Welcome to the Bufus Parsley
Shrine-O-Rama!!
Dedicated to the one and only
Soliticer General of Rock and Roll!
You can have your Elvis - fans of Bufus know that he is the true founder of what we now call Rock 'n Roll. Join us in a 50s BLAST as we remember the HITS and GREAT MOMENTS of this legend. READ ON to find out:
ELVIS BUTT
ELVIS was discovered as a truck driver.
BUFUS was discovered when a truck ran over him. "He screamed sweet as an angel," said the ambulance driver, who refered him to his cousin, "General" Tod Borker. Gen. Tod later got Bufus a contract with Sun records, a deal that Variety called unprecedented, because Gen. Ted got 105% of the profits. Bufus' first hit, "(I Ain't Nuttin' But a) Dead Cat" made millions, but because of the deal, Bufus owed Gen. Ted $126,394.
ELVIS was only shown from the waiste up on the Ed Sullivan show.
BUFUS, who was considerably thinner than Elvis, had a way of making his heart actually beat through his shirt. Some girls found this really romantic but stuffy old network censors nixed it, so the camera only showed Bufus from the waist down. After this he was known as "Bufus the Sternum."
ELVIS was drafted and knuckled under to authority for the duration of his hitch.
BUFUS rebelled like the rebel he was, and got as far as Paramus, New Jersey.
ELVIS was very, very popular for many years.
BUFUS had artistic integrety.
ELVIS made many movies which failed to live up to his early dramatic potential.
BUFUS's first film, Viva Duluth (with Deloris Charo) showed that any future, no matter how bad, would fully demonstrate Bufus' talents
ELVIS got fat.
BUFUS got really, really fat. In fact, when he got burned when he set his guitar on fire at the Minot Arts & Craftsfest '69, temporarily forgetting that he wasn't actually holding a guitar, he got burned over 145% of his body. Try that Mr Presley!
ELVIS died while sitting on the toilet.
BUFUS died standing, like a man, OVER the toilet.
BUFUS RULES!!!!!!
- (Don't You) Tread on my Blue-Suede Eyepatch (single)
- Love My Blender (single)
- Viva Duluth (album)
- Blue Micronesia (soundtrack)
- G. I. Blues (album of digestive-themed spirituals)
- Ah, Screw Germany (recorded with the AWOLaires)
- Penitentiary Rock (soundtrack)
- Work-Release Rock
- Parole Office Rock
- What the F$&k You Lookin' At? (Duet)
- I Fought the Law (and the Law Gave me 50 Stitiches) (single)
- Drunk Tank Rock
- Arraignment Rock
- Penitentiary Rock (compilation)
- Bufus Live! ('68 comeback special, filmed in Super-8)
- Drinking Songs in the Key of Sterno
- Chunka Chunka Burnin' Lard (tribute album)
- Bufus Sings the Themes from Irwin Allen Productions
- Live From Greaseland
Note: none of these albums are available at present - :(
Anyone ever heard them? Drop me a line!!! at bufusfan @aol.com
WHAT THE CIRITICS ARE SAYING ABOUT BUFUS!!!
From "Last Bus to Moorhead, by Greil Marcus
Of all the curiousities in rock and roll, none loom larger, or contain such mythopoetic potential, as the murky mysteries of Bufus Parsely. Was this the man who founded rock and roll as we know it, and saw his own potent power eclipsed by the slicker, more commercially viable work of Elvis? We'll never know, as not a note of his work survives. his entire catalog was owned by his manager, Gen. "Tod" Borker and all copies of his records were lost when the Self-Stor in Newark burned to the ground, destroying the collection of his most devoted fan, a shadowy woman he referred to only as "Mom."
Some descriptions of his work remain, though - perhaps most tantalizing is a napkin from an unnamed restaurant that lists the songs Bufus played during an impromptu concert in the early 60s. We can only speculate on the actual content of the songs.
"Here's my Blender" appears to be the first song in the set; the fan's notes read "a real sad love song to an unfaithful appliance." It was followed by "Get Out of My Way," which one can only imagined as a good-natured, yet vaguely threatening tale steeped in the rural south tradition of boastful machismo.
The napkin notes a lengthy intermission. Then the band began again with a "medley:"
"Where's Bufus?" You can imagine this as a cheerful call-and-response between and his band.
"Have You Seen Him?" Perhaps a religious tune drawn from Bufus' deeply Episcopalian upbringing.
"Check the Ladies Room." No doubt a swinging roadhouse jam.
"Try the Bus." Perhaps a sly wink to the still-forming groupie culture.
"Cydonia Jam" Napkin says "no one liked this one muc. MAybe it would be better backwards."
"Rhapsody in Bufus." The napkin says only "boring piano s--t."
"Play Something I Know." Napkin says Bufus rocks so hard he cannot "stand up straight."
"I'm In Here." Last song of the set. From the title, we can expect perhaps it was an aching song of confession, tormented yet triumphant.
One can only hope that a copy of this great lost work is found, so the world might learn what Bufus was truly like.
