{"id":1991,"date":"2011-10-27T13:52:54","date_gmt":"2011-10-27T18:52:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/funky16corners.lunarpages.net\/?p=1991"},"modified":"2012-02-22T12:34:03","modified_gmt":"2012-02-22T17:34:03","slug":"cal-tjader-the-tra-la-la-song","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/?p=1991","title":{"rendered":"Cal Tjader – The Tra La La Song"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/strong>\"Example\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

The cover (above) The Banana Splits (below)<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/strong>\"Example\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>\"Example\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

Listen\/Download – Cal Tjader – The Tra La La Song <\/em><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/del><\/p>\n

Greetings all, and join me as we wind up another week on the good ship Funky16Corners.<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

Since it is almost Friday, I must remind you all that the Funky16Corners Radio Show<\/strong> returns to the airwaves of the interwebs this and every Friday night at 9PM at Viva Radio.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

This week features some very groovy stuff, as well as a nice little Halloween set for those in need something spooky and soulful. Keep in mind that if you are unable to join us at the time of broadcast, you can always stop by over the weekend and pick yourself up an MP3 of the show which you can listen to at your leisure.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year I posted Cal Tjader\u2019s<\/strong> version of \u2018Gimme Shelter\u2019 <\/a>and told the story of how the old Funky16Cornersmobile<\/em> got towed away while I was at a record show.<\/p>\n

While discussing the song in the comments, I mentioned that Tjader had also covered the theme from the old \u2018Banana Splits Show\u2019<\/strong> and promised to post it in the future.<\/p>\n

Well, at the risk of sounding like Criswell, the future is now!<\/em><\/p>\n

Unless you\u2019re over 45, or some kind of hardcore pop-cult nut, you probably have no idea who the Banana Splits were, which was, a costumed quartet of people in animal costumes (dog, lion, gorilla and elephant<\/em>) who lived together in a psychedelic clubhouse and had a band (sounds like a hallucination, right?).<\/p>\n

Though most of (not all, most) the music associated with the show was disposable, bubblegummy pop, the one tune that everyone who ever saw it (or has heard Bob Marley and the Wailers<\/strong> \u2018Buffalo Soldier\u2019) remembers is the theme, otherwise known as the \u2018Tra La La Song\u2019.<\/p>\n

Oddly enough, the song has had quite the little history of its own, being covered (and hitting the UK Top 10 in 1979) in a version by the Dickies<\/strong>, the aforementioned borrowing by Tuff Gong<\/strong>, and a later cover by Liz Phair<\/strong> and Material Issue.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A few years back I saw an ad for a reissue of a Cal Tjader album that I\u2019d never seen before called \u2018Plugs In\u2019, which appeared to contain a cover of the \u2018Tra La La Song\u2019. Naturally, as big a Tjader fan as I am I found this hard to believe and figured it was either a misprint, an outtake or another song entirely.<\/p>\n

That is until I scored myself a copy of the album when I was down in DC last year when the bizarre but tasty intersection of Mr. Callen Radcliffe Tjader Jr.<\/strong> and Fleagle, Bingo, Drooper<\/strong> and Snork<\/strong> was confirmed.<\/p>\n

Recorded live at the Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach, California in 1969, \u2018Plugs In\u2019 featured Tjader with an electrified band. The addition of Al Zulaica<\/strong> on electric piano and Armando Peraza<\/strong> (who also recorded for Skye) on congas makes for a sound reminiscent of Vince Guaraldi\u2019s<\/strong> later \u2018Charlie Brown\u2019 soundtracks.<\/p>\n

Tjader takes the \u2018Tra La La\u2019 song at a relaxed and groovy pace that the actual Banana Splits never would have been able to achieve without chemical assistance.<\/p>\n

It is a mellow cut indeed, and I hope you dig it.<\/p>\n

See you on Monday.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Peace<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

Larry<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/strong>\"Example\"<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>\"Example\"<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The cover (above) The Banana Splits (below)   Listen\/Download – Cal Tjader – The Tra La La Song Greetings all, and join me as we wind up another week on the good ship Funky16Corners. Since it is almost Friday, I must remind you all that the Funky16Corners Radio Show returns to the airwaves of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[58,14,55,66,19,90,30,13],"tags":[166,167,165],"class_list":["post-1991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cover-songs","category-funky16corners","category-funky16cornersviva-internet-radio","category-instrumental","category-jazz","category-latin","category-lp-tracks","category-soul-jazz","tag-funky16corners","tag-funky16corners-radio","tag-soul-jazz"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pMKgo-w7","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1991"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1991\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2419,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1991\/revisions\/2419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}