Cajun Hart & The Pink Panther Connection

[Amsterdam Russ]

I love it when you decide to do a bit of digging online into the names that appear on labels. It's something that I suspect we all do in some way, but certainly have to admit I don't do it enough. It's rare when a bit of time spent online doesn't turn up at least one or two snippets of information that you never knew about a singer or group, the label itself, or those involved in the production of a specific song.

A case in point is a 45 I picked up recently - Cajun Hart - Got to find a way. I'm sure countless folks before me have been curious about the singer and, although I couldn't find out anything about the identity of 'Mr Hart' (does anyone know?), I was quite impressed by the credentials of the other names appearing on the label. Although the UK demo doesn't give the same info, the US release - and I've nabbed a scan from Popsike for the purposes of illustration - provides names for arranger, producer and songwriter, which are Sid Feller, Lee Magid, and Doug Goodwin.

If you know all about the careers of these three then please, click away now. I thought it fascinating, and it was all certainly new information to me.

Sid Feller died in 2006 at the age of 89. During his career as both producer and arranger, he had a lengthy and very successful partnership with Ray Charles. He was also in-house arranger for Capital and ABC Records and worked with household names such as Jack Teagarden, Peggy Lee, Mel Torme, Dean Martin and Nancy Wilson.

The producer, Lee Magid, was an industry stalwart who knew the music industry inside out and back to front courtesy of his experience gained from having reputedly worked in just about every role possible. In 1945, he took a job with National Records and apparently championed the featuring of 'black' acts on 'white' radio. In 1947, he moved to Savoy Records and helped develop the careers of an impressive number of acts that included Johnny Otis and Little Esther (Phillips). At Savoy he worked with a young sound engineer by the name of Tom Dowd. Big Joe Turner, T-Bone Walker, OC Smith and Marlena Shaw were others who received the useful support of Magid who also became manager of artists including Lou Rawls, Earl Grant and Sam Fletcher.

The writing credits of 'Got to find a way' go to Doug Goodwin. The first thing you find out when looking him up online is that he was the composer of the theme to the Pink Panther Show. This, by the way, was done in the same year that "Got to find a way" was released.

Don't get mixed up with the Henry Mancini tune that accompanies the Pink Panther films, it's the theme to the TV series Goodwin was responsible for. How could you forget these lyrics..?

Think of all the animals you ever heard about

Like rhinoceroses and tigers, cats and mink

There are lots of funny animals in all this world

But have you ever seen a panther that is pink?

Think!

A panther that is positively pink!

Classic!

As well as this piece of musical genius, Goodwin was responsible for the scores of many cartoons. For example - Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales; Bugs Bunny's Christmas Carol; Hey there, it's Yogi Bear; The Ant and the Aardvark, and The man called Flintstone (a feature length Flintstone animation from 1966). The list goes on and on…

So there you have it - Cajun Hart and the Pink Panther Connection! Do forgive me if this has all been documented before or is common knowledge!

Even if it is, the next time I play it at home or hear it out, I'll be hard pressed to not think about a panther that is positively pink or even The Flintstones!

Edited July 27, 2011 by Russell Gilbert

[John A]

I was told "Cajun Hart" is a name for a band rather than the singer himself. Was Geoffrey Meteliko the singer? he did that awful version on Happy Tiger.

[Steve G]

Interesting post

[Paul R]

Awful record though. IMHO!!

Paul