a small announcement... Guy: Dick Clark...is drunk. He doesn't know where he is, he knows who he is, he knows who he came with and he's leaving with her, a real nice lady, Jeannie... Mamie: Look out! Guy: There he is, right over here... Tim: Alright, here's a little Santana... Mamie: Look out! <phone rings> Charlie Brown: Hello? Peppermint Patty: Hiya, Chuck, this is Peppermint Patty. I need a little help Chuck. Charlie Brown: What can I do for you? Peppermint Patty: My dad's going out of town again. Can Snoopy come over and be my watchdog? Charlie Brown: I don't see why not. He's not doing anything. <Snoopy laughs> Charlie Brown: Except reading his favorite book about the bunny wunnies. I'll send him right over. <Snoopy laughs> Charlie Brown: That was Peppermint Patty. She'd like you to be her watchdog. <Snoopy laughs> Tim: I'd also like to remind you to be sure to get your tickets to the Cadillac that Delta's giving away. Your daddy is away I come over to play 'Cause Playboy is nice But Peppermint's sweeter <Thom Turner: Golden Mexico> I dream of Mexican shores Stories of old matadors And I'll take you there You'll be my senior-eeter Soy tu perro Eres mi puta Ill-legal Night of the Beagle <Thom Turner: Mexicooo> Soy tu perro Eres mi puta Ill-legal Night of the Beagle It's just like a scene From Southern Lovin' Magazine, querida Let's go back to your room <Snoopy laughs> <Thom Turner: Love Her, Yes I Love Her, And She'll Live Forever In My Memory> <Beagle howls and continues howling> Peppermint Patty: Oh, good grief! Auuugh! Auuugh! Quit pushing! Ow! Marcie: Sir, you're making too much noise. Can't you just kiss him goodnight and let it go at that? Peppermint Patty: If I ever get off this waterbed I'll kick him, not kiss him! Marcie! Help me get off this waterbed! Aaaaugh! Ah! Now the bull it has gone I know I should just move on But something this way Makes me want to stay <Thom Turner: Golden Mexico> Those lucky few that know Golden old Mexico They know what we do Cause they do it too <Snoopy laughs> Soy tu perro Eres mi puta Ill-legal Night of the Beagle Trixie: (I'm gonna buy me a dog) Soy tu perro Eres mi puta Ill-legal Night of the Beagle Tim: Uh! Alright! Mamie: Uh! Tim: Thank you! Trixie: Larry Cornwall on keyboards Tim: We're gonna slow it down a little bit Mamie: Thank you, you're beautiful! Tim: Here's one by The Rutles |
Analysis/Commentary
Night of the Beagle
Start out setting the scene with a classic lounge line from Tim. Mamie's repeated "Look Out!" foreshadows the parody to come The "young lady in the audience" refers to the Pretzel Sisters and Mamie singing this number. The "Dick Clark is drunk" is not only funny, it also helps makes the transition over to... The Santana number we used to play in The Tim Tew Four - I don't think it had a name. Tim always just called it "Santana" or "A Little Santana". Of course, NotB is basically "a little Santana" too, so... This clip is from "Snoopy's Getting Married, Charlie Brown" and once found established a great deal of what came to be Night of the Beagle. The beauty of this clip is the way we didn't have to do anything to it; once we found where to drop it in, it just fell in place. The dad out of town *That evil cackle* The "book about the bunny wunnies" being a Playboy The stage is set... And then Tim, A) to remind you it's a TTF song B) because that's exactly what Tim would do. Take a 5 second pause in a song and fill it with banter. Uncanny the way Thom's "Mexicos" match up, then again, that's the point. The verses liberally steal from Thom's songs to tie this song to them. Taking that a step further, "Golden Mexico" becomes the metaphor for Snoopy's designs The translation: I am your dog You are my bitch Sounds so much more radio-friendly in Spanish, don't you think? When Snoopy speaks/sings in Spanish, his alter ego comes out, who sounds like that guy from Moulin Rouge. This is his first appearance. The next two sections are, to Mamie, the most fascinating. Each sister had a major design influence on one of the two They're like contrasting studies in cinematic collaboration by directorial greats Trixie carefully spliced and edited tempo/duration to create the "Love Her" piece. It's like Alfred Hitchcock teamed with Salvador Dali in Spellbound. This, however, is Mamie's work. Think David Cronenberg and William S. Burroughs making "Naked Lunch". The main clip is from "Race For Your Life, Charlie Brown" and very funny in its original context. Combined here with real beagles howling, howling...well... it's..."Golden Mexico"...  Okay, that was about as offensive as it gets, let's wrap up the concept with some good ol' Thom-based lyrics Every one of these "Golden Mexico" bits cracks us up no end. Sorry if it's too inside a joke. Tie it all up in a bow Golden old Mexico You know what it means Some disgusting things *and that evil cackle* For the choruses, we split into three parts and spread over the stereo. Most right is Mamie/Snoopy normal, most left is Snoopy/Rooxxaannnee Dude, and center is a high-pitched choir filling with key words Requisite Monkees reference Aaaannd... Wrap it up, Tim Trixie mentioning Larry the keyboard player Mamie's standard closing remark Actually, I think Tim says "The Eagles", but damn if every time I listen I don't hear "The Rutles"  |
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