Foul Owl on the Prowl

[steve7138]

when of them thar "eclectic redneck" songs of the 60's-befo' the cosmic cowboys, etc

[gorgonique]

I'll bet that's a career misstep that Sam the Sham has regretted to this day. Imagine the cash cow "Red Riding Hood" would've been, with way more air play and remakes and rented out for ads, if it was permanently linked to this film masterpiece.

[lcs1956]

Red Ridin' Hood was a good choice to set the mood of that scene, it is a more ominous sounding song than 'Fowl Owl'. Also Sam the Sham curiously has a very similar accent to Delores Purdy (aka Tombstone girl).

[madmax8903]

Oohh! I wanted to see the bit where either Oates or Steiger asks Poitier, "You want anything?" or something similar and the cafe owner, staring fixedly ahead of him, yells "I aint serving him!" and Poitiers sharp look at him. Great scene from a great movie. After hearing some Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs I thought they sounded similar and it might be them playing. Amazed to hear that it was they that Quincy Jones wanted originally. Must have a better musical ear than I realise.

[LukeWhitaker]

so creepy

[67chevelle300]

1:13.....Is that Carl Edwards' father?

[rzxw]

"Don't wait! to say goodby" la la la

[Jman955i]

Ole Sam is happy as hell about that king size and wedge of pie

[ortleyman]

Peckerwood would have been good in the Psycho movies. He has that creepy Anthony Perkins thing going on.

[ortleyman]

This guy I hang out with at the bar where I live came in last week and started to act out the part of this movie where the sexy babe starts to describe getting fucked on the tombstone. It was FN hillarious. Then I started to remember this creepy dude. We were both laughing our asses off. I can't believe they have this scene on youtube. I always thought the song was, Howl Nowl on the Prowl. HA!

[custardaghost]

Tarantino was taking notes on this scene, that's for damn sure.

[aurababat90]

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[proffit123]

my boy is in the diner getting loose.

[hamtrak]

This movie was filmed in the fall of 1966, during the car chase scene you can see the leaves are turning colors.The scene at "Endicotts" plantation, the leaves are falling and you can see the steam from Gillespies car exhaust. shoulda called it, "In the cool of the Day".

[custardaghost]

@hamtrak

Reverse seasons movie filming: 1) The Deerhunter. The cold street & steel-mill scenes were filmed during the hottest part of summer 77. They stripped leaves off trees, sprayed them orange and brown then reattached them for an authentic fall look. Also Dog Day Afternoon - supposed to be height of summer but filmed in winter. Al Pacino sucked ice before speaking so that his breath didn't freeze and mist up on film.

[000266617]

The cop calls the white guy a "peckerwood" I read that peckerwood was a racial slur invented by and used by 19th century blacks to describe whites

[spookyben]

He's really listening to Little Red Rding Hood by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs

[spookyben]

The reason that it looks at the start like he's listening to a different song is because he is. They had a copyright problem or something and Foul Owl was dubbed over the original song from the juke.

Plus the steam coming from their mouths makes it look like there wasnt much heat that night.

[000266617]

I read that Sam the Sham wanted a lot of money to use his song, and they didn't want to pay it, so switched.

I think Sam the Sham would be a better song though.

[uofmrebel]

Sounds like the style of Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs.

[Ramkys]

wau, my favorite part of this movie

[SMARTICALPERSON123]

greatest and most appropriate song ever for a scene in a movie

[frenchie510]

best part of the movie!

[ssmith2115]

Theres a foul owl on the prowl tonight.lol

[WallyPlumstead]

Cool! (and a cool jukebox too!)

A word to the wise: You'd be best to steer clear of any roadside cafe that had a rube like this working there and he was grooving to Fowl Owl on the Prowl. Keep driving until you get to a McDonald's!

[newf360]

love this song

[tuv45]

i gotta download this movie sometime

[leelovesali9999]

er quincy jones wrote it...

[frenchie510]

quincy jones wrote this?! as in the producer of the best selling album in the world? nah! nah man, no man! lol.

[TehHunSkelper]

thats soooooo gay

[Ecknap]

This song is perfect for this scene. Look it's Ralph from 'the Teacher' in an earlier movie! He's just as full of mischief here.

[000266617]

"According to Norman Jewison and Haskell Wexler on the DVD commentary, they originally wanted to use "Lil' Red Ridin' Hood" by Sam the Sham and The Pharaohs in the movie, and this is the song Ralph Henshaw (Anthony James) was dancing to during filming. Unable to license Sam the Sham's song, "Foul Owl on the Prowl" was substituted, composed by Quincy Jones"

[jconder45]

"That is, if that peckerwood aint sold out again..." LOL, classic!

[Atomsmasher777]

The intro, the chords leading to the first lyric..

The resemblance to "Little Red Riding Hood" is amazing. The lyrics fit the film. "Little Red Riding Hood" would not have.

A very mid-sixties sound.

The guitar/band sound reminds me of the Mickey Rooney Jr combo in "Hot Rods to Hell."

[inkey2]

yeh, i can hear it loud and clear....very similar to the feel of Little Red Riding Hood. Which song was written first?

[negrosaurus]

"Li'l Red Riding Hood" was written first. "Foul Owl" was only written as a substitute because the filmmaker couldn't get the rights to use "Li'l Red Riding Hood."

The ripoff is so blatant it just cracks me up when I hear it.

[Marckymarc71]

Is that cop the same guy who played Sgt. Hulka?

[Kwarner722]

Yes - Warren Oates (RIP)

[ssmith2115]

that's my song.lol

[inkey2]

That creepy actor Anthony James....never saw any character acter do such a fantastic job of being just a scummy, greasy bag of crap. He is just superb

[Myus1113]

... I mean Ralph's dance.  sry

[Myus1113]

Sam's dance w. that knife and the blinking "EAT" sign. Friggin' classic movie shiz!!!

[tidmouthshed]

Great Scene, with creepy ralph and sam. One of cinema's great movies. Love it.

[000266617]

I heard Sam the Sham's "Little Red Riding Hood" the song they wanted and I think it would have been much better than this one.

[Fruth37]

The "peckerwood" behind the counter is actor Anthony James. He played hoods, scumbags, and, all around low rent characters on tv and in movies. He was really bad on "The A-Team" and on "Charlie's Angels". He does a good job here!

[jpetts99]

Come on people, have you even watched the movie? There is no need to speculate about why Ralph hides the pie. He hates Sam Wood, the cop, since he knows that Sam drives by Dolores Purdy's house and sees her wandering around naked. Purdy got Dolores pregnant, and persuades her brother to go to the cops and blame it on Sam. In the antepenultimate scene in the film, Ralph is exposed, and shoots Dolores' brother after he accuses Ralph of turning Dolores into a "field slut".

[thekenniewitch]

The restaurant guy looks like he is hearing the song for the first time. His facial expressions and body movements are what make this such a great clip. (I think that he is hiding the pie to make it look like he saved it for the cop.)

[Cotoredondo]

It's the dancing with the knife in his hand.  lol

[inkey2]

This is one of finest films ever made in this genra (did I spell genra right?)

[JayZak]

its genre

[shaman683]

I love Fowl Owl on the Prowl!

[inkey2]

No, it is definately NOT Glenn Campbell singing. By the way I have seen this movie about 10 times and never get tired of it. Also That skinny, tall, greasy character actor

running the diner has been in a TON of movies. He is the perfect killer, weirdo character actor.

[000266617]

From Imdb: "they originally wanted the song "Hey There Little Red Ridin' Hood" by 'Sam the Sham and The Pharoahs' , which is what was actually playing in that scene and what the character Ralph Henshaw (Anthony James) is dancing to. Apparently, Sam the Sham wanted too much money for use of the song and it was probably Quincy Jones who came up with the new song and Glenn Campbell is singing."

[lupine22]

No, not Glen Campbell. The song is performed by Boomer and Travis --

Boomer Clarke (aka Owen Castleman) and Travis Lewis (aka Michael Martin Murphy)

[000266617]

You know, the Imdb report said Glen Cambell. But I was wary of that report. It didn't sound like a Glen Cambell song. Thanks for clearing that up lupine.

[lupine22]

Yes, Glen Campbell sings a different song on the soundtrack -- "Bowlegged Polly"

[brit1958dec]

@lupine22 Maybe Glen Campbell is singing backing vocals or playing guitar. I have the movie on DVD and the director's commentary does say '"there's Glen Campbell" when the song is playing.

[Mickagume]

@lupine22 ...Which was "You can't roller skate in a buffalo herd"...also wanted too much $.

[grumpyjeremy]

I love this film, and I love this song in its creepy context. I too thought it was "bow wow" and am kind of relieved that it's something even more stupid than that. Maybe it's a fowl owl, not a foul owl, what with its interest in hens and chicks and all.

[000266617]

He is supposed to be selling pies, but hides it so the cop can't buy a slice? Anyway this is the first of the Virgil Tibbs Triologys: The other two were "They Call Me Mr. Tibbs" and "The Organization" So the TV series with Tibbs in the south didn't make sense cause he was a New York officer only passing through the south. The series should have been about a black New York cop. Tibbs didn't like the south enough to live there.

[youstink14]

He hides it so the cop doesn't see it sitting out.

Tibbs was from Philadelphia.

In the TV series, Tibbs moves to Sparta.

[000266617]

Yeah, but he's supposed to be selling pies, so why hide it? "Tibbs is working for the San Francisco Police rather than the Philadelphia Police (as in the original film) or the Pasadena Police (as in the novels)" They changed it so much I got dizzy. In the film, Virgil wanted to get away from anyplace where people spoke in a southern accent as fast as he could. He was a city boy.

[grumpyjeremy]

For the diner guy, the pleasure of preventing the cop from having what he wants outweighs the financial gain of selling pie to him. That's why he hides it.

[000266617]

He really doesn't like the cop. Come to think of it, nobody liked him, not even the Sheriff, his boss.

[000266617]

I read they wanted another song but couldn't get the rights to it, and so wound up with this music.

[gigaubuntu]

Dumb song :P

[hamtrak]

Norman Jewison said that actor Anthony James originally was dancing to Sam the Shams "Little Red Riding Hood". When they were unable to secure the rights to use it in the film they had to quickly come up with an alternative. "Foul Owl".

[Siphtoner]

Even though this is a fairly obvious rip of LRRH I like this tune better. I took a long time to find a good MP3 because I was looking for "Bow Wow on the prowl"

[hamtrak]

His name is Anthony James, he played one of the outlaws in High Plains Drifter and also a bartender in Clint Eastwoods Unforgiven. Also played one of the gay hitchikers in Vanishing Point along with Arthur Malet who appears in this movie as the funeral director!!!

[runnerrk]

Anthony James also guest starred a few times on Gunsmoke, along with Victor French, as a pair of bumbling, scheming hillbillies...also as a quaker preacher in "Culpepper Cattle Company"... good character actor...

loved this flic...one of my all time faves...

[ACLTony]

The guy playing the diner cook (forgot his name) often played character roles in a lot of 1970s-80s tv shows. Often a bad guy.

[cputb1]

Always loved that scene! Great post!

[radiofreejuan]

The diner cook is exceptionally creepy.

[hopki65]

i never thought id hear this again

who sang it ?

p.s sidney poitier dammn good actor

[michelle66]

I believe it's credited to Quincy Jones (with vocals by Boomer & Travis). Incidentally, Travis Lewis (aka Michael Martin Murphey) and Boomer Clarke (aka Owen Castleman) recorded an album for Colgems (the Monkees' label) back in 1967.

[57Will]

I always wondered who was singing on that song. That scene is one of the most memorable to me from the movie, because of the creepiness of that diner cook, and the lyrics of that song ("If you hear him hoot, scoot").

[blakelover22]

how can we get this onto limewire?

[Siphtoner]

It's already on Limewire...a very high quality file too!

[VirgoAngie]

Great video! Thanks for posting this.

[zyxxrd]

thanks pal been hunting this for ever good work

[isikhakan]

thanks. You can't imagine for how long i looked for this song..