Lyr Req: O Eliza, little Liza Jane

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: O Eliza, little Liza Jane
From: GUEST
Date: 08 Apr 08 - 07:39 PM

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: O Eliza, little Liza Jane
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 05 Dec 07 - 10:59 PM

The New Orleans marching tune probably is based on the Af-Am childrens dance-song, 'Liza Jane, discussed in thread 8346:
Little Liza Jane kids version
To that thread has been added a dance-song version collected in 1919, with the chorus, often shouted,

O Eliza!,
   L'il 'Liza Jane!
O Eliza!,
   L'il 'Liza Jane!

A musical score is provided with the play-song; the chorus is about the same as that in the Earl Fuller-Ada de Lachau version.

The connection seems very likely because Ada de Lachau arranged several childrens songs.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: O Eliza, little Liza Jane
From: GUEST,Bobby Bob, Ellan Vannin
Date: 28 Nov 07 - 05:28 AM

Which family does the version by Huey 'Piano' Smith and the Clowns belong?

'You got me rockin when I oughta be rollin' came into it.

The instrumental break was a honking sax version of Dvorak's 'Humoresque'.

Lhiats,

Bobby Bob

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: O Eliza, little Liza Jane
From: Janie
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 08:42 PM

Thanks! I'll check there.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: O Eliza, little Liza Jane
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 08:37 PM

I recorded a number of old string band songs before Honking Duck was curtailed, but didn't get any Lizas.
The Susan Jane songs belong on the same tree. I will add some of the folk versions to the DT Study thread.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: O Eliza, little Liza Jane
From: GUEST,Janie
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 06:27 PM

Yowie Zowie! I'm with you now, Q. Now I have to go hunt up clips under "Oh Eliza...." I misinterpreted somebody's earlier post and thought it was the same song as Little Liza Jane.

I started to post the link to Bob Will's "Goodbye Liza Jane," and simply ran out of steam. I was really looking for a good, crisp Appalachian stringband version of it to post, The Bing Brothers, for example, but couldn't find a good sound clip.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: O Eliza, little Liza Jane
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 05:52 PM

In thread 2777 (labeled DT Study, link at top of page), Dale Rose said "The whole Liza Jane family of songs could probably make a good thesis.:
That thread has these posted lyrics:
Good Bye, Liza Jane, 1871, by Eddie Fox
Good Bye Eliza Jane, 1903, Andrew B. Sterling and Harry Von Tilzer
Good-by Liza Jane, Rutledge and Rogers Circus, in Sandburg 1927, "An American Songbag."
This thread has:
Li'l Liza Jane, 1916, Ada De Lachau.
Not yet posted:
Liza Jane, or Mountain Top, in Sandburg, 1927, "An American Songbag," two versions.
Sandburg says "There are as many Liza songs in the Appalachian Mountains as there are species of trees on the slopes of that range."

Al of the above have scores; I haven't compared them to see similarities or differences, but the choruses of the Fox, Von Tilzer and Ada De Lachau songs are quite different.

There are several other songs with Liza Jane in stanzas or combined in a title.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: O Eliza, little Liza Jane
From: PoppaGator
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 02:45 PM

I had no idea we had begun talking about two distinct songs. Shouldn't have been surprised ~ it is certainly not unprecedented for two different songs to have similar names, especially when the name is a person's name.

I vaguely remember "Little Liza Jane" as a sort of children's folksong from when I was a child myself, and also encountered the same song in the pages of Sing Out! when I was a teenager. In both cases, it was the same song I would hear years later (in much livlier brass-band street-parade arrangements) as a young adult new to New Orleans. Also, of course, it certainly seems to be the same song mentioned in the original post to this thread ("I got a girl in Baltimore / L'il Liza Jane..." etc.)

If I have ever heard "Good Bye Liza Jane," I failed to remember anything about it. Now I'm curious!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: O Eliza, little Liza Jane
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 01:48 PM

Little Liza Jane bluegrass has nothing to do with "O Eliza...," the New Orleans marching tune. "It sticks close to the 19th c. fiddle and minstrel "Good Bye ..."
The very cute one by the Bulla Family verges on the New Orleans tune, an example of the melding of the two, but emphasis quite different. Thanks for this one!

The two tunes have certainly influenced each other- and they do meld. That's why I asked "Did one give rise to the other?" On Youtube but not mentioned by you is the old Bob Wills classic. The Texas string bands may have been the first to meld the two tunes

The excellent playing by Bain and Ungar is mostly "Goodbye ..." with a touch of "O Eliza..." in the 'title' line. It is a good example of how the marching tune "O Eliza..." has influenced the old minstrel and fiddle "Good Bye Liza Jane," without taking it over.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: O Eliza, little Liza Jane
From: GUEST,Bobby Bob, Ellan Vannin
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 04:38 AM

This and other 'minstrel' songs became very popular in Cornwall, where many of the choirs sing a version called Little Liz' or Little Eyes, with the chorus:

Little Liz', I love you, honey, Little Liz', I love you, honey
Love you in the summer and the fall (honey, honey, honey)
Little Liz', I love you, honey, Little Liz', I love you, honey
Love you the best of all

In fact, it's become so popular that it's looked on as part of the Cornish tradition these days.

Lhiuish,

Bobby Bob

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: O Eliza, little Liza Jane
From: Janie
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 12:00 AM

No, Q, I know both tunes. Goodbye Liza Jane is much more commonly done by stringbands, I think, than is Little Liza Jane, and all I could find for links was Bluegrass and one brass version. Some of them are below. We were taught Little Liza Jane in school as a children's song, but I'm pretty sure we square danced to it also. Grandpa Jones has done it, and I think Flat and Scruggs.

Some links to Little Liza Jane

Little Liza Jane Blue Grass

http://www.acutabsessions.com/kneedeep/little_liza_jane.html

Little Liza Jane

Little Liza Jane, Jazz version

A pretty decent link to Goodbye Liza Jane

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: O Eliza, little Liza Jane
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 26 Nov 07 - 01:25 PM

Janie, you are confusing "Oh, Eliza, Little Liza Jane" (Ada de Lachau-Earl Fuller or possibly tradition as PoppaGator suggests), with "Good Bye, Liza Lane" (Eddie Fox 1871 or possibly earlier traditional fiddle tune as some have suggested- "Minstrel Songs, Old and New," Oliver Ditson & Co., lists Eddie Fox as arranger).

For the latter, see (DT Study)Lyr. Req.: Goodbye Liza Jane, linked at top of this thread. AKA 'Goin' Down to Cairo," etc.

Later musicians have sometimes joined the two. Did one give rise to the other? Use of one as a fiddle-dance tune and the other as one of the signature New Orleans marching songs seems a good division to me.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: O Eliza, little Liza Jane
From: PoppaGator
Date: 26 Nov 07 - 12:25 PM

I think that the song's widespread appeal ~ as part of the "essential" repertoire of several different traditions ~ argues for its age and its traditional/anonymous origins.

Of course, it may have become so widely known and variously reinterpreted as a direct consquence of having been so successfully published and popularized ~ so the Countess certainly deserves a full measure of credit, whether or not she truly originated ("wrote") it, or simply discovered and disseminated it.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: O Eliza, little Liza Jane
From: Janie
Date: 25 Nov 07 - 10:05 PM

And here I am surprised to read of it as a brass band song. I grew up hearing it played and sung by oldtime stringbands, usually with the banjo featured. I think I recall it being used at square dances (would make sense, with improvised verses.) I always assumed it was traditional.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: O Eliza, little Liza Jane
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 25 Nov 07 - 03:33 PM

Ada de Lachau is included on lists of female composers, but I can find no information whatsoever. She is cited as composer of this piece by Red Hot Jazz.

The 1917 Earl Fuller recording is typical early New Orleans band, with the phrase sung just as Poppagator posts it, but no other words. A classic recording on Victor that helped spread jazz music across the country.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: O Eliza, little Liza Jane
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 25 Nov 07 - 03:13 PM

Lil Liza Jane

Hear on Red Hot Jazz. Earl Fuller Band, 1917, Ada de Lachau composition "L'il Liza Jane."

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: O Eliza, little Liza Jane
From: GUEST,wilson
Date: 25 Nov 07 - 01:17 PM

we have a photo of the countess and the earl fuller band at her 5th wedding anniversary oct,9 1917 at the rector's in new york . we purchased this at a antique shop in va. we are interested in finding out who the other people are in the picture it is an 11x14. [phone]

Subject: RE: Lyric Request: O Eliza, little Liza Jane
From: Snuffy
Date: 10 May 07 - 06:17 PM

Mebbe she belonged to the same nobility as Basie, Ellington, etc

Subject: RE: Lyric Request: O Eliza, little Liza Jane
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 10 May 07 - 04:55 PM

No opinion until reliable information is found.

Subject: RE: Lyric Request: O Eliza, little Liza Jane
From: PoppaGator
Date: 10 May 07 - 04:33 PM

really wrote, or just collected, transcribed, and took credit for?

not that there's anything wrong with that...

Subject: RE: Lyric Request: O Eliza, little Liza Jane
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 10 May 07 - 04:05 PM

Ada also wrote Sun Street Boogie, and piano music for children, as well as arangements of New Orleans style music.
No bio. found.

Subject: RE: Lyric Request: O Eliza, little Liza Jane
From: PoppaGator
Date: 10 May 07 - 02:47 PM

This is a VERY popular song in the New Orleans Brass Band repertoire, played and sung at every social-and-pleasure-club second line parade, every jazz funeral, etc. It has survived for decades, through many evolving changes in musical trends. People just love it, and no other song inspires a comparable level of audience-participation sing-along-ing on the chorus.

"Liza Jane" generally serves as a vehicle for newly improvided lyrics; you hear new two-line rhyming couplets every time you hear the song.

I was a little surprised to see the name "Eliza" in the title here. We generally pronounce it "L'il Liza," as in "HO! L'il Liza, L'il Liza Jane," with a very emphatic, percussive first-syllable "HO!"

For good examples of this song performed in contemporary New Orleans street-parade style, look up Kermit Ruffins (either as former frontman for the Rebirth Brass Band or with his own Barbeque Swingers), New Birth, Dirty Dozen, Hot 8, Nightcrawlers, Treme, Olympia, etc. All the brass bands play it, but without doing a bit of research, I'm not sure off the top of my head which ones and how many have released recordings.

(PS: I have grave doubts about "Composed by Countess Ada de Lachau, 1916." If ever there was a traditional folk-processed song, this is surely one. Maybe this Countess was one of those former aristocrats who had fallen on hard times, and had to resort to a questionable royalty claim to support herself in the manner to which she had become accustomed.)

Subject: Lyr Add: LI'L LIZA JANE (Countess Ada de Lachau)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 10 May 07 - 04:00 AM

From The Lester S. Levy Collection of Sheet Music:
^^
LI'L LIZA JANE: Southern Dialect Song
Composed by Countess Ada de Lachau
San Francisco: Sherman, Clay & Co., 1916.

1. I'se got a gal an' you got none, Li'l Liza Jane.
I'se got a gal an' you got none, Li'l Liza Jane.

CHORUS: Ohe Liza, Li'l Liza Jane.
Ohe Liza, Li'l Liza Jane.

2. Come, my love, an' live with me, Li'l Liza Jane.
I will take good care uv thee, Li'l Liza Jane.

3. Jimmy John is layin' low, Li'l Liza Jane.
Honey, take me for you beau, Li'l Liza Jane.

4. Gwine ter th'ow the dice away, Li'l Liza Jane.
When yo' name the happy day, Li'l Liza Jane.

5. Bumble bee he out for sips, Li'l Liza Jane.
Takes mah sweetmeats from yo' lips, Li'l Liza Jane.

6. Liza Jane done cum ter me, Li'l Liza Jane.
Bof as happy as can be, Li'l Liza Jane.

7. Ev'y mawnin' when I wakes, Li'l Liza Jane.
Smell de ham an buckwheat cakes, Li'l Liza Jane.

8. House an' lot in Baltimo', Li'l Liza Jane.
Lots of chilluns roun' de do', Li'l Liza Jane.

9. Nevermo' from you I'll roam, Li'l Liza Jane.
Bestest place is home sweet home, Li'l Liza Jane.

[Another edition--with the same author, publisher, date, and (I think) music, but a different cover and verses--can be found at Duke University's 'Historic American Sheet Music' collection. It bears the notation "used as incidental music in the three-act comedy 'Come Out of the Kitchen' ", and has only verses 1, 6, 2, and 8 of those shown above (in that order).]

Subject: RE: Lyric Request: O Eliza, little Liza Jane
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 17 Jan 97 - 08:13 PM

Hi Kevin. thanx for the lyric. dick greenhaus

Subject: ADD: O Eliza, Little Liza Jane
From: Kevin
Date: 15 Nov 96 - 11:23 AM

I've got a gal and you've got none, li'l Liza Jane.
Ive got a gal that calls me "hun", li'l Liza Jane.

Oh Eliza, li'l Liza Jane (4x)

Liza Jane done come to me...
We're as happy as we can be...

Oh Eliza, li'l Liza Jane (4x)

Come my love and live with me...
I will take good care of thee...

Oh Eliza, li'l Liza Jane (4x)

House and a lot in Baltimore...
Lots of children running out the door...

Oh Eliza, li'l Liza Jane (4x)

I've got a gal and you've got none...
I've got a gal that calls me "hun"...

Oh Eliza, li'l liza Jane (6x)

Subject: Lyric Request: O Eliza, little Liza Jane
From:
Date: 15 Nov 96 - 10:18 AM

Trying to find the lyrics, goes something like:

I've got a gal in Baltimore Little Liza Jane

She's the one that I adore Little Liza Jane

O Elisa little Liza Jane O Elisa little Liza Jane

Any ideas on where I should look?

Thanks,

[e-mail]