Lyr Req: Thirteen Women (and Only One Man in Town)

Subject: 13 women by Bill Haley
From: GUEST,Ian
Date: 05 Jan 10 - 06:04 PM

Not strictly a Mudcat question but a lot of you people know a lot of things.
I would like to know the COMPOSER/S of the song, "Thirteen Women(And Only One Man In Town)" which was the B side to Bill Haley's "Rock Around The Clock". I need to know for liner-note credits.
Hope someone can help.

Subject: RE: 13 women by Bill Haley
From: blogward
Date: 05 Jan 10 - 06:19 PM

http://rcs-discography.com/rcs/pics/d04/4776.htm

Subject: RE: 13 women by Bill Haley
From: blogward
Date: 05 Jan 10 - 06:21 PM

http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/lifestories/172747

Subject: RE: 13 women by Bill Haley
From: The Sandman
Date: 05 Jan 10 - 06:33 PM

dickie thompson

Subject: RE: 13 women by Bill Haley
From: Joe Offer
Date: 05 Jan 10 - 06:39 PM

Blogward, it's nice to provide links, but it's preferable to also give us at least a summary of the information you've linked to. As Good Soldier Schweik says, THIRTEEN WOMEN (and Only One Man in Town) was written by Dickie Thompson, and recorded by Bill Haley and His Comets.

Here's the text of the second link from blogward:

James "Dickie" Thompson: Complete guitarist is gone, but 'Dickie influence' lives

By Kimberly Matas
arizona daily star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 03.09.2007
"Thirteen Women and Only One Man" — it sounded like a good idea to James "Dickie" Thompson when he wrote the song in the early 1950s.
"The lines went something like, 'I had two gals every morning serving me breakfast in bed/I'm telling you, Jack, one rubbed my back while the other one rubbed my head,' " Thompson said in a recent interview for Blues & Rhythm magazine published in the United Kingdom.
But the idea proved too salacious for the early rock 'n' roll generation — or perhaps their parents.
Disc jockeys played Thompson's song for a couple of weeks, then decided it was too risqué and pulled it off the air.
Music producers didn't give up on it, though. The song was rewritten for Bill Haley and His Comets. The rock-'n'-rollers recorded "Thirteen Women" as their A-side — "Rock Around the Clock" was on the B-side.
The Haley version is an atomic fantasy song about a working guy dreaming of being the only man to survive an H-bomb attack. Audiences and radio stations found the hit a vast improvement. Nuclear annihilation, it seemed, was an acceptable reason to have multiple lady friends.
The change in lyrics didn't seem to faze Thompson, though. The musician received residual checks for decades even though most performers — including Ann-Margret, Dinah Shore, Danny Gatton and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy — recorded the H-bomb version.
Until a stroke eight months ago hampered his ability to play, Thompson was still performing after more than 70 years. He died Feb. 22 at age 89. A memorial service is planned for 11 a.m. Saturday at the Adair Funeral Homes Avalon Chapel, 8090 N. Northern Ave.
Thompson was a New Jersey-born self-taught musician who performed all over the world before settling in Tucson in 1991 with his wife, Bette. Bette Thompson died the night of the couple's 56th wedding anniversary, July 29, 2005.
Thompson was introduced to string instruments by an elementary school friend who taught him to play the ukulele.
"I kept telling him I'd like to play, but I was left-handed and I couldn't hold the damned thing," Thompson said in the UK article. "He sat me down and showed me how to do it upside down, and I never got away from it. I played the guitar left-handed, too. Upside down and out of tune."
Thompson dropped out of high school and became part of the New York jazz scene. By the mid-'40s, Thompson was getting noticed by music industry insiders and was recruited to play with recording artists.
"Dickie did some records of his own, under his own name very early on in the '40s and maybe '50s, but he was really a sideman. That's part of why he may not have ever become as popular as other players," said guitarist Ed Friedland.
Friedland performed with Thompson for 11 years in Tucson. He moved to Austin, Texas, last summer.
"He was a consummate sideman. He knew how to back up somebody," Friedland said. "He was a master musician, self-taught, but innately one of the most creative and swinging musicians I've ever played with.
"I call his style of playing 'big band on a stick.' He made his guitar sound like a big band."
Thompson toured with rhythm and blues vocalist Jackie Wilson, recorded with jazz organist Wild Bill Davis and saxophonist Johnny Hodges, and performed with Don Ho in Hawaii for a dozen years before moving to Tucson, where he had gigs for the last 16 years.
"His style of playing kind of bridged into early R&B, which is essentially where rock 'n' roll got started," Friedland said. "When you see a guitar player playing now, they'll bend strings. That's very common now, but when Dickie started playing he was one of the first guys to do that. That's pretty significant. It was very cutting-edge."
String-bending is a technique used when playing single-note riffs and solos to give the guitar a more textured sound and an added emotional dimension.
"Over the time I got to play with him, he sort of achieved a certain cult status among the guitar players in town," Friedland said.
Maebelle Reed understands what Friedland calls "the Dickie influence." As a musician and the owner of Plush nightclub on North Fourth Avenue, she spent many nights jamming with Thompson. She recorded a couple of Thompson's songs, "Thirteen Women" — which she sang as "Thirteen Men" — and "Voodoo Doll," on her 2001 CD "I've Got a Gun."
Reed met Thompson 10 years ago, after she heard him play at an East Side bar.
"What I immediately loved about Dickie's musicianship was not what notes he chose to play, but when he chose to play them, or not play them. His phrasing had strength and sensuality," Reed said. "Everything with Dickie seemed well-chosen, and yet spontaneous. I could never lose interest in his playing."
Reed and other local musicians are planning a tribute to Thompson at Plush in a few weeks, but no date has been set.

---

Can anybody post the lyrics?

Subject: Lyr Add: THIRTEEN WOMEN (and Only One Man in Town)
From: GUEST,Bob L
Date: 05 Jan 10 - 06:53 PM

Lifted from http://www.rockabilly.nl/lyrics4/t0069.htm


Last night I was dreaming, dreamed about the H-bom
Well, the bomb went off and I was caught
I was the only man on the ground
There was a-thirteen women and only one man in town
Thirteen women and only one man in town
And as funny as it may be
The one and only man in town was me
Well, thirteen woman and me the only man around

I had two girls every morning
Seeing that I was well fed
And believe you me, one sweetened my tea
While another one buttered my bread
Two girls gave me my money
Two girls made me my clothes
And another sweet thing, bought me a diamond ring
About forty carats I suppose
Well, thirteen women and only one man in town
There was a-thirteen women and only one man in town
It was something I can't forget
Because I think of those thirteen women yet
Well, thirteen woman and only one man around

I had three girls dancing the mambo
Three girls balling the jack
And all of the rest really did their best
Boy, they sure were a lively pack
I thought I was in heaven
And all of these angels were mine
But I woke up and ended the dream
'Cause I had to get to work on time
Well, a-thirteen women and only one man in town
There was a-thirteen women and only one man in town
No, I can't tell you where I've been
'Cause I kinda think that someday I'll go back again
To those thirteen women and me the only man around
Well, a-thirteen women and me the only man around
Well, a-thirteen women and me the only man around

Subject: RE: 13 women by Bill Haley
From: GUEST,ian
Date: 05 Jan 10 - 07:02 PM

Thankyou everyone. Well done. Ian

Subject: RE: 13 women by Bill Haley
From: blogward
Date: 06 Jan 10 - 02:58 AM

"Blogward, it's nice to provide links, but it's preferable to also give us at least a summary of the information you've linked to"

In future I won't bother. Cheers.

Subject: RE: 13 women by Bill Haley
From: Rasener
Date: 06 Jan 10 - 03:19 AM

Blimey a rave from the grave.

I havent heard that song for absolute yonks. I still remember the lyrics today. Amazing, as I can't remember what I did 2 minutes ago.

Used to love that song.

Subject: RE: 13 women by Bill Haley
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 06 Jan 10 - 09:14 AM

Was he the guitarist on Rock Around the Clock? Amazing solo.

Subject: RE: 13 women by Bill Haley
From: fat B****rd
Date: 06 Jan 10 - 03:56 PM

The solo on RATC was by Danny Cedrone. Sorry no time for a longer post but there's a drink with my name on it waiting for me.
ATB from Charlie.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Thirteen Women (and Only One Man in Town)
From: GUEST,Sowai
Date: 09 Aug 11 - 01:50 PM

Dickie Thompson was my grandfather! He wrote both: Rock Around The Clock and 13 Women....along with another called Voodoo Doll! Talk about raw talent! Miss you & love you Grandpa Dickie! =)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Thirteen Women (and Only One Man in Town)
From: Arthur_itus
Date: 09 Aug 11 - 03:58 PM

That is so nice of you posting Sowai. Those were the days. Still love the true Rock and Roll today.

See you later alligator :-)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Thirteen Women (and Only One Man in Town)
From: josepp
Date: 09 Aug 11 - 10:13 PM

I can play the double bass on this one.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Thirteen Women (and Only One Man in Town)
From: GUEST,999
Date: 09 Aug 11 - 10:21 PM

In a while, crocodile.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Thirteen Women (and Only One Man in Town)
From: GUEST
Date: 21 Jun 12 - 04:51 PM

im happy for find this lyric
and must say thankyou

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Thirteen Women (and Only One Man in Town)
From: Gda Music
Date: 22 Jun 12 - 07:08 AM

"Two thousand and twenty-four women and Sparrow alone is the man"
A calypso dream from The Mighty Sparrow. (c1957).

*SAILING BOAT EXPERIENCE * -- (original lyrics)

I was on a sailing boat one evening
Suddenly the boat start drifting
It went away to an Island
Which was only packed with women
Imagine how Sparrow feeling
You know how me blood near me skin
Two thousand and twenty-four women
Sparrow alone is the man.

    Last night I had Mary Jane
    Kicking hell like in Port-of-Spain
    Dorothy making noise I said don`t fret
    Every-body go get.

So much women on that Island
Imagine the situation
Ah bawling for help ah weary
Then ah have a weakness in me knee
One morning ah wake ah feeling cramp
Too much of bacchanal in camp
Every night downstairs in a mess
After all the Sparrow want a rest.

So they had a competition
To select the Queen of the Island
They ask me to do the judging
Well as a man I was quite willing
So I gave the prize to Ruby
Because she was fat and juicy
When she win the prize she raise her hand
Saying the Queen is entitled to the man.

Sparrow was in so much trouble
Something held me in me navel
Ah praying to see somebody
So they could come and help me
Then somebody touch me shoulder
It was me wife Emelda
Wake up saga boy stop dreaming
It is ten o`clock in the morning

I never had Mary Jane
Every thing seems to go in vain
But me wife in the house start to fret
Sparrow get up and get.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQPz5meM_lk

(also known as *Sparrow`s Dream* or *Everybody go get*)

Subject: Lyr Add: THIRTEEN WOMEN AND ONE MAN (D Thompson)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 22 Jun 12 - 11:03 AM

These lyrics (my transcription from Spotify) are quite different from those posted above:


THIRTEEN WOMEN AND ONE MAN*
As sung by Dickie Thompson on the various-artists album "Mambo Classics" (2011).

Well, there was-a thirteen women an' only one man in town.
There was-a thirteen women an' only one man in town,
And as funny as it may be,
The one and only man in town was me,
With thirteen women an' only one man in town.

I had two gals ev'ry mornin'
Servin' my breakfast in bed,
An' I'm a-tellin' you, Jack,
One rubbed my back
While another one rubbed my head.
Two gals give me my money,
Two gals to buy my cologne,
And another sweet thing
Bought me a diamond ring—
About forty carats, I suppose.

Thirteen women an' only one man in town—
Yes, there was-a thirteen women an' only one man in town,
An', Lord, I was havin' a ball,
'Cause just like a fool I tried to love 'em all,
Thirteen women an' only one man in town.

I had thirteen beautiful women
Givin' ev'rything they could.
Well, you'd think that I
Was the only man alive,
'Cause they sho' kept me feelin' good.
Lord knows I was livin',
But just how long could I last?
Then I decided I'd
Better say goodbye
'Cause these gals was drivin' me too fast.

Thirteen women an' only one man in town—
There was-a thirteen women an' only one man in town.
Well, I can't tell you where I've been,
'Cause I kind o' think that someday I'll go back again
To those thirteen women an' only one man in town.

Imagine thirteen women an' me the only man in town—
Thirteen women an' me the only man in town.


* Title as reported in the March 27, 1954 issue of Billboard magazine. The Bill Haley recording, called THIRTEEN WOMEN, was announced in the May 15, 1954 issue.