Subject: Lyr Add: WHEN UNCLE JOE PLAYS A RAG ON HIS OLD BAN
From:
Jim Dixon
Date: 01 Apr 03 - 09:25 AM
Transcribed from the sheet music images at The Lester S. Levy Collection of Sheet Music.
WHEN UNCLE JOE PLAYS A RAG ON HIS OLD BANJO.
(Words, D. A. Esrom. Music, Theodore Morse. 1912)
Down in Dixie lives old Uncle Joe.
Down in Dixie, that's the place to go,
Where you sure will hear some music grand,
Sweetest melodies in all the land.
Ev'ry night beneath the southern moon,
Uncle Joe would play a raggy tune.
Things begin to hum when he starts to strum
A rag upon his old banjo.
CHORUS: When Uncle Joe plays a rag on his old banjo,
Ev'rybody starts a-swaying to and fro.
Mammy waddles all around the cabin door
Yelling, "Uncle Joe, gimme more, gimme more."
Folks come a-running when they hear the sound,
Singing and a-dancing till they shake the ground,
When Uncle Joe (plankity plank) plays a rag (plankity plank) on his old banjo.
Ev'ry night outside the cabin door,
You'll see things you never saw before:
Shufflin' wing-steps and Virginia reels,
Old ones, young ones, kicking up their heels.
Uncle Joe keeps playing all the while,
Raggy tunes and in the latest style.
"Go on, Uncle Joe. Keep on, Uncle Joe,
A-plunking on your old banjo." CHORUS
[A recording of the Hall Negro Quartette singing this song (under the title "Uncle Joe") is currently available on the Document CD "Unreleased Radio Programs, 1936." It's clear the folk process has been to work on this song. I transcribed the following from a sound sample found at Yahoo! Music:]
When Uncle Joe plays a rag on his old banjo
Ev'rybody starts swingin' to and fro
Mammy's all around the cabin do'
Yellin', "Uncle Joe, gimme little bit mo'."
Folks come a-runnin' when they hear that strand (?)
Singin' an' a-dancin' 'cause they just can't stand.
When Uncle Joe (Uncle Joe)...
[There are also recordings of Dixieland band arrangements and barbershop quartet arrangements.]
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