There was a very creative bluegrass group, the Greenbriar Boys, who did a very humorous recording of the same song, with recitations (talking blues style) between the choruses. As I recall the recitations, they went;

In a little country schoolhouse where the people used to go,
There went a little rounder by the name of Ragtime Joe.
And when the teacher called the class to spell one kind of bird,
That kind of bird was chicken, and they could not spell the word.
The teacher called on Ragtime Joe to spell the word for them.
That's all he had to hear her say, and this is the way he'd begin:

[CHORUS] Oh, C- the way to begin
H - the next letter in
I - that is the third
and C - is the lead, it's the lead of the word
K - that's near the end
E - let's sing it again
C-H-I-C-K-E-N, that’s the way to spell chicken, friend.

Parson Johnson gave a concert in the old church-house one night.
He hired himself some talent that could sing and could recite;
And when the curtain it was drawn, well, everything went wrong, you know,
Until the preacher loudly yelled: "Let's hear from Ragtime Joe." CHORUS

He sang an old ragtime song that did not do so well.
He said, "If they're to fall for me, I believe I'll have to spell,"
And then he told that audience he wrote a chicken song,
And when he spelled that word for them, he took the house by storm. CHORUS


The Greenbriars were a favorite of mine for many years. Their old albums are still some of my prized possessions, even though I don't own a turntable anymore.