Lyr Req: A Gob is a Slob, Wherever He May Be

Subject: A Gob is a Slob, Wherever He May Be
From: Mrrzy
Date: 20 Jun 01 - 05:22 PM

I had this by Oscar Brand somewhere. This is as much as I remember, I'm missing I think the opening verse and one in the middle. It's for them chanteysingers...

I was walking down the street like a good girl should
He followed me down the street like I knew he would
CHO: Because a gob is a slob, wherever he may be
Listen and I'll tell you what this sailor did to me
I walked to my house...
He followed me to my house...(CHO)
I ran up the stair
Like a frightened hare
I even locked my bedroom door
I turned to the bed
I almost fell over dead
Somehow he slipped right in before
So I got into bed like a good girl should
He followed me into bed...(CHO)
He grabbed me tight
And he switched out the light
And he settled down to stay
I would have said
Please leave this bed
But who the hell is built that way?
So I had me a time like a good girl should
He had him a time...(CHO)
And I had me a child...
And he went off to sea like I knew he would
Because a gob is a slob, wherever he may be
Now you've heard the story what this sailor did to me!

Naemanson, trade you for your Oscar Brand version of Jack Was Every Inch A Sailor!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A Gob is a Slob, Wherever He May Be
From: Mrrzy
Date: 20 Jun 01 - 05:24 PM

Rackin frackin html! Naemanson, you ain't in italics on purpose.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A Gob is a Slob, Wherever He May Be
From: Charley Noble
Date: 20 Jun 01 - 06:51 PM

If Oscar Brand is to be trusted this song was included in 1619 in PILLS TO PURGE MELANCHOLY as "A Knave is a Knave." The Navy version was entitled "A Gob is a Slob" and was rougher than what Brand printed as "A Guy is a Guy" in A BOOK OF PARTY SONGS which is pretty much as you have added here; I'll do his version if you or anyone else is intersted, assuming it isn't already in the DT under some other title. Glad you got to meet Naemanson in 3D.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A Gob is a Slob, Wherever He May Be
From: Snuffy
Date: 20 Jun 01 - 07:25 PM

There's been a thread about this song, with yet another title 'The Rogue' during the last week or so

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A Gob is a Slob, Wherever He May Be
From: Charley Noble
Date: 20 Jun 01 - 09:14 PM

Snuffy, there are too many "Rogues" to isolate the thread you are refering to. Any more clues?

Subject: Lyr Add: A GOB IS A SLOB (Oscar Brand)^^^
From: Charley Noble
Date: 20 Jun 01 - 09:31 PM

Ah, here's a transplant from an earlier thread fouind search for "Gob is a Slob":

Here is Oscar Brand's version of "A Gob is a Slob" from Vol. 2 as requested by Bruce O.:

A Gob is a Slob

My mother told me not to talk to strangers in the street
As the years went by remembering I was never indiscreet
But girls are girls and boys are boys and boys and girls are fools
We're all the same so who's to blame when its nature makes the rules

Well I walked down the street like a good girl should
He followed me down the street like I knew he would
Because a gob is a slob where ever he may be
Listen and I'll tell you what this sailor did to me

I walked to my house like a good girl should
He followed to my house like I knew he would
Because a gob is a slob where ever he may be
Listen while I tell you what this sailor did to me

I ran up the stair like a frighetend hare
I even locked my bedroom door
I turned to the bed almost fell over dead
Somehow he sneaked right in before

I got into bed like a good girl should
He followed me into bed like I knew he would
Because a gob is a slob where ever he may be
Listen and I'll tell you what this sailor did to me

I pursed my lips I tried a frown but frowning's not my style
I tried a pout but what came out was a coy inviting smile
I knew he would have had me even if I had refused
He didn't need encouragement but what he got he used

I got into bed like a good girl should
He followed me into bed like I knew he would
Because a gob is a slob where ever he may be
Listen while I tell you what this fellow did to me

I got me a time like a good girl should
He got him a time like I knew he would
Because a gob is a slob where ever he may be
Listen while I tell you what this sailor did to me

He grabbed me tight and he switched off the light
And he settled down to stay
I would have said please leave this bed
But who the hell is built that way

So had me a child like a good girl should
And he went off to sea like I knew he would
Because a gob is a slob where ever he may be
Now you heard the story what this sailor did to me

^^^ (click)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A Gob is a Slob, Wherever He May Be
From: Mrrzy
Date: 21 Jun 01 - 12:47 AM

Thank you! And I sent a special Hello to you, Charley, see that Naemanson delivers it! I knew I was missing the intro, and I see I was missing one differently-tuned verse in the middle. At least I can still tell where the holes are!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A Gob is a Slob, Wherever He May Be
From: Joe Offer
Date: 21 Jun 01 - 11:57 PM

The version in the Digital Tradition is called The Knave
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A Gob is a Slob, Wherever He May Be
From: Charley Noble
Date: 22 Jun 01 - 10:29 AM

Joe, there's certainly more than one version in the DT already. Well, maybe the others are only in the threads.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A Gob is a Slob, Wherever He May Be
From: Lighter
Date: 18 Feb 09 - 07:49 PM

Has anyone, anywhere, ever heard a version of the song "A Gob is a Slob" that did not appear to come from Oscar Brand?

I'm not talking about ancestors with titles like "The Knave" or "The Rogue," or Brand's later rewrite, "A Guy is a Guy."

I'm talking specifically about the song called "A Gob is a Slob."

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A Gob is a Slob, Wherever He May Be
From: Lighter
Date: 28 Apr 21 - 04:17 PM

I guess there ain't.

The structure of "A Gob is a Slob" (like "A Guy is a Guy") is pure pop.

I suspect Brand had come across a version of "The Knave," with or without the phrase "a gob is a slob" and wrote the unfolklike "refrains" himself.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A Gob is a Slob, Wherever He May Be
From: GUEST,#
Date: 28 Apr 21 - 04:26 PM

https://www.loc.gov/item/afc9999005.10614/

A song entitled 'A Gob is a Slob' is catalogued at the LOC, but I haven't listened to see if it's THE song. If it is, the date is 1939.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A Gob is a Slob, Wherever He May Be
From: GUEST,#
Date: 28 Apr 21 - 04:38 PM

Tried to listen, but there ain't nothin' to listen to.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A Gob is a Slob, Wherever He May Be
From: Lighter
Date: 28 Apr 21 - 05:10 PM

It was sung but Herbert Halpert, who was a collector. The little delta in the corner means it was naughty.

I assume, then, that this was the song that Brand renovated.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A Gob is a Slob, Wherever He May Be
From: Lighter
Date: 28 Apr 21 - 05:10 PM

It was sung but Herbert Halpert, who was a collector. The little delta in the corner means it was naughty.

I assume, then, that this was the song that Brand renovated.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A Gob is a Slob, Wherever He May Be
From: GUEST,#
Date: 28 Apr 21 - 05:32 PM

Beats me, Lighter. I am having trouble locating anything about Herbert Halpert, and unless a sound recording turns up--other than the Brand rendition--then I think the key will be finding out about Halpert. That said, I saw something about Memorial U in Nfld, so I'll have a look 'round there (online). Maybe GEST has a copy.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A Gob is a Slob, Wherever He May Be
From: Lighter
Date: 28 Apr 21 - 05:38 PM

The LOC has Halpert's papers, which Legman says include a number of bawdy songs. Halpert did a lot of collecting in New Jersey.

It seems that Brand somehow heard "A Gob is a Slob," rewrote it as "A Guy is a Guy," then rewrote it again as "A Gob is a Slob" with "Guy is a Guy" structure and touches.

Maybe you can get the LOC to send you a scan?

Let us know!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A Gob is a Slob, Wherever He May Be
From: GUEST,#
Date: 28 Apr 21 - 06:11 PM

I wouldn't even know how to ask for one, Lighter.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A Gob is a Slob, Wherever He May Be
From: Lighter
Date: 28 Apr 21 - 07:35 PM

A second look shows it's an audio recording only. So no scan.

It's also marked as "Fragment.'

Cue Oscar Brand?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A Gob is a Slob, Wherever He May Be
From: cnd
Date: 29 Apr 21 - 04:47 PM

He did seem to have a knack for filling in missing fragments.

It looks as if it's included on an online edition of New York songs here, however, my library doesn't have access to that company's materials.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A Gob is a Slob, Wherever He May Be
From: cnd
Date: 29 Apr 21 - 04:48 PM

It's included in Volume 10 of the above mentioned link -- click here ... still no dice in listening to it.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A Gob is a Slob, Wherever He May Be
From: Mrrzy
Date: 29 Apr 21 - 05:09 PM

Hmmm. I was thinking of singing this on the Singaround but then I thought about the lyrics, and I can't.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A Gob is a Slob, Wherever He May Be
From: Lighter
Date: 30 Apr 21 - 09:15 AM

Great work, Carter, and thanks for the tip!

By chance, my library does have access, and here's the song. It was sung by Jerome Reiner for Herbert Halpert in New York City in 1938.
Reiner sounds relatively young.

"We were camping by wet a campfire one night, [and] one of the men decided to sing a few choice songs he’d brought back from Scotland. He’d studied medicine at Edinburgh.   

This is one of the songs.

I went on home like a good girl should;
He followed me like he said he would.
A gob is a slob, wherever he may be,
Listen to what the son of a bitch did to me.

"I went upstairs like a good girl should;
He followed me like he said he would.
A gob is a slob, wherever he may be,
Listen to what the son of a bitch did to me.

"Last verse,

"I got a kid like a good girl would; [sic]
He went away like he said he would.
A gob is a slob, wherever he may be,
And that’s what the son of a bitch did to me."

"The Knave" appears in Kinloch's Scottish "Ballad Book" (1827), but
"gob" and "slob" are a pretty good indication that those lines, at least, weren't made by a Scot!

"Gob" dates back to the turn of the century in the U.S. Navy. It was popularized in 1917-18.

Reiner's tune is not the same as Brand's. In fact, it's not very good at all.