13 Jan 08 - 06:23 PM (#2235715) Subject: Origins: Shanghai From: Goose Gander Shanghai Well, the hen and the rooster went away out West Said the hen to the rooster, 'Hon, I love you best.' Said the rooster to the hen, 'Hon, I think you lie, Caught you in the alley with the red shanghai.' Lord, ain't that so? Now, listen baby, I don't know Honey, don't you lie to me Ain't as dumb as I used to be Now, I know a doctor by the name of Heck Fell into a well and broke his doggone neck Served him right, he was in the wrong He ought to tend the signal that the well was long* Lord . . . Well, I bought a combination suit of underwear To keep out the cold and the wintery air I wore 'em six months without exaggerating When I start to take 'em off, I forgot the combination Lord . . . Well, I put Easter eggs under my old hen It was Easter morning then The rooster came along and saw the green ones and the red And he jumped upon the bench and killed the peacock dead Lord . . . As sung by Willard Brewer at Shafter FSA Camp 8-4-40. Source: Voices From the Dust Bowl. Alright, this song obviously is related to Who Broke the Lock on the Henhouse Door?, done by Riley Puckett as Riley's Hen House Door, but this seems to be a distinctive variant. Roud 16033, but Brewer's song is the only reference listed. *Not sure about this line . . . . |
13 Jan 08 - 06:51 PM (#2235735) Subject: RE: Origins: Shanghai From: Mick Pearce (MCP) I hear the line the same as you. I think it's OK, with tend in the sense of pay attention to. Mick |
13 Jan 08 - 10:22 PM (#2235839) Subject: RE: Origins: Shanghai From: Goose Gander It looks like Debbie in Utah learned a similar version from her father, if this verse (posted in this thread) is any indication . . . . The Jealous Rooster: Well a hen and a rooster lived a way out west, Said the rooster to the hen, "Hun, I love you best." Said the hen to the rooster, "Hun, oh how you lie! I saw you in the alley with a big Shanghi." CH: "Oh, ain't it so?" "Honey I don't know." "Honey don't you lie to me, Cuz I ain't as dumb as I used to be." (5 more versus) |
17 Jun 08 - 12:37 PM (#2367909) Subject: RE: Origins: Shanghai From: Goose Gander Some lyrics associated with Turkey in the Straw, posted by Bill in Alabama in this thread, are clearly related. There was an old doctor; his name was Peck; Fell in the well and broke his neck. Served him right, he should have stayed at home, Tended to the sick, 'n' let the well alone. I was down in the henhouse on my knees, Thought I heard a chicken sneeze. It was only the rooster sayin' his prayers, A-thankin' God for the hens upstairs. Way down yonder in Chitlin' Switch, A bullfrog jumped from ditch to ditch. Bullfrog jumped in the bottom of the well; He said, "Oh, Lord, I've jumped in hell." |
17 Jun 08 - 01:58 PM (#2367975) Subject: RE: Origins: Shanghai From: 12-stringer "I knowed a doctor by the name of Heck (Peck?) Fell into the well and broke his god-dog neck Served him right, he was in the wrong He ought to tend the sick and let the wells alone." Brewer's song appears to be a reworking of "Old Black Crow in the Hickory Nut Tree," recorded by the Allen Brothers on 11/22/1930 (Victor 23551). The melody is slightly different, but only slightly, and most of the Brewer lyrics are very similar to the Allens', though his version is shorter. His chorus sounds, melodically and lyrically, like a rewrite of the Allens': "Now ain't that so? I don't know, I don't know. Certainly is a mystery About an old black crow in a hickory nut tree." There's a thread about the "Old Black Crow/Story the Crow Told Me" group of songs. thread.cfm?threadid=95777 See the first post in the thread for a link to the Honking Duck real audio copy of the Allen Brothers recording. The verse about the peacock parallels one in Blind Blake's "Lowdown Loving Gal of Mine," recorded in 9/1928 on the Paramount label: "When the rooster saw the eggs and they was red He went across the road and knocked the peacock dead I tried to do that to that ever loving gal of mine." |
17 Jun 08 - 02:15 PM (#2367998) Subject: RE: Origins: Shanghai From: Goose Gander Thanks for all of that, 12-stringer. I have a feeling that these are all remnants of a larger cluster of lyrics current among both black and white singers around the end of the nineteenth and the start of the twentieth centuries. Maybe something from the medicine shows or the minstrel stage(?). I'll go look up and listen to your references now . . . . |
17 Jun 08 - 03:25 PM (#2368066) Subject: RE: Origins: Shanghai From: Q (Frank Staplin) Cluster(s?) is the right word. Perrow, Odum, et al. have printed a number of fragments or whole songs, and there are mudcat threads with these songs or parts thereof. There must be dozens or reports of the 'knees-chicken sneeze' and 'way down yonder' verses from the late 19th-early 20th c, both white and black sources. Songs from Christy's Minstrels (Songster, 1850), like: Opossum up a gum tree Cum Along John (chicken sneeze verse here, also milk in the dairy nine days old, jaybird jump..., just come down from ..., ) Uncle Gabriel (animal characteristics in verse) Several other minstrel songsters, have similar verses. Some seem to be based on stories told by blacks and whites, e. g. Uncle Remus, etc. Trying to impose some sort of order on these songs isn't a job I would like to have. So many people have added to, combined, or rearranged these verses. |
17 Jun 08 - 04:27 PM (#2368140) Subject: RE: Origins: Shanghai From: Goose Gander Alright, I guess the second verse of Brewer's song should go as follows: Now, I know a doctor by the name of Peck Fell into a well and broke his doggone neck Served him right, he was in the wrong He ought to tend the sick and leave the well alone. |
17 Jun 08 - 04:43 PM (#2368160) Subject: RE: Origins: Shanghai From: Q (Frank Staplin) That probably is the best way to sing the 'Peck' verse; the one from Scarborough just posted to thread 95777- The story the crow told me- is not acceptable now. |
18 Jun 08 - 01:15 AM (#2368453) Subject: RE: Origins: Shanghai From: GUEST http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/eggs/res10-breedhistory.html The Chinese Shanghai fowl came to England and America in 1845. |