1956 Songs: Hart Brake Motel

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Elvis, get your Elvis here! I told you 1956 was heavily influenced by Mr. Presley. While today’s song isn’t by Elvis, it was certainly recorded because of him. Let’s jump back 70 years for today’s song, that’s hopefully going to tickle your funny bone. Hart Brake Motel - Homer & Jethro This little fella is Homer, my name is Jethro. We’re not brothers. My brother is living. (Jethro’s introduction) Two interesting things happened at the 1955 Disc Jockey Convention centered around this song. One of them was a shy Elvis Presley walked up to Homer and Jethro (as I always tell you kids, they were Weird Al before Weird Al was even born), professed his admiration for their work, and told them he hoped that one day he could be half as successful as they were. (By 1955, Homer and Jethro had scored a million-selling record with “How Much Is That Hound Dog in the Window,” which, until Ray Stevens’ “The Streak” in 1974, was the only country comedy million-selling record ever.) The other thing that happened was Mae Boren Axton gave the song “Heartbreak Hotel” to Presley. She and steel guitarist Tommy Durden had written the song after Axton read a newspaper story about a despondent man jumping to his death from a hotel window. (Ha, you’ll never hear “Heartbreak Hotel” again the same way now, will you!) Elvis loved the song and agreed to record it (providing, Colonel Tom Parker said, Presley got partial songwriting credit). A year later, Presley had a huge hit, Hoyt Axton’s mom was rolling in dough, and Homer and Jethro set the song in their parody crosshairs. They turned heartbreak into cheapness (“he said I could eat dirt cheap here, and he was so right;” “you can have a room but you will have to make your bed…then he reached out and handed me a hammer and a saw”) and hilarity. A little trivia: Elvis’ big hit “Hound Dog” was NOT the first time that had been released on RCA Victor Records as a single. The first time was in 1953…by Homer & Jethro. Worried about the state of parodies, they did some “straight” recording in 1952 and 1953, including four sides as “Jack Turner and His Grainger County Gang.” One of the four songs they recorded was “Hound Dog,” more faithful to the Big Mama Thornton version than Presley’s! When Homer died in 1971, Elvis sent flowers to the funeral. Obviously Elvis’ love for them never waned. Hart Brake Motel Written by Mae Boren Axton and Tommy Durden; parody lyrics by Henry Haynes and Kenneth Burns Recorded by Homer & Jethro Released as a single, 1956 I ain’t got room to change my mind: