Mick Reasor
Gouache on Rives BFK
3.5 x 2.5 inches
Enlarged
Concept art for the ill-fated You Ain't Nothin' But a Badger record sleeve is the only remaining evidence of a narrowly averted Rock & Roll disaster. On the eve of the release, after 27 takes, songsters Lieber and Stoler rewrote the original lyrics substituting a hound dog for the badger and making the lyrics a little less encyclopedic. The reworked single was released with Don't be Cruel and the record stayed at #1 for eleven weeks.
The original lyrics?
You ain't nothin' but a badger
Tunneling after ground dwelling rodents all the time.
You ain't nothin' but a badger
Your name possibly derived from the badge like marks on your head.
You're the state animal of Wisconsin
And the namesake of Pittsburgh Penguins hockey coach "Badger Bob" Johnson
Enlarged
Gordon, proud member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police knows that nothing impresses the local lasses like a scarlet serge tunic and a perfectly toasted marshmallow.
Marion Michael Morrison aka John Wayne, May 26, 1907 - June 11, 1979.
Mick Reasor, Gouache on Paper, 2.5 x 3.5 inches
Enlarged
Rex, proud member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, even when on patrol in the Canadian bush likes to start every day with a "full monty" English breakfast like his mother used to make. Here, Rex fries up a brace of bangers.