June Moon: RC Cola and a Moon Pie

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Today is the only song in our monthlong salute to the moon that doesn’t explicitly refer to the big thing in the sky. No, it’s the southern version. The official meal of the south. Here’s today’s song with a hearty and loud “Linda? NO!!!!!!” RC Cola and a Moon Pie - Big Bill Lister There’s an absolutely hilarious thing in a Neil Sedaka video on YouTube, where he prefaces playing his 1960 hit “Stairway to Heaven” by saying, “You may know, or maybe you don’t know, that song titles can’t be copyrighted. So, Led Zeppelin, I forgive you.” It’s not strange to have multiple different songs with identical “common” names, like “I’m Sorry” (Brenda Lee, John Denver) or “Walk On By” (Dionne Warwick, Leroy Van Dyke). Even yesterday’s song, “Mr. Moonlight,” has a title twin (a song originally done by Dr. Feelgood and the Interns, later covered by the Beatles). But TWO different songs named “RC Cola and a Moon Pie”???? Yep. The one you probably wish I had used was the NRBQ song, written by Terry Adams. No, the one I am using is a 1951 country song that was written by Vic McAlpin. To explain: Moon Pies are huge (3 1/2 inches wide and an inch thick) cake-like things that are marshmallow stuffing between two round graham crackers, which are then covered in chocolate (there are other coatings, from vanilla to banana to strawberry, but the only PROPER one is chocolate ). RC (Royal Crown) Cola was an anomaly because, unlike the 6 1/2-ounce Coke bottle or the 10-ounce Pepsi bottle, it came in 12 ounce bottles. An RC Cola and a Moon Pie, therefore, was referred to as “the working man’s lunch” in the south. And if you’re wondering about the line about Brogans, those were high-ankle shoes that served as boots. (Think what the Beatles wore when they started, just dirty from work. ) Big Bill Lister, who was 6’7” (hence the nickname), was a contemporary of Hank Williams. In fact, he was the first person to commercially release “There’s a Tear in My Beer.” That’s him behind Hank and Lefty Frizzell in the screen shot. That’s your way-too-much-information southern history lesson for today. RC Cola and a Moon Pie Written by Vic McAlpin Recorded by Big Bill Lister Released as a single, 1951 I sold my calf for a dollar and a half: