What is it about
goofy camp songs that gets in our blood and embeds so powerfully in our
memory? I don’t know what year I first
heard “Slew Foot,” the song about a marauding bear with supernatural speed and leaping ability. But I chalked it
up to Scout camp fun and never really thought about it much.
But it stuck there
in my subconscious. So when I saw it on the track listing for James McMurtry’s
2005 CD “Childish Things,” I was floored. As I recall, I first saw it on a
preview, a month or two before the album’s release. (Why do we still call them
albums? Is a CD an album? Perhaps so.) I played the sample track and realized
it was indeed the song I’d heard at a Philmont campfire as a camper – pre-staff
days.
Here’s what I’ve
learned since:
1. If you Google
“Slew Foot” you’ll get a slew of hits about a hockey play that involves a
player tripping up another player with his skates – a dangerous move that can
lead to serious injury.
2. If you Google
“Slew Foot Bear Song” you’ll get references to a 1950s Johnny Horton rockabilly song. I had no idea. That version ain’t bad. There are others, too.
3. Google “SlewFoot Bear” and you’ll come up with what I assume must be the base inspiration
for the song: “The Yearling.” From Wikipedia: ”A subplot
involves the hunt for an old bear named Slewfoot that randomly attacks the Baxter livestock.”
Anyway, I was
pretty jazzed that one of my favorite musicians had a rendition of “Slew Foot”
on his new album. Give it a listen, it’s a pretty fun tune.
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