George Gerdes

ObituaryGeorge's First Album for United Artists“OBITUARY.”was George Gerdes' first release on United Artists back in 1972. The title comes from a poem George penned lamenting the passing an unknown mythical singer-songwriter. The songwriter was not only mythical, he was in fact fictional. He symbolizes the rough reality in the world of Tin Pan Alley and beyond. Remember that when George signed that contract to a major label, the singer-songwriter craze was hitting its zenith. United Artists took over Liberty Records and was in search of a new major troubadour since Liberty's minstrel of the dawn, Gordon Lightfoot, had left for the greener contract pastures of Reprise Records, started by Sinatra and distributed by Warner Brothers. Gerdes' original intention was to decorate the album cover with newspaper obituaries he had cut and saved of songwriters passed on and probably soon forgotten (if not already). The most reknown of the obits would have been Gus Edwards, a.k.a. "Ukelele Ike" who was also the voice of Jimminy Cricket for Walt Disney. Unfortunately for George, the legal complications of getting clearance for all of these obits made such a concept impractical. So this poem took its place: Songwriter, Joe Reissler, often called "Mr. Showbusiness" by folks that knew him closely, was killed today by a Mack truck in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Joe wrote such old favorites as "Mama's Got Me Drunk," "Don't Kiss My Feet" and "I Wish I Was in Copenhagen." Sid Reissler, co-writer of many of Joe's hits, commented on his brother's passing by remarking, "His face was a mess" and "The truck was covered with blood."Notables such as Pop Sweeney, owner of Sweeney's Delicatessen, were on hand to view the remains and collect various debts that Joe had mounted. Frank Sinatra, who once met Joe back in 1943, summed up Reissler's entire career by remarking, "Who’s he?" UA would not risk the legal repercussions of using Frank Sinatra as a character in the poem so the ending was revised to:...folk hero George Gerdes, who once met Joe back in 1967, summed up Reissler's entire career by remarking, "Adios."Songs on OBITUARY are as follows: Peas Porridge Hot Sweet Janine Real as Rain Lap of LuxurySong of the Hero's Heroine Tequila Blue Time Will Let You In Old Gardenia Lady