The Night the Light Went Out in Georgia" Vicki Lawrence Album

No, but I have the single.

Me too, r1.

Her cover of "Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves" is horrendous.

Did anyone own her second album?

Cher (vis a vis Sonny) was kind enough to pass on "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia," and THAT (R3) is how Vicki repays her?

Her cover of "Killing Me Softly" is likewise lukewarm. She sings the song, but she doesn't really "get" it the way Roberta does.

If it wasn't for the kindness of Carol Burnett this woman would never have a career in showbiz.

She looks positively simian.

Good Lord! she has a THIRD album!!

[quote]If it wasn't for the kindness of Carol Burnett this woman would never have a career in showbiz.

I see that Roselle Huplander has joined the chat.

R9 OK that is a fantastic album cover.

As a kid, "Georgia" was on the radio constantly. At the same time Carol Burnett aired past our bedtime, but my sister and I would beg mom to let us stay up to watch it -- and she usually relented. It wasn't until years later I found out Vicki Lawrence was the singer, and I couldn't quite believe it.

I couldn't believe it was her either R12. I love that song, and her as well.

I realize it was the 1970s, but she looks hideous on that cover. The cereal bowl haircut and the picnic tablecloth outfit are not really working for her.

Did she ever perform live or have any concerts in the 70s?

R14 It is hideous, but that cover has always been one of my favorites out of my collection.

[quote]Did she ever perform live or have any concerts in the 70s?

I believe she sang at a political fundraiser for Mayor Alvin Tutweiler...

But that was before the old SOB tried to tear down Mama's house for a new landfill

Beyonce should record a complete cover of this album for her next venture. She'd do it justice.

Raytown, Oh Raytown...

She's recently had a "two woman" live show where she performs as Mama during the second half.

[quote]She's recently had a "two woman" live show where she performs as Mama during the second half.

She’s been doing that for decades. She incorporated the Mama character into a tour of Nunsense that she did.

I bet Carol Burnett would like to beat her with a stick. Originally, Carol was going to play Mama, but in the end decided to play Eunice.

I think I do have in on vinyl. But I can't remember any song except for Georgia.

But then again, I also have other kitschy albums, like the 70s soap opera lady who recorded her own album.

[quote]But then again, I also have other kitschy albums

r22, do you have...?

My parents had that exact 8-track when I was a kid and played it endlessly. 8-tracks were famous for clunking to a halt in the middle of the song while it changed tracks (they didn't try to make it seem seamless). I loved "Dime a Dance."

"Hey mister, take a chance/It only costs you a dime a dance ... "

I remember when Vicki sang this song on The Carol Burnett Show. My childhood self thought it was so nice of Carol to let Vicki sing her song on the show. In my mind, top 40 radio was kid stuff and Carol's show was for grownups, so it felt like Vicki got to sit at the adult table on Thanksgiving.

R23 No, but that looks fun!

I've posted the Kmart Christmas music in the past, as well as compilations like this.

R19 Oh Raytown is one of my favorite songs.

[quote]I realize it was the 1970s, but she looks hideous on that cover. The cereal bowl haircut and the picnic tablecloth outfit are not really working for her.

Didn’t we recently have a thread about worst album covers? That one with its 12¢ production design certainly must be up there

Op people must have liked it because the single went to #1 in the US.

Carol surprised Vicki on the show with her gold record.

That album was slapped together at the last minute, apparently her husband was the songwriter (and maybe the producer?) and they split up right after it was done.

So yes, she had her McCrory's 59 cent shirt on. And quite possibly a Shake n Go wig.

R30 carol also let her debut a song selection from newborn woman.

R24 8-track tapes were notoriously bad for that reason, changing tracks during a song. I had David Bowie , Elton John and Pink Floyd albums in the 1970s and to date when they reach a section of a certain song I still half expect it to make that clicking noise , pause for a few seconds and then continue again.

R19 I used to sing “Rape town, oh Rapetown….”

“Disco Duck and Fleetwood Mac/Coming out of our 8-track/Michael Jackson still was black/Those were the days!”

R30 I had an instant flashback to that moment when I saw this post. I was only 10 but I thought it was so cool for Vicki. My mom later bought the sheet music and made me play it while she sang.

Criticizing Vicki’s album cover appearance completely misses the point of 1973. Everyone MOR aspired to be John Denver, Anne Murray, the Carpenters. Yes, in retrospect we all looked dreadful, but the alternative was to be a glitter freak like Alice Cooper.

Something happened between Vicki and Carol after the Carol Burnett Show went off the air. I don't think even Vicki knew what it was, but for many years Carol wouldn't have anything to do with her. Vicki and her husband almost gave up wondering why and eventually Vicki's husband sent a note to Carol begging her to visit them. Carol replied and said "it just isn't time yet". I've often wondered if they ever patched up whatever went wrong. I really got the feeling that Carol might have been suffering from some mental issues at the time.

It was that Vicki agreed to keep doing Mama's Family with Joe Hamilton after Carol and Joe divorced and Carol felt betrayed, and on more than one level (Vicki being someone that Carol mentored, doing a continuation of material that Carol supposedly felt proprietory towards). Personally, I'd argue that in the end, Vicki/Mama's Family did right by Carol, but that's me.

Specifically, Joe Hamilton's company moved forward with Mama's Family and Carol had been planning to ask Vicki to do the same, and when Carol learned that Vicki accepted Joe's offer before speaking to her, that created the falling out.

I don't think their relationship has ever quite been the same, though I don't think Vicki meant anything by it - Carol saw it as a betrayal.

R38 - R40 This real life feud encapsulates why Carol was so brilliant as the overly fragile Eunice and would not have been as good as Vicki as stolid Momma.

[quote]Criticizing Vicki’s album cover appearance completely misses the point of 1973. Everyone MOR aspired to be John Denver, Anne Murray, the Carpenters.

Yes. The hair, the shirt....crunchy granola John Denver 1973.

And notice how her second album cover suggests Carol King's Tapestry cover?

This is Diana Ross in 1973. The cover looks like it could have been issued this month.

The Night Light Went Out And I FAPPED For Hours

Can we please discuss how the collar on that cowgirl shirt seems to be at least 8 inches wide and hangs down past her tits?!?

I recall some of the shirts in the 1970s had comically large collars.

R45 is why I love this place. Meticulously poring over every centimeter of a cheezy album cover from the 70s like it's the Zapruder film. LOL!

One of the more improbable people to have a hit record.

An odd choice for a beach party

[quote]No, but I have the single.

The single light that went out in Georgia?

8-track ….

Ker-CHUNK … ker-CHUNK

After Carol Burnett dies, I bet within 90 days she announces a Mama's Family revamp.

Oh the nastalga,the nastalga-come on guys can’t we we just forget this ever happened-if you survived it be grateful, move on and encourage Queen-B to do justice to Georgia.

Which were worse, 70s album covers or 80s video covers?

This was the inspiration for one of Julia Sugarbaker’s rants.

I had the 45 at the time.

This was when those “story” songs were popular, like Run Joey Run type stuff. Plus, it has an undeniably good chorus.

Also, people in the ‘70s used to think Helen Reddy could sing. So…it was a low bar.

She may not be a good vocalist but she was an excellent cunnilinguist.

Amateur

[quote]She may not be a good vocalist but she was an excellent cunnilinguist.

Carol wouldn’t give it up for an underling. She and Julie were on equal status so that’s why they could match.

[quote]This was when those “story” songs were popular

Ode to Billy Joe

Harper Valley P.T.A.

This is the 2nd cut from her '79 album. It's far better than the lead cut which is "Newborn Woman" which sounds like it was about a born-again Christian experience (Vicki did many 700 Club appearances in the 90s & beyond with Pat R.). She mentioned this as the upcoming single from the album on a game show (Password Plus) but it was only released in Australia.

Only three albums (all in the 1970's) and only the debut is available on CD.

STOP the music, please!

According to Lawrence's autobiography, Vicki!: The True-Life Adventures of Miss Fireball, Burnett resented Lawrence for accepting the role of Mama for first-run syndication with producer Joe Hamilton (who owned the Mama's Family characters). It was during this time that Burnett was involved in an acrimonious divorce from Hamilton, who produced both The Carol Burnett Show and Mama's Family.[16] Burnett felt Lawrence had been disloyal to her and held a grudge against her until Hamilton's death in 1991. Sometime after Hamilton's death, Burnett and Lawrence reconciled. Lawrence's autobiography reads:

A funny thing happened the day I signed with Lorimar. Carol called and said, 'I think I'd like to put together maybe a little syndicated show with the family characters. I'll do Eunice, you do Mama. Doesn't that sound like fun?' I said, 'It does, but I just signed with Lorimar to do Mama's Family for Joe.' It became a very abrupt conversation, and Carol hung up. I then went to Al and asked him what he made of the whole thing. He agreed it was really weird. I wondered if I was about to get caught in the middle of yet another struggle between the two of them . . . During her divorce, Carol and I went through a 'cool' period. She 'divorced' everyone and remained distant for a lot of years. She called the house a few years ago. I was standing at the sink peeling carrots, fifteen feet from the phone, but Garrett got to it first and I only heard his half of the following conversation: 'Hello? Oh hi. Yeah, sure, he's in the other room, on the other line. You want me to tell him you're calling? My mom's here, you want to talk to her? No? Okay. Goodbye.' When he hung up I asked him who it was. 'Carol Burnett.' I was shocked. 'What did she say?' 'She didn't want to talk to you. She only wanted to talk to Dad.' Al called her back later that night, made a point of telling her how much we missed and loved her, and she told him, 'I'll be back. It's just going to take a while longer. Give me another year or so."[17]

You'd think Vicki would have talked to Carol before signing that contract, though.

Her helmet hair was spot on.

[quote]You'd think Vicki would have talked to Carol before signing that contract, though.

Why would Vicki consult with Carol about her career? Clearly, Joe Hamilton owned the property.

IT WAS A SEVENNNNNNNN!

The same thing happened between Johnny Carson and Joan Rivers. It's not that either Vicki or Joan needed permission to sign on to their respective shows, but it would have shown respect to the people who got them to where they were to at least consult with them.

I'm confused about the Mama's Family issue. Carol was actually on several episodes of the first season of the Mama's Family TV show. Was her divorce with Joe Hamilton the reason for the friction between Carol and Vicki? I seem to be missing a piece of the puzzle here.

It was between the NBC Mama's Family and the much better syndicated version of Mama's Family. There was like a year gap between the two.

If Vicki had phoned and went with Carol then we quite possibly may never have gotten Iola...or (SHUDDERS)...Bubba in tight jeans!!!!

R71 Thanks for clarifying that.

Yes R72 every teenage gay boy in the 80s (including me) are grateful for Bubba and his painted on Levi's!

All hail Vicki

I think she's a handsome woman..

"Star Love" is about as late 70s disco as you can find -

I'm digging Star Love, thank you very much...

This album cut sounds like VL is trying to channel the Bee Gees =

Is that a Thelma yell at about 2:27 on this tune?

Vicki was married to the songwriter of “Georgia” Bobby Russell in the early 70s. Vicki was only 23 but looks 43 on the album cover.

Carol was supposed to do more episodes of Mamas Family during the second season but the divorce with Joe Hamilton became contentious and she only appears in one episode and did a voice over for another. The show ended up using Betty White for season 2 much more than initially planned.

Did Carol & bi Betty ever hook up?

[quote]the divorce with Joe Hamilton became contentious

Reap what you sow, hussy. She was sleeping with Joe while he was still married. She stole Joe from another wife and children.

All total, Joe had 11 children!

[quote]R39 Vicki agreed to keep doing Mama's Family with Joe Hamilton after Carol and Joe divorced and Carol felt betrayed

Did Carol think other producers were beating down Vicki’s door with job offers?

Get over yourself, Carol, you millionaire bitch.

r83 has it. Vicki isn't that talented of an actress. In fact, she has one role. In 11 years on Carol's show, can you name one other recurring character or notable one-off she did other than Mama?

I know someone who worked with her in the 1980s and said she was a grade A cunt. Having worked with celebrities in the past, in my experience, the ones with the least talent are the dragons. This shield of evil they put up is to deflect people from discovering they really have no talent.

[quote]I know someone who worked with her in the 1980s and said she was a grade A cunt.

Was her name Alberta Meechum?

[quote]The same thing happened between Johnny Carson and Joan Rivers. It's not that either Vicki or Joan needed permission to sign on to their respective shows, but it would have shown respect to the people who got them to where they were to at least consult with them.

Agree. I always assumed Johnny Carson was being cruel to Joan Rivers in his icy attitude toward her after she got her own show, but after recently seeing a short biopic of her career which showed how she and the new Fox network advertised her show, I changed my mind. They heavily promoted it on the premise that Joan was competing with The Tonight Show and with the confidence that they would get higher ratings. (It was reminiscent of morning radio hosts back then picking fights with hosts at other stations during sweeps.) I could see why Johnny was bothered by it all. Her weird bragging (and getting her audience to cheer as she promised to have the highest ratings) cheapened the vibe The Tonight Show established in late-night television. I think Johnny genuinely liked her and appreciated her professionally, and I think she thoughtlessly turned on him to grandstand.

(Of course she had every right to accept the offer for her own show, but she didn't have to make it seem like she wanted to knock The Tonight Show off the air. She and Fox seemed too coarse and mean-spirited, and for no reason.)

[quote]can you name one other recurring character or notable one-off she did other than Mama?

Sgt. Alvinia T. Plout

[quote]can you name one other recurring character or notable one-off she did other than Mama?

She was a host of the game show Win, Lose or Draw.

She was Mamaw in Hannah Montana.

The cereal bowl haircut was ubiquitous at that time. A lot of people had it and it still shows up on annoying child actors today. I think it's called the Hollywood Bowl. Adam Ritchie, Cousin Oliver, Toni Tenille, and a cast of thousands, all had a variation of that haircut.

Go back and look at any yearbook from the 1970s. Half the girls had haircuts like that. Also, everyone wore huge plastic framed glasses that were exceptionally unflattering.

[quote]r90 The cereal bowl haircut was ubiquitous at that time. A lot of people had it

R78 favorite lyric: ohh, you keep me coming…

R91. There no real designer frames back then. Your eye doctor would pick them for ya…I wore plastic aviator-style coke bottle glasses in 4th grade!

I miss story songs.

Vicki Lawrence spent a decade or so on a successful variety show, headlined her own sitcom, and has had numerous other showbiz jobs such as game show host and TV talk show host. What else dies she need to be known by?

Real talent?

Vicki was lucky because on Carol Burnett she didn’t have any competition. Harvey Korman had Lyle Waggoner and Tim Conway to compete with.

The pantheon of Hollywood "stars" would disagree with you, R96.

Carol Channing's corn flakes cereal bowl cut

[quote]I know someone who worked with her in the 1980s and said she was a grade A cunt.

As a child, my family went to L.A. and got tickets to a taping of The Carol Burnett Show. Unfortunately it wasn't a regular sketch show but a retrospective where the stars sat on stage and had brief "remember when" lines before a clip was shown.

Carol was a real sport and sensed how disappointing it was, so she took extra questions every time they took a break, told stories, and really engaged the audience. Conway and Korman were game too. Vicki sat at the end of the panel, ignored her castmates and the audience, and looked annoyed all night. It was pre cellphone but today she would have been scrolling on her phone.

It's a fucking wedge, folks! Jesus...

No, it's not Dorothy Hamill's wedge cut. Hamill's hairstyle is slightly different and didn't take off until 1976 with the Olympics. Viki's album cover is 1973.

Correct.^

Vicki knew exactly what she was doing by keeping Carol in the dark until negotiations had been finalized.

[quote]Vicki knew exactly what she was doing by keeping Carol in the dark until negotiations had been finalized.

Maybe if Carol had bothered to stop scissoring with the Brit, she would have realized that a girl’s gotta eat. The end of the Burnett show meant the end of Vicki’s paycheck.

The flip side of the single is "Dime a Dance," which I always enjoyed. It showed off Vicki's sluttier side.

This was her best performance.

Fun anecdote Vicki told on one of those VH1 one hit wonder shows. She and Tony Orlando were booked on American Bandstand at the same time. Both hit songs-Vicki’s TNTLWOIG and Tonys Tie A Yellow Ribbon were both in the top 5 with Vicki being number one. Tony told her backstage enjoy it as much as you can because number ones don’t happen very often. Vicki told VH1 boy that was really true in my case because it never happened again, or another hit record.

Hey, that's my haircut!

And, Honey, I miss you, r109.

The one Bobby Goldsboro song I like.

[quote] If it wasn't for the kindness of Carol Burnett this woman would never have a career in showbiz.

Probably true, although overshadowed by Korman and Conway Vicki still pulled her weight on Carol's show

[quote]Vicki still pulled her weight on Carol's show

She absolutely did.

Let's not forget that Johnny Carson by all accounts was an ice-cold man in private life. I believe Joan's side of the story -- and let's not forget that part of her motivation was that she'd seen a list of the people that NBC was considering to replace Johnny . . . and she wasn't on it.

[quote] Also, everyone wore huge plastic framed glasses that were exceptionally unflattering.

They're all gonna laugh at you! Plug it up plug it up plug it up!

Dorothy Hamill's haircut looked awful on 90% of the women who had it.

Bobby Goldsboro's greatest song.

I love her enunciation on "And his CHEAP WIFE had never left town ... "

[quote] I love her enunciation on "And his CHEAP WIFE had never left town ... "

cheatiin'

Or so I always understood it to be

But either way a fine topic for Algonquin Round Table discussion.

"You see, little sister don't miss when she aims her gun" I love that line... it's just perfect as is Vicki's delivery.

There was a time in the '70s, when women were dangerous... this is a great example, then there's "Angie Baby" and Cher's "Dark lady"

And so, I sneaked back and caught her with my man Laughing and kissing 'til they saw the gun in my hand The next thing I knew they were dead on the floor Dark lady would never turn a card up anymore

Dark Lady is a brilliant story song as is Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves. Cher got lucky.

A gay tune...

I'd pick this one as her best chance of a hit off her final 1979 album =

Where else on the internet could there be a lively discussion of a 50 year old song by Vicki Lawrence, of all people? I love DL.

We even had a doilies thread, r124.

[quote] Where else on the internet could there be a lively discussion of a 50 year old song by Vicki Lawrence, of all people?

see r119

R102 There was an entire DL thread devoted to this hairstyle. I learned so much from it.

I used to marvel at Vicki's hairstyle on that album cover as a kid. It was sheer perfection.

R18

R114, Rivers was a professional victim and also a liar. In the end, NBC was certainly correct in not having her on their list of replacements for Carson. Her own character was proven when she got over her husband's suicide a lot quicker than she did over Carson's snub. Even her assistant and manager said never believe anything she said.

Joan always used sarcasm and put downs in her comedy. It’s obvious why NBC wouldn’t trust her on a permanent basis.

Fox was a new network and trying to attract a younger audience. Joan fit in with their more edgy approach. The Simpsons and Married With Children were examples of what they were going for.

I saw an episode of Vicki's talk show where she had June Allyson as a guest. Vicki did a bit where she put on a couple of Depend over her pants. See from 33.50 .

[quote] Joan always used sarcasm and put downs in her comedy. It’s obvious why NBC wouldn’t trust her on a permanent basis.

It looks like NBC got over that.

[quote]It looks like NBC got over that.

SNL was targeted towards teenagers hanging out on the weekend. It wasn’t a high profile time slot.

Replacing Johnny with a woman who told fat jokes about Elizabeth Taylor wasn’t going to cut it on a nightly basis.

R54 Was that film actually based on the lyrics of the song?