[Ads-l] "cut (a song) on (someone)"

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Here is an instance in 1975 that seems to fit the template, but on
closer inspection it follows the conventional sense. The phrase
"cutting a record on Buddha" seems to mean releasing an album via the
label Buddah Records.

Date: December 1975
Periodical: Circus Raves
Article: Frank Zappa: Outraged Consumer 'I Was the Villain Because I
Dared to Say Flower Power Sucked!'
Author: Scott Cohen

[Begin excerpt]
Beefheart formed the Magic Band, and after cutting a record on Buddha
went over to Zappa's Discreet Label where he recorded the famous
'Trout Mask Replica.' Trouble. Beefheart had a beef. Claiming Zappa
had produced it badly, Beefheart sued Zappa for alleged non-payment
and other sins. Words were exchanged and then no words were exchanged
and the friendship screeched to a dead halt.
[End excerpt]

Garson
On Sat, Sep 15, 2018 at 5:20 PM ADSGarson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Ben, congratulations on your great work tracing "ribbit ribbit" and
> locating a YouTube video of the pertinent skit.
>
> Here is a citation with "I cut a record on him" that may have appeared
> in 1974 or earlier.
>
> Periodical: Living Blues
> Issues 1-18
> Quote Page 28 (according to GB)
> Year: Circa 1970 to 1974 (One catalog says "no.1-18 (1970-74)")
> Database; Google Books Snippet; must be verified with scans/hardcopy
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> It's a real blues. REAL, true blues. Yes, I'm planning to record it.
> And I got my own style. I don't play like nobody's. Junior, that's his
> trouble. I cut a record on him. I sent it to England. And they
> wouldn't accept it because it was too much like B.B. King. And they
> was right.
> [End excerpt]
>
> Garson
> On Sat, Sep 15, 2018 at 3:46 PM Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > OED2 has "cut" meaning 'to record; to make (a record)' from 1937 but says
> > nothing about an insider-y usage of "cut" in the music biz: "cut (a
> > song/track/record) on (someone)." Examples:
> >
> > ---
> > David Ritz, _Respect: The Life of Aretha Franklin_ (2014), p. 107
> > [Quoting Clyde Otis, who produced Aretha on Columbia Records in 1964:]
> > "[Columbia president] Goddard Lieberson himself called and said... 'Cut an
> > R-and-B hit on her and we'll take our cue from Motown and cross her over to
> > pop.'"
> > ---
> > Smokey Robinson with David Ritz, _Smokey: Inside My Life_ (1990), p. 113
> > [In section about Smokey producing "I'll Be Doggone" in 1965 for Marvin
> > Gaye, who he nicknamed "Dad"]: Went in and cut the song on Dad, who sang
> > the shit out of it.
> > ---
> >
> > Based on the above, it's likely that it can be dated back to the mid-'60s
> > at least, but so far this is the earliest I've found:
> >
> > ---
> > Billboard, Sep. 24, 1977, p. 18
> > [Interview with Casey Kasem:] "Eddie [Haddad] kept telling me that someone
> > wanted to cut a record on him... So, we cut Eddie on a song that didn't
> > become a hit."
> > ---
> >
> > That example suggests a peculiar dual usage: "cut (a song/record) on
> > someone" and "cut (someone) on (a song/record)."
> >
> > --bgz
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org