Mom Always Liked You Best –

Tattoo Song –

Jut before we close in on LP 20, I thought I’d mix things up again with a comedy album this time.

Mom Always Liked You Best! (1965), by the Smothers Brothers. A comedy duo that I have grown extremely fond of over the years. From being able to sing their whole song “My Old Man” as a kid (for better or worse) to now owning several of their records.

The Smothers Brothers consist of the real-life brothers Richard “Dick” and Thomas “Tom” Smothers. Tom, the older of the two, played a fairly hot-tempered, “slow” character, while Dick took on the traditional role of the straight man. They marketed themselves as a folk duo with a side of comedy that seemed to steal the show. Their performances would include traditional folk songs (often with Tom butting in or messing up) and sometimes so more standup material alongside their songs. While most of their act can easily be appreciated on a record through just sound, they offered a lot for the visual performance too. I would highly suggest you seek out some video footage of one of their acts if you enjoyed what you heard.

The album Mom Always Liked You Best! was their last album before their ill-fated show “The Smothers Brothers Show” (not to be confused with their later successful, yet controversial, “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour”). The title track of the album was a further exploration of Tom’s famous comeback line. Whenever he was utterly stumped or backed into a corner because of something silly he had said, he would often respond with, “Mom Always Liked You Best!” I included the other song, “Tattoo Song”, on here as well to give you an idea of what one of their “songs” might sound like. It’s also a good example of an act where Tom tries his best to sound smarter than he really is and just ends up making it worse for himself.