Song:The Battle Of Kookamonga
Album:America's Song Butchers: The Weird World Of Homer & Jethro
Homer & Jethro were a country music version of Spike Jones. They did song parodies but in the country music style. And like Jones, there was plenty of musical talent undeneath the silliness. The Battle Of Kookamonga was their biggest chart success. Homer was born Henry Haynes July 27, 1918 in Knoxville, TN and Jethro was born Kenneth Burns Mar. 10, 1923 in Knoxville, TN. The two met at a 1936 audition at Knoxville radio station WNOX. They heard a pop singer singing a song parody in a hillbilly voice and thought they could do it better. This landed them on the Renfro Valley Barn Dance show on Cincinnati radio station WLW. After they both served in WWII, they went back to WLW. And after releasing a few singles on King Records, They signed with RCA Records and RCA Nashville A & R head Steve Sholes suggested that they stick to parodies of popular songs. They even toured with Spike Jones for a while. Homer & Jethro's first big hit was Baby, It's Cold Outside featuring June Carter. This landed them on the National Barn Dance radio show and they were also regulars on the Chicago morning show Don McNeil's Breakfast Club. The Battle Of Kookamonga was a parody of the Johnny Horton hit The Battle Of New Orleans. In Homer & Jethro's version, Boy Scouts were chasing Girl Scouts. In 1959, it reached #14 on the pop singles chart and won them a Grammy. In the 60s, they appeared a lot on TV especially sitcoms like Green Acres. But these guys could play. Burns usually wrote the parodies and he was a tremendous mandolin player. You can hear that on the Nashville String Band albums Homer & Jethro recorded with Chet Atkins. This comp from Razor & Tie is definitive. Homer died of a heart attack on Aug. 7, 1971 at age 51. Burns tried to continue Homer & Jethro with Ken Eidson. But then he retired until folksinger Steve Goodman convinced him to go on the road with him. New Grass Revival mandolinist Sam Bush was also a big fan and arranged for Burns to record on Flying Fish Records in 1975. And he also appeared on Hee Haw with Chet Atkinhs and Johnny Gimble as Million Dollar Band. Jethro Burns died on Feb. 4, 1989 at age 68 and Homer & Jethro were inducted into the Country Music Hall Of Fame in 2001. Here's Homer & Jethro performing The Battle Of Kookamonga on The Jimmy Dean Show 1963.
Thanks for posting the video. It's from a 1965 film called "Second Fiddle to a Steel Guitar."
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