Re: FLUXLIST: Mr T. versus Everything

[Mandy Mastrovita/ Devlin Thompson]

David Baptiste Chirot wrote:

>         I always wondered if Mr T didn't get that line "I Pity the
> Fool"--from the famous song of that name--
>
>         the phrase had become after it came out a popular expression
>
>         The most famous version is by Bobby "Blue" Bland--
>
>         it's a great song and was huge hit--(in r and b market mainly)
>
>         --dave baptiste

My boyfriend is a big Bobby Bland fan, & had long thought the same
thing... For reference, the song hit 46 on the Billboard pop chart in
February 1961 (always handy to have a copy of the Billboard guide for
points like these).

Tangentially,  I came upon a whole mess of old Bobby Bland '45's at a
Salvation Army in Atlanta recently (though "I Pity the Fool" was not in
the stack)...Of course "I Pity the Fool" could  just be a common phrase
in Southern Black English that white folks wouldn't recognize,
engendering both the Bobby Bland song  AND Mr. T's tagline.

Maybe there's a Mr. T info. archive where we'd be able to find that out.

Mandy Mastrovita