Lyr Req: I Belong to a Private Club (Joe Glazer)

Subject: Lyr Req: Terribly Private Club of Only Me.
From: GUEST,saulgoldie
Date: 19 Apr 18 - 09:54 AM

Casting my net...

This is killing me. Part of this song floated through my brain, and I can't remember it. The song talks about a club, a "terribly terribly private club" if I recall correctly. A "terribly terribly private club consisting only of me" or similar meaning words.

The song describes the membership, paraphrasing, we don't want "any of them. Or them. Or them, either." And when the song gets done with all the "thems" it is only the singer/author who is a member.

When I "hear" it, I hear a male voice, perhaps Joe Glaser, or a male group, like the Brothers Four or the Kingston Trio, or the Chad Mitchell Trio.

I did an Internet search on all of the words I listed in quotes here, but nothing like what I am looking for came up.

It's an ear worm, and I only have tiny pieces! HAAAALP! Thanks.

Saul

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Terribly Private Club of Only Me.
From: GUEST,Mick Pearce (MCP)
Date: 19 Apr 18 - 10:10 AM

"I belong to a private club A terribly, terribly private club I belong to a private club in Washington, D.C. We don't take colored We don't take Jews We're terribly careful of whom we choose To associate with in this private club In Washington, D.C." When Joe Glazer, now 61, wrote those words in 1960, Washington's prestigious Cosmos Club had just refused membership to black journalist Carl Rowan.

See: Washington Post - Blowin' In The wind

Mick

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Terribly Private Club of Only Me.
From: GUEST,Mick Pearce (MCP)
Date: 19 Apr 18 - 10:16 AM

And it was recorded by Joe Glazer with the Charlie Byrd Trio(!) on a record called Garbage And Other Songs Of Our Times. You can find the words in this Folkways booklet (pdf): Garbage and Other Songs of Our Time.

If you're interested I can transcribe the tune.

Mick

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Terribly Private Club of Only Me.
From: Paul Burke
Date: 19 Apr 18 - 12:26 PM

"When Joe Glazer, now 61, wrote those words in 1960"... he was only 4 years old. But another Joe Glazer was 42, and would be pushing a hundred now were he still with us.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Terribly Private Club of Only Me.
From: GUEST,saulgoldie
Date: 19 Apr 18 - 01:27 PM

Thanks, Mike! That is the one! WOW! Now I can make plans to learn it, and also replace it with another ear worm!

Saul

Subject: Lyr Req: I BELONG TO A PRIVATE CLUB (Joe Glazer)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 24 Apr 18 - 06:01 PM

In 1960, Carl Rowan, a distinguished journalist and government official, was denied membership in one of Washington's exclusive clubs because he was black. I got mad and wrote this song.—JG.


I BELONG TO A PRIVATE CLUB
Written by Joe Glazer, ©1971.
As recorded by Joe Glazer on "Garbage, and Other Songs of Our Time"

I belong to a private club,
A terribly, terribly private club.
I belong to a private club in Washington, DC.
We don't take colored; we don't take Jews.
We're terribly careful of whom we choose
To associate with in this private club in Washington, DC.

We don't take people named Gonzalez.
They eat frijoles; they eat tamales.
We don't take Greeks, Armenians, Eyetalians—
Too much garlic, too many scallions.
You see, it's a terribly private club in Washington, DC.

Yes, I belong to a private club,
A terribly, terribly private club.
I belong to a private club in Washington, DC.
We have the most exclusive bar
With barmaids from the D.A.R.
Even the janitors have to have a family pedigree.

Where did you come from? Whom do you know?
How far back does your family go?
Are you of pure American stock?
Did your father land at Plymouth Rock?
You see, it's a terribly private club in Washington, DC.

If you are Catholic or Orthodox Greek,
Please don't apply; you'd feel like a freak.
You just wouldn't fit in this private club in Washington, DC.
You may have descended from dukes and counts,
But your application we'd have to denounce
If your name was strange and hard to pronounce
In Washington, DC.

Eisenhower?
Giuseppe DiMaggio?
Jacqueline Bouvier Onassis?

We just can't stand variety.
It complicates society.
This club is boring, there's no denying,
But it's oh so terribly satisfying
To know that the membership consists exclusively of me!
Nobody else but me!
Pure American me!