Big Ten Inch Aerosmith

4 months ago
288

"Big Ten Inch Record", also known as "Big Ten-Inch (Record of the Blues)", is a rhythm and blues song written by Fred Weismantel. It was first recorded in 1952 by Bull Moose Jackson and released by King Records. The song was later covered by Aerosmith and released as part of the 1975 album, Toys in the Attic. It has been rated as one of the best double entendre songs of all time.

Versions
Bull Moose Jackson
The original version of the song was performed by Bull Moose Jackson. It was released in 1952 on King Records as disc 4580. Jackson was backed on the recording by Tiny Bradshaw's Orchestra. The song was not a hit, reportedly due to the fact that it was "too suggestive" and "radio stations wouldn't touch it".

Jackson stopped performing in the 1960s and worked as a food service worker in Washington, D.C. In the 1980s, his popularity was revived after a Pennsylvania band, The Flashcats, began playing "Big Ten Inch Record" at their shows and invited Jackson to perform with them.

Jackson's version of the song has been re-issued on multiple compilation discs, including "Badman Jackson That's Me" (1991), "Ride, Daddy, Ride and Other Songs of Love" (1991), "Risque Blues: The King Anthology" (2002), "The Very Best of Bull Moose Jackson: Big Ten-Inch Record" (2004), and "The Bull Moose Jackson Collection 1945–55" (2013).

Aerosmith
The rock band Aerosmith covered the song on its 1975 album, Toys in the Attic. The recording was Aerosmith's second cover of rhythm and blues songs from the early 1950s, having covered "Train Kept A-Rollin'" on its 1974 album, Get Your Wings. They also covered an r&b hit from 1963, "Walking the Dog" by Rufus Thomas on their eponymous debut in 1973.

In addition to Aerosmith, the song has also been covered by other artists, including Sugar Blue and Marshall Crenshaw, Al Copley, Blerta, The Roadrunners, Dana Gillespie, and Candye Kane.

The first vinyl records, released around 1900, were 10-inch, 78 RPM records. This song is specifically about the Blues recordings found on those records that influenced the band, but also about the sexual connotation that the singer has a 10-inch penis, which is made clear in the line, "Suck on my big 10-inch.

"Big Ten Inch Record" was composed by Fred Weismantel and became a big hit on the R&B charts during 1952 for tenor-sax player Bull Moose Jackson.

By all accounts Jackson got his nickname because of his facial resemblance to the animal; his given name was Benjamin Joseph. Born in Cleveland Ohio on 22nd April 1919, Jackson's first instrument was violin and his career started as a crooner of pop standards.

It was Aerosmith's drug dealer Zunk Buker who introduced them to this song. He heard the Bull Moose Jackson version on the Dr. Demento radio show and sent the band a copy of the song. Steven Tyler was struggling to come up with lyrics for the Toys In The Attic tracks, so adding a cover to the set took some pressure off of him.

Aerosmith used a horn section on this song, which included a bass saxophone played by Stan Bronstein. They also brought in Scott Cushnie to play the piano. Cushnie got the gig because he used to play in a band with Aerosmith's producer Jack Douglas.

The band planned a more contemporary version of this song when they set out to record it, but that plan changed when they got in the studio. "We were basically just doing it as a two-guitar, rock and roll approach," guitarist Brad Whitford said in his Songfacts interview. "We were up in the studio recording it, and we were listening very heavily to the original version of the song, which was very similar to what we ended up with when we ended up bringing the horn section in. We decided, 'Let's actually make it sound a little more period. Let's have the horns on it and make it sound more like the original version that we heard.'

So that was quite a transformation, going from this straight-ahead guitar thing to almost a big band sound. And it really worked."

When Steven Tyler released a country album in 2015, he cited this song as an example of the genre's influence on him. He says he was listening to a lot of Dan Hicks around this time.

Writer FRED WEISMANTEL

Got me the strangest woman
Believe me this trick's no cinch
But I really get her going
When I whip out my big ten inch

Record of a band that plays the blues
Well a band that plays its blues
She just love my big ten inch
Record of her favorite blues

Last night I tried to tease her
I gave my love a little pinch
She said now stop that jivin'
Now whip out your big ten inch

Record of a band that plays those blues
Well a band that plays the blues
She just loves my big ten inch
Record of her favorite blues

I, I, I cover her with kisses
And when we're in a lover's clinch
She gets all excited
When she begs for my big ten inch

Record of a band that plays those blues
Well a band that plays the blues
She just love my big ten inch
Record of her favorite blues

My girl don't go for smokin'
And liquor just make her flinch
Seems she don't go for nothin'
'Cept for my big ten inch

Record of a band that plays the blues
Band that play the blues
She just love my big ten inch
Record of her favorite blues

Loading 1 comment...