"The Little Old Lady (from Pasadena)" is a song written by Don Altfeld,
Jan Berry
Jan and Dean was an American rock duo consisting of William Jan Berry (April 3, 1941 – March 26, 2004) and Dean Ormsby Torrence (born March 10, 1940). In the early 1960s, they were pioneers of the California Sound and vocal surf music styles ...
and
Roger Christian, and recorded by 1960s American pop singers,
Jan and Dean
Jan and Dean was an American rock music, rock duo consisting of William Jan Berry (April 3, 1941 – March 26, 2004) and Dean Ormsby Torrence (born March 10, 1940). In the early 1960s, they were pioneers of the California Sound and vocal surf mu ...
. Singer/songwriter
P.F. Sloan
Philip Gary "Flip" Sloan (born Philip Gary Schlein; September 18, 1945 – November 15, 2015), known professionally as P. F. Sloan, was an American singer and songwriter. During the mid-1960s, he wrote, performed, and produced many Billboard H ...
sings the falsetto part usually sung by Dean Torrence, while Dean sings one of the backup parts. This was the first time P.F. sang the falsetto on a single, although P.F. had already sung some falsetto on the last album Dead Man’s Curve/The New Girl In School.
Jan & Dean reworked the lyrics from "The Little Old Lady (from Pasadena)" in 1967, renaming the track "Tijuana" and releasing it as a single that same year. The lyrics now contained thinly-veiled references to
marijuana use. "Tijuana" was to be included on the act's final album ''
Carnival of Sound,'' completed in 1969, but the LP went unreleased for several decades. The record was circulated as a bootleg until it garnered official release in 2010.
The song was performed live by
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and frie ...
at
Sacramento Memorial Auditorium
The Sacramento Convention Center Complex is a complex of entertainment venues and a convention center located in downtown Sacramento, California. The complex consists of the SAFE Credit Union Performing Arts Center (formerly Community Center Theate ...
on August 1, 1964 for inclusion on their No.1 album ''
Beach Boys Concert
''Beach Boys Concert'' is the first live album by American rock band the Beach Boys, released on October 19, 1964. It is their seventh album in all, and their third alone in the same year. It was their first of two chart-topping albums in the U ...
''. The Beach Boys, and particularly
Brian Wilson
Brian Douglas Wilson (born June 20, 1942) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often called a genius for his novel approaches to pop composition, extraordinary musical aptitude, and m ...
, who co-wrote several of Jan & Dean's biggest surf hits, had supported Jan & Dean in the recording studio to initiate them in the surf music genre.
Premise
The origins of "The Little Old Lady (from Pasadena)" stem from a very popular
Dodge
Dodge is an American brand of automobiles and a division of Stellantis, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Dodge vehicles have historically included performance cars, and for much of its existence Dodge was Chrysler's mid-priced brand above P ...
ad campaign in southern California that launched in early 1964. Starring actress
Kathryn Minner
Kathryn Elizabeth Minner (January 3, 1892 – May 26, 1969), sometimes credited as Katherine Minner, was an American character actress who specialized in playing "little old ladies" in movies, on various television shows, and in a series of tele ...
, the commercials showed the white-haired elderly lady speeding down the street (and sometimes a drag strip) driving a modified Dodge. She would stop, look out the window and say "Put a Dodge in your garage, Hon-ey!". The song soon followed and Minner enjoyed great popularity until she died in 1969.
On December 18, 1949, on an episode of the Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy radio show with June Allyson, a joke about an used horse being owned by an old lady in Pasadena was made. ( See Old Time Radio Show Downloads, etc. for first hand material.) It appears evident by the audience reaction to this joke that this was a well-known running gag by this time.
In 1958, Alfred Hitchcock uses the phrase “a little old lady from Pasadena” in one of his intros for his TV series “Alfred Hitchcock Presents”.
"The Little Old Lady (from Pasadena)" was a
folk
Folk or Folks may refer to:
Sociology
*Nation
*People
* Folklore
** Folk art
** Folk dance
** Folk hero
** Folk music
*** Folk metal
*** Folk punk
*** Folk rock
** Folk religion
* Folk taxonomy
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Folk Plus or Fol ...
archetype
The concept of an archetype (; ) appears in areas relating to behavior, historical psychology, and literary analysis.
An archetype can be any of the following:
# a statement, pattern of behavior, prototype, "first" form, or a main model that ot ...
in Southern California in the mid-20th century. Part of this lore was that many an elderly man who died in Pasadena would leave his widow with a powerful car that she rarely, if ever, drove, such as an old
Buick Roadmaster
The Buick Roadmaster is an automobile that was built by Buick from 1936 until 1942, from 1946 until 1958, and then again from 1991 until 1996. Roadmasters produced between 1936 and 1958 were built on Buick's longest non-limousine wheelbase and sh ...
, or a vintage 1950s
Cadillac
The Cadillac Motor Car Division () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM) that designs and builds luxury vehicles. Its major markets are the United States, Canada, and China. Cadillac models are distributed i ...
,
Ford
Ford commonly refers to:
* Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford
* Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river
Ford may also refer to:
Ford Motor Company
* Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company
* Ford F ...
,
Packard
Packard or Packard Motor Car Company was an American luxury automobile company located in Detroit, Michigan. The first Packard automobiles were produced in 1899, and the last Packards were built in South Bend, Indiana in 1958.
One of the "Thr ...
,
Studebaker
Studebaker was an American wagon and automobile manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana, with a building at 1600 Broadway, Times Square, Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1868 as the Studebaker Brothers M ...
,
DeSoto, or
La Salle. According to the story,
used car salesmen would tell prospective buyers that the previous owner of a vehicle was "a little old lady from Pasadena who only drove it to church on Sundays," thus suggesting the car had little wear.
Personnel
The session musicians who played on this record (who were collectively known as
The Wrecking Crew) included
Leon Russell
Leon Russell (born Claude Russell Bridges; April 2, 1942 – November 13, 2016) was an American musician and songwriter who was involved with numerous bestselling records during his 60-year career that spanned multiple genres, including rock and ...
on piano;
Tommy Tedesco
Thomas Joseph Tedesco (July 3, 1930 – November 10, 1997) was an American guitarist and studio musician in Los Angeles and Hollywood. He was part of the loose collective of the area's leading session musicians later popularly known as The Wrec ...
,
Bill Pitman
William Keith Pitman (February 12, 1920 – August 11, 2022) was an American guitarist and session musician.
As a first-call studio musician working in Los Angeles, Pitman played on some of the most celebrated and influential records of the ro ...
and
Billy Strange
William Everett Strange (September 29, 1930 – February 22, 2012) was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and an actor. He was a session musician with the famed Wrecking Crew, and was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and M ...
on guitar;
Ray Pohlman
Merlyn Ray Pohlman (July 22, 1930 – November 1, 1990) was an American session musician and arranger who played both upright bass and bass guitar, and also did sessions as a guitarist. He is credited with being the first electric bass player ...
and
Jimmy Bond
Jimmy Bond is a fictional character in the American Fox television shows ''The Lone Gunmen'' and ''The X-Files'', two science fiction shows about government conspiracies to hide or deny the truth from the people. Portrayed by American actor ...
on bass; and
Hal Blaine
Hal Blaine (born Harold Simon Belsky; February 5, 1929 – March 11, 2019) was an American drummer and session musician, thought to be among the most recorded studio drummers in the music industry, claiming over 35,000 sessions and 6,000 singles. ...
and
Earl Palmer
Earl Cyril Palmer (October 25, 1924 – September 19, 2008) was an American drummer. Considered one of the inventors of rock and roll, he is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Palmer was one of the most prolific studio musicians of al ...
on drums.
Chart performance
In 1964, the song reached number three on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, and number one on Canada's RPM chart.
In popular culture
During the 1960s, the term became a popular punchline for many comedians, particularly
Johnny Carson
John William Carson (October 23, 1925 – January 23, 2005) was an American television host, comedian, writer and producer. He is best known as the host of ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' (1962–1992). Carson received six Pr ...
, who often invoked it when he took ''
The Tonight Show
''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. The show has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2009 and 201 ...
'' to Los Angeles before permanently moving it there in 1972.
In "the Gunslinger", the last episode of ''
The Dick Van Dyke Show
''The Dick Van Dyke Show'' is an American television sitcom created by Carl Reiner that initially aired on CBS from October 3, 1961 to June 1, 1966, with a total of 158 half-hour episodes spanning five seasons. It was produced by Calvada Product ...
'' to be filmed (though it was not the last aired), Rob dreams he is a sheriff in the
Old West
The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...
, where a gun salesman (
Allan Melvin
Allan John Melvin (February 18, 1923 – January 17, 2008) was an American actor and impressionist, who was cast in hundreds of television episodes from the 1950s to the early 1990s, often appearing in recurring roles on various series. Some of th ...
) tries to sell him a pistol, telling him "This gun was only fired once -- to kill a little old lady in Pasadena".
The song was one of many California related songs played throughout "Sunshine Plaza" in the original
Disney California Adventure
Disney California Adventure Park, commonly referred to as California Adventure or by its acronym DCA, is a theme park located at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Park ...
.
The
Dead Kennedys
Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band that formed in San Francisco, California, in 1978. The band was one of the defining punk rock, punk bands during its initial eight-year run.
Dead Kennedys' lyrics were usually political in nature, sa ...
satirized the concept in their own song "Buzzbomb from Pasadena," where an elderly driver likewise terrorizes the city with her driving before getting into a shootout with police at a
7-11
7-Eleven, Inc., stylized as 7-ELEVE, is a multinational chain of retail convenience stores, headquartered in Dallas, Texas. The chain was founded in 1927 as an ice house storefront in Dallas. It was named Tote'm Stores between 1928 and 1946. A ...
.
In ''
Animaniacs
''Animaniacs'' is an American animated comedy musical television series created by Tom Ruegger for Fox Broadcasting Company's Fox Kids block in 1993, before moving to The WB in 1995, as part of its Kids' WB afternoon programming block, unti ...
'',
Slappy Squirrel
This is a list of characters in the 1993 animated series, ''Animaniacs'', and its 2020 revival.
The Warner Siblings (Animaniacs)
The Warner Siblings (also known as "the Animaniacs" by fans and the media) are small, silly, mischievous, anthro ...
once takes over the old lady's role in the song. Slappy's car in this case is not the Super Stock Dodge from the song, but rather a generic red sports car with a slight resemblance to a first generation
Dodge Viper
The Dodge Viper is a sports car that was manufactured by Dodge (by SRT for 2013 and 2014), a division of American car manufacturer FCA US LLC from 1992 until 2017, having taken a brief hiatus in 2007 and from 2010 to 2012. Production of the two ...
. That episode ends with her revealing that she "never took a lesson in her life" and being arrested.
References
External links
Lyrics of this song
{{DEFAULTSORT:Little Old Lady (from Pasadena), The
Jan and Dean songs
The Beach Boys songs
1964 singles
Songs about California
Songs about Los Angeles
Songs written by Roger Christian (songwriter)
Songs written by Jan Berry
RPM Top Singles number-one singles
1964 songs
Liberty Records singles
Songs about cars
Songs about old age
Dodge