Sock it to ... ME???

[Elmer Elevator <bobmer@javanet.com>]

Oh God, what a reputation I'm getting on this List! Sure, sure, ask Anne S.
about organ stops, ask Jost about ricercar, but ask me about "Sock it to me."

The most famous intersection of "Laugh-In" and "Sock it to me" was when Richard
Nixon looked at the camera mock-mournfully and said: "Sock it to ... ME???" He
was recovering politically from his nasty conniption fit when he lost the
California governor's race and snarled: "Well, you won't have Richard Nixon to
kick around anymore, because this is my last political campaign." The producer
of Laugh-In, a big noise in Southern California Republican circles, was a close
pal of Nixon's.

Yes, the farthest back I can cite SITM is Aretha Franklin's "Respect" ... which
almost certainly means it goes back a few years earlier to slang from black jazz
and rhythm and blues musicians. It almost certainly implies/contains a sexual
connotation. It also sounds like the kind of thing a bandleader shouts when he's
passing a solo to an instrumentalist. Mitch Ryder (& the Detroit Wheels) hails
from Aretha's Detroit, she got her start singing in her dad's Gospel choir, her
dad was one of America's most famous African-American Protestant ministers.

During the recent Dory Previn flame wars, someone -- Jim? -- briefly raised his
hand to say something nice about Andre. My brother had Andre's piano jazz trio
albums, I love them. Of all Andre's achievements (he takes pains to note that
Hollywood occupied a very noisy but actually a very brief part of his career),
it's most startling to listen to these albums and realize he was/is (IMHO) one
of the greatest jazz piano improvisers of all time -- pretty damn sly for a
white boy from Vienna.

Okay, here comes Santa Claus -- so I'll start a silly little thread. My
Christmas present to you guys is ... GG's "Consort" album of Byrd and Gibbons. I
think that would make a great, rare, and very special Christmas present. (Do not
open till Xmas.)

Lowlife Elmer

"Baldwin, Daniel" wrote:

> I have been immersed in a project at work for the past few days, and I am
> finally able to catch up on all the fascinating f-minor posts that have been
> flying around. I hope to have more to say later, but for now I had to
> mention that, sometime recently, somone mentioned the expression "sock it to
> me," and Brad asked whether it originated on "Laugh-in." Did anyone answer
> him? Well...the expression predates that show (although by how much, I don't
> know). I think Laugh In went on the air in '68.  Aretha Franklin's '67
> recording  of "Respect" contains a repitition of "SITM" near the end. There
> was also a record called "Sock it to Me" released by Mitch Ryder in '67. And
> it was probably used before that (by James Brown?) Maybe Elmer E can help me
> here.
>
> Regards --
>
> Daniel