Raleigh and much of the rest of North Carolina are still reeling from Saturday’s tornadoes. It breaks your heart to see all the destruction and hear of the lives and homes lost, but it’s great to watch people bouncing back, helping each other out and just generally being Good.
With all this going on, I keep thinking about Melody Time (1948), the Disney feature that gave us the “Pecos Bill” sequence — tied with Ichabod And Mr. Toad (1949) for my all-time favorite Disney animated thing. But what Pecos has that Toad lacks is Roy Rogers and The Sons Of The Pioneers, who sing of Pecos showing a tornado just who’s boss:
“Once he roped a raging cyclone out of nowhere
Then he straddled it and settled down with ease
And while that cyclone bucked and flitted
Pecos rolled a smoke and lit it
And he tamed that ornery wind down to a breeze”
Raleigh sure coulda used Bill last Saturday.
The wonderful Pecos Bill record, complete with MP3s and original artwork, was featured as part of the Kiddie Records Weekly project. Here. He’s Week 15. As a kid, I played this LP (a Camden re-issue with Johnny Appleseed on the other side) till the grooves were practically gone. (Explains a lot, I guess.) Go get it, folks!
As a true corrupter of youth, I felt compelled to search out an image of Pecos with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth.
The Melody Time segment is on YouTube, if you search for ‘Pecos Bill uncut.’ It’s neat to see Roy and the Pioneers in Technicolor for once. I have their recording of ‘Blue Shadows on the Trail’ on my mp3 player – the version used in the movie, though, is a little longer, and has some pretty remarkable whistling by Ken Carson.
You’re right! In all his smoke-rolling glory:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OO00DpbJDuA
My sympathies go out to all those who’ve had their lives literally turned upside down by the freak weather. Thankfully, I’ve never experienced a twister, it must be a scary event.
BTW, that’s a wonderful shot of Pecos Bill.