Above is a flier I made in 1988 for a band I was in, so I've been a fan for quite a while. My circle of friends in college were obsessed with Jim 'n' Tammy, and we watched their shows nearly every day. My special favorite was "Tammy's House Party", her excellent talk show which featured loads of singing, kitchen mayhem, and surprise guest stars like Gavin MacLeod. Poor Tammy: she was insane, and she was almost deliriously idiotic, but she had a wonderful heart and was a hell of an entertainer. I look back on Tammy Faye with sincere fondness.
To commemorate, here's a reposting of some Tammy Faye audio I blogged earlier, and some bonus tracks I never got around to putting up.
Run Toward the Roar, 1985, PTL Records. Click for bigger.
I have several Tammy Faye and PTL-affiliated records, but the above, produced by "Monster Mash" impresario Gary Paxton, is my favorite:
Run Toward the Roar (2:55, 3.4mb mp3)
Oh How I Love Jesus/Thou Art Worthy (5:09, 6.1mb mp3)
Best of all? Her records for children:
Building on the Rock, 1975, Singcord Records.
This fantastic album consists of ten songs sung in a shrieky fake little girl voice and two stories told by Jim 'n' Tammy and all their puppetland friends. The stories are my favorites, because the musical background is so off-the-wall, at points it almost sounds like Captain Beefheart is providing the accompaniment:
Jonah and the Whale (8:56, 10.4mb)
The House on the Rock (7:15, 8.5mb)
I'm sorry I didn't keep track of the names of which songs (6 of 10) from the album I digitized:
Song 1
Song 2
Song 3
Song 4
Song 5
Song 6
Straight to Valhalla, Tammy Faye! Or Heaven. Or whatever.
UPDATE: Bonus request! From the concert advertised in the flier at the top of this post, here are the fabulous Lemon Fresh Pinetones performing their hit Brain Fever Themes.
21 comments:
A truly important Buddha has left us. God only knows why, but I loved everything about the woman and I never did watch the PTL, only heard about it from others who were stunned and amused by the crying mascara. If anybody's going to Heaven, or leaving the Buddhist Wheel of Suffering, it's Tammy Faye.
Right! Also, if you haven't seen the documentary The Eyes of Tammy Faye, do so right away. I also very much enjoyed the Sundance Channel's One Punk Under God documentary series, made by the same directors. It's available on iTunes.
Oh PSP, how you have made my Sunday!
What memories flood my mind... Circa 1984, when I was a 27 year old sales executroid by day and slithering around questionable clubs at night, I often made it through my early mornings getting ready for work by watching Jim 'n Tammy Faye.
Those halcyon days of mascara and money raisin'- the building of Heritage USA was like a gleaming tower that people were striving for.
I never did forget, always the activist and certainly so in those days, that Tammy Faye was in all her insane beauty, reaching out to people with AIDS. At that time many still thought it was toilet seat communicable.
And I have seen The Eyes of Tammy Faye, more than once, including as first run in a funky theatre in LA.
God rest her crazy ass but remarkable soul. She sure was something.
Thanks for sharing your place in the history of all this.
Dear Princess,
A wonderful post, a unique insight about America on which I hope scholars of this beloved country will focus their special attention.
Forget about Marilyn Monroe!
Thank you.
Blessed Be. Thank you, Princess, for what will likely be one of the only honest tributes to a true soldier of Zion:) and for the tracks.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/22/us/22bakker.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
The NYTimes has published this very nice obit, which can be well enjoyed with these mp3's playing in the background.
And remember- don't lable people, as Tammy told us. God didn't make no junk!
Brilliant!
Oh Princess, are you deliberately being coy by dropping a bombshell on us about your 80's band and then devoting the rest of the entry to Tammy Faye's musical endeavors? Lemon Fresh Pinetones definitely sounds the Sparkliest -- am I right?
Princess, thank you for all this Tammy Faye gloriousness! I have to add a link to your post to my Tammy Faye post.
I knew if I came here I'd find the Hooves of Comfort. Tammy Faye, that beautiful soul, she put the Viagra in my flaccid belief. RIP.
sister nancy, go here, weep, then visit the page every day until PSP gets annoyed with the hits appearing in her web logs and finishes the page. I assure you, having had the privelege of hearing some of this music previously, that when you hear it, it will change your life, or at least it will change your socks.
And I don't know whether to stab Larry King in the face or hug him for putting Tammy on one last time. Maybe I should do both. It was such a disturbing experience. And yet, even while wearing her death mask, she was still Tammy. RIP indeed.
I was no Jim Bakker fan but I liked Tammy Faye.
She was the ultimate fag hag, and you gotta love that.
I had the pleasure of meeting her briefly a few years ago, she was quite pleasant and appearing at gay bingo, to help raise money for the pet care for those with aids.
She had to leave early because of teh chemo, but every bit alive she was.
Goodness. I had no idea she had Such A Voice.
I wish I could be more eloquent about this: I think Tammy Faye was truly a fine person. She was a non-contradiction -- a compassionate Christian. She was nutty, but if it's a benign trait, then wackyness is one that is likely to draw me in. I'm with you Princess -- onward & upward TF!
commenting on song 1, why doesnt god catch the devil, put him in a box and throw away the key?
theres really no need to sing in a childs voice, the mentality comes shining through regardless.
When I saw "The Eyes of Tammy Faye" I didn't quite know what to expect. She came through as the most genuine person to herself and to others -- same thing on that berzerk "Surreal Life 2". Bravest woman in recent times that I can think of. Her death is hitting me harder than I thought it would.
Thank you so much. I am an atheist and I find Tammy Faye an inspiration. Thank you for sharing her music with us. Please take the time to record more of her music in mp3 format and share that with us as well. The world needs more Tammy Faye.
thank you so much for ripping your Tammy Fay vinyl!!!!
Hi- Thanks for sharing the Tammy Faye songs!! How great are those! I hope it's OK to share this link to a clip of Tammy Faye singing "Disco Jesus" (also produced by Gary Paxton on the original recording that Tammy is singing along to). This is from an episode of "That's Kentertainment!" and was filmed at "Scott Nevins Presents" at Therapy Bar in NYC, 2003. Tammy Faye was a absolute delight! Best, Ken
Oh yeah...the link to "Disco Jesus"...live!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQccztdkpfc
song1- The devil is a sly ole fox
song2- It's bubblin'
song3- We're marching, marching
song4- isn't grand to be a christian
song5- The devil's after me
song6- only a boy named David
missing- let the sunshine in
jonah and the whale
"The wise man built his house upon the rock"
songs have same name as the stories
"We're going to a mansion on the happy day express"
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