ANYBODY HERE WANT TO TRY MY CABBAGE
Words, Andy Razaf; music, Thomas "Fats" Waller. ©1925.

I. As recorded by Maggie Jones, accompanied by Louis Armstrong, 1924.

[Lines in italics are repeated for each verse.]

Anybody here want to try my cabbage,
Just step this way.
Anybody here like to buy good cabbage,
Just holler: "Hey!"
There's no sweeter cabbage anywhere in town.
You can have it boiled or smothered(?) nice and brown.
Anybody here want to try my cabbage,
Just step this way.

Gave some to the parson and he shook with glee.
He took up collection, gave it all to me.

Gave it a corn doctor to fix my feet.
Ev'ry time he sees me, he wants to eat.

Gave some to the jailer who turned the key on me.
When I got through feeding him, he said: "Gal, you're free."


II. As recorded by Mildred Austin, 1928.

VERSE: Down in Tennessee,
Right next door to me,
There's a little restaurant run by Dinah Lee.
She's the kind o' cook
That don't need no book.
If you ever go down there, slip in and take a look.
This is what you hear
Her saying loud and clear:

CHORUS: Anybody here want to try my cabbage,
Just step this way.
Anybody here like buy good cabbage,
Just holler: "Hey!"
There's no sweeter cabbage anywhere in town.
You can have it baked or fried nice and brown.
Anybody here want to buy my cabbage,
Just step this way.

[The following couplets are sung without other lines, using the same tune over and over.]

It's never stale; I serve it fresh each day.
If you don't like it you don't have to pay.

Gave some to the parson and he shook with glee.
He took up collection, gave it all to me.

You can have it have it juicy, have it dry.
If you think you can beat it, go on and try.

My bootlegger tried it; he thinks it's fine.
He'll bring around a case o' liquor any time.

Cooked some for an actor, made it nice and brown.
He's a steady customer when he's in town.

Old man Johnson ate it; he's eighty-two.
Now he's full o' pep and don't know what to do.

Gave some to a sick friend, suffered long,
Put on forty pounds and now he's goin' strong.

Gave some to the rent collector when he called.
Told me from now on there'd be no rent at all.

Served some to the jail man; he liked it well.
He went right back to jail and opened ev'ry cell.

Laundry man had some, said it was fine,
And now the wash and iron don't cost me a dime.

Anybody here want to buy my cabbage,
Just step this way.
Anybody here like to buy good cabbage,
Just holler: "Hey!"
Gave some to the preacher; well, he liked it of course.
He got to thinkin' 'bout it, fell off o' his horse.
Anybody here like to buy good cabbage,
Just holler: "Hey,
Hey, hey!"
Just holler: "Hey!"