Well, this was one of the 45-rpm records that spun at our house when me, my brother and sister were all very young. While there was a mixture of Beethoven, Mozart, and others, there were also a few popular songs of the day. I didn't really remember much about it, though I have frequently thought of the song, "The Thing." After doing some research, I discovered it was sung by Phil Harris [1904-1995], whose was married to actress Alice Faye [1915-1998]. This was the second marriage for both. Harris and Faye often worked together on the stage and remained married until Harris died in 1995 at the age of 91. Some may well remember the Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show, or appearances on the Jack Benny Show.
Recordings come and go, and some things from your earliest listening experiences stick with one ... but how nice that there is a collection of 24 songs sung by Phil Harris on the Jasmine record label [JASCD 350] (for about $15 + post on Amazon). The disc apparently was issued in 1999. This disc is entitled Phil Harris: His Original and Greatest Hits, and thankfully, among the 24 tracks is "The Thing." No doubt the original discs were used for digitization, but the quality (all mono, of course), is excellent and aren't aware of any vinyl sound.
I mentioned this to mum because she recently found some old records in her mum's wardrobe - strange and fun stuff indeed - so the subject was in the air - and she remembers "The Thing" from an UK radio show called the Billy Cotton Band show or something! She remembers it sung to the "Lincolnshire Poacher" tune! She hadn't heard of Phil Harris, though.
