Big Ten Inch Record Explained

Big Ten Inch Record
Type:single
Artist:Bull Moose Jackson
B-Side:I Needed You
Released:1952
Genre:Rhythm and blues, dirty blues
Label:King

"Big Ten Inch Record", also known as "Big Ten-Inch (Record of the Blues)",[1] is a rhythm and blues song written by Fred Weismantel. It was first recorded in 1952 by Bull Moose Jackson and released by King Records, originally on 10" vinyl, the most popular format at the time. The song was later covered by Aerosmith and released as part of the 1975 album, Toys in the Attic. It has been rated as one of the best double entendre songs of all time.[2]

Versions

Bull Moose Jackson

The original version of the song was performed by Bull Moose Jackson. It was released in 1952 on King Records as disc 4580.[3] [4] Jackson was backed on the recording by Tiny Bradshaw's Orchestra.[5] The song was not a hit, reportedly due to the fact that it was "too suggestive" and "radio stations wouldn't touch it".[6] [1]

Jackson stopped performing in the 1960s and worked as a food service worker in Washington, D.C. In the 1980s, his popularity was revived after a Pennsylvania band, The Flashcats, began playing "Big Ten Inch Record" at their shows and invited Jackson to perform with them.[1] [7]

Jackson's version of the song has been re-issued on multiple compilation discs, including Badman Jackson That's Me (1991),[8] Ride, Daddy, Ride and Other Songs of Love (1991),[9] Risque Blues: The King Anthology (2002),[10] The Very Best of Bull Moose Jackson: Big Ten-Inch Record (2004),[11] and The Bull Moose Jackson Collection 1945–55 (2013).[12]

Aerosmith

The rock band Aerosmith covered the song on its 1975 album, Toys in the Attic.[13] The recording was Aerosmith's second cover of rhythm and blues songs from the early 1950s, having covered "Train Kept A-Rollin'" on its 1974 album, Get Your Wings.[14] They also covered an r&b hit from 1963, "Walking the Dog" by Rufus Thomas on their eponymous debut in 1973.

The song received mixed reviews. One critic predicted that it would be "the only Aerosmith song hoary historians and earnest teen-agers will be playing 100 years from now."[15] On the other hand, Mark Simmons of The Austin American-Statesman called it "low humor" and opined that "the double entendre 'Big Ten Inch' goes deservedly limp."[16]

While it was omitted from Greatest Hits in 1980,[15] the song has since been re-issued on multiple Aerosmith compilations, including Pandora's Box (1991),[17] Aerosmith's Greatest Hits 1973–1988 (2001),[18] O, Yeah! Ultimate Aerosmith Hits (2002),[19] and The Essential Aerosmith (2011).[20]

Additional covers

In addition to Aerosmith, the song has also been covered by other artists, including Sugar Blue and Marshall Crenshaw,[21] Al Copley,[22] Blerta, The Roadrunners,[23] Dana Gillespie,[24] and Candye Kane.[25]

Lyrics and double entendre

On its face, the song describes the reaction of the singer's girlfriend when he plays his latest ten-inch record. However, by the repeated use of a pregnant pause prior to the word "record", the song suggests that the woman is excited not by the record but by the narrator's endowment. The following passage is typical:

Got me the strangest woman
Believe it, this chick's no cinch
But I really get her goin'
When I take out my Big Ten Inch
Record of the band that plays the blues[26]

In The History of Rock & Roll, Ed Ward called the song "a masterpiece of double entendre and timing".[27] Although the song's lyrics are written in the form of an "extended sexual metaphor", they have been cited as part of a trend toward more "open sexuality" in rhythm and blues music of the early 1950s.[28]

In 2014, Salon rated Aerosmith's "Big Ten Inch Record'" as one of the 19 greatest double entendre songs of all time.[29]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Tyler covered 'Big Ten-Inch' Record, but Bull Moose Jackson did it first. Mike Greenblatt. January 22, 2015.
  2. Web site: The 19 greatest double entendre songs: From "It Ain't the Meat" to "Let Me Play with Your Poodle," the sneakiest sex songs in the history of music. Salon. Noah Berlatsky. June 28, 2014 . salon.com.
  3. Book: Blues Records, 1943–1970: A Selective Discography. Mike Leadbitter, Neil Slaven. Record Information Services. 1987. 655.
  4. Book: The King Labels: A Discography – Volume 1. Michael Ruppli, William R. Daniels. 1985. Greenwood Press. 254. 9780313251450.
  5. Book: American Popular Music: New Approaches to the Twentieth Century. University of Massachusetts Press. 2001. 130. 9781558492677. ("Big Ten - inch Record, ” recorded by Moose Jackson and the Tiny Bradshaw Orchestra in 1952, is another example of the ways in which artists invoked the myths of black male sexuality to undercut them.")
  6. Book: Vladimir Bogdanov, Chris Woodstra, Stephen Thomas Erlewine. All Music Guide to Blues: The Definitive Guide to the Blues. 2003. Backbeat Books. 271. 0879307366.
  7. News: Flashcats, 'Bull Moose' resurrect R&B oldies. The Pittsburgh Press. Jim White. July 9, 1985. C5. Newspapers.com.
  8. Web site: Badman Jackson That's Me. Allmusic. November 15, 2020.
  9. Web site: Ride, Daddy, Ride and Other Songs of Love. Allmusic. November 15, 2020.
  10. Web site: Risque Blues: The King Anthology. Allmusic. November 15, 2020.
  11. Web site: The Very Best of Bull Moose Jackson. Allmusic. November 15, 2020.
  12. Web site: The Bull Moose Jackson Collection 1945–55. Allmusic. November 15, 2020.
  13. Web site: Toys in the Attic. Allmusic. November 15, 2020.
  14. News: Jack's Music. The Cumberland News. Jack Kegg. September 20, 1975. 7.
  15. News: Review of Aerosmith's Greatest Hits. Fort Lauderdale News and Sun-Sentinel. November 21, 1970. Cameron Cohick. 22S. Newspapers.com.
  16. News: Innocence wears off edge of Aerosmith's sounds. The Austin American-Statesman. Mark Simmons. August 31, 1975. 4, 5. Newspapers.com.
  17. Web site: Pandora's Box. Allmusic. November 15, 2020.
  18. Web site: Aerosmith's Greatest Hits 1973–1988. Allmusic. November 15, 2020.
  19. Web site: O, Yeah! Ultimate Aerosmith Hits. Allmusic. November 15, 2020.
  20. Web site: The Essential Aerosmith. Allmusic. November 15, 2020.
  21. Web site: Sweet Emotion: The Songs of Aerosmith. Allmusic. November 15, 2020.
  22. Web site: Automatic Overdrive. Allmusic. November 15, 2020.
  23. Web site: Nightcrawlin'. Allmusic. November 15, 2020.
  24. Web site: Blue Jobh. Allmusic. November 15, 2020.
  25. Web site: Burlesque Swing. Allmusic. November 15, 2020.
  26. Web site: Big Ten-Inch Record, Bull Moose Jackson. Genius.com. November 16, 2020.
  27. Book: The History of Rock & Roll, volume one 1920–1963. Ed Ward. Flatiron Books. 2016. 80. 9781250071163.
  28. Parallels in the Social Reactions to Jazz and Rock. Jonathan Kamin. The Black Perspective in Music . 3 . 3), Autumn 1975. 1975. 281. 10.2307/1214013 . 1214013.
  29. Web site: The 19 greatest double entendre songs: From "It Ain't the Meat" to "Let Me Play with Your Poodle," the sneakiest sex songs in the history of music. Salon. Noah Berlatsky. June 28, 2014 . salon.com.