I guess you all probably know the Bert & Ernie “Banana In Your Ear” sketch:
I never considered that the “banana in your ear” bit might have come from somewhere else, so imagine my surprise when I encountered it during a bit of Grand Ol’ Oprey schtik research:I’d fortuitously come across an entire episode of the Purina-sponsored Grand Ol’ Oprey, and was certainly enjoying the old-school corniness (1956) and then…wow! At about minute 6, Carl Smith provides an opening for June Carter’s entrance, and she comes in poppin’ like a firecracker. Incidentally, I had no idea of how hilarious June Carter was. After I watched this Grand Ol’ Oprey episode, I went to You Tube and started searching out June Carter clips, and she was something else! Such a giddy, daffy, smart-alecking persona! It was like Lucille Ball, with a twang.
Anyway, at about minute 7 in this broadcast, June busts out with the “banana in your ear” bit. I was outdone! I guess I’d always associated it with the Muppets, and to hear it coming from this cute li’l country gal!
After viewing some of June Carter’s goofiness on YouTube, I can definitely say I’ve become a fan. She was really good. I also thouroughly enjoy her affectionate use of the insult, “knothead.” I knew an old fellow many years ago who called everyone “knothead,” and now given this context, I expect he’d been a June Carter fan from way, way back.
Some of the most adorable insinuations of flirting…plus a charming song about having a “Lazy Day.”
“I just want you to know, Carl, that I know you quite well, too, and I don’t like what I know!”
“I got it wrote down in a poem here, jest the way it happened!
I crept upstairs, my shoes in hand
Just as the night took wing
Saw Ernest Tubbs, three steps above
Doin’ the same durn thing!”
“Hey, isn’t your name Archibald Henry Slaughter? You say it ain’t? Well, ain’t ya glad?!”
Just about the darndest song I ever did hear. It’s kind of like a country version of “the song that never ends.”
This is the last one I’m going to link today, but it’s extra good. The introductory comedy monologue has some ace physical comedy in it. She really was a remarkably talented young woman.