In late 1966, a young rock band by the name of The Royal Guardsmen released a single on the Laurie record label called, "Snoopy And The Red Baron". By early 1967, the song was charging up the U.S charts, the group was appearing on television shows and concerts around the country and Charles M. Schulz, the creator of the Peanuts comic strip, was suing the group for copyright violations.
As attorneys were meeting to negotiate, Laurie Records was in a bit of a quandary. The record was doing well in the U.S and now they were ready to release it in Canada. But with the lawsuit still pending they were afraid to release the record up north for fear that the negotiations might fail.
As a result, Laurie decided to have the band go into the studio and record a new version of the song called, "Squeaky And The Black Knight". Basically, this was the same song minus any reference to Snoopy or The Red Baron. The record was available in Canada for a short time and did receive airplay on a handful of radio stations.
Once a deal was made with Charles M. Schultz, Laurie pulled " Squeaky And The Black Knight" and released "Snoopy" in Canada. As a result, copies of "Squeaky" are extremely rare and go for big bucks whenever one turns up. You can listen to the song for no bucks at all below.
NAME: Sam The Butcher, feeble-minded butcher on The Brady Bunch TV show. SERIAL KILLER?: No, but Sam The Butcher would be a great name for a mafia hit man. Come to think of it, he did seem to love butchering meat so...I guess, it's hard to say for sure. OCCUPATION: Uhhh...well...a butcher...obviously! INTERESTS & HOBBIES: Bowling and ummm...butchering. PERSONAL LIFE: Nothing is known about Sam's past. He is single and probably not divorced (in the world of sixties tv, divorce, like African-Americans, Latinos, gays, sex, drugs, facial hair, clevage
etc...did not exist) but, perhaps, he is a widower. (Like Mike Brady).
Sam "dates" the Brady's housekeeper Alice. The two have a rather odd relationship, in that, they seldom touch but often bowl.
In fact, bowling seems to occupy a good deal of, not only their time, but also, their conversation.
Although, Mike and Carol spend a good amount of time making out, I don't know if we ever see Sam and Alice kiss. Perhaps the television censors back then thought the sight of two "older" people kissing was obscene. And in the case of Sam and Alice, I have to agree.
RELATIONSHIP WITH BRADY'S: Sam seems to have no family of his own, so the Bradys seem to have adopted him as some kind of pseudo-dopey uncle. Or maybe a family pet, like Alice. (The other family pet, Tiger, disappeared from the show not long after the Kitty Karryall incident. A trip to the pound in the family station wagon, perhaps?)
Sam is often treated like a dim toddler or a stray dog by the Bradys. Something to be indulged for a few minutes, but quickly whisked away while more important things are attended to. ( Mike s latest architectural plans or what to serve at the upcoming dinner party--Mike is leaning toward steaks but Carol is thinking Mexican)
Whenever Sam comes into contact with Mike and Carol he tends to shuck and jive around, cracking corny jokes and addressing them as Mr. and Mrs.Brady while they call him Sam and shake their heads at the wacky things he says. Also, the Brady children call him Sam but address every other adult (except Alice, of course) as Mr. and Mrs. I guess when you are ten years old and grow up with an astroturf lawn, you think it's okay to address the neighborhood butcher by his first name.
ACTOR: Sam was played by character actor Allan Melvin. Aside from The Brady Bunch, he is probably best remembered for his roles on The Andy Griffith Show. He always played the heavy and usually wants to beat up Barney.
--Casey Redmond
Shangri-La, Ohio
Planet Earth
