Anyhoo, it seems that lately too many people are awful tense and bummed-out about stuff. So here's something that will make anybody laugh: a collection of Junior Samples' famous "BR-549" sketches from the classic country-comedy variety show Hee Haw!
Yup, that's George Lindsey (aka Goober from The Andy Griffith Show) as the robber in the first skit. And longtime Hee Haw fans of the masculine persuasion will no doubt remember Barbi Benton with much fondness!
Junior Samples is perhaps the all-time king of country rube humor. He got his showbiz start at age 40 with a comedy recording about catching a big bass (he also nearly got in trouble with the fish and wildlife agents). From there he was invited to join the cast of Hee Haw and became as much-beloved for his stumbles and bloopers as he was for his down-home demeanor. Sadly, he passed away in 1983 at the age of 57.
And the phone number is "BR-549" for a reason. Samples was from Cumming, Georgia and loved to go fishing on Lake Lanier. And when it wasn't in the water his boat was kept at "Boat Ramp 549".
BR-549 also stood for Broad Ringed 549 cubic inches for International Harvester trucks. That's where the band by the same name got it from.
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And Junior Samples was pretty much a newcomer when it came to "country rubes". Long before Junior came on the scene, there was Grandpa Jones, Lonzo and Oscar, Stringbean, and Spec Rhodes.