"Big Ten Inch Record", also known as "Big Ten-Inch (Record of the Blues)",
is a
rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...
song written by
Fred Weismantel. It was first recorded in 1952 by
Bull Moose Jackson and released by
King Records. The song was later covered by
Aerosmith and released as part of the 1975 album, ''
Toys in the Attic''. It has been rated as one of the best
double entendre
A double entendre (plural double entendres) is a figure of speech or a particular way of wording that is devised to have a double meaning, of which one is typically obvious, whereas the other often conveys a message that would be too socially ...
songs of all time.
Versions
Bull Moose Jackson
The original version of the song was performed by
Bull Moose Jackson. It was released in 1952 on King Records as disc 4580. Jackson was backed on the recording by
Tiny Bradshaw's Orchestra. The song was not a hit, reportedly due to the fact that it was "too suggestive" and "radio stations wouldn't touch it".
[
Jackson stopped performing in the 1960s and worked as a food service worker in ]Washington, D.C.
)
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, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
In the 1980s, his popularity was revived after a Pennsylvania band, The Flashcats, began playing "Big Ten Inch Record" at their shows and invited Jackson to perform with them.[
Jackson's version of the song has been re-issued on multiple compilation discs, including "Badman Jackson That's Me" (1991), "Ride, Daddy, Ride and Other Songs of Love" (1991), "Risque Blues: The King Anthology" (2002), "The Very Best of Bull Moose Jackson: Big Ten-Inch Record" (2004), and "The Bull Moose Jackson Collection 1945–55" (2013).
]
Aerosmith
The rock band Aerosmith covered the song on its 1975 album, '' Toys in the Attic''. The recording was Aerosmith's second cover of rhythm and blues songs from the early 1950s, having covered "Train Kept A-Rollin'
"Train Kept A-Rollin'" (or "The Train Kept A-Rollin'") is a song first recorded by American jazz and rhythm and blues musician Tiny Bradshaw in 1951. Originally performed in the style of a jump blues, Bradshaw borrowed lyrics from an earlier son ...
" on its 1974 album, ''Get Your Wings
''Get Your Wings'' is the second studio album by American rock band Aerosmith, released on March 1, 1974. The album was their first to be produced by Jack Douglas, who also was responsible for the band's next three albums. Three singles were rel ...
''.
The song received mixed reviews. One critic predicted that it would be "the only Aerosmith song hoary historians and earnest teen-agers will be playing 100 years from now."[ the song has since been re-issued on multiple Aerosmith compilations, including "Pandora's Box" (1991), "Aerosmith's Greatest Hits 1973–1988" (2001), "O, Yeah! Ultimate Aerosmith Hits" (2002), and "The Essential Aerosmith" (2011).
]
Additional covers
In addition to Aerosmith, the song has also been covered by other artists, including Sugar Blue
Sugar Blue (born James Joshua "Jimmie" Whiting, December 16, 1949, Harlem, New York City) is an American blues harmonica player. He is probably best known for playing on the Rolling Stones' single " Miss You", and in partnering Louisiana Red.
...
and Marshall Crenshaw
Marshall Howard Crenshaw (born November 11, 1953) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and guitarist best known for hit songs such as " Someday, Someway," a US top 40 hit in 1982, " Cynical Girl," and " Whenever You're on My Mind." He ...
, Al Copley
Al Copley (born Almon LeGrande Copley, 1952, Buffalo, New York, United States) is an American blues pianist and singer, plus arranger and co-founder of Roomful of Blues. After 16 years with Roomful, Copley relocated to Europe in 1984, and back ...
, Blerta, The Roadrunners, Dana Gillespie
Dana Gillespie (born Richenda Antoinette de Winterstein Gillespie, 30 March 1949) is an English actress, singer and songwriter. Originally performing and recording in her teens, over the years Gillespie has been involved in the recording of over ...
, and Candye Kane
Candice Caleb (November 13, 1961 – May 6, 2016), known professionally as Candye Kane, was an American blues singer, entertainer and adult film star. She loved to sing as a young girl and even appeared on "The Gong Show," as a kid. She dreame ...
.
Lyrics and double entendre
On its face, the song describes the reaction of the singer's girlfriend when he plays his latest ten-inch record. However, by the repeated use of a pregnant pause prior to the word "record", the song suggests that the woman is excited not by the record but by the narrator's ten-inch penis. The following passage is typical:
Got me the strangest woman
Believe it, this chick's no cinch
But I really get her goin'
When I take out my Big Ten Inch
Record of the band that plays the blues
In "The History of Rock & Roll", Ed Ward called the song "a masterpiece of double entendre and timing." Although the song's lyrics are written in the form of an "extended sexual metaphor", they have been cited as part of a trend toward more "open sexuality" in rhythm and blues music of the early 1950s.
In 2014, '' Salon'' rated Aerosmith's "Big Ten Inch Record'" as one of the 19 greatest double entendre songs of all time.
References
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1952 songs
King Records (United States) singles
Rhythm and blues songs
Songs about music