Saburo Kitajima -- Nakimushi Yokocho（泣き虫横丁）

 

Over a decade ago, I posted an article on Saburo Kitajima's（北島三郎）debut single from 1962, "Bungacha Bushi"　（ブンガチャ節）. Kitajima has recently retired as the Grand Old Man of Enka but back in those early 1960s, he was merely a 26-year-old man getting his start in the music industry, so on hearing that his first song was getting banned due to some innuendo within the lyrics, he must have wondered whether he was heading back to the salt mines, figuratively speaking. He didn't have to worry too long, though.

In any case, I have his B-side here and it was created by the same duo behind "Bungacha Bushi", lyricist Tetsuro Hoshino（星野哲郎）and composer Toru Funamura（船村徹）. "Nakimushi Yokocho" (Crybaby Alley), just from the English translation of the title, might sound like something rock n' roll but as was the case with the A-side, it's a fairly galumphing kayo kyoku that still makes me wonder whether it can also be categorized as an upbeat enka tune despite all of the Western instrumentation. Lyrically speaking, it seems to be about the life in the inner city and all that reside there including the local gangster element.