Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post presents information about the music group The Silhouettes and information about their hit song "Get A Job".
A YouTube sound file of "Get A Job" is showcased in this post along with selected comments from the discussion thread of that sound file.
The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copy rights remain with their owners.
Thanks to The Silhouettes for their musical legacy. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publisher of this sound file on YouTube.
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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SILHOUETTES
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Silhouettes
The Silhouettes were an American doo wop/R&B group whose single "Get A Job" was a number 1 hit on the Billboard R&B singles chart and pop singles chart in 1958. The doo-wop revival group Sha Na Na derived their name from the song's lyrics.
[...]
The Silhouettes toured with Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson, Clyde McPhatter and others but the group never reached the top of the charts again. They disbanded in 1968, but the four original members reformed the group in the 1980s and continued to work until 1993.[2]
Group members
Richard "Rick" Lewis, tenor (September 2, 1933 – April 19, 2005)
Bill Horton, lead (December 25, 1929 – January 23, 1995)
Earl T. Beal, baritone (July 18, 1924, Donora, Pennsylvania – March 22, 2001)
Raymond Edwards, bass (September 22, 1922, Virginia. – 1997, Philadelphia)
John "Bootsie" Wilson, lead (July 18, 1940 – September 21, 2009)"...
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LYRICS- GET A JOB
Get A Job - The Silhouettes - 1957
Written by The Silhouettes
Sha na na na - sha na na na na
Sha na na na - sha na na na na
Sha na na na - sha na na na na
Sha na na na - sha na na na na
Dip dip dip dip dip dip dip dip
Mum mum mum mum mum mum
Get a job
Sha na na na - sha na na na na
Every morning about this time
She gets me out of my bed a-crying
Get a job
After breakfast every day
She throws the want ads right my way
And never fails to say
Get a job
Sha na na na - sha na na na na
Sha na na na - sha na na na na
Sha na na na - sha na na na na
Sha na na na - sha na na na na
Dip dip dip dip dip dip dip dip
Mum mum mum mum mum mum
Get a job
Sha na na na - sha na na na na
And when I get the paper
I read it through and through
And my girl never fails to say
If there is any work for me
And when I go back to the house
I hear the woman's mouth
Preaching and a-crying
Tell me that I'm lying
About a job
That I never could find
Sha na na na - sha na na na na
Sha na na na - sha na na na na
Sha na na na - sha na na na na
Sha na na na - sha na na na na
Dip dip dip dip dip dip dip dip
Mum mum mum mum mum mum
Get a job
Sha na na na - sha na na na na
*The song was written by Richard Lewis before he joined the group, but writing credits were always shared.
Source: https://www.thesilhouettes.org/lyrics/get-a-job.htm
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SHOWCASE SOUND FILE - THE SILHOUETTES - "GET A JOB" (1957)
MANNY MORA, Published on Nov 6, 2013
The Silhouettes were formed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1956, at first using the name The Thunderbirds. Their classic hit "Get A Job" - originally the B-side to "I Am Lonely" - was issued by their manager Kae Williams on his own Junior Records label before being sold to the nationally distributed Ember label in late 1957. It reached number 1 on both the R&B and pop charts in U.S. and the group performed it on television's American Bandstand. The song sold more than one million copies, and was awarded a gold record.
The lyrics of "Get a Job" are notable for the depiction of a household in tension because of unemployment, despite the man's desperate attempts to find work, all delivered in a relentlessly upbeat style. A second release, "Heading for the Poorhouse", continued the economic theme. It was one of the few songs to allude to inflation, the trip to the poorhouse being because "all our money turned brown". This single and all their subsequent singles sold poorly and the group never entered the national charts again, making them a classic example of "one hit wonders".
"When I was in the service in the early 1950s and didn't come home and go to work, my mother said 'get a job' and basically that's where the song came from," said tenor Richard Lewis, who wrote the lyrics. The four members shared the credit, jointly creating the "sha na na" and "dip dip dip dip" hooks later imitated by other doo-wop groups.
The song was recorded at Robinson Recording Laboratories in Philadelphia in October 1957. Rollie McGill played the saxophone break and the arranger was Howard Biggs. It was released on the Junior label and Doug Moody who later formed Punk/Thrash label Mystic Records brought it to Ember Records where it was licensed for national distribution. Moody then worked with Dick Clark to get the group on American Bandstand.
The Silhouettes performed the song several times on Dick Clark's American Bandstand in early 1958, the single sold more than a million copies.
The song was later featured in the soundtracks of the movies American Graffiti, Stand By Me, the end credits for Trading Places and Joey (in which the group also performed it). The revival group Sha Na Na derived their name from the song's catchy doo-wop introduction. "Get a Job" inspired a number of answer songs, including "Got a Job", the debut recording by The Miracles."...
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SELECTED COMMENTS FROM THE DISCUSSION THREAD OF THIS EMBEDDED SOUND FILE
(With numbers added for referencing purposes only)
1. The Great Toucan, 2014
"The vocal harmonies are wonderful, classic R & B. The saxophone gets a lot of attention on this hit, and is the typical jazz treatment of the time. But just listen to the piano in the background. Some awesome and HEAVY R & B piano licks being thrown down there, and no credit to the player anywhere. The rhythm section is solid. Overall, a huge tune and worthy to sell a million!"
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REPLY
2. Bill Simpson, 2016
"+The Great Toucan The saxophone was the lead instrument in all those early rock & roll songs."
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3. Phil Newton, 2015
"What makes this, original, version so great is how rough it is. Very little production value on it, the bass singer stomps all over everyone and is just a tad behind his bandmates. Any producer worth their salt would have made them do another take--but that would have ruined it. Perfect as it is."
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REPLY
4. Rekkn_, 2015
"@Phil Newton i couldnt agree more. this could be applied to a lot of bands in my opinion. the 'raw' version is often the best, then you listen to the cd version and everything is just to .... clean. To the point that the magic is partially gone."
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REPLY
5. Brutus Mars, 2015
"@Rekall _ Yeah, music nowadays is all about trying to sound perfect, no mistakes whatsoever."
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REPLY
6. alman54, 2016
"+Phil Newton I've always thought the bass singer was the "lead" in those "sha na na" parts. His voice is most prominent. The bass singer "stomping" all over everyone" might have been intentional."
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REPLY
7. Arthur Workman, 2017
"Man it was customary for the bass singers to be vocally that far out in front. Listen to any of these fine songs and you'll hear how more pronounced the bass man is in comparison to the other members of the group. Just as the high soprano voices lead when they were supposed the bass man was allowed to take over certain lead positions all the while still staying comfortably behind somewhere in the middle range so to speak. If that makes any sense. I hope it does."
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REPLY
8. Matt James, 2018
"You're so right, man! At the song's end, the bass totally stomps on the lead. I thought that the bass was supposed to support the lead. Nope, not on this song! Yes, the bass is behind the rest. You make a killer observation. I love how you realize that in the final analysis, it takes on a life of its own. you have one of the coolest observations on YouTube. Respect!"
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REPLY
9. Chortle Chortle Chortle, 2018
"@alman54 I think it was intentional."
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10. DetroitLove4U, 2015
"Which one was the one with deep voice ..... his name?"
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REPLY
11. scrumsie, 2016
"+DetroitLove4U Leroy Brown"
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REPLY
12. DetroitLove4U, 2016
"+scrumsie Thank You"
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REPLY
13. Azizi Powell, 2019
"@+DetroitLove4U, the bass singer was Raymond Edwards.
The answer "Leroy Brown" is wrong. I think it was meant to be a joke riffing off of Jim Croce's hit song "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" (The name "Leroy Brown" in the United States if not in that Jim Croce song is stereotypically considered to be a "Black name" and The Silhouettes are/were a Black music group)."
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14. Rob Mitchell, 2017
"Thanks for sharing the background information to song. Very interesting and informative."
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15. Linda Dee, 2017
"4th grade, gettin' ready for school in the morning, if I heard this song on our old Philco radio in the kitchen, I'd be singing it all day at school, til I'd get in trouble with the teacher. I just couldn't help myself!"
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16. uknow who, 2018
"The woes of black unemployment set to a rocking beat."
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17. DrBongos, 2018
"I love that song. It inspired my bass doo wop style. The first time I saw Sha Na Na, they were a support band and I had no idea what they sounded like. When they came on stage dressed like 50s rockers and open with Get a Job, I was blown away. I prefer the original, but Shan Na Na was a great act."
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18. Jenny N, 2018
"I'm re-reading Stephen King's Christine, and there's a part where Arnie turns on the radio, and "The Silhouettes were kip-kip-kipping and boom-booming through 'Get A Job.'" And I thought, "I don't think that's right. It's yip-yip and num or mum or something." I had to come here to make sure I was right. Get it together, Stephen!"
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19. Andrew Parrish, 2018
"Back when music was music. They don't make it like this anymore. That's for sure"
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20. r winters, 2019
"Such a unique song in the history of Motown. Great vocals plus a really suave jazz interlude. Going to have to look up other Silhouettes songs."
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21. G Q, 2019
"If they recorded it here in New Jersey it would be entitled get 2 jobs."
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22. valerie campbell, 2019
"Richard "Rick" Lewis, tenor (September 2, 1933 – April 19, 2005)
Bill Horton, lead (December 25, 1929 – January 23, 1995)
Earl T. Beal, baritone (July 18, 1924, Donora, Pennsylvania – March 22, 2001)
Raymond Edwards, bass (September 22, 1922, Virginia. – 1997, Philadelphia)
John "Bootsie" Wilson, lead (July 18, 1940 – September 21, 2009)
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REPLY
23. MrOystein1977, 2019
"Are all of those guys gone? 😞"
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24. SONJA BATH BANYAMAN, 2019
"Uncle Richard Wrote this song .. That' what grandmom said to him GET A JOB.... She's the woman hes talking about in the song.. According to my Mommy his little sister The former Jannette Lewis. Rest in POWER uncle Richard..."
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25. mrkrojo, 2019
"This is just one of those perfect, shivers-down-your-spine rock n' roll songs. You can tell the guys are having fun singing it. Even with all the little tricks of harmony, hand-clapping, acapella parts, deep baritones and high falsettos, it's all done effortlessly and it's so natural. It still sounds a little goofy and raw making it accessible to toddlers and geezers alike. Love this one."
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26. Daniel Cropp, 2019
"I listened to this song on cassette tape in my Mom's car as a kid."
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27. Appen Zeller, 2019
"Amazing the music made without special effects, correctors and all the fancy stuff they have now. Just soul....and talent !!"
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