(Edrich Siebert)
Australia
#11 Melbourne #10 Adelaide
B-side on His Master’s Voice January 1973 by Melbourne band formed 1967. They became Johnny Farnham’s touring band, released three singles and an album*, appeared on TV variety shows, and worked live in clubs and hotel venues.
Fantasy’s third single Just Another Pretty Face (1973) charted moderately in Melbourne and Perth. It had previously been released by Tiny Tim (1972) as Am I Just Another Another Pretty Face.
At the time of Marrow Song’s release, Fantasy’s line-up was Mal Nichols (guitar, replaced foundation member Dave Studdard in 1972), Jeff Buzaglo (keyboards), Chris Studdard (bass), and Colin Ross (drums), with all members contributing vocals.
Details of Fantasy’s album, A Tribute To Australian Rock ‘n’ Roll, are scarce. An eBay search will at least show you a sleeve shot from the LP which was promoted on TV by the Hammard label.
When the band broke up in 1979 Mal Nichols was still on board but further personnel changes had left none of the original members remaining.
Fantasy is a common band name, along with its variations. See, for example, the list at 45cat.com or search results at Discogs.com.
Sources: 1. Ian McFarlane, The Encyclopedia of Australian Rock & Pop (1999), p. 210. 2. Noel McGrath, Australian Encyclopaedia of Australian Rock & Pop (1978), p. 118. 3. Chris Spencer et al, Who’s Who of Australian Rock, 5th edition (2002), p. 129.
Below: The Age, 25 January 1973 [source]
(Peter Bruce*)
Australia
Red herring
#7 Melbourne
Similar theme and humour but not connected with “Marrow Song”.
Single on CBS January 1966 by Melbourne band formed 1964. The song is sometimes known as The Biggest And The Best In Africa.
♫ View performance at YouTube
The lyrics of Marrow Song might remind you of The Best In Africa which has a similar theme but based around a watermelon instead of a marrow.
Both songs are about a gardener at a show displaying a fruit or vegetable they have grown, and the public’s reaction to such a large specimen. In both songs this sets up an obvious double meaning.
The Best In Africa:
I went to a market show / To sell your fruit that’s the place to go / I was a walking through one day / A man had his fruit on display…
hey! / He’s got the biggest and the best in Africa / It really is a lovely sight … / He’s got a lovely
watermelon …
Marrow Song:
Down the road there lives a man I’d like you all to know / grew a great big marrow for the local flower show / And when the story got around, they
came from far and wide / And when the people saw the marrow, everybody cried / (Ooooh! What a beauty!), I’ve never seen one as big as that before
…
* The Best In Africa has a calypso feel, but as far as I can see the song is an original. The song’s copyright entry at APRA-AMCOS lists as writers all four founding members of the band, Peter Bruce, Peter McKeddie, Max Ross and Richard Wright, the line-up heard on the recording. However the sole writer credit on the label is to Peter Bruce, the band’s English guitarist. I have seen suggestions that he introduced the song to the band and may have played it in England before migrating to Australia, but I cannot verify any of that.
(Edrich Siebert)
Australia
#26 Perth
Single on Clarion, charted in June 1973, by radio announcers Barry Martin and John K. Watts, hosts of the long running, top-rating breakfast show on 6PR Perth. Watts was also a prominent football player in Western Australia.
♫ Listen at YouTube
(Edrich Siebert)
UK
On 1973 Pye LP Ter-rif-ic – Mike Reid Sings Cockney Songs.
Londoner Mike Reid (1940-2007) was a stand-up comedian, TV extra and stuntman who became prominent through TV stand-up series The Comedians and went on to a regular role in EastEnders as Frank Butcher.
The Marrow Song has been an obvious choice for British comedians, live or on record. See, for example:
• The Marrow by Larry Grayson on York
Records LP What A Gay Day (1972)
• The Marrow Song (Oh! What A Beauty) by Adge Cutler & The Wurzels on
Columbia LP Cutler Of The West (1968)
Second Hand Songs lists some other versions but declines to identify an original.
(Edrich Siebert)
Australia
On World of Sound EP Oh! What A Beauty by Australian country music band also known as Nev Nicholls & The Country Playboys.
In this Australianised version the marrow has become a big banana, grown for the Royal Sydney Show instead of the local flower show of the original.
Country singer-songwriter Nev Nicholls (1930-2022) was from a farm in Tallwood in the central west of NSW. He toured with country stars on The Reg Lindsay Show, had a ten-year residency at Sydney’s Texas Tavern, and hosted The Nev Nicholls Road Show, networked to over 90 radio stations. As a songwriter, his works have been recorded by others including Reg Lindsay, Chad Morgan and Frankie Davidson. In 1992 Nev Nicholls was awarded a place in the Australasian Country Music Roll Of Renown at Tamworth.
Sources, further reading: 1. The detailed Nev Nicholls Story by Noel Clarke: my main source, highly recommended. 2. Nev Nicholls credits and bio at Discogs.com.
(Edrich Siebert)
UK
Original version
10″ 78 rpm disc on Decca January 1953 by British drummer and (from the mid-1920s) bandleader Billy Cotton (1899-1969) popular on British radio and TV over several decades.
Vocals are by Alan Breeze with chorus
♫ Listen at YouTube
The composer:
Edrich Siebert (Stanley Smith Masters, 1903-1984) was a
prolific British composer and arranger, especially for brass bands, reflecting his
experience as a multi-instrumentalist and conductor in regimental bands from 1917 till 1946 when he went into full-time composing and arranging.
The Marrow Song is heard in Ken Loach’s 1969 film Kes, one of a number of Siebert’s compositions or arrangements that have been used on soundtracks.
1930s? Or 1950s?
Some sources say the song goes back to the 1930s but I can find no evidence of that. I am confident that this is the original recorded release of
the song.
The sheet music was published in Britain in 1952 by Lawrence Wright Music Co. Ltd, and the copyright was registered in the USA on 16 December 1952, US Copyright Office number EFO000018332. So far I have not found any mention of an earlier version in reliable discographical and archival sources
That is good if not conclusive evidence of the song’s origin. Earlier live performances remain possible, but they are probably impossible to trace.
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