Origins: Dunderbeck

Subject: RE: Origins: Dunderback's Terrible Machine(Dunderb
From: GUEST,Champagne Carol's SS at work
Date: 21 Dec 04 - 02:05 AM

yes, I know it's late here.

Wow, Joe Offer..what a treasure you have handed to me!

That last one was especially nice since it appears to coincide more with the lyrics that my Great Uncle sang, him being the brother of my Grandfather. They both worked in logging camps in the teens and twenties of the last century in and around Quebec and in The St. Lawrence River Valley in New York.

I have multiple recordings of my grandfather singing it and his version became more and more modern and simplified as he got older. Most likely that was due to the influence of his Grandchildren who brought home the song in books from Camp. I know, because I was one of them. A recording made when I was still in the 9th Grade (by me - budding young Folkie that I was - always had a pen, paper and cassette!) shows that he was more faithful to the Dunderbeck of your last post then. That would have been mid-1970's.

I very much appreciate you cobbling all the diverse versions and spellings into one thread. Now the next time some dumb bunny such as myself types in 'Dunderback' they'll get it ALL in one place.

So..what's with this song anyway? Is it an ethnic slur? A mistrust of certain Immigrants? It reminds ome of bad urban legends about Koreans serving you dog meat at those BBQ restaurants. Brunvand has a whole section on ghastly food UL's and this song seems to fit.

That date you have of 1927 is interesting too. My grandpa said he first heard the song in 1920.

Many, many thanks. I have much to work with now. I'll try and be more careful next time and post within an existing thread.

Subject: RE: Origins: Dunderback's Terrible Machine(Dunderbeck)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 20 Dec 04 - 03:08 PM

"Son of a Gambolier" was published in 1870, and the music was used for "Rambling Wreck from Georgia Tech." Composer known by initials L M on sheet music. Haven't tried to trace him down yet. Copy at American Memory.
I will post it if it hasn't been done already- a good drinking song (lager bier rather than whiskey clear).

As far as I can find out, it is Amurican, published in Nu Joisey.

Subject: ADD Version: Dunderbeck (Spaeth)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 20 Dec 04 - 02:41 PM

More than once, Susan of DT has asked me why some of us post so many versions of a song that's already in the Digital Tradition (and I amy well be the biggest offender). I agree that there's no need to have 43 versions of a song in the DT, but I find it fascinating to see them together here in the forum. I think this version is particularly interesting. It's from Sigmund Spaeth's Read 'Em and Weep: The Songs You Forgot to Remember (1927).


DUNDERBECK

There was a man named Dunderbeck invented a machine,
It was for grinding sausage meats and it did go by steam,
Those kitten cats and long-tailed rats no more they will be seen
They're all ground up in sausage meats by Dunderbeck's machine.

Chorus:
Oh, Dunderbeck, oh, Dunderbeck, you was so very mean!*
Oh, don't you was so sorry you invented that machine?
Those kitten cats and long-tailed rats no more they will be seen,
They're all ground up in sausage meats by Dunderbeck's machine.

Now one fine day a boy came into Dunderbeck's store,
There was a pound of sausage meat a-lying on the floor,
And while he was a-waiting, he whistled up a tune,
The sausage meat began to yump and skip around the room.
(Chorus)

Now something was the matter, that machine he wouldn't go,
So Dunderbeck he scrambled inside to find him out, you know;
His wife she had the nightmare, she walked right in her sleep,
She grabbed the crank and gave it a yank and Dunderbeck was meat.
(Chorus)

*or, "How could you be so mean?"


Spaeth's notes:

Outside of the original, the best-known song to the music of the Gambolier is probably Dunderbeck (or Dunderbach), a curious jumble of dialects, mostly Germanic, celebrating one of those gruesome jokes that would be a riot at the stockyards.

There's no tune printed in Spaeth's book.

---

When I visited Ireland, I was informed that all songs have their roots there. When I visited England a couple years later, I was told that the Irish were wrong about that, and that even Irish-language songs had their beginnings in England - and that of course, there are actually no songs that originated in the U.S. OK, so here's a dare - can anybody find a European version of this song?

-Joe Offer-

Subject: ADD Version: Johnnie Verbeck (Boy Scouts)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 20 Dec 04 - 01:53 PM

OK, so now here's the official U.S. Boy Scout version, which isn't a heck of a lot different from other versions - but it has a different tune, the tune I learned with it.

Johnnie Verbeck

There was a little Dutchman, His name was Johnnie Verbeck.
He was a dealer in sausages And sauerkraut and spec.
He made the finest sausage That ever you did see.
But one day he invented A wonderful sausage machine.

Chorus
Oh, Mister Johnnie Verbeck,
How could you be so mean?
I told you you'd be sorry
For inventing that machine.
All the neighbors' cats and dogs
Will never more be seen;
For they'll be ground to sausages
In Johnnie Verbeck's machine.

One day a boy came walking, came walking in the store,
He bought a pound of sausage and piled them on the floor;
The boy began to whistle and he whistled up a tune,
And all the little sausages went dancing 'round the room.
Repeat chorus

One day the machine got busted and the blamed thing wouldn't go,
So Johnnie Verbeck, he climbed inside to see what made it so;
His wife, she had a nightmare and walking in her sleep,
She gave the crank an awful yank and Johnnie Verbeck was meat.
Repeat chorus


source: Boy Scout Songbook, Boy Scouts of America, 1963

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The notation in the Boy Scout book is a little clumsy, but it produces a tune that sounds more-or-less like the one I learned.

Click to play

Subject: ADD Version: Johnny Berbeck (Vance Randolph, 1941)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 20 Dec 04 - 01:18 PM

Here's Randolph's #488B

Johnny Berbeck

There was a little Dutchman
His name was Johnnie Berbeck,
He used to deal in sausages
And sauerkraut and speck,
He made the finest sausages
That ever had been seen,
And one day he invented
A sausage-grinding machine.

CHORUS
Oh Mister Johnnie Berbeck
How could you be so mean?
I told you you'd be sorry
For making that machine,
Now neighbors' cats and dogs
Will nevermore be seen,
For they'll be ground to sausages
In your dog-gone machine.

One day a boy came walking
Came walking to his store,
He bought a pound of sausages
And set them on the floor,
The boy he whistled merrily
Till he whistled up a tune,
Then all the little sausages
Went dancing round the room.

One day the thing got busted,
The blamed thing wouldn't go,
So Johnnie went and crawled inside
To see what made it so,
His wife she had a nightmare
And walking in her sleep,
She gave the crank an awful yank,
And Johnnie he was meat!


from Miss Kathleen Ollinger, Fayetteville, Arkansas; December 21, 1941.
no tune provided

Subject: ADD Version: Donderback's Machine (Randolph 488a)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 20 Dec 04 - 01:14 PM

Here's #488A from Vance Randolph's Ozark Folksongs (Volume III)

Donderback's Machine

There was a good old German man,
His name was Donderback,
He was very fond of poodle-dogs
And sauerkraut and ........
He had a great big butcher-shop
The finest ever seen,
He fixed him up a patent
To make sausages by steam.

CHORUS
Oh Mister Donderback,
How foolish you have been,
And ain't you awful sorry
You invented that machine?
The long-tailed rats and pussy-cats
No more can they be seen,
All ground into sausage-meat
In Donderback's machine.

Then something got the matter,
The machine it would not go,
So Donderback he climbed inside
To find it out, you know.
His wife she took the nightmare,
And walking in her sleep
She gave the crank an awful yank,
And Donderback was meat.


sung by Mr. Robert Eddy, Joplin, Missouri; May 1, 1922. Mr. Eddy learned the song in Joplin about 1900.

No tune provided, but Randolph says Spaeth says it's sung to "The Son of a Gambolier." Randolph says that Randolph says the tune is "I'm a Rambling Wreck from Georgia Tech."
...or at least that's my interpretation of what Randolph says.

Subject: RE: Origins: Dunderback's Terrible Machine
From: Joe Offer
Date: 19 Dec 04 - 07:00 PM

We have lots of versions of this song posted. I learned it as "Johnny Verbeck" in Wisconsin, but I think "Dunderbeck" is the most common title. My 1963 Boy Scout Songbook calles it "Johnny Verbeck" - it gives no attribution. The earliest reference to the song in the Traditional Ballad Index is 1922, but it could be earlier than that.

---

Here's the entry from the Traditional Ballad Index:

Dunderbeck

DESCRIPTION: The German Dunderbeck invents a steam-powered machine to turn any sort of meat into sausages. Thus vanish all the rats and cats of the town. When Dunderbeck's machine breaks down, he tries to fix it; his wife accidentally starts it with him inside.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1922 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: technology disaster animal humorous food campsong
FOUND IN: US(MW,So)
REFERENCES (9 citations):
Randolph 488, "Donderbeck's Machine" (2 texts)
Stout-FolkloreFromIowa 107, pp. 135-136, "Dunderbeck" (1 text)
Spaeth-ReadEmAndWeep, p. 80, "Dunderbeck" (1 text, tune referenced)
Silber/Silber-FolksingersWordbook, p. 239, "Dunderbeck" (1 text)
Pankake/Pankake-PrairieHomeCompanionFolkSongBook, p. 139-140, "The Sausage Meat Machine" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fuld-BookOfWorldFamousMusic, pp. 515-516, "Son of a Gun -- (Son of a Gambolier; Dunderbeck; and Rambling Wreck from Georgia Tech)"
Averill-CampSongsFolkSongs, pp. 99, 114, 129, 232, 289, 291, "Johnny Verbeck" (notes only)
BoyScoutSongbook1997, pp. 18-19, "Johnny Verbeck" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, DUNDER*
Roud #4461
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Son of a Gambolier" (tune & meter) and references there
cf. "O Where O Where Has My Little Dog Gone" (theme)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Johnny Rebeck
Johnny Rebec
Johnny Robeck
NOTES [53 words]: Averill-CampSongsFolkSongs, p. 291, based on something in Fuld, seems to attribute this to Edward Harrigan. He may well have put it in one or more of his songbooks, but it isn't in the Harrigan and Braham songbook. And Harrigan didn't play Germans as much as Irish. I suspect the ultimate source is something else. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.3
File: R488

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The Ballad Index Copyright 2023 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.

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Dunderbeck in the Digital Tradition is a combination of the versions from "Folk Songs for Fun" and "101 plus 5 Folk Songs for Camp".

Johnnie Verbeck in the Digital Tradition is taken from two messages from Metchosin in the Trebeck thread (click). It may well be the biggest collection of Johnny Verbeck verses ever broght together in one place.

Lots of versions in this Dunderbeck thread


The Son of a Gambolier is one tune used for this song. The tune is also used for "I'm a Rambling Wreck from Georgia Tech." Spaeth says you can also sing The Young Oysterman to these tunes.

-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Origins: Dunderback's Terrible Machine
From: GUEST,Champagne Carol's SS
Date: 19 Dec 04 - 06:57 PM

The Johnnie Verbeck version in Digitrad is credited as being from Quebec. The Version I posted of my grandfathers is from St. Lawrence River valley...not so far from Quebec.

Could this be Canadian in origin? Or Acadian in origin given the references to this song being from New Orleans as well?

doesn't it just drive you bonkers that you typed in all but one spelling variant and came up empty. you type on one more..and you hit the proverbial jackpot?

Maddening.

Interesting that the bad guy is either Dutch or German. I buy Dutch as the original ethnicity of the madman given the name and all its varients.

Champagne Carol's foolish SS

Subject: RE: Origins: Dunderback's Terrible Machine
From: GUEST,Champagne Carol's SS
Date: 19 Dec 04 - 06:48 PM

Nevermind..it IS in Digitrad as Dunderbeck. It figures doesn't it.

You may all slap me now. Still...

Any additional Lyrics or musings about origins are welcome.

Subject: RE: Origins: Dunderback's Terrible Machine
From: GUEST,Champagne Carol's SS
Date: 19 Dec 04 - 06:37 PM

Yes that surprised me too. Be careful what you post in silly BS threads, eh?

I spent most of the day looking at:
Dunderbeck
Dunderback
Donderback
Donderbeck
Dondlebeck
Dondleback
Dundlebeck
Dundleback
Doodlebeck (believe it or not, there is a reference to that spelling of the name in the song in my field notes, collected from a Catholic Girls camp in New Hampshire in 1979 when I was but a weee folkie already running around with a notebook)

Now, at least in theory, anyone typing ANY of those, will be led here.

Subject: RE: Origins: Dunderback's Terrible Machine
From: MartinRyan
Date: 19 Dec 04 - 06:28 PM

"DunderbEck" turns up rather more versions of the same, on Google. Mind you - I'm impressed that "dunderbAck" turns up the SS posting of just two days ago.

Regards

Subject: Lyr Add: DUNDERBACK'S TERRIBLE MACHINE
From: GUEST,Champagne Carol's Secret Santa
Date: 19 Dec 04 - 06:14 PM

Dunderback's Terrible Machine

This one isn't in the Digitrad and I was just listening to my Grandpa's tape of him singing it. I was making a tape for my darling Santee with this on it. I had wanted to tell her more about this colorful song but there's precious little on the net to aid me. I was wondering if other Mudcatters know anything about the Origins of this song and any additional Lyrics. There are various spellings of the name: Dunderback, Donderback, Dunderbeck, Dundleback...Etc., Etc.

It's mostly a song that Eastern Americans know although it is sung at some Midwestern Summer camps with long histories and rich songbooks.

I have some old research notes from a performer who had the most verses I'd ever heard and they state that the singer believed the song to be of Ozark Mountains origin. However, some sources say it is an old New Orleans Rag from about 1910. I can't find ANY web reference to support that other than the Urban Legend entry mentioning new Orleans as a source for one version. My grandfather was of the belief that it was relatively recent in origin to him that is, and he first heard in a logging camp in the St. Lawrence River Valley in about 1920.

His version went something like this:


DUNDERBACK'S TERRIBLE MACHINE
^^^
There was a man a long time ago; His name was Dunderback
He was very fond of sauerkraut and spat
One day he invented a terrible sausage machine
And all the cats and long-tailed Rats would never more be seen!

CHORUS: Oh, Mr. Dunderback, how could you be so mean?
I told you that you'd be sorry for inventing that terrible machine
Now all the cats and long-tailed rats will never more be seen
They'll all be ground to sausages in Dunderback's machine!

One day a little boy came walking into Dunderback's
for to buy himself a pound of the famous sausage meat
as he laid it on the floor The boy began to whistle up a tune
And all them little sausages went dancing 'round the room!

CHORUS

One day the machine was broke; The darn thing wouldn't go
So Dunderback he climbed inside to see what had made it so
His wife was having a nightmare, and walking in her sleep
She gave the crank a terrible yank and Dunderback was meat!

There are other verses about him putting people into the machine but I can't find them.

Do any Mudcatters have verses to add or origins to offer other the common beliefs on the Net?

I collected this Version in 1992 In Upstate New York. After secret Santa is over, I'll append the name and exact location to the thread as well as my own name. Having mentioned this song in the secret Santa thread, it'd be a dead giveaway if I listed anything more than this.

I'm genuinely interested in this, I'm not just posting a new thread for the hell of it nor am I being lazy. I spent an entire day searching for info on this and found about twenty citations which are all bits and pieces of each other - nothing particularly helpful.

Helloooooo Champagne Carol! Hope you are feeling better!
Your Loving SS.