Goddard Brothers Coming to a Town Near You

He was on the stage a long time before me. I remember my brother George, who is two years older than me, having a lead part in a high school musical. He was also a member of the school quartet and I think he may have been the soloist as well one year.

During the garage band days of the sixties when most of us could play only a few chords, he became a much more accomplished guitar player. And 40 something years later, he still plays the guitar.

During his college years in the early 70’s, he and his friend Big Denny entertained drunken crowds many a night at the Lambda Chi House after a fraternity band party. Big Denny and Chicken George picked and sang crazy songs such as “Contraceptive Blues” and “Running Bare.” The crowds laughed at their jokes and knew all the words to their crazy songs. And they sang along with them.

After college Big Denny and Chicken George both got married. Neither stayed married very long the first time around. After their divorces they moved in together for a while and wrote some crazy songs about their failed marriages. They even produced a somewhat famous (or infamous) album called, “Big Denny and Chicken George Live in Woodstock with Moo Love.” New songs such as “Slow Drip Coffeemaker” and “Four Lane Road” made their debut on this album. The message of “Slow Drip Coffeemaker” is about a man who just got divorced and his ex wife took almost everything. The lyrics speak of nothing left but “me and my house and my slow drip coffeemaker.”

I have that CD on my Ipod even today. And I still listen to it and smile every time I hear it.

I stopped by my brother’s house one night a few weeks ago when I was driving through Atlanta. He showed me his new guitar and he picked it up and starting playing and singing a song I haven’t heard called, “Puttin’ on the Dog.” I laughed out loud as I heard the lyrics about a man whose wife wanted a fur coat but he couldn’t afford to buy her one. He accidentally ran over a large dog one night. He took it home, skinned it and made a coat out of it. Now his wife goes out at night “putting on the dog” wearing her new coat.

And then he told a few one liners and moved right into a new rendition of “Slow Drip Coffeemaker.”

The short of the story, after a short discussion between two brothers, Chicken George is about to go on the road – for pay. He has entertained folks for years, including events for the employees of the pharmaceutical company where he is employed – so he needs no practice. Recently he entered a talent show just for the heck of it in a town in north Georgia. Not surprising to me, he tied for first place.

Because of my day job, there are many events for which I get asked to speak that I have to turn down. Why not send my brother??!! In fact, we already have him booked in a south Georgia town in a few days at the same time I will be entertaining in another town.

I wouldn’t be surprised if one day soon we will do a show together. I could see how I could use a few funny songs to go along with my funny stories.

There were the Ringling Brothers, the Righteous Brothers, the Smothers Brothers and now there is a group called the Jonas Brothers.

Maybe you should be looking for the Goddard Brothers coming soon to a town near yo