Origins: Bread and Gravy

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Bread and Gravy
From: GUEST,Jack Ripley
Date: 21 Oct 09 - 09:06 PM

I an the son of Willard Samuel Ripley (Jack Ripley) of the JACK RIPLEY PLAYERS, ERA about 1928-1931 . They travled the mid west with a tent show of music and Short plays. My father Sang this song often but I have no idea where he got it. I have beed looking for the compleat lyrics for years . Thank You all for the input. My Uncle would pull songs off the radio and write the music for the Band. If any of you have heard of the Jack Ripley Players please respond.    Jack [e-mail]

Subject: Lyr Add: THE GRAVY SONG
From: GUEST,TGMorg
Date: 09 Jan 10 - 11:18 PM

We had the 78 record in the 50's, but unfortunately a chunk of it got broken so it could not be salvaged and we pitched it. I'm reasonably sure the title was THE GRAVY SONG, but I only heard it a few times so here's what I recall:

"On Monday we had bread and gravy.
Tuesday was gravy on bread.
Wednesday and Thursday it's gravy on toast.
That's nothin' but gravy on bread.
On Friday it's rye bread and gravy.
Saturday, whole wheat instead.
But Sunday's a treat 'cause we never get meat.
We get gravy without any bread!

Oh, grandmother likes bread and gravy,
And so does our fat uncle Jake. (He really does.)
Sister and brother like gravy on toast,
And grandpa likes gravy on cake, (with no frosting).
Now everyone's working at our house.
You can't count the money we make...."

This is the part I forgot! Then they would end the song with the lines:

"We get graaavyy, its sooo delicious.
Graaavy. Its sooo nutritious.
Gravy! Without any bread."

Also, I think I heard it on Dr. Demento.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Bread and Gravy
From: GUEST,999
Date: 10 Jan 10 - 01:04 AM

The song has cognates:

Clint Gruber started this off by telling of a ditty made up in Stalag Luft 1 where he was at with Hub Zemke. He stated that this had been "written by a kriegie, POW, who had been in the
bag a long time, so long that he started talking like a German."

Now I've traveled this Deutschland wide over
And I've stopped at all the Gefängnislager Lufts
Some were good, some were bad, some were different
And others were the best that they had

Now this last one I stopped at was a lulu
So pretty and fine and neat
But all of us got rotes Kreuz parcels
But wait till you hear what we had to eat

On Montag we had borscht and gravy
On Dienstag was gravy and borscht
On Mittwoch and Donnerstag with gravy on toast
Which is nothing but gravy and borscht

On Freitag I went to the Gauleiter
And asked him for something instead
So on Samstag and Sonntag by via the change
We had gravy without any bread!


that is from

[PDF] 2005 05 14 8th AF Historical Society Oregon Chapter Meeting

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Bread and Gravy
From: GUEST,999
Date: 10 Jan 10 - 02:03 AM

And now I am confused. I can c and p some PDF stuff but not others. Vas gibst?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Bread and Gravy
From: Artful Codger
Date: 10 Jan 10 - 02:56 AM

Some PDF files are text, some are page images (with text not recognized as such), and some a mix of text and images. Image PDF files will be MUCH larger than text ones.

Also, some PDF files are created with a setting which intentionally disallows the copy function, to inhibit pirating.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Bread and Gravy
From: GUEST,999
Date: 10 Jan 10 - 04:36 PM

Thank you for explaining that, AC. Much appreciated.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Bread and Gravy
From: GUEST,Charles
Date: 19 Jan 10 - 12:37 PM

Hi Blake,
I have heard the song quite some time ago. What I can remember is the following.

On Monday it's dry bread and gravy,on Tuesday it's whole wheat instead , on Wednesday it's a treat we never get meat but it is gravy without any bread.    Hope this helps. Charles. P.S. if you get any more to the song I would to have them.

Subject: Lyr Add: CURRIER HALL MENU / BREAD AND GRAVY
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 21 Apr 10 - 09:30 PM

Here's the oldest text I can find with Google Book Search. Note that this is much older than the song for which Dwight Latham and Moe Jaffe claimed copyright. However, their claim may have some merit if they wrote a new tune to go with the words.

The Hawkeye, Vol. 24 (Iowa City, Iowa: State University of Iowa, 1915), page 382:


CURRIER HALL MENU

On Monday we have bread and gravy,
On Tuesday have gravy and bread,
On Wednesday and Thursday have gravy and toast,
But the toast is the same as the bread.
On Friday we have the same menu,
And on Saturday again we are fed,
But when Sunday comes, by way of change,
We have gravy without any bread.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Bread and Gravy
From: GUEST
Date: 22 May 10 - 09:26 PM

i was trying to remember the words to the bread and gravy song my grandfather sang me years ago and i stumbled upon your website. We also had two other versions of the this song - one was about a car and the other was about being at work.

I never start work until Monday,
before I start Tuesday I'm through,
On Wednesday I have a half a day off,
and Thursday there's nothing to do.
On Friday, well that's early closing,
I put all my things on the shelf.

and i can't remember the rest. . .has anyone ever heard of it?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Bread and Gravy
From: Joe Offer
Date: 22 May 10 - 09:45 PM

These little fragments that people post are fascinating. You know there's a long history behind the lyrics that begin with "I never start work until Monday," but where did it come from?
I never cease to appreciate people who come in and post these fragments they remember. Sometimes, we find the rest of the lyrics that go with the fragment; but many times, we do no. And then years later, somebody like Jim Dixon or Q will come up with the entire song.
That's what makes this quest so interesting.
-Joe-

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Bread and Gravy
From: GUEST,Karen G
Date: 03 Jan 11 - 09:18 PM

I can't thank everyone enough for this information. My father sang this song to me when I was very young (I am now in my 60's) This blog has given me a smile. I too, had forgotten parts of the lyrics but with everyone's input I have put together the entire song for me to always remember and past along to my grandkids. WOW....thanks so much. His background would have been from the depression days when many people lived in Boarding Homes while looking for work. My Dad was from the New Jersey/Penn. area. This would have been a song sung at the Faternal Organizations (Elks/Moose/Eagles, etc) or at the local bar, where people gathered following a hard day in a factory. He was a WWII Air Corp Fighter pilot (don't you know THEY had a ton of versions!) There would have been as many versions as there are 'neighborhood bars' in Jersey!!! Here is the "Gourley" version:

Gravey And Bread

I've traveled this whole country over,
I stopped at the best of Hotels.
Some were good, some were bad, some were the BEST;
And some were the best that they had.

The last place we stayed was a lulu
So nice so fine so neat.
But, you would wonder that we are still living
When you hear what they gave us to eat.

On Monday 'twas bread and gravy
On Tuesday 'twas gravy on bread
On Wednesday and Thursday 'twas gravy on toast
Which is nothing but gravy on bread.
On Friday we asked the landlord
Couldn't we please have something instead?
So on Saturday morning with a great change,
We had gravy without any bread.

Thanks again!!
Karen

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Bread and Gravy
From: GUEST
Date: 05 Apr 11 - 02:59 AM

My grandfather sang it as so,

On Monday, we had bread and gravy
on Tuesday, we had gravy and bread
on Wednesday and Thursday, we had gravy and toast
which in nothing but gravy and bread.
so, Friday we went to our mother
and asked her for something instead
and Saturday morning, to our surprise
we had gravy without any bread

point: same old meal is still food in your belly, so be grateful your not hungry.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Bread and Gravy
From: GUEST
Date: 18 Aug 11 - 12:28 AM

My mother (born in South Carolina in 1926) sang this song to us when we were children and said her family sang it to her when she was a child. Taught my daughter and will now pass along to my grandkids.

We've traveled this country all over
And stopped at the best of hotels
Some were good, some were bad, some were rotten
Some were as rotten as hell
The last one we stopped at was a knockout
So neat, so clean, so fine
But you'll wonder how we were able to live
When you hear what they gave us to eat

On Monday we had bread and gravy
On Tuesday was gravy and bread
On Wednesday and Thursday was gravy and toast
Which is nothing but gravy and bread
On Friday I went to the landlord….
Please sir, give us something else
So on Saturday morn, but way of a change,
We had gravy without any bread!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Bread and Gravy
From: GUEST
Date: 09 Nov 13 - 12:26 PM

My dad used to sing this little ditty all the time. For years I have regretted that I didn't learn it. I was thrilled to find the words here. Now, what about the tune? Is there a recording or midi available? Jan

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Bread and Gravy
From: GUEST
Date: 09 Nov 13 - 12:47 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAFcWi33txk

There it is sung by Stompin' Tom on Youtube.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Bread and Gravy
From: GUEST,Hal Warren
Date: 29 Dec 15 - 06:37 PM

My father, who died in 1963 used to sing only the bread & gravy verse, but changed the end to "on Friday we went to the mommy, can we have something else instead, so..."
Otherwise the sAme. He always played with lyrics anyway. He had been an usher in burlesque in Cleveland in 1928, so we all thought, of course - until I heard two women sing it at a big band music show here in Poughkeepsie, NY about ten years ago. Thought I'd fall off the chair and they loved it when I sang along. Still don't know where it comes from but loved reading the input from everyone. Of course, I sang it to MY kids, and will sing it to my grandkids.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Bread and Gravy
From: GUEST,Catherine
Date: 10 Sep 17 - 11:20 PM

I just came back from a wonderful excursion into Arkansas to the newly opened "Johnny Cash's Boyhood Home." There was an early video of June Carter Cash and Joanne Cash singing this song circa 50's and I had to see what I could find out... I LOVE MUDCAT!!!!! You never fail me! I realize that my post comes almost 20 years after the first one but music lives forever.

In their version they use the phrase "chicken and gravy" first then bread and gravy and then lastly the gravy without bread. I love this progression.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Bread and Gravy
From: leeneia
Date: 11 Sep 17 - 11:24 AM

YouTube has a number of videos about bread and gravy.

Homer and Jethro have a quality video, and I was surprised at the nice waltz tune they use. The words are somewhat different than the traditional, but the tune may be the original. Here's the linK:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyIGzEXsDkA

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Bread and Gravy
From: GUEST,Chords
Date: 25 Mar 18 - 02:56 PM

Hi folks,
Anyone have chords/tabs for this song?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Bread and Gravy
From: GUEST
Date: 09 Oct 22 - 05:28 PM

On Monday we had bread and gravy
On Tuesday we had gravy and bread
On Wednesday and Thursday we had toast and gravy
But that’s only gravy and bread
On Friday we went to the landlord
To get something different instead
And so on Saturday we had for a change
We had gravy without any bread

My family used to sing that song in the 80s when I was a kid

Subject: RE: Origins: Bread and Gravy
From: Joe Offer
Date: 09 Oct 22 - 11:50 PM

Anybody interested in transcribing the J.E. Mainer version?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86HWQQzoL9c