Lyr Req: I'm a Jazz Vampire (from Marion Harris)

Subject: Lyr Req: Jazz Vampire - Marion Harris
From: GUEST,david
Date: 18 Feb 06 - 09:00 PM

looking for lyrics to "Jazz Vampire" recorded by Marion Harris on Columbia.

David
zealotsandmystics (at) yahoo.com

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Jazz Vampire - Marion Harris
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 04:54 PM

The Red Hot Jazz Archive has I'M A JAZZ VAMPIRE, recorded by Marion Harris in 1920. I'll try transcribing it later if nobody else beats me to it.

Subject: Lyr Add: I'M A JAZZ VAMPIRE (from Marion Harris)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 11:07 PM

I'M A JAZZ VAMPIRE
Carey Morgan (according to The BMI Repertoire)
(some sources say Arthur Swanstrom & Louis Alter)
(some sources say Arthur Swanstrom & Carey Morgan)

Say, did you ever hear the saxophone
Let out an awful moan,
Let out an awful groan?
It makes you feel so nervous, yet it's great.
It's the saxophone a-callin' to its mate.
Lest we forget
The clarinet,
Now listen for a minute and the birth of jazz you'll hear,
And where there is a little jazz, you'll always find me near,
For I'm a jazz vampire.
Take a bush(?), take a bush(?), take a bush(?) with me and dance, dance.
Dancing is my specialty.
Wise men keep out o' my way.
They know I'll lead 'em astray.
They fall the minute I sway,
I insist you can't resist a
Jazz vampire.
Take a tip, take a tip, take a tip from me,
For I am all the evil music has.
Went down to the river, stood on the bank,
Shook my shoulders and the boats all sank,
For I'm the meanest kind of jazz vampire.
I'm the wicked vampire of the jazz.

Get up in the morning and I make the coffee whole,
Ham and eggs turn over, put the crullers in a bowl.
Get upon a trolley car, the car begins to sway,
Sit upon a half a dozen laps to start the day
I walk into the office and I greet the ... there.
Six or seven elevators blow up in the air.
Sit down at my Remington and syncopate the keys.
The fellow by the water fan gets water on the knees.
The boss dictates a letter: "Dear sir, I'd like to state—".
The man who gets the letter has to stop and hesitate.
And when the day is over and the sun sets in the west,
Say I'm the only little bird who doesn't go to rest,
For I'm a jazz vampire.
Take a tip, take a tip, take a tip from me
For I am all the evil music has.
I stood by the ocean, no one around,
Shook my shoulders and the sun went down,
For I'm the meanest kind of jazz vampire.
I'm the wicked vampire of the jazz.

[Recorded by Marion Harris, 1920.]

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I'm a Jazz Vampire (from Marion Harris)
From: ari_1965
Date: 09 May 09 - 09:33 PM

I think she's singing "Shake a foot, shake a foot, shake a foot with me and dance, dance."

Also, "put the crullers in a hole," as in heating the crullers in the middle of the ham and eggs.

Also, I think she might be singing "I walk into the office and I greet the sauna there," referring to the un-airconditioned offices.

It's definitely "Six or seven elevators go up in the air" and "the fellow by the water STAND gets water on the knees."

I can't quite understand the coffee line that precedes the cruller line.

I love this song. Marion Harris was wonderful.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I'm a Jazz Vampire (from Marion Harris)
From: GUEST
Date: 19 May 12 - 10:56 AM

I think it's "...the saxophone a-callin' to his mate/ that sweet coquette, the clarinet."

Also, I find myself wishing that the line went, "went down to the river and put on my fangs/ shook my shoulders and the folks all sang." It makes less sense, and doesn't rhyme as well, but the idea of a someone "putting on their fangs" kind of funny. Also, then it would at least have one lyric suggesting some connection to vampires as we normally understand them (waking up in the morning and making eggs not being part of a normal vampiric daily routine.)

Utter lack of justification for actually being about a jazz vampire aside (or perhaps because of it), this really is a wonderful song.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I'm a Jazz Vampire (from Marion Harris)
From: Mick Pearce (MCP)
Date: 19 May 12 - 12:39 PM

I'd agree with all the changes given by ari_1965 and anon GUEST above. ari - I don't know if coffee whole means from coffee beans rather than ground, but it's what she sings!

Mick

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I'm a Jazz Vampire (from Marion Harris)
From: GUEST,RevRev
Date: 25 Oct 12 - 04:34 PM

Since the lyric refers to the office elevators, I would guess that the hard to catch word is "starter" not "sauna". Before the elevators were totally automated, a starter would decide which of the lifts in the bank would go next. He had to make sure that there was a rhythm to the up/down cycles. It is a long gone job, but may still be glimpsed in old movies. Great job with the rest of the lyrics! Listening to acoustic records is not easy...

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I'm a Jazz Vampire (from Marion Harris)
From: GUEST,Kid Dutch
Date: 08 Dec 17 - 02:30 AM

With corrections:

I'M A JAZZ VAMPIRE
Carey Morgan (according to The BMI Repertoire)
(some sources say Arthur Swanstrom & Louis Alter)
(some sources say Arthur Swanstrom & Carey Morgan)

Verse:
Say, did you ever hear the saxophone
        Let out an awful moan,Let out an awful groan?
It makes you feel so nervous, yet it's great.
        It's the saxophone a-callin' to its mate.
That sweet coquette, The clarinet,
        Now listen for a minute and the birth of jazz you'll hear,
And where there is a little jazz, you'll always find me near,

Chorus:
For I'm a jazz vampire,
Shake a foot, shake a foot, shake a foot with me and dance, dance.
Dancing is my specialty,
Wise men keep out o' my way, They know I'll lead 'em astray.
They fall the minute I sway,I insist you can't resist a
Jazz vampire.
Take a tip, take a tip, take a tip from me,
For I am all the evil music has.
Went down to the river, stood on the bank,
Shook my shoulders and the boats all sank,
For I'm the meanest kind of
jazz vampire - I'm the wicked vampire of the jazz.

Patter:
Get up in the morning and I make the coffee whole,
Ham and eggs turn over, put the crullers in a hole
Get upon a trolley car, the car begins to sway,
Sit upon a half a dozen laps to start the day
I walk into the office and I greet the starter there.
Six or seven elevators go up in the air.
Sit down at my Remington and syncopate the keys.
The fellow by the water stand gets water on the knee.
The boss dictates a letter: "Dear Sir, I'd like to state?".
The man who gets the letter has to stop and hesitate.
And when the day is over and the sun sets in the west,
Say I'm the only little bird who doesn't go to rest,

Chorus (2nd half):
For I'm a jazz vampire.
Take a tip, take a tip, take a tip from me
For I am all the evil music has.
I stood by the ocean, no one around,
Shook my shoulders and the sun went down,
For I'm the meanest kind of jazz vampire.
I'm the wicked vampire of the jazz.