Friday, August 15, 2008

Isaac "Purple" Hayes is dead.

Perhaps best known as the leader of the Purple Gang, a group from Detroit, the Purple Gang itself was notorious as a mob of bootleggers, so many of them imprisoned that when Elvis went to prison he found that the whole rhythm section was the Purple Gang.

Jimi Hendrix, Seattle-born guitarist, was much taken with Hayes, going so far as to write the song that has immortalized them both: "Purple Hayes," the lyrics of which include this famous line of comradely love: "Excuse me while I kiss this guy."

Hayes is reported to have turned purple at the mention of it, hence the nick-name.

So long, Purple, we miss you.

6 comments:

truepeers said...

Elvis went to prison?

What kind of neo-nazi historical revisionist are you?

Dag said...

Oh no, I'm on Warman's hit-lit now, top ten, and rising!

I knew I shoudn'a done it, but I wrote that he ain't nothin but a hound dog. Oh, man, am I in the glue.

I am a walking and talking hate crime. Will no one save me from my own evil selfness? I mean, aside from Warman.

Eowyn said...

Apologies, guys --

But the lyrics aren't "Excuse me, while I kiss this guy," but "Excuse me, while I KISS THE SKY"

http://tinyurl.com/mx3pf

Easy enough mistake, I know, but important, semantically.

Dag said: "Oh no, I'm on Warman's hit-lit now, top ten, and rising!"

*grinning*

What've you done NOW, dag?

Dag said...

My account of Purple Hayes isn't totally accurate? I'm flummoxed to a whiter shade of pale. Good grief, next thing I know people will say I'm not really Mister Big Science. But. But I did read an Isaac Asimov novel once. And Novum Organum a lot of times.

As far a Warman, well, he's a story that will have to wait for my creative capacities to rise to the boiling point again. Maybe I'll do it in terza rima. Oh, something fancy anyway.

Anonymous said...

Jeez, dag, I thought your reminiscence was bang on. I was all nostalgic myself over Johnny Cash's old song "The Legend of Isaac Hayes".

Dag said...

It makes life worth the livin'.