Join the Conversation

  1. “Stuck In The Middle With You” is not classic American music, Dale, sorry. The original was by a Scottish band called Stealer’s Wheel, whose singer Gerry Rafferty, had a global monster hit with “Baker Street”. Before Stealer’s Wheel, he was in a folk group called the Humblebums, based in Glasgow, whose banjo player was a lad called Billy Connolly, who went on to even bigger fame than Rafferty as a stand up comedian and actor – many people (myself included!) consider him one of the world’s best ever comedians. He is still alive, in his 80s, and suffering from Parkinson’s Disease, amongst other ailments, but his sense of humour is still very much intact as recent interviews have demonstrated clearly.

    But I have to say the version you shared is very good – top marks to the kids!

    Happy New Year to you!

    1. Thank you, Bob, for your comment. I stand corrected; the song has a Scottish heritage. However, “Stuck In The Middle With You” played on the radio here in the US everywhere and was loved by American listeners and adopted into our music culture of the time, much like the Beatles’ music was. There were many such songs and bands whose origins were elsewhere but whose osmosis into the American psyche was both real and permanent. It was one of the features of “American music” then that made our musical culture so exciting and vibrant. We have always had, here in the US, a strong propensity to borrow and adopt, as our own, things that we find and love. Stuck In The Middle may not be ours by origin; still it remains embedded in American hearts and minds and experiences from our youths and in our memories, always.

      Happy New Year to you too, Bob, and I’m glad you enjoyed the song.

Comment