Hear Muddy Waters' Vintage Dr. Pepper Radio Commercial
Although it's always been relatively uncommon, legendary old-school blues musicians have let their voices and/or images be used to sell products in ads and commercials.
There's that semi-famous 1993 John Lee Hooker ad for Lee Jeans, for instance!
Still, this new find is a total surprise. It's a clip of Muddy Waters doing a radio ad for Dr. Pepper.
According to the info posted along with the clip on YouTube, this is one of several audio ads from an series composed by Randy Newman for Dr. Pepper's radio campaign in the late Sixties or early Seventies.
Although Muddy is clearly singing Newman's Dr. Pepper-centric lyrics, It sounds like he's making up the melody as he goes along—as any great blues musician would do!
You can check out the clip below.
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Damian is Editor-in-Chief of Guitar World magazine. In past lives, he was GW’s managing editor and online managing editor. He's written liner notes for major-label releases, including Stevie Ray Vaughan's 'The Complete Epic Recordings Collection' (Sony Legacy) and has interviewed everyone from Yngwie Malmsteen to Kevin Bacon (with a few memorable Eric Clapton chats thrown into the mix). Damian, a former member of Brooklyn's The Gas House Gorillas, was the sole guitarist in Mister Neutron, a trio that toured the U.S. and released three albums. He now plays in two NYC-area bands.
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