Lyr/Tune Req: Grandma's Lye Soap

Subject: Grandma's Lye Soap
From:
Date: 05 Mar 98 - 06:18 PM

I've been trying to locate a recording, the lyrics, music, etc. to an old song about "Grandma's Lye Soap". It was on one side of a 45 single in the 1950's and the flip side was titled "It's In the Book!", a parody of an old time preacher. If you have any of this information, I would appreciate it if you could contact me at the email address above. Thanks in advance!

Subject: RE: Grandma's Lye Soap
From: Gene
Date: 05 Mar 98 - 06:44 PM

After checking the data base, it is a GOOD IDEA to check previous posts....Click on the [FORUM] and search for [lye soap] ...Keeping the search phrase SIMPLE.... too many words in the SEARCH complicate the matter.

Subject: RE: Grandma's Lye Soap
From:
Date: 05 Mar 98 - 06:56 PM

I did a forum search for [lye soap] and only got your posting. I would like to get the words/tune to that too so I can add it to Mrs. Murpy's Chowder in my pantry.

Murray

Subject: RE: Grandma's Lye Soap
From: Dale Rose
Date: 05 Mar 98 - 08:15 PM

I don't know why it would not work in a forum search for you~~I entered It's In The Book in the filter/show threads search , but it did not work at first because I left out the apostrophe. Here is the url, with words for Grandma's Lye Soap contributed by whippoorwill, and It's In The Book by me.

http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=4231&messages=6

Subject: RE: Grandma's Lye Soap
From: Gene
Date: 05 Mar 98 - 08:59 PM

THAT'S ODD...when I use the FORUM SEARCH and enter [lye soap] the lyrics I posted on 29 Apr 97 comes up?

Subject: RE: Grandma's Lye Soap
From:
Date: 06 Mar 98 - 05:43 AM

Funny. I tried it again with "[lye soap]" and just got the postings on this thread as before. They I tried "lye soap" (without the brackets) and got all the other postings, including the lyrics.

Someday, I'll have to read the instructions and figure out what is going on.

Murray

Subject: RE: Grandma's Lye Soap
From: Wolfgang Hell
Date: 06 Mar 98 - 06:35 AM

I've been surprised often by the pecularities of the search engines here.
The main reason we have problems is that the Forum search follows very different rules compared to the digitrad database search. It would be easier if we could use our knowledge of the one type of search in the other but certainly less demanding.

The main differences I know of:
- digitrad search: you use * for missing letters (for instance, if you do not know the exact spelling used here). You enter whisk* and get whisky, whiskey, and whiskers etc alike.
- Forum search: you get the same result by just entering: whisk.

- digitrad: for a phrase, i.e. these two or three or more words exactly in this order, you have to use the []. If you enter [whisk* galore] you only get the one song that has the two words "whiskey galore" in this order.
- Forum: you have to decide for the spelling and enter, let's say: Whisky galore, to get all messages with these two words exactly in this order. If you enter a [ into the forum search, the machine looks for that [ !

- digitrad: if you enter two words without the [] around them you'll get all song which have these two words in them irrespective of the order. Whisk* galore gives you two songs now.
- forum: I know of no similar search strategy for the forum. If you enter two words of which you are sure they have been in a post you are faintly recollecting, for instance: Elsie traditional, you draw get no match, for these two words have been in that post but not exactly in this order.

Especially the last feature has surprised me quite often.
Wolfgang

Subject: RE: Grandma's Lye Soap
From: Bojangles
Date: 06 Mar 98 - 07:19 AM

Mrs O'Mally, who lived in the valley, Suffered from ulcers, I understand. She swallowed a cake of Grandma's lye soap... has the cleanest ulcers in the land!

Little Herman and brother Thurmond had a new version of washing their ears Grandma scrubbed them with the lye soap and they haven't heard a word in years!

A fairly close misquote of Tom Leherer

Bojangles

Subject: RE: Grandma's Lye Soap
From:
Date: 06 Mar 98 - 07:06 PM

Thanks Wolfgang. That clears things up a bit. I have had similar experiences with different search engines, but I somehow assumed the DB and forum searches used the same engine.

It's like driving. You have to assume the worst will happen.

Murray

Subject: RE: Grandma's Lye Soap
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 07 Mar 98 - 04:24 PM

Hi Y'all- Yes, there are clearly two search engines. The one we use,
for Digitrad is askSam, and I for one intend to keep it
since it's one of the most powerful and flexible ones I've
met, particularly in non-net application. Sadly, while there's a net version, it's not as versatile.

Lye Soap, if nobody remembers, is a commercial cleaned-up
version of Lydia Pinkham (or Lily the Pink) which is in the Digital Tradition.

Subject: RE: Grandma's Lye Soap
From: Joe Offer
Date: 07 Mar 98 - 05:30 PM

Hi, Dick - I take it there are at least THREE search engines that we have contact with:
Offline Digital Tradition search engine, AskSam
Online Digital Tradition search
Forum Search

The online Digital Tradition database isn't AskSam, is it? I'm wondering if maybe we should gently AskMax if, in his spare time, he might be able to make the rules for the other searches conform with the AskSam rules, so we would have consistent search procedures in all three functions. We should all be experts at searching by now, but three different sets of search rules present a real challenge to my addled brain.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Grandma's Lye Soap
From:
Date: 07 Mar 98 - 07:37 PM

I would vote for the syntax of AskSam too.

The only one I would like better would be regular expressions as I am used to them. There is one music database that does allow these. I forget which one.

Murray

Subject: RE: Grandma's Lye Soap
From:
Date: 07 Mar 98 - 07:50 PM

I just looked up Lydia Pinkham (using brackets :).

That name rings a bell. What was it?

Murray

Subject: RE: Grandma's Lye Soap
From: Bill D
Date: 07 Mar 98 - 08:57 PM

the story of Lydia....click

Subject: RE: Grandma's Lye Soap
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 09 Mar 98 - 03:18 PM

The publishers of askSam (lovely folk who deserve all the support we can give them) have two versions of their program, one for DOS and one for Windows (and for internet publishing). They're not quite the same--the DOS version is more powerful---but the conversion from the DOS file to the Windows file is automatic. That's what we use for the DT.

If anyone who isn't irretrievably wed to Windows is looking for what I consider to be the most flexible, easiest-to-use database system around, drop me a note and I'll rave on about the DOS version of askSam for a while. Great, great program.

Subject: RE: Grandma's Lye Soap
From: GUEST,anita
Date: 15 Dec 04 - 05:55 PM

Subject: RE: Grandma's Lye Soap
From: GUEST,Chris
Date: 15 Dec 04 - 06:07 PM

The record was by Johnny Standley, around 1958.

1st verse
Do you remember Grandma's lye soap/Good for everything in the home
And the secret was in the scrubbing/It wouldn't suds, and it wouldn't foam

CH
And let us sing (background something that sounded like "My Alabama")Oh, Grandma's lye soap
Good for everything in the place
The pots and pans, the dirty dishes, and for your hands, and for your face...

Other verses have been posted.

And I haven't heard the song in 45 years. Wow.

Now if I could just remember things from twenty minutes ago...

Subject: RE: Grandma's Lye Soap
From: GUEST,Chris
Date: 15 Dec 04 - 06:16 PM

http://www.recordfinders.com/s1.pdf

This dealer has Standley's "It's in the Book," but lists "Part 2" as the other side. Take a look. It might be a mistake.

Subject: Lyr Add: GRANDMA'S LYE SOAP
From: GUEST,Chris again
Date: 15 Dec 04 - 06:19 PM

Here you go. I just googled it.
written by Johnny Standley and Art Thorsen


Do you remember Grandma's Lye Soap,
Good for everything in the home,
And the secret was in the scrubbing,
It wouldn't suds, and wouldn't foam,

Oh, let us sing right out (sing out!)
For Grandma's Lye Soap,
Sing it out, all over the place!
For pots and pans, and dirty dishes,
And for your hands,
And for your face!

Little Therman, and Brother Herman,
Had an aversion to washing their ears...
Grandma scrubbed them with her lye soap,
And they haven't heard a word in years!

Oh, let us sing right out (sing out!)
For Grandma's Lye Soap,
Sing it out, all over the place!
For pots and pans, and dirty dishes,
And for your hands,
And for your face!

Mrs. O'Malley, out in the valley,
Suffered from ulcers, I understand,
She swallowed a cake of Grandma's Lye Soap,
Has the cleanest ulcers in the land!

Oh, let us sing right out (sing out!)
For Grandma's Lye Soap,
Sing it out, all over the place!
For pots and pans, and dirty dishes,
And for your hands,
And for your face!

Subject: RE: Grandma's Lye Soap
From: GUEST,Chris
Date: 15 Dec 04 - 06:35 PM

OK, this is it.

What the original poster seeks is "It's in the Book," part of which is the preacher leading the congregation in "Grandma's Lye Soap." The website I linked a while back has what you seek.

Done now.

Subject: RE: Grandma's Lye Soap
From: Metchosin
Date: 15 Dec 04 - 07:45 PM

I have It's In the Book (Part 11 - Granmma's Lyesoap) as an mp3 file and I can make one of Part 1 as well.

Gramma's Lyesoap was written around 1951 or 1952 and according to my dear departed fiddling father-in-law, was penned by he and Standley, in a Veteran's hospital in Victoria, BC, during a jam session, when Standley was still making the rounds entertaining the troops and such, after the WWII.

According to my father-in-law, he relinquished any rights to the song if Standley would give my father-in-laws portion of royalties to the Vets. I have no idea if this was ever done. I was inclined to believe my father -in-law, as I can think of better songs of which to claim authorship and he rarely told porkers. LOL

Subject: RE: Grandma's Lye Soap
From: Metchosin
Date: 15 Dec 04 - 07:50 PM

just had a confirmation here that Standley did in fact split royalties regarding it with the Vets. FWIW

Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Grandma's Lye Soap
From:
Date: 16 Jan 05 - 03:08 PM

I heard part of the song last night, and it brought back memories
It is background music toward the end of the movie " The Last Picture Show"
The only place I could find anything out was at Ask Jeeves and it brought me here.
C-YA
HANK

Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Grandma's Lye Soap
From: GUEST,Adam Scott
Date: 28 Apr 08 - 05:00 PM

I don't know if anyone is still looking for this information, but here you go: http://www.turoks.net/Cabana/ItsInTheBook.htm
It has the full lyrics and a download for the MP3

Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Grandma's Lye Soap
From: GeoffB
Date: 06 May 08 - 01:24 PM

I used to hear this song on the American Forces Network in the early '50s, while I was serving in the Royal Navy. It appeared on a show supporting the March of Dimes called "Break the Record". They would play the same song with excruciating frequency until they had collected enough donations (I forget the exact amount) to break the record, and so end the suffering of the listeners.