{"id":45378,"date":"2024-11-01T08:30:28","date_gmt":"2024-11-01T12:30:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=45378"},"modified":"2024-11-01T08:53:26","modified_gmt":"2024-11-01T12:53:26","slug":"the-bootleg-files-the-slim-whitman-commercials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2024\/11\/01\/the-bootleg-files-the-slim-whitman-commercials\/","title":{"rendered":"The Bootleg Files: The Slim Whitman Commercials"},"content":{"rendered":"

BOOTLEG FILES 884:<\/strong> \u201cThe Slim Whitman Commercials\u201d (a series of television advertisements featuring the yodeling country singer). <\/p>\n

LAST SEEN:<\/strong> On YouTube. <\/p>\n

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO:<\/strong> None.<\/p>\n

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS:<\/strong> No perceived re-release value. <\/p>\n

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE:<\/strong> Not likely.<\/p>\n

If you were watching American television in the 1980s, there\u2019s a good chance that you\u2019ll remember commercials for albums featuring Slim Whitman. These commercials resonated with audiences \u2013 mostly for the wrong reasons \u2013 but they managed to reanimate the career of a unique performer who was mostly forgotten in his own country.
\n<\/p>\n

Ottis Dewey “Slim” Whitman Jr. got started in the music industry in 1948 with his recording of the Western-tinged single \u201cI\u2019m Casting My Lasso Towards the Sky.\u201d Whitman favored romantic ballads that he crooned in a three-octave voice, and he often punctuated his songs with an unexpected falsetto and yodeling. The notorious \u201cColonel\u201d Tom Parker became his manager and under his guidance Whitman recorded albums, appeared on the popular \u201cLouisiana Hayride\u201d radio show, joined the Grand Ol\u2019 Opry and appeared in the film \u201cJamboree\u201d that featured an all-star rock and country line-up. He even toured with another Parker client who later became the biggest star in the music industry (and do I really need to say who that was?).<\/p>\n

But despite this work, top-rank stardom seemed to elude Whitman. His approach to country music didn\u2019t fit the vocal styling that was popular in the 1950s, and the rock and roll wave made his offerings of cowboy tunes and pop standards seem outdated. However, his luck changed in 1955 when his recording of \u201cRose-Marie\u201d became a major hit with British audience \u2013 his recording spent 19 weeks on the music charts, with 11 of those weeks in the Number One position. He arrived in Britain in 1956 and became the first country music singer to perform at the London Palladium. While Whitman\u2019s star wattage dimmed in his country, he quickly became a popular figure in Britain and later toured in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Europe.<\/p>\n

Fast-forward to the late 1970s when an American mail-order company called Suffolk Marketing was enjoying success in releasing albums and tapes that were promoted through television commercials. The company had acquired the rights to \u201cThe Very Best of Slim Whitman,\u201d a compilation record of songs released in Britain by United Artists Records. The company contacted Whitman to record a television commercial to promote the American release of the record, which was retitled \u201cAll My Best.\u201d Although he was initially hesitant to go on camera \u2013 he later admitted not being impressed by the company\u2019s earlier commercials for mail-order music \u2013 he traveled to a studio in Pittsburgh to produce the television advertisement.<\/p>\n

What happened next\u2026the commercial turned out to be the equivalent of lightning in a bottle.<\/p>\n

The commercial opens with Whitman launching into a section of \u201cUna Paloma Blanca,\u201d complete with a bit of yodeling. An off-screen announcer informs the viewer that Whitman is \u201can international recording star had the number one record in England for more weeks than any singer in history \u2013 even Elvis and the Beatles.\u201d Whitman is seen playing a guitar while wearing a black jacket with white lapels, rhinestones from his shoulders to his chest, a black shirt and a white tie. His receding hairline is aggressively teased skyward into a pompadour and his face is framed by bushy sideburns, bushier eyebrows and a drooping mustache. Upon first glance, one might assume he was a used car salesman who somehow snagged Porter Waggoner’s wardrobe. He is standing before a cardboard set that is supposed to look like a farm, complete with a red barn \u2013 the studio lights on the sides and above this set are clearly visible, adding to the confusion.<\/p>\n

The announcer adds that Whitman was \u201cvoted number one international artist in England for four years in a row\u201d while the singer croons his way through snatches of songs as varied as \u201cRose-Marie,\u201d \u201cVaya Con Dios,\u201d \u201cHave I Told You Lately That I Love You?\u201d and \u201cRed River Valley.\u201d Whitman speaks for a few seconds to declare, \u201cAll the songs that touch peoples\u2019 hearts are in this album, and I hope you\u2019ll let them touch your heart, too.\u201d The commercial ends with the pitch for the record at $7.98 and the tape version at $9.98.<\/p>\n

Suffolk Marketing ran the commercial on superstations such as WTBS in Atlanta and WWOR in New York in 1979, and those placements ensured the spot reached wide audiences across multiple states. The initial result was extraordinary, but perhaps not for reasons that the company expected. Whitman\u2019s sartorial style, song selection and musical presentation (especially the surprise yodels) struck many people as hilarious \u2013 which could have been disastrous, given that he wasn\u2019t trying to be funny. But the jollity was not derisive, and the commercial became that lo-fi era\u2019s answer to a viral video. Suffolk Marketing claimed that 1,400,000 people bought the album. It didn’t matter if the purchases were for novelty comedy or a genuine appreciation, “All My Best” became a surprise smash. <\/p>\n

The success of the commercial inspired Suffolk Marketing to rush out a second compilation record titled \u201cJust for You.\u201d That commercial was even wackier than the first, with Whitman abruptly opening with his yodel from \u201cLonesome Cattle Call.\u201d Whitman was back in his black-and-white-and-rhinestoned outfit, this time in another cheapo set (with a cardboard tree and well) while strumming his guitar as the announcer insisted Whitman was \u201ca new American recording star\u201d \u2013 forgetting that he had been recording since the late 1940s.<\/p>\n

The one-two punch of these commercials made Whitman a household name in America, although for some he was the butt of the joke. Second City Television\u2019s Joe Flaherty imagined him as Che Guevara in a parody of the TV commercial for the Broadway show \u201cEvita\u201d and as a Neil Diamond stand-in for a \u201cYou Don\u2019t Bring Me Flowers\u201d parody opposite Andrea Martin\u2019s funny-nasty riff on Barbra Streisand. Johnny Carson did his own takeoff on Whitman, but he later became fascinated with the singer and had him as a guest on \u201cThe Tonight Show\u201d for a sincere interview and an uninterrupted song.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the most bizarre tribute came in 1981 when Whitman appeared on the rock show \u201cMidnight Special\u201d \u2013 Andy Kaufman introduced him to the appreciative audience and then stood on the edge of the stage and watched in overly animated awe as Whitman performed \u201cI\u2019ll Remember You.\u201d The ultimate early 80s hipster, David Letterman, brought Whitman on as a guest in 1982 and tried on his rhinestoned jacket (which he found heavier than expected).<\/p>\n

Whitman had a good-natured response over the kidding at his expense \u2013 after all, the attention from the commercials helped secure performing gigs across America, reconnecting him with those who recalled his 1950s work and bringing him to younger audiences eager to see the yodeling guy from the TV commercials. There was even a quickie biography about Whitman that appeared in 1982 to cash in on his new popularity. <\/p>\n

The commercials also attracted some high-profile fans. Michael Jackson reportedly claimed that Whitman was among his favorite vocalists, while filmmaker Tim Burton later offered the singer a warped cinematic immortality in his 1996 epic \u201cMars Attacks!\u201d when a recording of Whitman\u2019s \u201cIndian Love Call\u201d causes the Martian invaders\u2019 heads to explode. Whitman expressed great pleasure with Burton\u2019s gag.<\/p>\n

More commercials for Whitman\u2019s music were later produced, but they didn\u2019t have the impact of the first two offerings. But the charm had already re-established Whitman in America \u2013 he continued touring through 2003 and recorded his final album in 2010. When he passed away in 2013, his death generated headlines in all major media.<\/p>\n

And for people of a certain age, just saying the name \u201cSlim Whitman\u201d will bring a nostalgic smile and the happy memory of unlikely yodeling. Here are those classic commercials, via unauthorized YouTube uploads:<\/p>\n