MINGO MERCILESS
Yesteryear crooner, actor, and cowboy circumcisor Ed Ames has keeleth over aged 95. Ames was the best-known and last surviving member of clean-cut vocal group the Ames Brothers, a sibling quartet who prospered in the late 40s and early 50s with hits such as “Rag Mop” and “You, You, You”. He was likely the last surviving musician to chart in the US in the 40s you’ll read about on these pages (obscurer survivors exist but would be lucky to QO). As their musical style fell out of favour, the group disbanded in 1963, but Ed Ames went solo and could commonly be seen on The Ed Sullivan Show throughout the 60s crooning inbetween headliner rock acts. Like a coelacanth, he returned to the top 10 of the US charts in 1967 with “My Cup Runneth Over”, which stylistically wasn’t too different from his early 50s hits but didn’t hurt him any!
Ames also delved into acting, and was best known for the small screen role of Mingo, the Native American sidekick to the titular frontiersman in Daniel Boone. That role set the stage for his crowning moment. Anyone unfamiliar with Ed Ames is probably thinking “WTF was that cowboy circumcising aside about?” Ames learned how to throw a tomahawk for the Mingo role, and demonstrated the skill on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. A cowboy outline on a wooden panel was the target, and as fate would have it, the tomahawk landed smack dab on the cowboy’s crotch. As the sea of laughter subsided, Carson, without missing a beat, quipped “I didn’t even know you were Jewish!”
For the clincher, Ames really was Jewish. Watch the scene in all its glory below:
20 Crooners Croakin’ and ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERNS FRONT both foresaw the Reaper throwing his scythe at Ames’s jugular this year.
Ed Ames
9 July 1927 – 21 May 2023, aged 95
2 TEAMS (💀💀💀💀💀 5 POINTS)