Country comedian Jim Nesbitt (1931-2007) was one of those modestly successful third-tier second-stringers who managed to hang on during the 'Sixties, as country music slowly, inexorably became more corporate and streamlined... He was a mainstay of the spunky semi-indie Chart Records label, and put out a slew of singles along with a handful of albums. Born in Bishopville, South Carolina, Mr. Nesbitt broke through in 1961 with an unlikely single called "Please Mr. Kennedy," which was an old-fashioned topical/protest novelty song calling on the newly elected President to give more economic aid to southern farmers, while cutting back on the foreign aid being doled out abroad to help win the Cold War. (In Nesbitt's view foreign aid "don't help us," and the punchline comes when he says with resignation that the least Washington could do would be to declare South Carolina a foreign nation... all of which is remarkably prescient considering the Civil Rights movement which was bubbling up at the time, not to mention Lyndon Johnson's war on poverty, which was spurred in no small part by the immense economic suffering LBJ witnessed in the southern states.
Although he pursued other comedic themes during his career, Nesbitt made working-man topical songs one of his main calling cards, with "Looking For More In '64" being the first update of the agrarian vibe in the "Kennedy" song... Subsequent followups like "Still Alive In '65" and "Heck Of A Fix In '66" slid further into a hardened conservative viewpoint, lambasting Johnson and the folks in Washington as out-of-touch elitists doling out welfare dollars to the lazy masses, and he even took a few pot-shots at long-haired hippie anti-war protestors. By the time he cut "Clean The Slate In '68," Nesbitt condemned both the Democrats and Republicans, calling Nixon "Tricky Dick" while basically endorsing the hard-right candidacy of George Wallace. You might think from the title of "Havin' Fun In '71," that he'd mellowed out a little, but it turns out the song is packed with welfare-Cadillac tropes and other Archie Bunker-isms, with Nesbitt shedding a nostalgic tear for the failed Wallace campaign. Hilarious, right? Nesbitt's national career showed a brief flicker of life with his 1970 parody song "Running Bare," which topped out at #20, but after that he faded from sight. When Chart Records went under, Nesbitt followed producer Slim Williamson to the newly-formed, short-lived Scorpion label, and recorded one last album, but that was pretty much it for him, as country music continued to get slicker and sweeter and had less space for cornpone comedy, outside of the confines of the Hee-Haw TV show and the regional "oprys" that sprinkled the states. Here's a quick look at Nesbitt's career...
Jim Nesbitt "...Sings Your Favorite Comedy And Heart Songs" (Chart Records, 1964) (LP)
Jim Nesbitt "Truck Drivin' Cat With Nine Wives" (Chart Records, 1968) (LP)
Jim Nesbitt "Runnin' Bare" (Chart Records, 1970) (LP)
Jim Nesbitt "The Best Of Jim Nesbitt" (Chart Records, 1971) (LP)
Jim Nesbitt "Phone Call From The Devil" (Scorpion Records, 1975) (LP)
(Produced by Randy Moore & Jim Williamson)
