Origins: Java Jive

Subject: RE: Origins: Java Jive
From: RoyH (Burl)
Date: 12 Jul 11 - 05:38 PM

I've known this song for years but could never understand 'A slice of onion and a raw one, draw one!    Can anyone explain please?

Subject: RE: Origins: Java Jive
From: GUEST,ericinwisconsin
Date: 12 Jul 11 - 04:09 PM

Everyone here is quick to point out that this is probably a reference to the character "Mr. Moto" but no one can explain WHY Mr. Moto? I've seen the films and Mr. Moto has nothing to do with coffee, I believe. It makes no sense and no one has ever been able to explain why.

Subject: RE: Origins: Java Jive
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 09 Apr 10 - 05:40 PM

Mr. Moto first appeared in 1935 in the well-known detective novels by J. P. Marquand, the first serialized in the Saturday Evening Post.

Subject: RE: Origins: Java Jive
From: GUEST,TJ in San Diego
Date: 09 Apr 10 - 04:17 PM

The earlier version, done by the Ink Spots in the 1930's, was probably the most remembered one until the Manhatten Transfer came along with theirs. I don't know if the two fellows mentioned wrote the orginal or massaged it for the Transfer.

JAVA JIVE
Album : Manhattan Transfer Live
(Music : Ben Oakland / Lyrics : Milton Drake)

The Manhattan Transfer
The Ink Spots


I love coffee, I love tea,
I love the Java Jive and it loves me
Coffee and tea and the java and me,
A cup, a cup, a cup, a cup, a cup!

I love java sweet and hot,
Whoops, Mister Moto, I'm a coffee pot
Shoot me the pot, and I'll pour me a shot,
A cup, a cup, a cup, a cup, a cup!

Oh slip me a slug from the wonderful mug
And I'll cut a rug 'til I'm snug in a jug
A slice of onion and a raw one, Draw one!
Waiter, waiter, percolator!

I love coffee, I love tea,
I love the Java Jive and it loves me
Coffee and tea and the java and me,
A cup, a cup, a cup, a cup, a cup!

Boston beans (soy beans)
I said the little itty-bitty green bean (cabbage n' greens)
You know that I'm not keen about a bean,
Unless it is a chile chile bean! (Talk it, boy!)

I love java sweet and hot,
Whoops, Mister Moto, I'm a coffee pot (yeah)
You shoot me the pot, and I'll pour me a shot,
A cup, a cup, a cup, 'an dat zat bootle!

Blow me a slug from that wonderful mug
And I'll cut a rug that's snug in a jug
Drop a nickel in my pot, Joe, takin' it slow
Waiter, waiter percolator

I love coffee, I love tea,
I love the Java Jive an' it loves me
Coffee and tea and the java and me
A cup, a cup, a cup, a cup - BOY!

Subject: RE: Origins: Java Jive
From: Genie
Date: 09 Apr 10 - 03:21 PM

The line "Whoops, Mr. Moto! I'm a coffee pot" probably does allude to the Mr. Moto character of film.

As for the Java Jive song itself - "I love coffee, I love tea. I love the Java Jive and it loves me ..." I thought it may have been inspired by the children's rhyme/song that starts out similarly.

Wikipedia (at the moment) says: "Organ Grinder's Swing is a song composed by Will Hudson, with lyrics by Mitchell Parish and Irving Mills, published in 1936. It became associated with the Jimmie Lunceford orchestra. [1] Hudson based the "Organ Grinder's Swing" on the nursery rhyme "I Love Coffee, I Love Tea". [2]

Java Jive was written later:

JAVA JIVE lyrics
Ben Oakland and Milton Drake, 1940"

Subject: RE: Origins: Java Jive
From: Stephen L. Rich
Date: 25 Mar 06 - 06:48 PM

Or, as the said on Animaniacs,
"I'm a little teapot,
Short and stout,
Here is my handle,
And here is a note from my psychiatrist that says I'm doing much better!
Last week I thought I was a toaster-oven!"

Stephen Lee

Subject: RE: Origins: Java Jive
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 24 Mar 06 - 08:50 PM

I'll ask my friend Jimmy Foster when I see him at church this Sunday. Jimmy replaced Bill Kenny, the Ink Spots amazing tenor, when Kenny went solo and sang as the lead for something like fifteen years.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Origins: Java Jive
From: Mick Pearce (MCP)
Date: 24 Mar 06 - 06:45 PM

Mr.Moto was the adventurer/detective (played by Peter Lorre) in a series of films between 1937 and 1939. The song is dated 1940, so Mr. Moto may well refer to this character. You can find plenty of net info on Mr.Moto (eg A Guide to the Mr. Moto Films) and this thread has the date for Lyr Add: Java Jive (and other coffee songs)

Mick

Subject: RE: Origins: Java Jive
From: Peace
Date: 24 Mar 06 - 06:20 PM

I wonder if it's a take-off on the kids rhyme:

I'm a little teapot short and stout,
Here is my handle, here is my spout;
etc

That received a twist with

I'm a little teapot short and stout,
Here is my handle [hand placed on hip], here is my [other hand placed on hip] WHY, GOOD HEAVENS I'm a sugarbowl!

Subject: Origins: Java Jive
From: GUEST,Nancy
Date: 24 Mar 06 - 05:37 PM

Anybody know what the line "Whoops Mr. Moto I'm a coffee mug{" is about in the song Java Jive?