Custer Songs

[Scout]

I'm trying to compile a list of songs with the words Custer or Little Big Horn in them. Here are the three biggest I found.

1. ''Please Mr. Custer'' by Larry Verne....this of course, is the biggest..went to number one in 1960.
2. ''Custer'' by Johnny Cash...this one's an anti-Custer song written by Cash in 1964 for his Bitter Tears LP.
3. ''Billy Bayou'' by Roger Miller in 1958..Kind of a cute, little ditty...makes you want to sing along with it....Miller was a brilliant song writer. Charley Pride also does a good version of this.

Does anyone know of any others by well known artists?

Scout

[George Armstrong Custer]

Nice novelty thread, Scout! Here's a contribution:

An album of circa 1960 called SMASH FLOPS by the 'Characters' quartet has the following track:

WE'RE DEPENDING ON YOU GENERAL CUSTER

We're depending on you
To wipe out the Sioux
We know you'll come through, General Custer
That whole savage race
Will retreat in disgrace
You'll put them in their place, General Custer
Ride out to the Little Big Horn
Surround that Indian band
And history will recall this day
As Sitting Bull's Last Stand
Soon you'll taste victory's fruits
Sound the drums and the flutes
Wish we were in your boots, General Custer

Jeez, with lyrics that classy, it's hard to believe it was a flop! ;D

Ciao,
George

[Scout]

Way to go big G! Never heard of that one...does the fact that it was on an LP called 'Smash Flops' have anything to do with it....can't understand why 'The Characters' weren't as big as the Beatles.

I'll add it to my list...would love to hear it...maybe I can locate one on ebay. There has to be more out there though..somewhere.
Thanks for the input!

Scout

[George Armstrong Custer]

Scout,
It's breaking my heart to think of you fruitlessly searching ebay's listings for a non-existent album!
Like 'The Rutles' I'm afraid 'The Characters' are a clever spoof! Check 'them' out at:

tmazanec1.xepher.net/smashflops.html

Some of 'their' other lyrics are absolutely hilarious; a real hoot! ;D

Melodically,
George

[Diane Merkel]

Here's a real one, Scout! It doesn't mention Custer, but it certainly references the battle.

On Aimee Mann's album Lost in Space there is a song called "Today's the Day." Part of the lyrics go:

And isn't it enough?
Like Major Reno at the bluff
Wondering aloud if help is on the way.

LBHA member Rod Hoffner found that one. Dale Kosman told me that the song was written by Michael Penn, Sean Penn's brother.

[George Armstrong Custer]

Scout & Diane,
I wonder what the author of Diane's song thought Custer was 'wondering aloud' on Custer Hill whilst he waited for Reno?!

The 'Characters' song may be a spoof, but its still a composition - just never released! - so I think it should be included in your list Scout! In a similar vein, here's a Custer parody based on a Grateful Dead song (so you know what tune to request if you want to sing these lyrics at a karaoke bar ). I think this should be included on your list as well:

"Custer's Last Stand" Parody by Tim Hall

Based on the "Uncle John's Band" performance by Grateful Dead:

When the Army tried to drive the Sioux, from their ancestral land,
They joined up with the Cheyenne tribe, and they made a valiant stand.
Led by Sitting Bull, they made history,
Oh, no, George didn’t know there, were too many

George Custer attended West Point; he was last in his class.
He was court-martialed but the Civil War saved his ass.
Led the cavalry. Victory over Lee
He helped the U.S defeat the Confederacy.

Out in the Northern Plains, Custer was wearing blue
He advanced his forces too quickly and was trapped by the Sioux
Here was Custer’s Last Stand, near Little Big Horn
Surrounded in Montana, where all of his troops were murdered.

It's the same tale by historians; over 9,000 Sioux.
That they were outnumbered should be apparent to you.
Tactical blunder, it makes one wonder,
What the hell was George thinking? What was he thinking?

The government wanted sone land that was called the Black Hills;
Breaking Indian treaties should give everyone the chills,
Let‘s take all the land, the chain of command.
Wo, oh, what we want to know, why did those men go?

Here was Custer’s Last Stand, where he met his fate,
His remains were taken back, to West Point cemetery.

Here was Custer’s Last Stand, where he met his fate
Surrounded in Montana, where all of his troops were murdered.
What the hell was George thinking? What was he thinking?

A Custer song that was released was Rick Wakeman's 1988 7" single Custer's Last Stand - that's got to be still available out there somewhere on a compilation CD.

And there is 'Trip to Little Big Horn' by the obscure Marty Stuart, which Diane brought to our attention on another recent thread.

Regards,
George

[George Armstrong Custer]

Hey Scout!
Here's a real gem for you - and one that you can listen to! It's from the Library of Congress Local Government Sound Archives, and is a 1938 acetate recording of Warde Ford singing unaccompanied the ballad Custer's Last Charge. Speaking at the start, Ford notes that the song was 'copied down at the Custer Monument in 1906'.

This is a cracking (and somewhat crackling!) piece of Americana and I think everyone here will enjoy listening to it, it's a real classic - my thanks to you for prompting me to the search which found it. The song is quite an epic - the running time is 4min 25secs.

To listen to it directly, click the download link below - the sound file download will take about 90 secs.

memory.loc.gov/afc/afccc/audio/a419/a4199b1.wav

Enjoy!
George