Looking for title
Rich88
song he recalls singing in the early 50's in a college quartet. He
vaguely remembers posible titles and remembers some of the lyrics,
which are printed below. If you know the title of this song, or any
other information about it, your reply would be appreciated.
Richard Huggins
-----------------------------
Some of the lyrics:
Old Joe, please stay,
Go on and play
Play it Mr. Manny won't you play it again
Play it Mr. Manny won't you play it again
[more words -]
Bum, bum, bum, bum,
come honey let's go down
To honky-tonky town,
It's underneath the ground
Where all the fun is found
There'll be singing waiters,
Singing synchopaters,
Dancing to piano played by Mr. Brown
He plays piano queer,
He always plays by ear,
The music that you hear,
Just makes you stay a year.
Even starts a monkey
Dancing with a donkey.
Down in honky-tonky town.
Do my eyes deceive me
or am I going mad.
Lyle
Hi Rich,
"Down In Honky Tonk Town", 1916, in Eb
To my knowledge, there aren't any current recordings of this song in
Barbershop style, although as late as the 40's, I think Louis
Armstrong may have recorded it.
words by Charles McCarron
Charles McCarron (1891-1919) was a United States Tin Pan Alley
composer & lyricist.
McCarron is credited on such numbers as "When the Lusitania Went
Down", "Fido Is A Hot Dog Now", "Down In Honky Tonk Town", and "Eve
Wasn't Modest till She Ate that Apple". He collaborated with other
composers including Albert Von Tilzer and Chris Smith.
music by Chris Smith (composer)
Chris Smith (1879 - 1949) was a United States composer and performer.
Smith was born in Charleston, South Carolina on October 12, 1879. He
started traveling with Medicine Shows at a young age, then went into
Vaudeville where he performed in an acts with Elmer Bowman and Jimmie
Durante. He wrote music for Bert Williams.
Smith composed many tunes, including such hits as Ballin' The Jack,
Down In Honky Tonk Town, Good Morning, Carie, The Camel Walk, and Junk
Man Rag.
Smith died in New York City on October 4, 1949.
Hope this helps,
Lyle
http://BarbershopHarmony.cjb.net
==================================
some more stuff:
"Nickelodeon", "Jukebox", "Honky Tonk"
By Dick Bueschel
It's a matter of interpretation. To my mind, "nickelodeon" is to the
coin-operated piano as "jukebox" is to the automatic phonograph. The
first names are public jargon, or argot, whereas the second names are
what the manufacturers and the industry called their machines.
Which means the dictionaries are wrong, as "nickelodeon" cannot refer
to a phonograph in any way. Makers of both products fought the public
names hard. Automatic-phonograph makers didn't accept the all-powerful
name "jukebox" until over a dozen years after Glenn Miller first used
it in public print in Time Magazine in 1939.
The discussion of "nickelodeon" leads to another bit of terminology.
What is the meaning, and origin, of "honky-tonk?" Dictionaries and
argot collections say it is a type of music, low class and all that.
Baloney! The music they are talking about is "ragtime." But what's the
origin? I can't find it anywhere, but I propose that it is a phrase
coined by the itinerant piano playing "Professors" who went from
saloon to saloon in cutting contests, and who were actually playing
New York made and sold Tonk pianos in honky bars, assuming the word
Honky (meaning white) is that old. Any thoughts?
Dick Bueschel
[ Editors views:
[
[ This is a good hot topic for discussion here, along with "how to
[ classify mechanical instruments." Here are my own opinions.
[
[ 1. American dictionaries do not dictate word usage; they reflect it.
[ To say the dictionary is wrong is denying that people talk this way.
[ Is that really your position?
[
[ 2. "Nickelodeon" apparently is spoken referring to any entertainment
[ device operated by a coin. This is the general usage. Within the
[ specific context of mechanical music instruments, our society
[ (we collectors) may advocate a more specific meaning.
[
[ 3. I've heard that turpentine workers in the South relaxed in the
[ "juke joint". The piano in the corner of the lounge was still in
[ its packing box for protection, hence it was the "juke box."
[
[ 4. One of the cute expressions the Black folk call the White folk is
[ "Honky", from the sound of the white goose. The adjective "honky-
[ tonky" (which adds a like sound) meant something associated with the
[ White folk, such as the oft-pitiable attempts by White bands (who
[ were reading the music) to play the music of the Black bands.
[
[ I believe that the hit song, "Down in Honky-Tonky Town", was
cleverly
[ titled such that each society, Black and White, thought that it
[ referred to the _other_!
[
[ I now defer to historians such as our member Ed Berlin, who
[ I hope will expand upon "Honky-Tonk" and "Ragtime", and why
[ -- when I'm playing these jolly piano-styles -- I'm called
[
[ "Perfessor" Robbie Rhodes
ahg...@gmail.com
If anyone has the book, or any sheet music of this song, I would be most appreciative of getting my hands on a copy.
I'm pretty sure it was Honky Tonk, not Honky-Tonky.
This is a relatively simple song with a great bass part which I still enjoy singing today. It would be fun to get all four parts together.
Thanks.
Alan @ahg...@gmail.com