Almost Hits: Al Wilson - The Snake (1968)

The late R&B singer Al Wilson (1939 - 2008) had the same name as a hated car salesman who built his new Pontiac dealership on our town's beloved little league baseball fields despite organized protests from neighbors around the same time the star released a unique single called "The Snake." I wanted to hate the record but I couldn't, and I was one of the people who helped send it to #27 on the Hot 100 in the summer of 1968.

The great sixties vocalist, Johnny Rivers, produced the record and released it on his own Soul City label.

Wilson - who reminds me of Lou Rawls - is better known for "Show and Tell," his #1 hit from 1973. Overall, he sent four singles into the top forty.

The song's storyline is very similar to one of Aesop's ancient fables, The Farmer and The Viper. This fable tells us that even if you're kind to someone who is inherently evil they will eventually stab you in the back, and that's exactly what happens in the song. It tells the tale of a woman who takes in a half frozen snake and nurses him back to health. Sadly, instead of being grateful he attacks her with a fatal bite.

Coincidentally, I'm writing this article at an appropriate time, because as it turns out, "The Snake" has played a part in recent presidential elections. I swear that I didn't know there is a political connection associated with this formerly nearly forgotten record until I started researching it for this blog post.

"The Snake" was revived by presidential candidate Donald Trump in 2016 during his run against Hillary Clinton. The eventual 45th president warned voters at his rallies that granting refugee status to immigrants entering the country illegally "would come back to bite us."  He recited the song's lyrics at several rallies and two of composer Oscar Brown's children asked him to stop using it. A cease and desist order was ignored. After the former president left office he continued to use the lyrics at his rallies. Earlier this year, Trump told a crowd the song is "a very accurate metaphor, and it's about our border, it's about the people we have coming in, and don't be surprised when bad things happen, because bad things will happen."

"The Snake" is a very good oldie that you can dance to. It deserves to be listened to on its own merits unencumbered by the current political controvery that is now attached to it.
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Almost Hits is an occasional exploration into songs that failed to reach the top 20 on the American Billboard Hot 100. Many have become classics despite what their chart position would indicate.

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