Lyr Req: Sauerkraut (from Riley Puckett)

Subject: Lyr Req: Riley Puckett: Sauerkraut
From: BlueYodelFreak
Date: 23 Jan 10 - 01:26 AM

Greetings, most helpful friends!

I have hit an absolute brick wall while researching the lyrics to Riley Puckett's "Sauerkraut". I've managed to transcribe most of the verses, but am struggling with the chorus. In fact, I've barely worked out enough to post my attempts to this thread.

I promise that I've searched this site up and down as well, but have not come across this particular tune. If anyone can help shed some light on this for me, or point me in the right direction, it would be appreciated.

Gratefully and respectfully,

Rob

Subject: Re: Lyr Req: Riley Puckett: Sauerkraut
From: Joe Offer
Date: 23 Jan 10 - 02:12 AM

Well, it's very hard to understand, but here's what I hear. Anybody want to give it a try?
-Joe-

Sauerkraut
(Riley Puckett recording)

If you will only listen to who I speak a-bout
I ain't no voice to tell you how to make that sauerkraut
It's made out of vinegar, so everyone suppose
And of that dorsal(?) flower, they call that cabbage rose.
Oh, sauerkraut is bully, I told you it was high
I think I ought to know for why,
I eat him all the time.

Then it's sauerkraut, then it's sauerkraut,
Priced good you know, because you love it so.
Then it's sauerkraut, then it's sauerkraut,
Only five cents, one pint.

[Yodel]

When sauerkraut commence to smell, when ye can smell no better,
We put him in that little barrel, way down in the cellar,
We salt him, and salt him, we salt him without cease (?)
We salt him, and salt him, and make him nice and sweet.
Oh, sauerkraut is bully, I told you it was high
I think I ought to know for why,
I eat him all the time.

Then it's sauerkraut, then it's sauerkraut,
Priced good you know, because you love it so.
Then it's sauerkraut, then it's sauerkraut,
Only five cents, one pint.

[Yodel]

by-ear transcription from the American Yodeling compilation CD.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Riley Puckett: Sauerkraut
From: BlueYodelFreak
Date: 23 Jan 10 - 02:57 PM

Hey Joe!

You've really filled in some gaps for me, and I think you've absolutely nailed the chorus! If anyone is at all interested, I'll post what I've deciphered from the main verses, which I found easier to understand.

I agree. This is one of the most difficult ones I've run across, apart from old Mr. Frank Hutchison.

By the way, can anyone make sense out of "sauerkraut is bully; I told you it was high"? This line makes no sense to me, though I can't see ever needing to explain it.

Joe, again, many, many thanks!

Rob

If you will only listen to who I speak a-bout.
I ain't no voice to tell you how to make that sauerkraut.
It's made out of vine`gar, so everyone suppose'
And of [off] that little flower, they call [pull] that cabbage roll.

When sauerkraut commence to smell, when he can smell no better.
We put him in that little barrel way down in the cellar.
We stomp him, and stomp him, we stomp him with our feet.
We stomp him, and stomp him, and make him nice and sweet.

Subject: Lyr Add: SAUERKRAUT (Riley Puckett)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 23 Jan 10 - 05:01 PM

Hi, Rob-
I'm quite sure it's "cabbage rose," since some varieties of cabbage are sometimes compared to roses. Putting your transcription together with mine, here's what I come up with.

SAUERKRAUT
(as recorded by Riley Puckett)

If you will only listen to who I speak a-bout.
I ain't no voice to tell you how to make that sauerkraut.
It's made out of vine`gar, so everyone suppose'
And of that little flower, they call that cabbage rose.

    CHORUS
    Oh, sauerkraut is bully, I told you it was high
    I think I ought to know for why,
    I eat him all the time.
    Then it's sauerkraut, then it's sauerkraut,
    Priced good you know, because you love it so.
    Then it's sauerkraut, then it's sauerkraut,
    Only five cents, one pint.

    [Yodel]


When sauerkraut commence to smell, when he can smell no better.
We put him in that little barrel way down in the cellar.
We stomp him, and stomp him, we stomp him with our feet.
We stomp him, and stomp him, and make him nice and sweet.

CHORUS & YODEL

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Riley Puckett: Sauerkraut
From: GUEST,999
Date: 23 Jan 10 - 05:02 PM

Excellent work you two. Bravo.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Riley Puckett: Sauerkraut
From: Joe Offer
Date: 23 Jan 10 - 05:08 PM

....and if that isn't enough inspiration for you, we have When Did We Have Sauerkraut? in the Digital Tradition.
I also found a Sauerkraut Polka, but it's too difficult for me to transcribe.

-Joe, who had sauerkraut and bratwurst sandwiches for lunch all this week-

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Riley Puckett: Sauerkraut
From: BlueYodelFreak
Date: 24 Jan 10 - 02:21 AM

Joe,

I was not familiar with the comparison of cabbage to roses, but I will defer to your knowledge in that regard!

I'll be editing my transcription to reflect the joint effort in this forum. Joe, I can't express my gratitude enough.

Rob
(The guy who requires prescription medication to eat sauerkraut and bratwurst!)

Subject: Lyr Add: SAUERKRAUT IS BULLY (from George P Watson
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 25 Jan 10 - 03:27 PM

Here's my transcription from a recording at The Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

The recording is full of pseudo-German (or Swiss?) dialectical pronunciations which I didn't try to reproduce:


SAUERKRAUT IS BULLY
As sung by George P. Watson
Edison Blue Amberol disk 1903, 1913

1. If you will only listen to who I speak about,
I ain't a-going to tell you how to make that sauerkraut.
Sauerkraut ain't made of liquor, as ev'ryone suppose,
But of that little flower we call the cabbage-rose.
Sauerkraut is bully. I told you it was fine.
I think I ought to know, for why? I eat him all the time.

[CHORUS, SWITCHING TO ¾ TIME] Then it's sauerkraut, yes, it's sauerkraut.
Why, it's good you know, for we like it so.
Then it's sauerkraut, yes, it's sauerkraut,
Only five cents one pint.
[YODEL]

2. When sauerkraut commence to smell, that he can smell no smeller,
We put him in that little barrel what's way down in the cellar.
We put him in that barrel and stamp him with our feet.
We stamp him and stamp him to make him nice and sweet.
Sauerkraut is bully. I told you it was fine.
So help me, cheese and crackers! I eat him all the time. [CHORUS AND YODEL]

[Here the recording seems to segue into a different song, although the web site doesn't say anything about it:]

3. Now show me that gal what never will have a dear little baby boy,
A very good child what never will cry and make a man blessed and glad.
Some people seek pleasures away from their home while I mine fire do keep.
Och! The fire ...(?) bright I could sit me all night while rocking those babies to sleep.
[YODEL]
Mama will come home in the sweet by and by.

4. Now I'm just thirty-five and my dear little wife is just ten years younger than me.
She's full of enjoyment and plenty of fun, and oft times goes out for a spree.
She leaves me behind those babies to mind, the house in good order to keep,
While away she does roam far away from her home while I rock those babies to sleep.
[YODEL]
Mama will come home in the sweet by and by.

5. One night when I got those babies to sleep, I took a short walk down the street,
And there to my surprise, I saw 'fore my eyes my wife with a policeman, six feet.
At first I got wild, I ...(?) and smiled, since I've been taking a peep,
They'd been huggling and kissling all in their while, while I rocked those babies to sleep.
[YODEL]
Mama will come home whenever she pleases.

Subject: Lyr Add: FREE-LUNCH CADETS (John Philip Sousa)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 25 Jan 10 - 03:56 PM

If we're collecting songs about sauerkraut, we might as well have this one. Naturally, I ran across it while searching for SAUERKRAUT IS BULLY. Who knew that J.P. Sousa wrote songs as well as brass-band music? From the sheet music at the Levy collection:


THE FREE-LUNCH CADETS
Words and music by John Philip Sousa
Philadelphia: J. M. Stoddart & Co., 1877.
"Sung with great applause by Griffin & Rice"

1. We circumnavigate the town for ev'ry free-lunch bar.
We go from east to west and back, and travel wide and far.
We sometimes get into a bar where lunch has just run out,
And all that's left to feed upon is the smell of sauerkraut.
We're always near to take a beer when we've a chance to beat,
And while we're here, we'll tell our fare, and what we get to eat:

CHORUS: Oh, sauerkraut and barley soup, and corn-beef by the slice,
Red herrings sprinkled o'er with salt, we tell you they are nice.
Limburger cheese and mushroom pie, and hot corn by the ear—
You wouldn't have, you couldn't get, a better bill of fare. REPEAT

2. We're drumming up recruits today, to join our noble band.
We want you all to sign your name, and lend a helping hand.
You'll have a free and easy time. It's jolly, you can bet,
To be a member and be called a prime free-lunch cadet.
We're always near to take a beer when we've a chance to beat,
And while we're here we'll tell our fare, and what we get to eat. CHORUS


[Nowadays I'm happy to find a bar with free popcorn.]

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sauerkraut (from Riley Puckett)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 15 May 10 - 03:30 AM

I think this is a particularly inspirational song, so I'm refreshing the thread. I have bratwurst and sauerkraut on the lunch menu for next week. Gee, I love that stuff.
-Joe, who grew up near the Frank's Kraut factory in southeast Wisconsin-

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sauerkraut (from Riley Puckett)
From: Rapparee
Date: 15 May 10 - 08:35 PM

And I could have had sauerkraut on brat just this afternoon, only sauerkraut don't agree with me any more. That is, the boughten kind of kraut, but notbody seems to make it at home anymore. Even the Olde Familie Slaw Cutter has vanished over the years. But I do have heckuva a good recipe...literally handed down in the family...but like kimchee, it's best not to make it where others can smell it.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sauerkraut (from Riley Puckett)
From: Rapparee
Date: 15 May 10 - 08:51 PM

A few tidbits from Hyatt's Folk-Lore From Adams County, Illinois (New York, 1935):

4551: Drinking sauerkraut juice will cure diabetes.
5162: Drink sauerkraut juice as a cure for intermittent fever.
5620: If a person craves our foods like pickles, slaw and sauerkraut, it is the sign of biliousness.
7777: Sauerkraut should be eaten for luck on Christmas.
7837: A midnight on New Year's Eve eat sauerkraut and you will have money all year.
7838: Serve sauerkraut for dinner (midday meal) on New Year's Day and you will have luck all year.
7855: Worms in the cabbage used will give sauerkraut a good flavor.
8226: "If a preacher comes to your house on Sunday just at noon, you had better cook sauerkraut; because if you don't, you will have trouble in your house the rest of the day."

Here's on that applies to the song in question:

7974: Sauerkraut will taste better, if it is tamped into the barrel with the bare feet.

There's more, but this will do. From the foregoing you'd be eating a LOT of kraut around the Christmas holidays.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sauerkraut (from Riley Puckett)
From: Joe_F
Date: 16 May 10 - 05:58 PM

And furthermore,

Where was Moses when the lights went out?
Down in the cellar, eating sauerkraut.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sauerkraut (from Riley Puckett)
From: GUEST,Accordion Noir
Date: 21 May 10 - 08:05 PM

Wow, I'm glad you cleared that up for me! I was very disturbed when instead of "vinegar," I thought he said, "nigger." And then he went on with how to make sauerkraut they had to stomp on "him." I was feeling the horror of 1920's popular lynching culture coming at me.

Whew! I'd like to keep our racist and food songs separate, thank goodness. Doesn't change the history, but at least our cabbage is clear.

Thank you for helping me out, honestly.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sauerkraut (from Riley Puckett)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 21 May 10 - 10:24 PM

Yeah, I have to admit I had to listen to that part over and over again before I finally heard "vinegar."

But I thought the only ingredients in sauerkraut were cabbage and salt, and that the fermentation of the cabbage made it taste like it had vinegar in it.

-Joe-

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sauerkraut (from Riley Puckett)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 02 Jul 10 - 04:52 PM

The Digital Tradition has a song called Sourkraut, words taken from the Jean Thomas book, Devil's Ditties - does anyone have the Jean Thomas book, and does she really spell it "Sourkraut"??

-Joe-

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sauerkraut (from Riley Puckett)
From: GUEST,Mike Kelpinger
Date: 16 Dec 14 - 10:50 AM

Try his grandson...Dave Pounds, his mother is Blanche Estelle Puckett-Pounds, Riley's daughter. [e-mail]