Bloodshot Eyes
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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"Don't Roll Your Bloodshot Eyes At Me" (1950) is a musical composition by Hank Penny.
- So I guess our little romance has finally simmered down
- You should join the circus, you make a real good clown
- Your eyes look like a roadmap, I'm scared to smell your breath
- You better shut your peepers before you bleed to death
Penny's "Bloodshot Eyes" was also recorded in 1951 by rock and roll singer Wynonie Harris, who turned it into a major rock hit (King 4461). Harris was a big influence on Elvis Presley, who did go to see him play and met him in his formative years and recorded Roy Brown's "Good Rocking Tonight" after hearing Wynonie Harris' hit version. Appreciated by white country music fans and black rock and roll followers alike, "Bloodshot Eyes" became an early landmark in racial integration. It was much appreciated in the Caribbean, where Wynonie Harris had a large following. Along with other Wynonie Harris records, it was being played on Jamaican dancehalls as early as 1951. In 1958 Jamaican mento group Denzil Laing and the Wrigglers recorded a fine version of it for their Arawak Hotel album featuring jazz guitar great Ernest Ranglin. Bermuda Islands legend Sydney Bean also recorded it, releasing it circa 1955.
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