Elmo & Patsy-Grandma Got Run Over By...

It might've been back in December of 1979, but I'm almost certain it
wasn't until December of 1980, when our station started getting big
requests for this song. But, until the 1984 Epic re-recording, we would
never get a copy of the song into our station. I believe our city's album
rocker ran Dr. Demento on weekends. As a song, "Grandma..." was right
up his alley. The station must've then begun to play the song in regular
holiday rotation. Because, clearly, folks in our area were hearing the song
somewhere on local radio - and it wasn't us. And while I'd hardly compare
this to a Top 40 rival hammering a new Beatle track in 1964 that no one
else had, for example, no PD/MD ever wants to not even have access to a
song that's generating good local buzz.

I was only out of college a year, but I'd already become known as "the guy
who owns every song in history" at the station. Even though I didn't yet.
Not by a long shot. But back then, I felt heavy pressure to always come
through for the station, whenever they'd ask me for stuff. (After all, they
gave me a chance on-air, without even an aircheck tape, for reasons that
escape me to this day.) The MD asked me if I had a copy of "Grandma...",
saying they really needed it. Luckily, I'd gotten a copy of it only *days*
before. In Fall '79, my best friend in college had began law school, 3
hours away, in Albany, NY. I'd go up one weekend a month, mainly getting
introduced to the local brew of choice, Genesee (they called it "Jenny"), Mr.
Subb, and a supermarket called Price Chopper, none of which ever existed
in CT (please correct me if I'm wrong, Andy Chouffi!)   :)

My buddy said that a WWII vet came back home in 1945, and opened his
own record shop. By 1958, he was stocking the entire Hot 100, and he
would buy a dozen extra cutout copies of each, on the cheap, when they
were being deleted as currents. As a result, years later, he still had
quantity on unplayed, original copies, for 98%+ of all old hit 45s. And yes,
they could be quite pricey to acquire. He also stocked a ton of
seasonal/novelty/comedy music. My buddy knew I collected 45s, so he
specifically brought me there, on my first trip up. It changed my life. I'd
never seen a place anything like it, before or since. The owner's wife was
always there, too. She would smile, but she would never interact with
customers. Interior design was her skill. All their 45s were behind the
counter. As were the LPs themselves. (Only the LP jackets, in plastic, were
accessible for customers to browse through-you had to ask them for the
record, if interested.) It was well-lit, and impeccably clean. It didn't have
that old, dingy record shop look, that us collectors never seem to mind.
(Forgive me - I know 99% of us have been inside many a Mom-and-Pop
shop. I just had to share the wonder of my "Holy Grail", all-time #1
favorite place, with you. The memories suddenly all flooded back, thinking
about "Grandma...". To me, them having this 45 was possibly their finest
hour. Now please, wake up!!!!)    :)   

While on-the-air the previous week, I'd gotten several requests for
"Grandma...". It was the first song I'd even gotten a request for that I was
100% unfamiliar with. So I knew I'd likely be getting asked about it soon,
unless a copy had arrived into the station. I knew I couldn't count on such
luck, though. So when I walked into Abe's record shop, while visiting the
very next weekend, I knew I wanted that Elmo & Patsy 45 - and I wanted it
BAD.

Well, thank goodness. Somehow, Abe had it in stock. It was on the "Oink"
label. I snagged it on a Saturday, and, wouldn't you know, the MD asked
me if I happened to have a copy of it the very next Tuesday! Somehow, my
"musicologist" reputation had remained spotless. By the skin of my teeth!
I'd rather be lucky than good...

Enough psychobabble! Now to the song's 45 history. I never had a copy of
the initial, private-press 45. Wikipedia states that the Oink 45 was a re-
recorded version of the private-press 45, but I couldn't previously
confirm/refute this, not owning one. Well, I finally just snared a copy, on
eBay. As best as my tin ear can surmise, although the two are very similar,
I'm just about positive I hear minor differences, in both the guitar playing
and vocals. (I will be shooting both versions out to my buddy Aaron ASAP,
for confirmation, as his busy schedule permits.) Although the private
press 45 doesn't say "Oink" anywhere on it, it does use both the same,
cream-colored label and the exact same pig "caricature" as the later Oink
45 does. And they both have "Christmas" as the B-side. Here are the full
particulars:

-Elmo 'n' Patsy--"Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer"

Private Pressing:
-on "Elmo 'n' Patsy" KP2984A (listed time 3:30; actual time 3:25)
(Deadwax "R-5029", followed by a faint "3A4KP-98-1-R"). It states, 1979
Kim-Pat Ent., Fayetteville, Tenn., and shows a phone # on the label's
bottom rim. It lists a Windsor, CA PO Box on the label's left side, the stock
#, timing and publishing on the right side, with just the artist name, in
large, handwriting-style letters, on the top.

Wikipedia states that the "Oink" 45 copies were primarily distributed out
west, while an agreement was struck with Nashville, TN's Nationwide
Sound Distributors, to press up/distribute Soundwaves 45 copies to the
Eastern half of the country. I know that my Albany, NY shop only had Oink
copies in 1980. The next December (1981), my intent was to buy another
copy or two of it, and gift one to the station, as backup. That's when Abe
also had the copies on Soundwaves. They were less expensive than his
Oink copies, and he assured me that both the Oink and Soundwaves
recordings were identical. I believe that the Soundwaves pressings were
the most commonly available 45s (but keep in mind, I'm here in CT, not
out west. But I base my conclusion on what's mostly offered on eBay.)
There were two different designs for Soundwaves: the first had the label
name largely written across the top, while later copies had Soundwaves in
smaller letters, enclosed by a circle and a quasi-radio wave design. Aside
from this difference, all Soundwave copies contain the exact same audio
as the Oink 45 does. My research indicates that during the Christmas
seasons of 1981, 1982 and 1983, this was the definitive source for this
track. To this day, it's not on a ton of CDs, but both the Billboard 1955-
present V/A Christmas CD and 1984 Elmo & Patsy Epic CD feature the
1984 Epic re-recording. I was initially skeptical that the public wouldn't go
for a re-sing, after 4-5 years of hearing the other version. But, egghead
that I am, I seem to be the only one that ever noticed this fact! The public
seemed to "adopt" the re-sing immediately, as the definitive version. I
can't help but wonder why Epic just didn't buy the Oink/Soundwaves
recording outright? The sound on that recording is perfectly OK. Was
somebody holding out for a fortune for the master tape? Or was Elmo
Stropshire anxious to begin a relationship with Epic, record an entire LP,
and hopefully further his success? Probably the latter.....      

Oink KP-2984-A 45 pressing:
-same stock # as the private press (listed 3:30; actual 3:25) (Deadwax:
"KP-2984-A", followed by "L-3469")

Soundwaves NSD/SW4658 pressing:
-the exact same recording as the Oink 45 (listed 3:30; actual 3:25)
(Deadwax:"R-5029")

Finally, details for the 1984, re-recorded Epic 34-04703 45 (listed &
actual time 3:26) (1984 promo 45 deadwax: "ZSS-169846-1B" (flip side
ends in 1C)). A later promo copy we got in, likely in either '85 or '86,
(promo stock #15-05479), has the same Epic deadwax, except it ends in
"1H", with Epic adding "November, 1984" to this later promo 45's label.
Columbia/Epic had a habit of often adding an "original recording date", to
both some of their holiday and oldies 45 catalog re-issues. The Epic 34-
04703 stock copy included "Percy, The Puny Poinsettia" as the B-side.
(The deadwax info is exactly the same as one side of my 1984 promo,
ending in "1C".)

Edited by jimct

Wow, Brian - to see that old e-mail response from Elmo himself was
great!

When I was younger, I would surely take information like that, which is
"right from the horses' mouth", as gospel. But over more recent times, I've
concluded that, while a few artists have still retained an amazing memory,
as to level of detail (for example, I interviewed Petula Clark, around
2005. She was prepping for a week-long string of shows at a big CT
casino. We hit it off. She gave me three times the allotted length. Almost a
full hour. Man, I got the impression I could've asked her anything about
any song she'd ever sung, and could've provided instant recall! - too bad I
can't get her back on the horn, and find out why her Complete Singles set
on Real Gone fizzled, right? Somehow, I know she'd know what
happened!)

But I'd never heard of, or ever seen a copy, of that Elmo & Patsy LP coming
out on Soundwaves, and then later being "picked up" by Epic? Yes, that's a
pretty major detail for Elmo to be mis-remembering. But, until I see vinyl
proof of that Epic LP on Soundwaves, I'm gonna lump Elmo's kind reply
into the category of "If you wanna get to the bottom of an artist's
discography, the last person on earth you should ask is the artist
themselves!" I already know that Elmo's statement about the Oink 45
being issued first is wrong. I'm holding the private pressing in my hand
right now, and the word "Oink" does not appear on it anywhere.....    

Edited by jimct

To Jim:

Yes, Jim, 'Price Chopper', borne out of 'Central Market' was in '79 pretty much still confined to the Schenectady/Albany/Troy area. I was actually working at a Price Chopper in 1978/1979 when I got my first bar DJ gig, and yes I consumed a fair amount of Genny Cream Ale back then.

Andy

jimct wrote: Finally, I'm not real clear on what you meant when you said no one where you were "officially played" the song 'til '84.

What I meant was if it was played, it was just spiked
once or twice in the morning show as a novelty item, as
opposed to being part of the rotation of Christmas songs.
The station I was at from '78-83 never played it, nor did
anyone else I ever heard (though our local soft AC did
play "Christmas", the B side).

AndrewChouffi wrote: To Jim: Yes, Jim, 'Price Chopper', borne out of 'Central Market' was in '79 pretty much still confined to the Schenectady/Albany/Troy area.

Actually, Price Chopper has quite a presence in Vermont,
with a couple stores in N.H. as well. The store name
isn't terribly accurate...of the 3 chains in the area
(PC, Hannaford & Shaws), PC's prices are generally the
highest.
Genessee beer is (or at least was in the late 70s) sold
in N.H. For a budget brand it was OK.

Very interesting thread! About 6 or 7 years ago, I was browsing the used 45s at Half Price Books. I stumbled upon an original private pressing 45, and I bought it for about a buck, not having any idea how rare it is. I was just curious about its audio content, since I had only ever heard the Epic re-recording. I have it sitting in front of me right now, and it's exactly like the copy Jim describes above. It's on a cream colored label with no mention of "Oink" anywhere. It simply says "Elmo & Patsy" in big script letters across the top, and there is a picture of a pig on the left side of the label.