2003 MAY 11 #131
The Humbards with the four year old twins, Drusilla
and Susanna -
I've Found a Hiding Place
It's hard to express my feelings for this 3 minute thing
by singing twins Drusilla and Susanna. I always want to
run and find my own hiding place, far away from the grating
voices of the twins, but I cannot. The seconds slowly
tick by when listening, I rock back and forth unable to
shut down all power. Silence why have you forsaken me?!?!
Only clocking in at 3 minutes, I refuse to accept this,
as time obviously doubles to 6 minutes when exposed to
the twins.
from the back record cover:
"Here is the latest hit by the singing twins, Dru and Sue.
Dru sings the lead, Sue the repeats.
The family assists on the second chorus."
That's right! "The Latest Hit by the Singing Twins!"
The rest of the album is a bore, but Good God could we stand any more?!? Of course the answer is yes, and I don't need to know why. Don't tell me why! Don't you do it!
If you feel like screaming and beating your head against a wall by the one minute mark, do not worry, this is completely normal. Refrain from hurting yourself and instead hurt others by turning up VERY LOUD and pretend to feel the glory and power of the twins.
All I know is I will cherish the day that I found this in early 2000 at a Seattle Goodwill.
- Otis Fodder
TT-2:55 / 4MB / 192kbps 44.1khz
From the LP "Come Home, It's… Suppertime"
Vanity Label, Youngstown, Ohio
Musical Credits: Leona Jones and Danny Koker
Recorded in Cleveland, Ohio, Schneider Studio, Spring
1964
Nancy L. writes:
Many thanks for the sample from the Clement T. Humbard
family! In the early 1960s, the Humbard program was
broadcast live on early weekday evenings -- sandwiched
between two programs our family never missed (probably
the news and a game show). The twins, Drusilla Dru and
Susanna Sue (known as Drusie and Susie -- ouch!) often
warbled along with their parents. Mrs. Humbard was a
beauty -- and I'm sorry that the photo didn't have her
coifed in the beehive that became so familiar to folks
in the Youngstown, Ohio area. Regarding the title song,
"Suppertime": When my mother and grandmother
were finished preparing our dinner, they'd burst into
song: "Come home! Come home, it's Suppertime!"
I think the next line was :The shadows linger nigh."
Anyway, the show was, as my mother would say, "fascinating
awful," but the Humbard homilies linger in our
hearts.
Doreen writes:
The movie, "Oh Brother Where Art Thou?"
sort of helped a lot of people "discover" bluegrass
here in the new millennium. In the movie there is a group
of little sisters singing "In the Highways in the
Hedges," and I swear to God I was having a Dru &
Sue flashback. This was the type of music that they would
sing and it just took me back. I'm sure I have some more
vinyl here in the attic just a few feet from where I sit.
Now recently I was scouring the pitifully thin section
of bluegrass music in the local Walmart. I picked up a
CD of original old timey recordings, the ones that inspired
the current songs on the "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?",
sound track. Lo and behold and sure enough there was an
original recording of "I'll Fly Away" by the
Humbard Family Singers. Now this was not the twins but
their parents, Clem & Priscilla and the as yet unknown
Uncle Rex and Aunt Maude Amy. Of course I snatched it
up and brought it home. (Yes, I actually paid for it.)
When the girls got older their voices got better and along
with the older sisters, Rebecca & Delilah they really
had some tight harmonies. But back then identical twins
were not as common and the girls were a novelty. And the
older Rebecca and Della actually married a set of twins,
Dick & Dennis. And we had another set of twins and
I married one of them. Altogether when we traveled we
often had 3 sets of twins and sometimes even 4 sets of
twins with us. The Humbards were on TV every evening for
several years in the 60's. I remember watching all of
the time. This was before I met them. I started going
to that church with my dad. I was 12 or just turning 13.
Clem wanted to start a youth singing group. I guess it
was his answer to the "Up Up With People" singers
that was very popular at that time. So I joined and ended
up in their extremely dysfunctional ministry until it
all fell apart in 1977 or '78. I spent a lot of time at
their home and even traveled to the Middle East on a tour
with them. We recorded an album with them, too. I think
in Cincinnati, Ohio. Hmm, it's been so long ago, and I've
tried to forget. I just took a look at that picture again
and the girls were only about 4 years old at the time
of that recording. Actually the attention span of a 4
year old is much less then 3 minutes, and with recording
the way it was in that day, had to be done all in one
take, it is sort of a minor miracle that this recording
was made at all. Well, thanks for this trip down memory
lane. Now I've got to call my therapist and make an appointment.
Thought I had this thing licked, till I found your website.
