The Goldwaters Sing Folk Songs to Bug the Liberals

The Presidential election season is just about finished in the U.S., but we do have time for one more musical artifact from a campaign long ago. This one comes to us courtesy of my friend Ernie Haynes, Christmas music maven and perhaps the first friend of this blog.

Ernie has come up with this 1964 LP from a group called The Goldwaters, perhaps the only conservative folk singers in the country at that time, whose avowed purpose was to perform just to "bug the liberals." ("Bug" was the contemporary slang for "annoy.")

The ensemble takes its name from the Republican candidate for  President in that year, Barry Goldwater, a fine man and impeccable conservative who also was deeply unpopular with the electorate and lost resoundingly to Lyndon B. Johnson, who had assumed the Presidency upon the assassination of John F. Kennedy in November 1963.

Next President? Not hardly

Even before that transpired, the Goldwaters had been assembled from nearby college musicians by some Nashville-based promoters who were convinced that Goldwater would be the Republican nominee in 1964. They had the idea of making this LP and had actually put together some songs aimed at JFK, which had to be rewritten after the assassination. The performers themselves, unlike many folk groups, had no input into the material, which was first in the hands of famed country songwriter John D. Loudermilk and then producer Mark Bates.

After the record's release, the Goldwaters were engaged to perform at Republican gatherings throughout the campaign season, including some with the candidate himself. But after Goldwater was buried in the November landslide of votes for Johnson, the group's time in the spotlight was over.

Ernie has come up with an lengthy interview with lead singer Ken Crook, which you can find here. It should answer any questions you may have about the group. I will say that Ken was not a bad vocalist and his compatriots were not terrible instrumentalists. Their material was dreadful, however, and compounding the cheesy effect was a clumsy laugh track that even Crook hates. Perhaps the high point of the proceedings is the song "Barry's Moving In," which, unfortunately for Ken and his friends, did not prove prophetic.

Our previous political-themed posts, both also from 1964, include the soundtrack to the cheapo film "The Candidate," starring Ted Knight, and, on my other blog, Lyndon Johnson's theme song, "Hello, Lyndon!" in a somnolent performance by Ed Ames.

Thanks again to Ernie for his latest contribution!