ADD: Mama Don't Whip Little Buford(Homer & Jethro)

Subject: Mama Don't You Whop Little Buford
From: Allan C.
Date: 20 Jul 99 - 01:55 PM

Mama, don't you whop little Buford.
Mama, don't you bash Buford's head.
Mama, don't you whop little Buford.
I'd rather you shot him instead.

This odd song (which I have always assumed was about a particularly worthless hound) was responsible for the name I chose for a dog I once owned. I got to thinking about him a few days ago and the song popped up. While I strongly disagree with the general premise of the song, it still hangs in my memory. Does anyone know where it came from and if there is more to it than just this verse?

Subject: RE: Mama Don't You Whop Little Buford
From: SeanM
Date: 20 Jul 99 - 04:14 PM

I know a slightly different version of it, with a chorus;

Mother, strike not little Buford
Mother, pound not on his head
Mother, strike not little Buford
Methinks you should stab him instead

(Chorus)
Stab him, stab him,
Methinks you should stab him instead, instead
Stab him, stab him
Methinks you should stab him instead

I have NO idea as to where this came from. It sounds almost straight out of a penny dreadful or somesuch, or almost like a football (English) chant, but there's something that doesn't quite ring true with that for me.

M

Subject: RE: Mama Don't You Whoop Little Buford
From: Joe Offer
Date: 20 Jul 99 - 04:31 PM

Click to listen or here for more detailed information.
Country Bear Jamboree at Disneyland? Could THAT be where I learned this song? (grin)
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Mama Don't You Whop Little Buford
From: Allan C.
Date: 20 Jul 99 - 04:39 PM

You guys are truly amazing!

Subject: RE: Mama Don't You Whop Little Buford
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 20 Jul 99 - 04:40 PM

Don't know about Buford, but about 60 years ago we sang:

Don't never trun rocks on yer mudder
It isn't the right thing to do
Don't never trun rocks on yer mudder
She never trun 'em on you
Don't never trun rocks on yer mudder
Don't never trun rocks on her head,
Don't never trun rocks on yer mudder
Trun bricks on yer fadder instead.

Tune: My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean Accent: Brooklyn

Subject: RE: Mama Don't You Whop Little Buford
From: gargoyle
Date: 20 Jul 99 - 11:09 PM

Definately heard it at "Country Bear Jamboree" L(copyright Disneyland)L.A. region in the late 60's...

With today's PC climate I question if it is still being used.

Subject: RE: Mama Don't You Whop Little Buford
From: SeanM
Date: 21 Jul 99 - 12:41 AM

It's not at Disneyland still... a number of years ago they completely redid the show.

It IS still used, after a fashion. I perform with a large (30+) group of improv actors and singers at a local renaissance faire, and we use Buford as our song to chase away crowds - Nothing works better than 30 people 'singing' at the top of their lungs, off key, off tempo, out of tune and out of their minds...

M

Subject: RE: Mama Don't You Whop Little Buford
From: Roger the zimmer
Date: 21 Jul 99 - 03:53 AM

Don't throw stones at your Grandma, Don't throw stones at your grandma
It might make her poor heart break
Don't throw stones at your Grandma
It might make a hole in her head
Don't throw stones at your Grandma

That was the version I sang as a nasty child (also to the tune of "My Bonny...". So Child Ballads aren't the only songs to cross the Atlantic and mutate! [I suppose this is a nasty child ballad!]

Subject: RE: Mama Don't You Whop Little Buford
From: Roger the zimmer
Date: 21 Jul 99 - 08:11 AM

Old fumble fingers strikes again, some lines got deleted: (there is also a version using "mother" instead of "grandma")
Here it is again, if full this time I hope
Don't throw stones at your grandma
Not even to keep her awake
Don't throw stones at your grandma
It might make her old heart break
Don't throw stones at your grandma
It might make a hole in her head
Don't throw stones at no-one
Chuck a brick at the old man instead

Now I think about it I think there was a different relative each time: 1 Mother, 2 Grandma, 3 brother

If I've messed up the line breaks this time, I'll discharge myself from the Neil Young home for the terminally confused and enrol in the Joe Offer Academy for the cyber-challenged!

Subject: Lyr Add: MAMA DON'T WHIP LITTLE BUFORD
From: Gene
Date: 21 Jul 99 - 08:01 PM

HOMER & JETHRO STYLE...


MAMA DON'T WHIP LITTLE BUFORD
As recorded Homer & Jethro on "Fractured Folk Songs" (1964)

Mama Don't Whup Little Buford
Mama don't pound on his head
Mama Don't Whup Little Buford
I think you should shoot him instead

Buford brought home his report card
Buford was proud as could be
At last he had passed to the 3rd grade
And Buford is just twenty-three

Mama Don't Whup Little Buford
Mama you'll [jist] be a wreck
[Fer] Buford is studying Judo
And he'll break your scrawny old neck

When Buford was five, he was smokin'
And drinkin' hard liquor at six
At seven he learned about women
At eight Buford got his first fix

Mama Don't Whup Little Buford
You'll never know how Buford feels
Buford is good to you mama
He brings you whatever he steals

Now Buford is gone, what a pity
At last we've found happiness
We bought a new home in the city
And we won't give him our address

So, Mama Don't Whup Little Buford
Mama don't knock out his breath
Just teach him to be a folk singer
Then Buford will soon starve to death


To the tune of:
Beautiful, Beautiful Brown Eyes

SOURCE:
HOMER & JETHRO/FRACTURED FOLK SONGS
1966 RCA Corporation LSP 3474(e)

Subject: RE: Mama Don't You Whop Little Buford
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 21 Jul 99 - 10:07 PM

For those not familiar with southern US pronunciation, "Buford" is conventionally spelled "Beaufort"

Subject: RE: Mama Don't You Whop Little Buford
From: Art Thieme
Date: 22 Jul 99 - 10:34 AM

Buford Pusser, the sadistic law officer, was spelled just as it's phonetically pronounced---. PUSSER, on the other hand, is appropriate too. He was a festering & seeping sore in his county--that's for sure...

Art

Subject: RE: Mama Don't You Whop Little Buford
From:
Date: 22 Jul 99 - 11:23 AM

Gee, Gene, good to see yor handle again recently. I do a hot "Ghost Riders in the Sky" now! yours, Peter T.

Subject: RE: Mama Don't You Whop Little Buford
From: Joe Offer
Date: 22 Jul 99 - 02:15 PM

Dick's comment about the pronunciation af "Buford" brings up a somewhat-related question. There are two cities named Beaufort in the Carolinas, but they are pronounced differently and I can never remember which is BOW-furt and which BEW-furt. The one in North Carolina is a nice seaport town near Cape Lookout, home of the fascinating North Carolina Maritime Museum. the one in South Carolina has a beautiful waterfront and fascinating architecture - but I supposed it's best known as gateway to the infamous Parris Island Marine Corps Training Center. They're both nice towns, but which is pronounced how? I got the impression that the may be interesting music to be found around these towns, but I wasn't able to find it.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Mama Don't You Whop Little Buford
From: Sam
Date: 22 Jul 99 - 02:32 PM

Wasn't Buford Pusser the name of the Joe Don Baker character in "Walking Tall"? The reason I ask is I don't remember him as a "sadistic law officer" (quoting a few listings back) -- it's everyone else who is out to get him, as I remember it. Did I miss something here?

Subject: RE: Mama Don't You Whop Little Buford
From: Allan C.
Date: 22 Jul 99 - 02:44 PM

Ya gotta see this

Strange coincidence...my search engine listed this on the same page with a site about body casts.

Subject: RE: Mama Don't You Whop Little Buford
From: Allan C.
Date: 22 Jul 99 - 02:46 PM

http://www.inandaround.com/bufordpusser.html

don't know what happened.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Mama Don't Whip Little Buford
From: GUEST
Date: 19 Jul 18 - 10:12 AM

You know, Buford was a little brother. It was definitely not a hound.

one verse is:
I went to climb me a pine tree,
Mama sent Buford with me,
When I got to the top of the tree,
Ole Buford, he chopped the tree down.