As a guy who has gone through adolescence, I can definitely say I have a certain appreciation of double entendres. One of my favorite songs that exhibit one is “Big Ten Inch Record” by Aerosmith on their album Toys in the Attic.
Aerosmith did not do the original song, though. “Big Ten Inch Record” was originally done by Bull Moose Jackson in 1952. This was when rock and roll music was just coming out, and when it was starting to become a euphemism for sex. All the lyrics were technically about a record, since at that time, the medium for playing music was on a ten-inch record, but the way Jackson spaced the words, it led one to think of something else.
Between Bull Moose’s original and Aerosmith’s cover, the lyrics did not change much. Aerosmith did a really good job at keeping the integrity of the song. There were only a couple places where the lyrics changed. Bull Moose Jackson said, “take out my big ten inch” and “get out your big ten inch,” whereas Aerosmith said “whip out your big ten inch.” This led to a more sexual interpretation, as whipping something out can seem more sexual than taking or getting it out. Another lyric changed was instead of saying “gal” like Jackson, Aerosmith said “girl” - as in 1975, people didn’t really say “gal” anymore.
The melody was also pretty close between the original and the cover. The main difference was the instrumentation. In 1952, “Big Ten Inch Record” was in the genre of R&B, and they used saxophones for the instrumentation. Bull Moose Jackson was a black man, so he wasn’t well enough off to be able to afford an electric guitar, which had just started becoming popular. In the 1952 version, the solo and main melody was presented through saxophone, with the rhythm being presented with an upright bass. In the 1975 version, it was electric guitar and bass, with one of the solos being harmonica.
The musical quality was very close as well between the two versions. Jackson’s version was maybe five beats per minute slower than Aerosmith’s, but in both of them, it was a driving beat with the same drum part. The song started off with greater intensity in the Aerosmith version, but that can be attributed to having a wider mix of tones in the initial attack than Jackson’s version. Aerosmith’s cover of the song was actually lower throughout the entire song, in a key that was a couple steps lower. The overall organization of each song was the exact same, though. It started with a saxophone riff, went through 2 verses and into a solo, 4 more verses into another solo, 2 verses, then the end of the song.
I first heard Aerosmith’s cover of the song, and I liked it a lot, not even knowing that it was a cover. When I found out about the original version of the song by Bull Moose Jackson, I listened to it, and I still stand by my original thoughts of the 1975 version’s superiority. While they are in essence the same song, the later version of it is better. It has more of a full tone, which could be attributed to their having better recording technology in 1975 than in 1952, but I think it is attributed to Aerosmith. They sped up the song a little, put it into a key that sounds warmer and more inviting, and put in a better variety of instruments. They didn’t stick with just one instrument for all the solos, like Jackson did with the saxophone. They did one solo with guitar and the other with harmonica, giving the song a more diverse feel. That’s why I feel that Aerosmith’s 1975 cover of “Big Ten Inch Record” was better than Bull Moose Jackson’s 1952 original.
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