Mills Brothers – Lee Duigon

This video of the Mills Brothers is from 1957 (holy cow, the Spike Jones Show!), but I think my memory of the song is older than that: The Whole Town’s Talkin’ About the Jones Boy.

We were visiting Grammie at the old house my father and his brothers grew up in. Dad put the disc on the record player–does anybody still have one?–and launched the song. He also produced two spoons and played them in time to the music. He was awfully good at that. But it must be 65 years since I’ve heard anyone play the spoons.

I sigh. Everyone who was once gathered round that record player–everyone but me–has passed away. I’m the last one left.

But God will restore what’s been lost; Our Lord Jesus Christ has said so.

Easter’s almost here, and we should remember that.

Suddenly I’m so tired, I could just plotz. Writing my Newswithviews column sometimes does that to me.

So I found myself whistling this ancient tune, Glow Worm. It was on one of those red plastic records kids’ parents used to buy for them in the early 1950s. It must’ve made an impression on me, for me to be whistling it all these decades later.

Listen to the lyrics. Feel the innocence. Nice, isn’t it?

I couldn’t find quite the rendition that was on my record, but here are the Mills Brothers performing it on The Nat King Cole Show, 1957. I remember it as being sung by Rosemary Clooney, but couldn’t find it on youtube.