A Little Bit Country...A Little Bit Rock And Roll

A Little Bit Country...A Little Bit Rock And Roll

1976

Donny And Marie Osmond

Every successful artist has at least one sing that's a hit 'Everywhere but the scoreboard', so to speak...one that everyone's heard and lots of people like, but never charted because it was never released as a single. 'A Little Bit Country...A little Bit Rock And Roll' was a special case, though...the reason it got so well known was because of 'Donny and Marie'. No, not just the talented brother and sister duo with the identically and almost unnaturally perfect dental work...I'm also talking about the TV show that was both named after them, and hosted by them. The song was the theme song for a segment of the show where, every week, Marie would cover a country song and her bro would knock out a rock song. Both tended to knock the week's song of choice out of the park. And the segment's theme song ultimately became the unofficial theme song theme song for the show itself.

'Wait....?' you ask 'Donny and Marie Osmond had their own TV show????...' Really? If you're really asking that question, you obviously didn't grow up in the Seventies (If you were born after about 1975 or so, making you, at the oldest, a toddler as the decade wound down, I'll give you a pass on this one...) And, if we're gonna look at the history of the song, we kinda got to look at the history of the show, too, because they pretty much go hand in hand.

The Show was ABC's  successful effort to, temporarily at least, breath new life into a dying format...the variety show. And it came about because Donnie and Marie Osmond spent a week co-hosting The Mike Douglas Show (A morning talk show) sometime around 1975, and their back and forth banter and natural chemistry so impressed Fred Silverman, who was the head honcho at ABC at the time, that he decided he just had  to use them for something..

He approached Donny and Marie and broached the possibility of giving them a weekly variety show. Now, as noted above, the variety show as a format was on the way out. If you don't know what a variety show is, it was a usually hour long show hosted by a well known celebrity (Usually a comedian or comedienne) that featured jokes, musical guests, famous guest stars, songs, and comedy skits. They got their start in the Fifties, and there were loads of them in the Sixties and early Seventies, several of which were not only good, but legendary.

They probably peaked, quality-wise, in the late Sixties and early Seventies, but by the latter half of the Seventies, they were dying out. 'Sonny and Cher' and 'The Carol Burnett Show', the last two really big, long-lasting variety shows, would end in 1977 and 1978 respectively, so launching a new variety show in 1976 was a huge risk. On top of that, Donny and Marie would, at 18 and 16, be the youngest two celebs to ever host their own weekly, prime-time show. Of course, as big a risk as that was, their youth would very likely add a breath of fresh air to the genre as well as drawing a slew of younger viewers.

Donny and Marie accepted, and the show kicked off in January 1976...everyone knew it'd be different when a slew of ice-skaters appeared at the beginning to kick it off. And it was a fresh look at the Variety show. Donny and Marie's youth, energy, and chemistry was unique and refreshing, and their constant banter, and joking barbs at each other (Usually Marie affectionately slamming her older brother) was just as funny as some of the comedy sketches, which, as I recall, were usually pretty good. The kids proved them selves just as good at comedy as they were at music.

As for music...they really didn't need musical guests because they could provide their own music. Donny's musical talent was a given, but Marie was just as talented (And a hell of a lot cuter) than her big brother...at fourteen years old she became the youngest singer to snag the top spot on the Billboard Country Singles chart with her cover of Paper Roses. So you had two extremely talented young singers , both of whom had awesome voices, who sang in two different genres. And they were brother and sister. And had their own variety show...

I have a feeling that it really didn't take too long for the Suits at ABC to come up with the concept of, weekly, having Marie sing a Country tune, while Donny followed up with a Rock or Pop song. This segment, which they christened 'The Concert Spot', would later evolve to both covering popular songs of all genres, and it became one of the most popular parts of the show. It usually kicked off with the two of them playing off of each other in a short Comedy monologue (Duologue??) that then segued into the music, with Donny and Marie kicking off the tunes with the first verse of 'A little Bit Country...A Little Bit Rock And Roll', and ending the segment with the two of them doing an alternate version of the first lines...Donny singing 'She's a Little Bit Country', then Marie singing 'He's a Little Bit Rock and Roll. As with the rest of the show (And any other time they appeared together) you could see the genuine affection they had for each other, which was a big part of what made the show a success.

'A Little bit Country...A little Bit Rock' And Roll quickly became the show's unofficial theme song, and I really wish there was more info on just how the song came to be. I believe Donny and Marie co-wrote the tune, which was not only an integral part of the show for it's first two seasons, it was also included on a 1976 sound-track album from the show, which was certified Gold, and made it to #60 o the Billboard Hot 200 Album charts.

Musically, this was a Country song...really, just listen to the instrumentals. Steel guitars all over the place, with that characteristic 'Twang' that all those 'Laid-back Country Song's that Marie sings of are loaded with. (And this fact alone kinda tells me which one of them had the most say in how it would sound). The concept was simple...Marie and Donny, in that order, switching off singing about their favored music genre. (Marie being the lead-off singer is probably another reason for it's very-country instrumentals)

It was, and is, a truly fun little tune...both to listen to, and I have a feeling, to perform...and there were two versions of it. The short version, which was basically the first verse of the tune, kicked off The Concert Spot, but there was also a full version that clocked in at just shy of 2:30...this was the version that they sang regularly at other venues and was, of course, the version that was included on the sound track album. I may be mistaken here, but I think I remember it getting some air-play here and there, too, once the soundtrack album was released.

The show only lasted for two seasons in it's original form, then spent a third season as The Osmonds' Family Hour, featuring the rest of the clan, and not featuring The Concert Spot. After 'Donnie and Marie' was canceled, ABC attempted one more season with just Marie hosting (Changing the name of the show to 'Marie') before pulling the plug and pretty much giving up the ghost on Prime-time variety shows, though they're still very popular on late Night (I'm looking at you Saturday Night Live) and Kid's networks ('All That' on Nickelodeon comes instantly to mind).

Though the Prime Time Variety Show's dead and gone, 'A Little Bit Country-A Little Bit Rock And Roll' lives on, still performed by Donnie and Marie for their long-running show at the Flamingo Las Vegas,where they still have the same chemistry, and still engage in the same light-hearted banter.. So yep, ya can still hear this one live.

So Enjoy! A Little Bit Country...A Little Bit Rock and Roll by Donny and Marie Osmond.


First bonus...We get another legendary performer! Donny and Marie perform 'A Little Bit Country...A Little Bit Rock And Roll' on a Bob Hope National Bicentennial special on July 4th, 1976. Donny and Marie kinda ganged up on Bob Hope and aimed their good natured banter at him rather than each other here...of course this was scripted, where a good bit of it on their show was spontaneous. Needless to say, their performance was flawless.

Second Bonus...one of  the 'Concert Spots' from their show...they kick this one off with 'Ask Donny and Marie', a common comedic lead-in to the spot. Though this lead-in was, of course, always scripted the two of them made it sound spontaneous with-out even breaking a sweat (And likely improved here and there as well). Also, the youngest Osmond...Jimmy...got in on this one, making it even funnier.  Listen closely to Marie...she was about to loose it, and her laughter was most definitely not scripted.

Their performance was on-point in a big way...Donnie could most definitely cut a rug, and Marie's voice, IMHO, was particularly lovely when she swung into 'Don't Say You Don't Remember'.  Happily, you can find a bunch of the 'Concert Spot's (As well as full shows) on YouTube, but I picked this one specifically because of the song they finished up with. They sang a medley of songs that were popular during the era, and I'm not gonna spoil it...you'll have to listen to see what tune it was. Lets just say that this video kinda ends where The Osmonds came in.