Behold “Bullfrog Hop.” A fellow named Big Bob Dougherty recorded the song in Kansas City when the calendars read 19 and 62 for 12 whole months. More than 50 years later, bullfrogs are still hopping, we are still dancing, and Big Bob is perpetually playing that bass saxophone. Big Bob knew a thing or two about bullfrogs. For starters: what they say, aloud, which he describes through that big horn. He also knows that they (said bullfrogs) like to jump, shake, dance, and hop. This song should be featured on a NatGeo bullfrog doc!
Our suggestions for listening: grab your sweetie pie and crouch down low. When it makes sense, and / or when practical, well, hop around, hop around, hop up hop up and get down. You may find yourself quite amused by the life of a bullfrog. You may find yourself emulating bullfrogs in other ways. We take no position on this. If you feel like inhabiting The Ways of the Bullfrog, then by all means, go forward as you see fit. However, beware of the potential outcomes:
Uh, egads! While this concept is not new to the animal kingdom (I for one, have witnessed a torrid summer romance among a fox and a corgi) still, the question begs to be asked: who, pray tell, is next? A turtle? A heron? Shall the bullfrog be—uh, egads!—amorously mounting one of us? Where does it end, this desire for accoupling? I decided to confront a bullfrog with this query.
I went down to the riverside.
There, I found this rather stoic bullfrog basking in her glory. She refused to comment on my
salty, salty inquiry, but I could tell that, as an amphibian, she could type
with both hands. Clearly, she was thinking in the register of the bass
saxophone. And in French to boot: <<Mon ami, le crapaud Buber>> she thought
<<attend Buber Eats.>> In all seriousness though, we here at
Blood And Gutstein admire a hopper or jumper of another kind.
As many of you know, we do not “pshaw” the feats (or the feets) of athletes, and at that, we greatly admire the record-breaking effort of Ukrainian high jumper Yaroslava Mahuchikh. Nearly one week ago, she vanquished a 37-year-old world record by completing a high jump at 2.10 meters, or nearly 6 feet 10 inches. (You can watch the first 45 seconds of the video for the record-breaking hop.) For this, we think that Yaroslava is the most compelling athlete in the world right now. Perhaps she will break her own record at the Paris Olympics. We bet that, if she listened to Big Bob Dougherty, she might find an extra 0.1 meters in lift!
discographical information for “Bullfrog Hop”
Big Bob Dougherty. “Bullfrog Hop” A-side b/w
“Twistin Through the Rye” B-side. Kay D-12399. Kansas City (1962). Personnel: Big
Bob Dougherty (Robert Isaac Dougherty) bass saxophone; other musicians unknown.
[Note: the record reads “Featuring Bass Sax” and while it is almost certain
that Big Bob Dougherty is playing the bass sax, we cannot say for sure.] Compositional
credit: Dougherty.
