60s-70s USA comedian/writer, "Mr.Dirt"

[Antiope]

hi,
can anyone tell me the name of, point me in the right direction for information
about an american comedian i saw on tv in late 60s or early 70s. Also played a
"Mr.Dirt" in a television commercial of that era. TV was bizarre routine of him
at the piano, rendering fake "Moldavian" folk songs in funny voice, one of
which included the line "suck eggs!" or something to that effect. Physically,
was thin, lanky i think, angular features, probably 40-ish at the time (1970?),
thick salt-pepper hair, to the best of my recollection. I want to say he
appeared on Smothers Brothers, Flip Wilson, or maybe Sonny & Cher variety
shows, maybe even Glen Campbell, but can't remember. probably considered more
of a comedian's comedian than one with general mass appeal. Would be great to
find recordings of his tv bits or maybe audio albums, if available.

NOT Foster Brooks. definitely.
Thanks folks
my email address above is mangled. obviously.

[Mark Evanier]

On 22 Mar 1999 21:49:09 GMT, ant...@aol.commie.biz (Antiope) posted:

ME: You're describing Ronny Graham...actor, composer, singer, etc..
He gained game initially with a number of revues in New York, and
there may be cast recordings available of some of those shows. I
don't recall any records of him alone performing his own songs.

I remember him mainly from spots on Johnny Carson's TONIGHT SHOW,
though he was probably on everything at one time or another. He had
small acting roles in the last few Mel Brooks movies, and I believe he
was one of the writers of the remake of "To Be or Not to Be" and a few
other projects. If you go over to the Internet Movie Database, you
can probably find out more. Or if you call any record/CD dealer who
specializes in Broadway stuff (like Footlight Records), they can
probably point you to whatever CDs his songs appear on.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mark Evanier's e-mail address is: m...@evanier.com
363 S. Fairfax Ave., #303 - Los Angeles, CA 90036

[Jordan Young]

Antiope wrote:

> hi,
> can anyone tell me the name of, point me in the right direction for information
> about an american comedian i saw on tv in late 60s or early 70s. Also played a
> "Mr.Dirt" in a television commercial of that era. TV was bizarre routine of him
> at the piano, rendering fake "Moldavian" folk songs in funny voice, one of
> which included the line "suck eggs!" or something to that effect. Physically,
> was thin, lanky i think, angular features, probably 40-ish at the time (1970?),
> thick salt-pepper hair, to the best of my recollection. I want to say he
> appeared on Smothers Brothers, Flip Wilson, or maybe Sonny & Cher variety
> shows, maybe even Glen Campbell, but can't remember. probably considered more
> of a comedian's comedian than one with general mass appeal. Would be great to
> find recordings of his tv bits or maybe audio albums, if available.
>

> NOT Foster Brooks. definitely.
> Thanks folks
> my email address above is mangled. obviously.

Mr. Dirt was played by Ronny Graham. He was a regular on "The New Bill Cosby Show"
and "Chico and the Man." He also wrote for "MASH."

Regards,
Jordan R. Young
jyo...@fea.net
author, "The Laugh Crafters: Comedy Writing in Radio and TV's Golden Age"
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/asin/0940410370/lucynet

[Rich3man]

Mr. Dirt on Mobil gas commercials was Ronny Graham. His Molavian Folksongs
were great, wern't they. He went on to write some episodes on M*A*S*H and
other shows.

"Suckin' Eggs. When I go politicin' speaking (spickin') ... duckin' eggs".
Bradford Richman

[lenzot...@gmail.com]

Ok Mr.Dirt Ronny Graham sang this song on the Johnny Carson Tonight Show "it went something like this "Someone settin fire to mein flores sucking eggs sucking eggs. ..mien flores they sittin in the garden and they don't bother no body BUT SOMEONE SETTIN FIRE TO MEIN FLORES SUCKIN EGGS SUCKIN EGGS! !! Anthony

[lenzot...@gmail.com]

[R H Draney]

lenzot...@gmail.com filted:
>
>Ok Mr.Dirt Ronny Graham sang this song on the Johnny Carson Tonight Show "i=
>t went something like this "Someone settin fire to mein flores sucking eggs=
> sucking eggs. ..mien flores they sittin in the garden and they don't bothe=
>r no body BUT SOMEONE SETTIN FIRE TO MEIN FLORES SUCKIN EGGS SUCKIN EGGS! !=
>! Anthony

Almost right...it was "sumvun putten matchen to mein flores"...it got to be so
associated with Graham that he walked out on one of the talk shows (may have
been Merv) and the band struck up an upbeat version of the tune....r


--
Me? Sarcastic?
Yeah, right.

[hop...@gmail.com]

On Ronny Graham (sorry for misspelling?) and that song Suckin' Eggs. I have the memory of him performing that song on Johnny Carson burned into my memory. For some reason that performance went through my mind tonight and I have spent the past hour trying to find that performance posted on line or at the very least the lyrics. Nothin'! Then I saw you and a couple of others quoting portions. Do you, or anyone have the lyrics or know where I can see a kinescope of him performing that?

[Jeff Morris]

A previous poster included most of the lyrics, a bit paraphrased. The only missing line I'm aware of was about the flowers just sitting in the back yard looking pretty.

Looks like he performed it on The Tonight Show several times in early 1973: January 5, January 26, and April 18. And he did it again November 8, 1974 and July 22, 1977. He was also on several other Tonight Shows 1973-1978. Wow, he was a popular guest! Four shows in the first four months of 1973!

[bama7...@gmail.com]

[bama7...@gmail.com]

Hi, I just anted to reply to your posr re: Ronny Graham. We saw him in the seventies on some show (hilarious) and he went to the piano and sang <"The Moldavian Love Song". The words we remember, and still use today go something like this (I'm unclear of the proper spelling) "Someone putten matchen to meine flora. Suck an egg." And as I mentioned, it's been one of our secret messages to each other that something is off/weird. Hope this helps !!!, Betsy

[drra...@gmail.com]

Ronny Graham's son was my college buddy, one the best friends I've ever had. Through his son, I learned stuff that may never have been publicly performed. BTW, Ronny Graham was just his stage name.

Please forgive the occasional errors, but this is how I remember my favorite, a parody of the patriotic song, "America I Love You."

America I like you
You're like an uncle to I'm
Through wheat fields of popcorn
To you our devotion
Is spanning the hemisphere

A . Is for our navy
M. Is for the soldiers we got
E. Is for the heagle that flies up above us
R. Is for we can't go wrong
I. Is for hindependence
C. Is for the brave and the bold
A. Is for America, I like you
and there's a hundred more that's feeling the same.

[besse...@gmail.com]

This was performed on an episode of The Tonight Show. I was playing with a reel-to-reel tape recorder and recorded the songs. Sadly that tape is long gone, but I played it so much I have some of it memorized.

Suck Neggs
By Ronny Graham

Somevun puten matchen to mein fleures.
Somevun puten matchen to mein fleures.
‘S’ever puten matchen to mein fleures.
Suck Neggs! Suck Neggs!

(bridge lyrics incomplete-help!)
Little fleures never hurts anybody!

Somevun puten matchen to mein fleures.
Somevun puten matchen to mein fleures.
‘S’ever puten matchen to mein fleures.
Suck Neggs! Suck Neggs!

and on a later episode he recorded the sequel:

Sicken

If you gettin’ sicken lickin’ chicken…
If you gettin’ sicken lickin’ chicken…
Don’t go call the doctor to come qvicken…
Suck Neggs! Suck Neggs!

Eggen sucken is gut for sicken-lickin’-chicken!
‘Cause egg is the hair of the chicken biting back!

So…
If you gettin’ sicken lickin’ chicken…
If you gettin’ sicken lickin’ chicken…
Don’t go call the doctor to come qvicken…
Suck Neggs! Suck Neggs!

But on that first show, he also sang songs about Mia Farrow and Harry Belafonte. I remember these lyrics about Mia:

Mia Farrow
By Ronny Graham

Mia Farrow, my gosh you’re narrow!
I’ve heard of thin, but this is a sin.
I like your height. Your height’s out of signt.
But straight across, you’re a total loss.
Do you feel all right?

One thing I know, dear Mia Farrow:
If I were your beau, you’d be my arrow!
But I can’t kick, you’re only doing your shtick…
And a stick is what you are!
Why, you’re perpendicular!
You’re my favorite underweight star!
Mia Farrow!

The Harry Belafonte song claimed that, musically, "Harry Belafonte is a waltz!"

[Jeff Morris]

> (bridge lyrics incomplete-help!)
> Little fleures never hurts anybody!

The second bridge line is:
All fleures do sitting back yard looking pretty for the world.

He was on Carson several times in 1973-1975 and again in 1977. I think he may have done this more than once.

[mimi...@yahoo.com]

I remember him singing the Mia Farrow song when I was very little! My older brothers and my Mom sang it around the house for years! Thank you so much for posting it!

[archi...@yahoo.com]

> The second bridge line is:
> All fleures do sitting back yard looking pretty for the world.

-I distinctly recall him prounouncing "world" in a heavy Yiddish accent so it came out more like "voild."
I'd sure love to hear the song or see one of those Carson appearances.

[mya...@msn.com]

Ronnie graham partner with Mel Brooks