Lyr Req: Little Joe (Not The Wrangler)

Subject: Looking for "Little Joe" (Not The Wrangler)
From: JVZ
Date: 13 Jun 98 - 05:43 PM

Looking for the lyrics to a catchy little tune called "Little Joe" which was sung by Marlene Dietrich in the movie "Destry Rides Again" starring Jimmy Stewart. I don't know if the song originated with the movie or not. It is just the type of tune you would expect to be an old American folk song.

Subject: RE: Looking for
From: Joe Offer
Date: 13 Jun 98 - 07:33 PM

Hi, JVZ - I'm quite sure it was Little Joe the Wrangler that Dietrich sang in "Destry Rides Again." Are you saying there was a second "Little Joe" in the movie? Marty Robbins also recorded "Little Joe the Wrangler," which means that Gene Graham probably has the lyrics and will probably post them in seconds (unless he realizes that Dick Greenhaus beat him to it). It's also on the David Wilkie "Cowboy Celtic" CD.
Oh, and take a look at this
-Five-Foot-Eight Joe Offer (don't call ME "Little Joe")-

Subject: RE: Looking for
From: Gene
Date: 13 Jun 98 - 08:43 PM

Could it be - A Little Guy Named Joe?

Subject: Lyr Add: LITTLE JOE (Carter Family)^^
From: Mark Clark
Date: 14 Jun 98 - 06:33 PM

I'm pretty sure Marlene Dietrich didn't sing this, but here is a song I've always loved called "Little Joe." It didn't show up in the data base and it ought to be there. If you don't know the melody, let me know and I'll try to make a midi file of it.

"Little Joe"

From the Original Carter Family

What will the birds do, mother, in the spring,
The little brown birds around my door,
Will they fly from their tree and tap at my window,
Wondering why Joe wanders out no more.

What will the kitten do, mother, all alone,
Will she stop from her frolic for a day,
Will she lie on the rug by the side of my bed,
As she did before I went away.

Keep Tige, dearest mother, my poor little dog,
I know he will mourn for me too,
Keep him as old and useless he grows,
Sleeping the long summer through.

Show him my coat, mother, so he won't forget,
Little master who will soon be dead,
Speak to him kindly and often of Joe,
And pat him on his brown shaggy head.

What will Thomas, the old gardner, say,
When you ask for a flower for me,
Will he give you a rose that he tended with care,
The first fairest bloom of the tree.

And you, dearest mother, will miss me most of all,
But in Heaven I'll no larger grow,
Any kind angel will tell you at the gate,
When you ask for your darling little Joe.

Subject: RE: Looking for Little Joe
From: Joe Offer
Date: 14 Jun 98 - 08:28 PM

Ah, it brought a tear to my eye, Mark. Yessir, a MIDI would be nice, it would. Maybe some nice person will volunteer to help you post it. My computer and I are having a trial separation for a few weeks, or else I'd do it for you - or maybe you'd like ot download our MIDITXT program and do it yourself?
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Looking for "Little Joe" (Not The Wrangler)
From: Mark Clark
Date: 15 Jun 98 - 05:51 PM

Actually, I have the MIDITEXT program and, last night, used my Finale program to create a score for Little Joe that I can save as MIDI, convert to text, and upload here. Is anyone interested in the Finale file itself?

- Mark

Subject: RE: Looking for Little Joe
From: Joe Offer
Date: 16 Jun 98 - 07:19 PM

Hi, Mark - please post a MIDITXT version of the song here. I'm still wondering if this is the song that was originally requested, though. JVZ hasn't come back to tell us.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Looking for
From: JVZ
Date: 17 Jun 98 - 12:00 PM

Actually, Joe, this isn't the song I was looking for. The one in the movie had a refrain that went something like, "Little Jo-o, Little Jo-o, ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ?? ???, I don't Kno-ow." Also, somewhere in the song, a lone ends in the words, "shot him quicker". Thanks guys.

Subject: RE: Looking for
From: JVZ
Date: 17 Jun 98 - 04:48 PM

Well; Joe, Mark & Gene; thanks for your input. I have discovered that the song "Little Joe" was in fact written for the movie. Lyrics by Frank Loesser and music by Frederick Hollaender. I made this amazing discovery at the Internet Movie Dadabase (us.imdb.com), a wonderful place. However, I have still not been able to locate the lyrics anywhere.

Subject: Lyr Add: LITTLE JOE (Loesser, Hollaender)
From: GUEST,Edie
Date: 01 Apr 07 - 06:58 PM

Here it is. I found it at http://www.filmsite.org/dest.html:

Little Joe, Little Joe
Oh, whatever become of him, I don't know
Oh, he sure did like his liquor
And it would have got his ticker
But the sheriff got him quicker - yeeha!
Little Joe, Little Joe
Oh, wherever his body lies, I don't know
When the yellow moon was beamin'
He could wrangle like a demon
And you'd always hear him screamin' - yeeha!
Little Joe, Little Joe
Oh, whatever he's doing now, I don't know
He had women by the dozen
And he swore they woz his cousins
Till he met up with their husbands - yeeha!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Little Joe (Not The Wrangler)
From: GUEST,leon
Date: 17 Aug 10 - 10:37 PM

the little joe in Destry Rides Again was not "the wrangle" whch was a song originally written by a cowboy in the 19th century and recorded by marty robbins (loosely). Nor did the magnificent marlene sing it in the movie, it was Wash, the town drunk who sang it and played the banjo. I have abeen trying to find the lyrics and have not been able to. Thus far.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Little Joe (Not The Wrangler)
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 18 Aug 10 - 12:20 AM

G'day leon,

Was it not the one Edie posted immediately above (and 16 days back ...)?

Regards,

Bob

Subject: Lyr Add: LITTLE JOE (from Marlene Dietrich)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 31 Jul 11 - 12:50 AM

You can see and hear Marlene Dietrich singing LITTLE JOE in a scene from the film "Destry Rides Again" (1939) at YouTube. The lyrics GUEST,Edie posted above are correct as far as they go, but she left out the parts sung by the chorus (which I have put in parentheses):

(Little Joe the wrangler, he will wrangle nevermore
For his days with the roundup they are o'er.
'Twas a year ago last April when he rode up to our camp,
Just a little Texas stray and nothing more.)

Little Joe (Little Joe), Little Joe (Little Joe),
Oh, whatever become of him, I don't know. (She don't know.)
Oh, he sure did like his liquor
And it would have got his ticker
But the sheriff got him quicker. – Yee-ha!

Little Joe (Little Joe), Little Joe (Little Joe),
Oh, wherever his body lies, I don't know. (She don't know.)
When the yellow moon was beamin',
He could wrangle like a demon,
And you'd always hear him screamin': - Yee-ha!

Little Joe (Little Joe), Little Joe (Little Joe),
Oh, whatever he's doing now, I don't know. (She don't know.)
He had women by the dozens
And he swore they was his cousins
Till he met up with their husbands. – Yee-ha!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Little Joe (Not The Wrangler)
From: PHJim
Date: 01 Aug 11 - 12:11 AM

Norman Blake did a wonderful version of the song Mark posted. It was on his first solo album Home In Sulpher Springs and I think he said he got it from the Monroe Brothers or maybe Charlie Monroe.