If I Can't Sell It I'm Gonna Sit Down On It

[John C. Chappell]

Can anyone identify artist and song title containing lyrics:
"If I can't sell it, I'm gonna sit down on it"?
Sounds like Koko Taylor. The song's about an easy chair,
but it's all sexual innuendo; and it's a riot. Heard it once
in the car on an unknown radio station, haven't been able
to track it down. Thanks!

John

[Dave Morefield]

A very old song. Most recently by Ruth Brown? Incredibly, the first time I
heard a version of it was back in the 60's by the commercial folk group, The
Chad Mitchell Trio. As I recall, they called it "Keep on Truckin', Mama", and
the words were quite different than the version I've heard more recently. No
mention of the chair.

Here are some fragments from the C.M. version, one of which may contain the
actual title:

There's a sundown girl; her name is Mandy Lane.
She's a free livin' Mama on a high level plane.
Gentleman call at her front gate.
You can hear 'em holler both early and late:

Keep on truckin' mama, truckin' 'til the break of day
[repeat]
Well you come through the door justa raisin' Sam.
Can tell what you been doin' by the way you stand.
Keep on truckin' mama, truckin' 'til the break of day, I say,
Truckin' 'til the break of day.

Well big industry has come into our town.
We've got profit anda progress justa spreadin' all around.
We've got a new cotton mill and a plastics plant,
And a sign in Mandy's window down at Fourth and Grant, sayin

If I can't sell it gonna keep sittin on it, never catch me givin' it away.
[repeat]
I don't care how keen the competition might be.
I ain't givin' samples away for free.
If I can't sell it gonna keep sittin on it, never catch me givin' it away, I
say,
Never catch me givin' it away.

If I can't move it out on the open market, startin' me a little business here at
home.
[repeat]
I don't care if your name is Richard, Bill or Tom.
You knock on my door and it's "Hello John!"
If I can't....

Yours truly,
Dave Morefield
****************

John C. Chappell <jcha...@SPAMX.cjnetworks.com> wrote in message
news:NrjV3.52959$23.19...@typ11.nn.bcandid.com...

[John C]

Definitely not the same song. The one I'm after has lots of double-
entendre. Additional lyrics include things like:
How would you like to come home to this every night, baby?
It feels so soft and warm when you slide into it.

It's quite erotic, just short of explicit, and has you wondering how
it got on the radio until just about the end of the song when you
figure out she's talkin' 'bout her chair and not her, well,
something else.

John

"Dave Morefield" <BluesB...@earthlink.net> wrote:

>A very old song. Most recently by Ruth Brown? Incredibly, the first time I
>heard a version of it was back in the 60's by the commercial folk group, The
>Chad Mitchell Trio. As I recall, they called it "Keep on Truckin', Mama", and
>the words were quite different than the version I've heard more recently. No

>mention of the chair. Etc. Etc.

[Brian Mclean]

It a Ruth Brown tune.
She starts it out as a monologue. She tell the listeners how she owns
and antique store. She has a chair for sale and the songs supposed to
be
about a chair but it's obvously about her -----. It's a great song.

[John C]

That's two votes for Ruth Brown. I've been checking her discographies
and CD's, but haven't found this title, or one that looks like it
might be this song. I'll keep looking. Thanks.

John

[John C]

Kudos to Dave and Brian for steering me to Ruth Brown. "If I Can't
Sell It, I'll Keep Sitting On It" is a track on the Ruth Brown CD
"Blues on Broadway", Fantasy Records, released 1989. Hoping it's the
same one I heard on the radio. Thanks again, guys!

John

[Lyle Krewson]

in article NrjV3.52959$23.19...@typ11.nn.bcandid.com, John C. Chappell at
jcha...@SPAMX.cjnetworks.com wrote on 11/7/99 12:22 PM:

> Can anyone identify artist and song title containing lyrics:
> "If I can't sell it, I'm gonna sit down on it"?
> Sounds like Koko Taylor. The song's about an easy chair,
> but it's all sexual innuendo; and it's a riot. Heard it once
> in the car on an unknown radio station, haven't been able
> to track it down. Thanks!
>
> John
>

That lyric is from the song titled: "If I Can't Sell It, I'll Keep Sittin'
On It", by Hill & Razaf. I have that song on a CD by Ruth Brown, "Blues On
Broadway", Fantasy FCD-9662-2. It is a great performance!

She sang it in the Broadway production "Black and Blue".

Lyle Krewson

[John C]

Thanks, Lyle. I can't find the CD in local stores, but it's available
online. For anybody else who's curious, you can listen to a short
sample of this song on amazon.com. It's a great sample.

John

[Jinxblues]

Lyle Krewson <lylek...@home.com> wrote:

>That lyric is from the song titled: "If I Can't Sell It, I'll Keep Sittin'
>On It", by Hill & Razaf. I have that song on a CD by Ruth Brown, "Blues On
>Broadway", Fantasy FCD-9662-2. It is a great performance!

>She sang it in the Broadway production "Black and Blue".

>Lyle Krewson

And Ruth won a Tony (Best Actress in a Musical) for her performance in "Black
and Blue."

The Avalon Kid

I've got to be with him . . . on that midnight train to Georgia.
I'd rather be with him in his world . . . than without him in mine.
Gladys Knight & the Pips

[no z]

In article <NrjV3.52959$23.19...@typ11.nn.bcandid.com>,

jcha...@SPAMX.cjnetworks.com (John C. Chappell) writes:

>Can anyone identify artist and song title containing lyrics:
>"If I can't sell it, I'm gonna sit down on it"?
>Sounds like Koko Taylor. The song's about an easy chair,
>but it's all sexual innuendo;

..........................................................................
..........................................
"I got what it takes" has these lyrics. I have it by Susan Lamarch with
Terry Waldos Hot Vaudville band. They credit it as a Bessie Smith song.
It's about money and the purse it is kept in,
and of course the double meanings are all sexual.
There are probably several songs that share the theme, and fragments
of lyrics, quite common in older recorded blues.

ej...@full-moon.com

[Dirk Lockard]

CD-MOJO-301 1996 issue titled "The Copulatin Blues",
contains this song, performed by Georgia White and recorded
in May, 1936. The issue contains 22 songs, with some
explicit lyrics, by various artist's recordings between 1929
and 1947. "If I can't sell it" Lyrics as follows:

If I can't sell it

I'll keep sittin' on it
before I'll give it away
you got to buy
don't care how much you want it
I mean just what I say

Just feel that nice old old bottom
built for wear and tear
I really hate to part
with such a lovely chair

If I can't sell it

I'll keep sittin' on it....etc

When you want something good
you got to spend your jack
I guarantee you'll never
want your money back

If I can't sell it

I'll keep sitting on it....etc

Dirk Lockard
www.btrblues.com

John C. Chappell <jcha...@SPAMX.cjnetworks.com> wrote in
message news:NrjV3.52959$23.19...@typ11.nn.bcandid.com...

> Can anyone identify artist and song title containing
lyrics:
> "If I can't sell it, I'm gonna sit down on it"?
> Sounds like Koko Taylor. The song's about an easy chair,

[John C]

It's lookin' like there've been several renditions of the song. I got
the Ruth Brown Blues on Broadway CD. It's a great performance, but
I'd swear I heard additional lyrics on the radio that I don't hear on
the CD. I could be wrong. In any event, I'm pretty happy to have
found Ruth's CD.

[ly...@pobox.com]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qLf9mg2sC54

'Kitchen Man' is another double entendre wonder.
https://www.google.com/search?q=kitchen+man+song+lyrics&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&client=safari

[midatl...@gmail.com]

On Saturday, November 20, 1999 at 8:00:00 AM UTC, John C wrote:
> It's lookin' like there've been several renditions of the song. I got
> the Ruth Brown Blues on Broadway CD. It's a great performance, but
> I'd swear I heard additional lyrics on the radio that I don't hear on
> the CD. I could be wrong. In any event, I'm pretty happy to have
> found Ruth's CD.
>

> "Dirk Lockard" wrote:
>
> >CD-MOJO-301 1996 issue titled "The Copulatin Blues",
> >contains this song, performed by Georgia White and recorded
> >in May, 1936.

It's a long time since this was posted, but ... if you look on YouTube, you'll find that most of the performances are based on the Ruth Brown version. The Georgia White version is older, but - at east for me - is too simply melodic - it lacks verve and innuendo. I remember hearing a Bessie Smith version many years ago. I still remember it, more or less, and that is the gold standard for me, but of course that is a matter of taste. The problem I have had is that I can't find her version anywhere! She did, I think, have more verses.

There is a funny twist: Arlo Guthrie seems to have used the melody in his epic anti-war song "Alice's Restaurant".