Ted, Woody, and Junior Releases Gigs Lyrics Comments Tablature

Details

Author
Robyn Hitchcock
Performances
110

Releases

Title Artist Label Type Year
Element of Light Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians Glass Fish Records Album 1986
The Hooded One Robyn Hitchcock Feg You Records Bootleg 1988
Luminous Groove Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians Yep Roc Records Album 2008

Gigs

Billed As Venue City State Country Date
Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians Ronnie Scott's London England UK 02/02/1986
Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians UCSD Gym Steps San Diego California US 03/13/1986
Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians I-Beam San Francisco California US 03/17/1986
Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians Berkeley Square Berkeley California US 03/19/1986
Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians Starry Night Portland Oregon US 03/21/1986
Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians Town Pump Vancouver British Columbia Canada 03/24/1986
Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians First Avenue Minneapolis Minnesota US 03/26/1986
Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians 9:30 Club Washington DC US 03/28/1986
Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians Paradise Centre Reading England UK 06/02/1986
Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians Norwich Arts Centre Norwich England UK 06/06/1986
Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians WNYU New York New York US 10/31/1986
Robyn Hitchcock Revolver Records San Francisco California US 11/17/1986
Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians One Step Beyond Santa Clara California US 11/18/1986
Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians Northern Lights Minneapolis Minnesota US 11/23/1986
Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians First Avenue Minneapolis Minnesota US 11/23/1986
Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians Stereodrome Bologna Italy 02/11/1987
Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians Stereodrome Bologna Italy 02/12/1987
Robyn Hitchcock Ronnie Scott's London England UK 05/10/1987
Robyn Hitchcock McCabe's Santa Monica California US 07/18/1987
Robyn Hitchcock Ronnie Scott's London England UK 10/25/1987
Robyn Hitchcock Mean Fiddler London England UK 12/05/1987
Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians Band on the Wall Manchester England UK 02/09/1988
Robyn Hitchcock Zap Club Brighton England UK 02/16/1988
Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians Hackney Empire London England UK 02/17/1988
Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians Grove Arts Centre Dorchester England UK 02/19/1988
Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians Let It Be Records Minneapolis Minnesota US 04/11/1988
Robyn Hitchcock McCabe's Santa Monica California US 07/29/1988
Robyn Hitchcock McCabe's Santa Monica California US 07/31/1988
Robyn Hitchcock Virgin Megastore London England UK 12/01/1988
Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians Lisner Auditorium George Washington University Washington DC US 06/14/1989
Robyn Hitchcock Blue Wall (UMass) Amherst Massachusetts US 09/23/1989
Robyn Hitchcock Backstage Seattle Washington US 09/27/1989
Robyn Hitchcock Slim's San Francisco California US 10/05/1989
Robyn Hitchcock The Birchmere Alexandria Virginia US 04/23/1990
Robyn Hitchcock Cat's Cradle (Chapel Hill NC) Carrboro North Carolina US 04/27/1990
Robyn Hitchcock The Point Atlanta Georgia US 05/01/1990
Robyn Hitchcock 40 Watt Club Athens Georgia US 05/04/1990
Robyn Hitchcock Einstein a-Go-Go Jacksonville Beach Florida US 05/06/1990
Robyn Hitchcock Tipitina's New Orleans Louisiana US 05/11/1990
Robyn Hitchcock Cactus Café Austin Texas US 05/15/1990
Robyn Hitchcock Cactus Café Austin Texas US 05/15/1990
Robyn Hitchcock Great American Music Hall San Francisco California US 05/30/1990
Robyn Hitchcock University Centre Auditorium Victoria British Columbia Canada 07/12/1990
Robyn Hitchcock Iron Horse Northampton Massachusetts US 10/11/1990
Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians Max's on Broadway Baltimore Maryland US 01/01/1991
Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians Bogart's Long Beach California US 04/21/1991
'Positively Barking' featuring the Four Croakers Dingwalls London England UK 11/11/2001
Robyn Hitchcock and.... The Garage London England UK 01/25/2002
Robyn Hitchcock Largo Los Angeles California US 04/27/2002
Robyn Hitchcock Maxwell's Hoboken New Jersey US 01/09/2004
Robyn Hitchcock Rockstars Austin Texas US 03/20/2004
Robyn Hitchcock Kitty Kat Club Minneapolis Minnesota US 11/04/2004
Robyn Hitchcock Rex Theatre Pittsburgh Pennsylvania US 11/09/2004
Robyn Hitchcock Maxwell's Hoboken New Jersey US 11/14/2004
Robyn Hitchcock Largo Los Angeles California US 03/10/2005
Robyn Hitchcock Club Congress Tucson Arizona US 03/13/2005
Robyn Hitchcock Iron Horse Northampton Massachusetts US 03/28/2005
Robyn Hitchcock Duncan Hall Lafayette Indiana US 04/03/2005
Robyn Hitchcock The Chapel San Francisco California US 06/08/2017
Robyn Hitchcock The Barns at Wolf Trap Vienna Virginia US 04/11/2019
Robyn Hitchcock The Kate Old Saybrook Connecticut US 04/13/2019
Robyn Hitchcock Caffe Lena Saratoga Springs New York US 04/14/2019
Robyn Hitchcock The Stone Church Brattleboro Vermont US 04/16/2019
Robyn Hitchcock Firehouse Center For The Performing Arts Newburyport Massachusetts US 04/17/2019
Robyn Hitchcock The Center For Arts Natick Massachusetts US 04/20/2019
Robyn Hitchcock Music Box Supper Club Cleveland Ohio US 06/19/2019
Robyn Hitchcock The Ark Ann Arbor Michigan US 06/22/2019
Robyn Hitchcock Monarch Tavern Toronto Ontario Canada 06/24/2019
Robyn Hitchcock Twyford Parish Hall Twyford England UK 07/25/2019
Robyn Hitchcock Café Berlin Madrid Spain 10/03/2019
Robyn Hitchcock The Capstone Theater Liverpool England UK 10/19/2019
Robyn Hitchcock Brudenell Social Club Leeds England UK 10/20/2019
Robyn Hitchcock St Paul's Church Birmingham England UK 10/25/2019
Robyn Hitchcock Paste Studios Atlanta Georgia US 11/13/2019
Robyn Hitchcock The ArtsCenter Carrboro North Carolina US 11/14/2019
Robyn Hitchcock Sellersville Theater Sellersville Pennsylvania US 11/17/2019
Robyn Hitchcock Murmrr New York New York US 11/21/2019
Robyn Hitchcock StageOne Fairfield Connecticut US 11/22/2019
Robyn Hitchcock Columbus Theatre Providence Rhode Island US 11/23/2019
Robyn Hitchcock City Winery Boston Massachusetts US 11/24/2019
Robyn Hitchcock Concerts In The Studio Freehold New Jersey US 11/25/2019
Robyn Hitchcock Largo at the Coronet Los Angeles California US 12/13/2019
Robyn Hitchcock Levontin7 Tel Aviv Israel 02/02/2020
Robyn Hitchcock Circolo Della Musica Rivoli Italy 02/07/2020
Robyn Hitchcock Chiesa Valdese Rome Italy 02/08/2020
Robyn Hitchcock Cripta Romanics del Duomo Avellino Italy 02/09/2020
Robyn Hitchcock Fremont Abbey Arts Center Seattle Washington US 02/27/2020
Robyn Hitchcock The Old Church Portland Oregon US 02/29/2020
Robyn Hitchcock Daniels Hall @ Swallow Hill Music Denver Colorado US 03/13/2020
Robyn Hitchcock & Emma Swift Robyn & Emma's house Nashville Tennessee US 05/27/2020
Robyn Hitchcock & Emma Swift Robyn & Emma's house Nashville Tennessee US 05/29/2020
Robyn Hitchcock Robyn and Emma's house London England UK 11/15/2020
Robyn Hitchcock & Emma Swift Robyn and Emma's house London England UK 04/30/2021
Robyn Hitchcock & Morris Windsor Robyn and Emma's house London England UK 06/11/2021
Robyn Hitchcock St Mary's Creative Space Chester England UK 09/30/2021
Robyn Hitchcock City Winery New York New York US 10/12/2021
Robyn Hitchcock Musikfest Cafe Bethlehem Pennsylvania US 10/14/2021
Robyn Hitchcock The Hangar Theatre Ithaca New York US 10/15/2021
Robyn Hitchcock Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center Westhampton Beach New York US 10/22/2021
Robyn Hitchcock StageOne Fairfield Connecticut US 10/23/2021
Robyn Hitchcock Brudenell Social Club Leeds England UK 03/20/2022
Robyn Hitchcock Loppen Copenhagen Denmark 03/25/2022
Robyn Hitchcock Knuckleheads Kansas City Missouri US 04/14/2022
Robyn Hitchcock Stoughton Opera House Stoughton Wisconsin US 04/19/2022
Robyn Hitchcock Old Town School of Folk Music Chicago Illinois US 04/21/2022
Robyn Hitchcock Largo at the Coronet Los Angeles California US 05/26/2022
Robyn Hitchcock Norwich Puppet Theatre Norwich England UK 09/23/2022
Robyn Hitchcock Eddie's Attic Decatur Georgia US 11/12/2022
Robyn Hitchcock Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Music Room Liverpool England UK 02/28/2023
Robyn Hitchcock The Betsey Trotwood London England UK 07/01/2023

Comments

From Robyn on Instagram in 2019
New York City, 1965, was plagued by power cuts and water shortages. Whilst Bob Dylan, Brian Jones and Andy Warhol dealt with the former by vamping around Nico in their Raybans, elsewhere in NYC three other guys saved water by showering together in a petite bath-tub. Plumbing (like so much else) has changed drastically since the 1960s, so it may be hard for the 21st Century mind to grasp what a feat it was for Ted, Woody and Junior to manoeuvre themselves into one bath, backs demurely to the camera, and lather up.

I discovered this one damp November a decade later, whilst waiting to play a floor spot (open mic night) at the Portland Arms in Cambridge. Browsing in a seedy charity shop at dusk, I chanced upon a mildewed faux-bodybuilding mag called Muscleboy. Bodybuilding was hardly my jam, but something about Muscleboy (and The Young Physique, its companion mag) caught my eye. A few pages in from the Charles Atlas types at the front, arcane tableaux began to appear: a man clad only in a Stetson hat and cowboy boots grinned over his shoulder - another posed underwater with a lobster as his swimming costume. By the time I reached the saga of Ted, Woody and Junior I was hooked. Had Warhol read these periodicals, I wondered? Had Dylan himself? Those were different times. “I’ve got something stronger, if yer want it” coughed the sleazy proprietor, wheezing a toxic blend of chilly Fenland air and tobacco smoke into his dim-lit, fungal store. I assured him these two items were plenty and paid him my 10 pence. Two weekends later, my roommate and I sang this byline from Muscleboy onstage at the Portland Arms, in an acapella English folk style : “A brand new model from Bruce this month - Blackie Preston...the rigors of hard range work have given him the perfectly developed body of a man”
They loved us, as always... In 1985, two decades on from that epic year in New York, I was on a railway platform when this song appeared, almost fully formed, in my head.

Lyrics

Ted, Woody, and Junior
Stand in the bath together
And cover each other with soap
Cover each other with soap

Ted, Woody, and Junior
Stand in the frosty garden
They can feel their sinews harden
So they cover each other with leaves
Cover each other with leaves...
Yeah, they cover each other with leaves
Cover each other with leaves

It's a wonderful world
With a lot of strange men
Who are standing around
And they're all wearing towels

Ted, Woody, and Junior
Were disappointments to their fathers
But they had a way with lather
And they covered each other with soap
Covered each other with soap
Yeah, they covered each other with soap
Covered each other with soap

Ted, Woody, and Junior..

Tablature

C...   Em...   G:

     F  F       Dm      C... F... C
Ted, Woody, and Juuuuuunior
      F  F   C
stand in the bath together
    Dm
and cover each other with soap
                      C... F... C... Em... G:
cover each other with soap

     F  F       Dm      C
Ted, Woody, and Juuuuuunior
      F  F   C
Stand in the frosty garden
         F    F     C
They can feel their sinews harden
        Dm
So they cover each other with leaves
                      C       F... C
cover each other with leaves...
                                 Dm
Yeah, they cover each other with leaves
                      C       F... C 
cover each other with leaves

(The tricky middle bit)

       Fm
It's a wonderful world
       D#
With a lot of strange men
        A#              F
Who are standing arouuu-nd
            C                G
And they're all wearing tooooowels

F... C... F... C... F... C... Em... G:

     F  F       Dm      C... F... C
Ted, Woody, and Juuuuuunior
          F    F     C
Were disappointments to their fathers
         F   F C
But they had a way with lather
         Dm
And they covered each other with soap
                        C... F... C
covered each other with soap
                                   Dm
Yeah, they covered each other with soap
                        C... F... C... Em... G:
covered each other with soap
     F  F       Dm                    C
Ted, Woody, and Juuuuuuuu...(pause)...nior...

[Transcribed by JH3]