Cincinnati is hardly the first American city to be celebrated in popular song. Nevertheless, I find it curious how frequently — i.e., over 200 songs — Cincinnati (ranked #64 among US cities by population) has appeared in a popular song title in the past 95 years, to wit:
Click on song titles below for (in most cases) access to streaming audio =
Note the impressive 29-year consecutive run between the years 1959-1988.
[US artists unless otherwise indicated (in red*)]
“Cincinnati Hornpipe” William B. Houchens 1924 “Cincinnati Southern Blues” Ivy Smith & Cow Cow Davenport 1927 “Cincinnati Daddy” Duke Ellington 1929 “Cincinnati Underworld Woman” Bob Coleman 1929 “Cincinnati Breakdown” Blue Ridge Mt. Entertainers 1932 “I’m Going to Cincinnati” Walter Coleman 1936 “Was You Ever in Cincinnati” Freddie Fisher 1941 “C-I-N-C-I-N-N-A-T-I” Teddy McRae Orchestra 1945 “Cincinnati Lou” Merle Travis 1946 “Cincinnati Vout” Earl Warren 1946 “Cincinnati” Martha Davis' Torrid Trio 1947 “Cincinnati Bound” Cowboy Jack Derrick 1950 “Cincinnati Hit Parade” Bill Franklin & Skyline Boys 1950 “Cincinnati Dancing Pig” Red Foley 1950 “G'night Cinti, Hello Tennessee” Shorty Long 1951 “Cincinnati Rag” Buck Ryan 1955 “Cincinnati Ding Dong” Art Lund 1957 “Cincinnati Ratamatati” Cain & Abel 1959 “High School USA (Cincinnati)” Tommy Facenda 1959 “Cincinnati Fireball” Johnny Burnette 1960 “Cincinnati” Frank Slay Orchestra 1961 “Cincinnati Twist and Freeze” Orlie & the Saints 1961 “Whole Town's Batty About 'nati” Larry Vincent 1961 “Cincinnati Ratamatati” First Percussion Sextet 1961 “Cincinnati Rock” Cliff Nash 1962 “Cincinnati Twist” Pat Field & Les Pumas [Fr.] 1962 “Cincinnati Blues” Boll Weevil Jass Band 1963 “Cincinnati Slow Drag” Rev. Gary Davis 1964
"Cincinnati Flow Rag" Rev. Gary Davis 1964
“Cincinnati, Ohio” Bill Anderson 1964 “Cincinnati Breakdown” Charlie Moore & Bill Napier 1964 “Cincinnati Blues” Jesse Fuller 1965
“Cincinnati” Bob Braun 1965 “The Cincinnati Kid” Ray Charles 1965 “The Cincinnati Kid” Prince Buster [Ja.] 1966/7 “Cincinnati Ohio” Connie Smith 1967 “Cincinnati Woman” Freddy Cannon 1967
“Cincinnati” Van Trevor 1967 “I'm Leaving Cincinnati” Larry Roberts 1967
“Walk Around Cincinatti [sic]” Dean Kay c. 1967 “Cincinnati Stranger” Buddy Cagle 1968 “Cincinnati Two-Step” Dick Cary 1968 “World War Two in Cincinnati” The Shambles 1968 “The Lights of Cincinnati” Scott Walker 1969 “Cincinnati Love Song” The Two Dollar Question 1969 “Cincinnati Jail” Bobby Bare 1969
“Susie Cincinnati” The Beach Boys 1970 “The Cleanest Man in Cincinnati” Claude Gray 1970 “Cincinnati Man” Mad Lydia 1970 “Cincinnati” Mirageman [Ital.] 1970
“Cincinatti [sic] Cream” Brett Marvin/Thunderbolts [UK] '70
“Cincinatti [sic] Woman” Spode [UK] 1971
“Cincinnati” The New Seekers [UK] 1971
“Cincinnati Woman” The Hubbubs [Austria] 1971
“Cincinnati” Orville Stoeber 1971
“Cincinnati Sidewalks” Shady Stevens 1972
“Cincinnati Square” Chuck Robinson 197?
“Cincinnati Flow Rag II” Roy Bookbinder 1972 “Girl from Cincinnati” Bobbie Gentry 1972 “Anybody Goin’ North to Cinti” Lester Flatt 1972 “Cockroach That Ate Cincinnati” Rose & the Arrangement/Possum 1973
“(Tis a Sin to Sin in) Cincinnati” Rusty Draper 1974
“I Went to Cincinnati” Joe Wise 1974 “Cincinnati Sammy” Hoagy Pogey [UK] 1974 “Cincinnati Floor” Brown’s Home Brew 1974 “Cincinnati” Janet Ellig 1975
“Cincinnati Song” Vince Bell 1975 “Cincinatti [sic] Boogie” Emmett Brooks & James Barnes 1975
“Apt. #4, 6th St. & Cincinnati” Joe Stampley 1976 “Benji's Cincinnati” The Sands of Time 1976
“Cincinnati” Infinity 1976
“Cincinnati” Roy St. John [UK] 1976 “Cincinnati” Blue Max 1976
“Cincinnati” [last track] R Ducros/L Simoncini [Ital.] 1977 “Lacksadaisical Cincinnati” Ogden Wahalia Blues Ensemble 1977 “Cincinnati Fatback” Roogalator [US/UK] 1977
“Cincinnati Growl” Roy Ayers Ubiquity 1977 “Cincinnati and Me” Larry Kinley 1977
"Cincinatti [sic] Sleeve" Changes 1977 “Cincinnati Cindy” Ray Campi 1977 “Cincinnati Train” Cathy & Coins [Germ.] 1977
“Cincinnati Capers” Cal Collins 1978 “WKRP in Cincinnati” Tom Wells & Hugh Wilson 1978 “Cincinnati Stomp” Big Joe Duskin 1978 “Cincinnati Stomp” Teacher's Pet 1979 “Cincinnati Star” Ed Williams 1979 “Cincinnati Dice Man” [last track] Them [UK] 1979
"Cincinnati" Charlie Spivak Orchestra 1979 “The Cincinnati Cowboy” Ernie Vaughn 1980 “Cincinnati Baseball Saga” Rusty Ferguson 1980 “Twenty-Two in Cincinnati” Martha & the Muffins [Can.] 1981 “Cincinnati Milacron” Pentaject Corporation 1981 “In Cincinnati” Hudson & Bauer Singers 1982
“Fatty From Cincinnati” Wonderland Chorus & Orch. c. 1982
“Cincinnati Shout” Ted Des Plantes 1983 “Living in Sincinnati” Gary Platt & Pork All-Stars 1983 “South of Cincinnati” Dwight Yoakam 1984 “Cincinnati Blues” Ray Pennington/Buddy Emmons 1984 “Cincinnati Slick” John Bunch 1984 “Back in Cincinnati” [last track] Steve Beresford [UK] 1985
“Cincinnati Jail” Lonnie Mack 1986 “Cincinnati” Cincinnati [Ital.] 1986 “Goin' to Cincinnati” Steve Tracy & King Snakes 1987 “Monday in Cincinnati” Pascal Charpentier [Belg.] 1987 “Cincinnati” Holidaymakers [UK] 1988
"Cincinnati Blues" Cliff Barnes & the Fear [Ger] 1990
“Cincinnati 1830-1850” Paul DeMarinis 1991
“Cinncinati [sic] Kid” Salmonella Dub [NZ] 1994
“Philadelphia/Cincinnati” Banned From Atlantis [Can.] 1994
“Cincinnati” Mood 1994
“Cincinnati G's Roll” Convicted Felons 1995
“Cincinnati Motel” Neal Casal 1995 “Cincinnati Shuffle” Sonny Moorman & The Dogs 1996 “Hardrockin’ Cincinnati” Bran Van 3000 [Can.] 1997 “Cincinnati” M.O.T.O. 1997
"Hooray for the Cincinnati Reds" Erich Kunzel & the Cinti Pops 1998 “Cincinnati Streets” Rachel Portman [Beloved] 1998 “Cincinnati Shuffle” Christian Bleiming [Germ.] 1998
“Cincinnati, Here We Come” T. Crookham & Accidentals 1998 “Racing Cincinnati” Chamberlain 1998 “C'mon Cincinnati” Delakota [UK] 1998 “C'mon Cinti” (Fatboy Slim Mix)” Delakota [UK] 1999
“Cincinatti's [sic] Burning” Shylow [UK] 1999 “Cincinnati Pink” Polarity/1 2000
“Cincinnatti [sic] Baby” Axel Z/Joe Duskin/J McShann 2000 “Cincinnati” David Childers 2001
“North of Cincinatti [sic]” More Plastic [Can.] 2001 “Cincinnati Town” Fred Leonard 2002
“Cincinnati Red” Viva 2002 “Hard Times in Cincinnati” Jake Speed & the Freddies 2002 “Cincinnati” Marianne Kesler 2002 “Cincinnati” Crime in Choir 2002 “Cincinnati” The Distillers 2003 “Cincinnati” Ozark Henry [Belg.] 2003 “Cincinnati Riot Blues” Ghost Exits 2003
“Cincinnati on Replay” Lefty's Deceiver 2003
“Cincinnati at Night” Jim Hurst & Missy Raines 2003 “Weekend in Cincinnati” The Bobs 2003
“The Black Brigade of Cincinnati” J. Rawls 2003 “C-I-N-C-I-N-N-A-T-I” NSPCrew 2003
“Cincinnati Traveler” Hem 2004 “Leaving Cincinnati” Jake Speed & the Freddies 2004 “I Come from Cincinnati” End.user 2004 “Cincinnati (Village Queen)” Glass Harp 2005
“Cincinatti [sic] Road” Ricochet [Germ.] 2005 “Cincinnati” Trey Anastasio 2006 “Love in Cincinnati” Prairie Home Companion 2006
“Three Cheers Cincinnati” Screaming Mimes 2006 “All Roads Lead to Cincinnati” Jake Speed & The Freddies 2007
“Cincinnati” Manishevitz 2007
“Cincinatti [sic]” Sly [Fr.] 2008 “Oh, Cincinnati” The Seedy Seeds 2008 “Chance Encounter (In Cincinnati)” The Minor Leagues 2009
“Cincinnati Summer” Kings of Tragedy 2009
“Cincinnati Bears” PNS & Zavala 2009
“El Chico De Cincinnatti [sic]” Anne Arbor [Sp.] 2009
“Cincinnati” Tila Tequila 2009 “Cincinnati” Sok 2009 “Cincinnati” Jangatha 2009 “Cincinnati” Literature 2010 “Cincinnati” Julie Newmark 2010 “Cincinnati” Nick Jaina 2010 “Cincinnati” L.A. Love [Germ.] 2010 “Left Cincinnati” Joe Frawley 2010 “Cincinnati Express” Ran Blake 2010
“Cincinnati Shakedown” The Unsettlers [Can.] 2010 “Cincinnati Harmony” The Dopamines 2010 “Cincinnati Dream” Gregory Attonito 2011 “Cincinnati Love” Chris Collier 2011
“Cincinnati” Derek Reese 2011
“Cincinnati Agony” Not Yet! 2012 “Sleepless in Cincinnati” Momentum 2012
“Clouds Over Cincinatti [sic]” Cabin Fire 2012
“Cincinnati” Eric Stein 2012 “Cincinnati” Quixote 2012 “Cincinnati” 2 Mello 2012 “Cincinnati” German Brigante [Germ.] 2013 “Cincinnati” Vegan Death 2013 “Cincinnati” Ibiza Vibes [Fr.] 2013
“Cincinnati” Nick Danger+Skytone/DCR [Can] 2013
“Iron (Cincinnati)” Dain Saint 2013
“Vuelo Cincinnati-Singapur” Manolo Kabezabolo [Sp.] 2014 “Cincinnati” Dani Flaco [Sp.] 2014 “Cincinnati” Holy Holy [Australia] 2014 “Goodnight Cincinnati” Up-C Down-C Left-C Right-C ABC+Start [UK] 2015 “Martha (Cincinnati, 1914)” The Corner Laughers 2015 “Cincinnati Fire Kites” Scope & Figure 2015 “Cincinnati Chapter of the ...” Doleful Lions 2015 “Cincinnati Shuffle” James Reed 2015
“Dallas to Cincinnati” Mr. Hokum 2015
“Cincinnati Transfer” Old Brown Shoes [Austria] 2015
“Cincinnati” Zutroi [Sp.] 2015
“Cincinnati” Zerostailaz [Sp.] 2016
“One More Day in Cincinnati” The Creekdraggers 2016 “John from Cincinnati” Connections 2016 “Cincinnati Shuffle” Big Z 2016 “Cincinnati Moon” Rumpke Mountain Boys 2016 “Cin Cin City” & “Cinti Sunrise” Carter Burwell [Anomalisa] 2016 “Cincinnati” Blake Neely [Buck Howard] 2016 “Cincinnati” Justin Hurwitz [La La Land] 2016 “Cincinnati” & “Cincinnati Waltz” Justin Hurwitz [Madeline] 2017 “Cincinnati” Golden Boys 2017 “Cincinnati” Big Nothing 2017 “Cincinnati, Ohio” Micah Schnabel 2017 “Cincinnati Sunday” D-Sisive [Can.] 2017 “Cincinnati Juggernaut” Hobosexual 2017 “Cincinnati Shuffle” The Thrill 2017 “Cincinnati Cola” My Name Is Ian [UK] 2017 “Cincinatti [sic] Blooms” The Sexual Objects [UK] 2017
“Cincinnati Bowtie” Sheri Vari [Port.] 2018 “Songbird of Cincinnati” Hat Check Girl 2018 “From Cinti to Rosarito (Mexico)” Mil Beats & Main Flow [Eur.] 2018 “Goodbye Cincinnati” Ramin Djawadi [Jack Ryan] 2018 “Screw Cincinnati” Bob Rea 2018 “Cincinnati” Machine Moon 2019 “Cincinnati Chili Child” Pataphysics 2019
"Greater Cincinnati" Kinky Friedman 2019
[*Note: Film soundtracks also indicated in red above]
Freddy Cannon (in 1967, backed by Strawberry Alarm Clock) – “Cincinnati Woman“
Note: produced by Frank Slay, who conducted & co-wrote 1961 B-Side, “Cincinnati”
Prince Buster single release for Spain (B-side mis-titled as “Cincinnati Kids“)
Notable Album Covers
Title track produced by Shad O’Shea at Counterpart Creative Studios – 1979
2015 double album, Cincinnati, by Dutch blues group, King of the World
(Album features vocal work from Cincinnati’s Cheryl Renée)
1974 LP by one-time Mercury and Monument recording artist
Note: Original cover design enhanced for extra emphasis
Also Worthy of Mention
2016 single track of electronic “glitch” by Spain’s Zerostailaz
Nick Keeling’s 2015 song cycle that utilizes piano and found sounds
Modernist pavillion at Cincinnati’s Bellevue Park overlooking downtown
Actual game broadcasts by Joe Nuxhall & Marty Brennaman;
Recorded and mixed at Shad O’Shea‘s Counterpart Creative Studios.
Related Trivia and Observations
- “Cincinnati Jail” is a song title shared by two Ohio Valley greats — Ironton, Ohio’s Bobby Bare (1969) and West Harrison, Indiana’s Lonnie Mack (1986).
- “Cincinnati Stomp” by blues & boogie pianist Big Joe Duskin was released in 1978, while the following year, Akron “punks” Teacher’s Pet recorded their own song of the same name that made reference to The Who concert tragedy of December 3, 1979 (but did not see release until nearly 30 years later in 2008).
- Amusing to note back-to-back releases out of the UK in 1970-71 with the city’s name misspelled: “Cincinatti Cream” by Brett Marvin & the Thunderbolts (1970) and “Cincinatti Woman” by Spode (1971).
- Intriguing to note that Spain had a three-year consecutive run of Cincinnati songs between the years 2014-2016.
- 1970’s “Cincinnati” by “Mirageman” — stage name of Italian pianist and composer, Giovanni Fenati.
- 1985’s “Back in Cincinnati” is the final track of an LP-length tribute to Doris Day (Cincinnatian by birth) from British composer/arranger, Steve Beresford.
- “South of Cincinnati” by Dwight Yoakam (who was born in Pikeville, KY, southeast of Cincinnati) was initially included as part of a 6-track EP in 1984 on Oak Records, two years prior to Yoakam’s major-label debut (bearing the same title and cover art) on Reprise Nashville.
- Johnny Burnette‘s “Cincinnati Fireball” from 1960 is a rockabilly classic that retains a strong fanbase in Europe and Oceania.
- Prince Buster recorded his tip of the hat to “The Cincinnati Kid” (i.e., James Brown) in 1965 in the prevailing ska idiom before rearranging the song the following year as a rocksteady funk showpiece that stands apart from the other Jamaican recordings of 1966 (or possibly 1967 – it’s unclear).
- 1959’s “High School USA (Cincinnati)” is one of two “franchise” concepts [1961’s “Cincinnati Twist and Freeze” being the other] where the artist made/marketed versions of the song for various US metropolitan regions, Cincinnati included, in this case with spoken-word breaks that specify the names of public and parochial high schools in Cincinnati and beyond — all the way to Columbus, in fact.
- In 2016, Cincinnati found its way into song titles for two film soundtracks (Anomalisa and The Great Buck Howard), as well as the film score for Oscar winner, La La Land, whose composer, Justin Hurwitz, would then include two additional Cincinnati-themed songs for the soundtrack of Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench in 2017.
- 1977 — with eight Cincinnati songs — is a high-water mark for the pre-digital era, while 2017 proves to be the year to beat with nine songs that name the city.
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Zero to 180’s Top Ten Cincinnati Songs:
Dec. 2020 Cincinnati Magazine Sidebar Excerpts + Enhanced Historical Info!
#1: “Cincinnati Hit Parade” from 1950, the oldest entry on this Top Ten list, is a truck driving tale by Bill Franklin, with backing from The Skyline Boys, that bears the unmistakable influence of Hank Williams with regard not only to the vocal but also the prominent steel guitar:
According to Discogs, Franklin started in radio in 1934 at the age of six, performing as The Franklin Brothers, along with his brothers Delmas and Clyde. Franklin later became a member of the Skyline Boys, singing with the quartet and performing solo work, playing both mandolin and guitar. “Cincinnati Hit Parade” appears to be among the earliest in a brief recording career that also includes exactly one King single: 1958’s “That Moon’s No Stopping Place for Me” b/w “One Minute.” Franklin’s interest in space exploration would show up again four years later on a 1962 single release for Loyal “God and Glenn” b/w “Space Flight.”
#2: Jesse Fuller is a blues singer/songwriter and “one-man band” who is most famous for his “San Francisco Bay Blues,” which has been covered by The Weavers, Peter, Paul & Mary, Glenn Yarborough, Tom Rush, Janis Joplin, Richie Havens, Mungo Jerry, Phoebe Snow, and Eva Cassidy among others. Elijah Wald notes in his appreciation for Acoustic Guitar that Cincinnati was the first destination for Fuller (born 1896) after leaving his hometown of Jonesboro, Georgia. Writes Wald —
[Fuller] put together a rack that could hold a harmonica, a kazoo and a microphone, and invented the fotdella, a six-string bass with a modified piano action that drove felt hammers against the strings. The fotdella, which he played with his shoeless right foot, was a visual novelty and gave his music a solid bottom, and he completed the rhythm section by using his left foot to keep time with either a sock cymbal or another homemade contraption that scraped a rubber arm across a washboard.
Fuller would not call Cincinnati home for long, and his “Cincinnati Blues” appears to recount the time he decided to leave the city behind. Fuller’s aching vocal and plaintive Piedmont-style fingerpicking, not to mention sublime slide work — on this live performance from a 2006 box set by Smithsonian’s Folkways [Friends of Old Time Music: The Folk Arrival 1961-1965] — make for compelling listening:
“Cincinnati Blues” was included on 1965 Prestige LP Jesse Fuller’s Favorites, although the year before Folk Art Recordings appears to have reissued Fuller’s 1956 EP Frisco Bound and added four additional tracks, including “Cincinnati Blues” – LP retitled as God Made the Blues Volume Two.
#3: American clear-channel radio stations and imported US vinyl had a direct impact on the development of Jamaican popular music, and how interesting to discover that the King Records influence goes back to the 1950s, as revealed in this excerpt from Young, Gifted & Black – The Story of Trojan Records.
In the mid-1960s, one of Jamaica’s leading lights, Prince Buster, slyly called out praise to King Records’ most famous artist (guess who?) in this far-sighted fusion of rocksteady and funk – “Cincinnati Kid” – that draws a direct line between Kingston, JA and Cincinnati, OH, while also making a winking reference to Lalo Schifrin’s film soundtrack of the same name:
Important to point out, however, that the initial release of “Cincinnati Kid” (in 1965 or 1966 – unclear) on Prince Buster’s Voice of the People label was in a fairly standard ska arrangement:
To be fair, the city’s name is not an easy one to spell
It’s also unclear when the new Clavinet-driven funk arrangement was first issued – note that this “live” version from 1967’s Prince Buster on Tour LP is the same studio recording albeit with dubbed crowd sounds:
“Cincinnati Kid” also appears on 1969’s Queen of the Outlaws LP, as well as Soul Jazz’s 300% Dynamite reggae compilation from 1999. Original 45 releases can easily command three figures at auction — in fact, one pre-release/white label 45 from “Steve Barrow‘s personal collection” (!) went for £770 in 2014.
#4: 1971’s “Cincinnati Woman” by The Hubbubs is catchy AM radio power pop with fuzztone guitar, “go-go” horns and Laugh-In production sound and yet – surprise – German lyrics! Fortunately, the song title (in English) begins each chorus and will have you singing along in no time:
“Cincinnati Woman” was released as an A-side in Austria and subsequently included on 1972 Fontana LP Nachts in Chicago. The Hubbubs would later sign with EMI/Columbia, for whom they would record a handful of albums in the 1980s for the Austrian market.
#5: One of the more amusing observations when one scans the list above of 200+ songs from 1924-2019 that contain “Cincinnati” in the title:
- In the years 1970-71, there were back-to-back releases out of the UK with the city’s name misspelled: “Cincinatti Cream” by Brett Marvin & the Thunderbolts (1970) and “Cincinatti Woman” by Spode (1971).
Today’s featured song – Spode’s “Cincinatti Woman” – is distinctive for its “throwback” sound: galloping guitar lines, evocative of early ‘60s Hank Marvin of The Shadows, set against a lonely Moody Blues-style backing vocal that conjures up the mysterious charm of that elusive lass from the heart of the Ohio Valley, thousands of miles away:
1971’s “Cincinatti Woman” [not to be confused with The Hubbubs’ release of the same year in Austria with the (near) identical title] was a B-side when released by Decca in the UK, France, Belgium, Spain & Turkey. Discogs informs us that Spode is an “alias of the band Cats Eyes [UK band from Evesham], only for recording 1971” and that “live concerts at the time were still played as Cats Eyes.”
45 – France (left) 45 – Spain (right)
#6: “Cincinnati Square” by Chuck Robinson is a groovy early 1970s “psych-jazz-funk” celebration of that super hip and happening gathering spot – “Cincinnati Square”— that, uh, doesn’t actually exist. However, let’s give the singer the benefit of the doubt and assume he meant Fountain Square (in the heart of downtown), so as not to bring the party down any further:
Like a necklace you wear, “Cincinnati Square” is the B-side of the sole (and rather obscure) release by tiny indie label, Borfork, about which scant information is available.
#7: Former King Records producer, songwriter, and talent scout, Ray Pennington (who left us this past October), wrangled pioneering country-jazz steel guitarist, Buddy Emmons, on a western swing number – “Cincinnati Blues” — that declares Cincinnati to be the most effective restorative treatment in buoying the singer’s ailing spirits:
Released as a 45 on Step One Records in 1985, “Cincinnati Blues” was also the closing track of 1984 double-LP Swingin’ From the 40’s Thru the 80s, with backing from The Swing Shift Band. Step One is a Nashville indie label that was founded the same year as this single’s release. According to Discogs:
The label was founded by singer-songwriter and producer Ray Pennington with Curtis Potter, the former of whom had produced for Waylon Jennings. At the time of the label’s foundation, it was one of the few independent country music labels to have significant chart success, most notably in 1991, when the label released Clinton Gregory’s “(If It Weren’t for Country Music) I’d Go Crazy“, the only independently-released single on the Billboard country charts at the time of its release. The label lasted into the mid 1990s, having Top 40 success again in 1996 with Western Flyer’s “What Will You Do With M-E?“. Other artists signed to the label included The Geezinslaws, Ray Price, Faron Young, and Pennington himself.
Randy McNutt added this wonderful tribute on Facebook:
Ray Pennington was one of the best writers in Nashville. King Records founder Syd Nathan loved him. Ray once told me, during a session in the 1980s, that he would be “still be working for The Man today if he was alive.” Ray was an easy-going guy who wrote many country hits. At King, he was a hit songwriter too. But in Nashville, he blossomed. As a singer, he recorded for Monument and other labels. As an A&R man at RCA, he produced a lot of big acts, including Willie Nelson, Kenny Price, and Waylon Jennings. He produced and wrote Jennings’ “I’m a Ramblin’ Man.” Ray wrote it back in his early years in Cincinnati, when he performed under his own name and also as Ray Starr. He did rockabilly, country, and R&B. He intended for the song it to be done in a R&B style. I wonder if Jennings appreciated it. “Jennings and Nelson hated Ray,” producer Carl Edmondson told me. Ray cut one of Carl’s songs, “I Break Easy.” Perhaps Jennings and Nelson saw themselves as the Outlaws and Ray as the traditionalist. I can’t see why anyone would have disliked him. He had a lot of friends in Cincinnati and Nashville. He did not play the role. I am including here a recording I co-produced with Ray back in 1980. We used Ray’s usual studio band, which included the talented guitarist and songwriter Dave Kirby and drummer D.J. Fontana. We recorded a song written by the great Norro Wilson, who was hot then. The band listened to a demo of “Mama McCluskie,” then knocked it out perfectly on the first take. I gave the players no lead sheets. They didn’t need any. I told Ray that it sounded perfect to me. He said, “We’ll do a couple of more takes just to get our money’s worth.” We ended up using the first. Ray will be missed. RIP, Mr. Ramblin’ Man.
#8: Tuneful, jangly guitars come to the fore on this fetching, uptempo indie-pop number “Cincinnati” by a Scottish band, Holidaymakers, who recorded a couple singles in the UK in the late 1980s for Newcastle-based indie label, Woosh — and then nothing more. Released in 1988 – the bicentennial year, coincidentally, of the city that began life as ‘Losantiville‘ (until General Arthur St. Clair intervened) – “Cincinnati” was the second of three releases for Holidaymakers:
#9: Findlay Market and (if I’m not mistaken) the city’s abandoned subway get a shout-out in a song – “Oh, Cincinnati” by The Seedy Seeds from 2008 – that sure sounds, to my ears, like an obvious (though unlikely) local radio hit, with wistful banjo lines tempered by a modern pop sensibility that somehow manages to convey a hopefulness throughout:
Instruments and vocals by Margaret Darling and Mike Ingram (with assistance from friends and family), “Oh, Cincinnati” can be found on The Seedy Seeds’ debut CD release Count the Days — available through Bandcamp:
#10: Zavala (given name, Alex) – of Seattle “alternative” hip hop duo Dark Time Sunshine – stepped out on his own in 2009 on a split LP with PNS (Juvenal Robles) entitled Canciones Modernas. The irresistible groove of Zavala’s hip hop/funk instrumental with the odd title – “Cincinnati Bears” – makes an ideal backdrop for a scenic Cincinnati drive:
Zavala’s 2017 work Fantasmas is considered the producer’s first proper solo album. Dark Time Sunshine’s latest effort Lore will be released February 4, 2021.
LINK to Dark Time Sunshine’s Bandcamp site
ALSO WORTH NOTING —
Another notable hip hop number is 1994’s “Cincinnati” by Mood (produced by Hi-Tek), the kick-off track on a 4-song cassette demo that was “pushed out to radio and stores,” according to Discogs [Butch Gibson informs me the group was previously known as Three Below Zero]. “Cincinnati” was also used as the closing track on the Cincinnati group’s 1997 debut album, Doom, on which Talib Kweli guests on five of the tracks:
Spotlight: Dean Kay and His Elusive Cincinnati Song from 1967
According to the text that accompanies this streaming audio clip of Dean Kay singing his original composition “Sittin’ in a Drum”:
Taken from US test pressing single-side Acetate LP (Harmony Recorders) [entitled] Dean Kay – Who Is Dean Kay … Ultra-scarce test pressing/acetate of Dean Kay. Songs written/copyrighted by Dean Kay Thomson and Hal Blair around 1967-68. Songs are most likely unpublished, making this record even more interesting.
“Walking Around Cincinatti [sic]” is the second of five songs that can be found on a disc, of which only one copy exists! Fascinatingly, Dean Kay himself chimed in one year ago with this comment attached to the YouTube streaming audio clip:
Hi … I’m Dean Kay. This IS interesting to me. I don’t think I have a copy of this track or the other tracks on the Acetate. This is a true one-off. I hand made the sleeve and gave it to the producer, Bob Ross, alone with the Acetate, as a joke. I’m assuming that the album was among the items in Bob’s estate and was probably donated, thrown away or sold after he passed. The tracks were produced in Hollywood probably in 1967-68 (as suggested above) with the idea of pitching them around to try to land a record deal … Didn’t happen. I started seeing the sleeve on the net a year or so ago. This is the first time any of the tracks have been uploaded. Kind of fun to hear this 50 years after the fact. Of interest, perhaps, is that the lyricist, Hal Blair, wrote 13 songs recorded by Elvis in addition to many big hit records … you can read about him on my website. http://www.deankay.com/clients.html#halBlair You might find other interesting things on my website http://www.deankay.com/ as well.
The homemade artwork is priceless:
.https://www.discogs.com/artist/39908-Talib-Kweli
Notable Cincinnati-Themed Ensembles
- Italy’s Cincinnati
- Australia’s Nice Girls from Cincinnati
- South Africa’s Cincinatti Five
- Texas’s Eddie Finley and the Cincinnati Show Band
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1958 advertisement for Canadian beer brand
For Optimal Experience:
Zero to 180 best viewed on a big screen – not smart phone
