A friend just emailed me one of those "Make you Feel Older Than Dirt" type surveys.

One of the questions was:
19. What was the name of the singing group that made the song "Cabdriver" a hit?
a. The Ink Spots
b. The Supremes
c. The Esquires

The correct answer is not listed. It was the Mills Brothers. (The test claims it was the Ink Spots...but according to their discography, they never recorded it.)

I have played "Scotch and Soda" a million times and often ask audiences who made it famous. I can't remember anyone coming up with the right answer.

Eddie

Kingston Trio.
DonM

DonM ... yep ... I do that tune and it happens to be one of my wife's favorites (my version, that is ) ...
t.

[This message has been edited by tony mads usa (edited 02-08-2006).]

Sorry guys, it was the Mills Brothers.

Ciao,

Joe

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Songman55
Joe Ayala

Songman55 ... DonM and I were referring to "Scotch and Soda" ... well at least I was ...
t.

I saw the Kingston trio perform Scotch and Soda, when it was a hit, back in the 60's, on the campus of Oklahoma State U. I've been doing it ever since.
The Mills Brothers did Cab Driver, but, in the words of John Conlee, "That was before My Time".
DonM

I have a problem with when/where this song came from. Mills Bros is correct, however my info shows their recording being made 1960 something. But when I ask who recognizes the song, only a handful of folks, mostly in their 80s respond. It's gotta be older.

Here's what I just found:

"Harry Mills pulled a song called "Cab Driver" by an unknown writer named Carson Parks. Harry worked up an arrangement with Sy Oliver, and the result was a well deserved capstone to the Mills Bros string of popular successes, charting at #23 in 1968."

Somebody must have at least 'semi-popularized' the song well prior to that.

I'm with you Glenn. I can't find an earlier release of Cab Driver by the Mills Bros. or anyone else for that matter.

Based on the ages of those who request the song, I assumed it dated back into the 50s or 40s.

In the late 60's and early 70's the brothers were releasing "Best of" albums and trying different genres including some mild doo-wop. Cab Driver was thought to be a "country" tune when it came out...although it doesn't feel like country to me.

Eddie

Memory plays tricks on us, My Older brother now deceased and would have been 79, played guitar for some local bands and orchestra's here in california and was a big fan of the Mills brothers, sure seems like I heard him doing this song around 1947.?? ..pose

pose ... C. Carson Parks (the composer of Cab Driver) was born in 1936 ... If your brother was playing this song in 1947, Parks was a boy wonder ... yes, memory plays tricks on us ...
http://www.checkertaxistand.com/the_news/latest_news/c._carson_parks_dies/

t.

Interesting. Since the subject has come up, I've played a few senior concerts where I've asked the audience who remembers the song. At least a few dozen know for sure they danced to this song in the 40s... absolutely way before 1968. Hmmmmmm?????