Lyr Req: Grandma's Lye Soap

28 Apr 97 - 10:27 PM (#4410)
Subject: Grandma's Lye Soap
From: Kathy Shipman at [e-mail]

I am trying to find the words to an old song taught to elementary kids back in the early days, around the 40's I think. The name of the song is "Grandma's Lye Soap", or "Sing out for Grandma's Lye Soap", or something along those lines.

Does anyone recall the words? I've seen several requests on the internet from people requesting the words, but have not found any who have had success in finding the words.

Any help is appreciated.

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29 Apr 97 - 02:08 AM (#4411)
Subject: Lyr Add: GRANDMA'S LYE SOAP (Standley, Thorson)
From: Gene Graham

HI!....This was posted on the net last year....It may also be listed on the Dr. Demento page....

GRANDMA'S LYE SOAP
(John Standley and Art Thorson)

Do you remember Grandma's LyeSoap?
Good for everything, everything in the home
And the secret was in the scrubbin'
It wouldn't suds; It wouldn't foam.

Mrs. O'Mally, Down in the valley
Suffered from ulcers, I understand
She swallowed a cake, of Grandma's LyeSoap
Now she's got the cleanest ulcers in the land!

Little Herman and Brother Thurman
Had an aversion to washing their ears
Grandma scrubbed them with the LyeSoap
And they haven't heard a word in years.

So sing right out for Grandma's LyeSoap
Good for everything in the home
And the secret was in the scrubbin'
'Cause it didn't suds or foam.

So sing right out for Grandma's LyeSoap
(Sing it loud and clear)
Good for everything, everything in the place
The pots and kettles, the dirty dishes
And for the hands and for the face.

[Written by John Standley and Art Thorson/Capitol Records: 1952. He also did "It's in the book!" (Little Bo-Peep)]

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29 Apr 97 - 02:42 AM (#4412)
Subject: RE: Grandma's Lye Soap
From: Gene Graham

NOPE! Wasn't at the DR. D SITE!...but here's a SITE with WACKO TUNES of the PAST!

http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Corridor/5109/Novcont.html

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20 Jan 01 - 04:53 AM (#378336)
Subject: RE: Grandma's Lye Soap
From: GUEST,[e-mail]

I remember a 78rpm record of "Grandma's Lyesoap" in the 1950s; I assume it was the Capitol Records one. But I am interested in getting hold of the recording on the other side of the disc. This was a homily/sermon on the text of "Little Bo-peep" which I remember as a very clever take-off in revivalist style. Does anybody know how I could get hold of a copy?

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20 Jan 01 - 09:44 AM (#378395)
Subject: RE: Grandma's Lye Soap
From: Dale Rose

Usually we say it's in the DT, but in this case, It's In The Book! Click on the link for a discussion of the recitation/song from almost three years ago, including lyrics and where to get it.

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20 Jan 01 - 11:14 AM (#378433)
Subject: Lyr Add: LYDIA PINKHAM
From: NH Dave

Another song, to the same tune, is frequently sung in summer camps. I got this version, mainly because I hate to type HTML, from The National Catholic Committee Scouting web page at: Campfire Songs, although there are other versions on the web. Another location for songs like this is:More Campfire Songs

Dave

LYDIA PINKHAM

CHORUS
So Let us drink-a, drink-a, drink,
To Lydia Pinkham, Pinkham, Pink.
The savior of the human race.
She invented a vegetable compound
Twas efficacious in every case.
Here's a story, a little bit gory,
A little bit happy, a little bit sad.
Of Lydia Pinkham and her vegetable compound,
And how it drove her to the bad.

My brother Bob, he was quite a slob,
He used to drool all over town.
'Til they gave him vegetable compound,
And in a week he almost drowned.

Johnny Hammer, had a terrible stammer.
He could barely say a word.
So they gave him vegetable compound,
Now he's seen but never heard.

Oh, Uncle Paul, he was so small.
B He was the shortest man in town.
'Til they rubbed him with vegetable compound,
Now he weighs but half a pound.

A lady named Gwen had no children.
She was barren we did fear.
'Til they gave her vegetable compound,
Now she delivers twice a year.

Ebenezer thought he was Julius Caesar,
So they put him in a home.
There they gave him vegetable compound,
Now he's emperor of Rome.

Poor Lydia died and went to heaven.
All the church bells they did ring.
But she took along her vegetable compound,
Hark, how the Herald Angels sing!

[Lydia Pinkham (1819-1883) was an American proprietor who claimed that her Vegetable Compound, a blend of herbs and 18% alcohol, could cure any "female complaint" from nervous prostration to a prolapsed uterus. Although its therapeutic effects were never substantiated by medical proof, her product gained popularity among women, many of whom hesitated to consult male physicians about "female problems." In the 1920s, federal requlations caused both the product's claims and its alcohol content to be reduced.]

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20 Jan 01 - 12:08 PM (#378455)
Subject: RE: Grandma's Lye Soap
From: Metchosin

For what its worth, Grandma's Lyesoap was written by my father-in-law Robert Grieve of Victoria, B.C. and he gave the rights to Johnny Standley on the agreement that the royalties were to go to the Veterans. My father-in law came up with the song when he was recuperating in the Veterans Hospital here in Victoria and he and Standley had a jam session while Standley was doing a tour of the Veteran hospitals in Canada after the War.

The song is based upon a real person, a Mrs. Billy Clark of Simpson, Saskatchewan. The lady made prodigous quantities of the stuff on her back porch, which impressed the hell out of my father-in-law when he was a child there. We have an old black and white photo of the Clark house, which was originally my father-in-law's home, but the family lost the house to unpaid taxes and it was purchased by said lye soap lady.

No proof of the fact, just the say so of an 82 year old man, but he is not the sort to tell porkers. Thought I'd pass it on.

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28 Jul 01 - 03:15 AM (#516539)
Subject: RE: Grandma's Lye Soap
From: jeanenepratt

The song is sung on an old comedy record called "In The Book," which is a parody of an old time preacher. [He uses Little Bo Peep as a text for his sermon and for scriptural reading uses the text, "Esau is an hairy man while I am a clean man." Grandma's Lyesoap is the congregational hymn.

The only verse I can think of right now is the Mrs. O'Malley verse, but the chorus goes something like this:

O let us sing right out for Grandma's lye soap [da da da] -- everything in the place. Pots and pans, the dirty dishes, For your hands and for your face.

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28 Jul 01 - 09:58 AM (#516622)
Subject: RE: Grandma's Lye Soap
From: JohnInKansas

The 78 my family had was purchased when mama wanted a new console radio phono and they discovered you needed records to make the phono part work. Never did get much of a collection together.
About all I remember is that it was black (like most 78s), had a red label - possibly Capitol, "Grandma's Lye Soap" was on one side and "It's In the Book" on the other.
Probably bought about 1948-50 or shortly after. It had had a few plays on the local "Country" radio at about the time we got it.
The record was a compromise - I remember the discussion in the Kress dime/department store 'bout how pappy wanted somethin' funny, and mamma 'lowed as how the Spike Jones he wanted wasn't fit to have in the house, so it was probably out - or redone when SJ was active.

John

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12 Feb 03 - 10:43 AM (#888563)
Subject: RE: Grandma's Lye Soap
From: GUEST,Joe [e-mail]

Is there a cassette available of Johnny Standley's "Grandma's Lye Soap & followed by "It's In the Book,(Parts1&2)-A parody on Gospel,Evangelism ? Circa= 1950's ("Little Bo Peep"..

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12 Feb 03 - 12:58 PM (#888690)
Subject: RE: Grandma's Lye Soap
From: GUEST,Cjones

Believe it or not, being an unusual child, I asked my parents to take me to see Horace Height (sp?) and his band at the Edgewater Beach Hotel to see Standley perform this song - even more strangely, they agreed.
Don't forget too that the song is playing on Cloris' radio in "The Last Picture Show" as her husband pulls up in the drive!!
Chris in Old Chicago

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24 Oct 04 - 11:49 AM (#1305614)
Subject: RE: Grandma's Lye Soap
From: GUEST,[e-mail]

trying to find the recording (Capitol REcords) of Grandma's Lyesoap

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28 Feb 07 - 05:09 AM (#1981560)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Grandma's Lye Soap
From: Scrump

In this recent thread I posted the words of "It's In The Book (Pt 1)" by Johnny Standley.

It was issued on Capitol records in 1952, and JS played the part of a preacher giving a 'sermon' (on the first side, part 1) about Little Bo Peep (the link above gives the wors to that). At the end of side 1, he asks people to turn to their hymnbooks for a 'hymn'. Turning the record over to play "It's In The Book (Pt 2)", you heard the above song ("Grandma's Lye Soap" or whatever the correct title is).

My parents had it on a 78rpm record, as it predated the vinyl 45. I don't know if it's ever been issued on a vinyl album or CD. Does anyone know?

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28 Feb 07 - 05:39 PM (#1982203)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Grandma's Lye Soap
From: dick greenhaus

yes it has. CAMSCO can supply it )It's on a Biggest Hits of 1952 type CD.

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28 Feb 07 - 09:31 PM (#1982359)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Grandma's Lye Soap
From: Joe_F

The tunes I have heard to "Grandma's Lye Soap" & "Lydia Pinkham" are not the same, tho they are somewhat similar. The songs evidently belong to a family, of which a recent member is "Eat Bertha's Mussels".

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28 Feb 07 - 11:24 PM (#1982400)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Grandma's Lye Soap
From: Bill D

Listen to the entire original"It's in the Book recording by Johnny Standley here.

(Lye Soap comes at the end.)

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01 Mar 07 - 08:02 AM (#1982631)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Grandma's Lye Soap
From: Scrump

So the Scaffold hit (in UK, 1968) "Lily The Pink" was based on "Lydia Pinkham", it seems. I never heard the latter song, but I did notice the lyrical connection with the "lye soap" song from "It's In The Book".

Does anyone know when "Lydia Pinkham" was written? I assume it preceded the Johnny Standley record (1952) - or did it?

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09 Dec 09 - 09:10 AM (#2784563)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Grandma's Lye Soap chords
From: GUEST

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09 Dec 09 - 01:14 PM (#2784734)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Grandma's Lye Soap
From: dick greenhaus

Lydia Pinkham's Vegetable Compound hit the market in 1876. I suspect that the song followed shortly after.

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28 Oct 10 - 12:17 AM (#3017424)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Grandma's Lye Soap
From: GUEST

I married a girl from Metchosin, Her name was Bickerdike.
We're in Port Hardy now, from one end of VI to the other.

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28 Oct 10 - 01:18 PM (#3017848)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Grandma's Lye Soap
From: Arkie

The text, "Esau is an hairy man while I am a clean man." was mentioned above. I don't recall the text for the Little Bo Peep sermon, but David Steinberg preached a sermon on the old Smother's Brothers show with the concept that Esau was a hairy man and Jacob was a smooth man. It was one of the factors that helped get the Smothers Brothers show cancelled.

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28 Oct 10 - 02:11 PM (#3017894)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Grandma's Lye Soap
From: Jim Carroll

Bawd version of Lily The Pink - from Liverpool;

The Duke of Windsor had influenza,
He found he could no longer pee.
He took a dose of medicinal compound,
And now they pipe him out to sea.

My Uncle Willie, he had a problem,
He found he could no longer s**g
He took a spoon of medicinal compound
Now forty kids all call him dad.

Jim Carroll

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28 Oct 10 - 08:29 PM (#3018144)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Grandma's Lye Soap
From: dick greenhaus

If anyone wants it, CAMSCO can supply a CD containing It's In The Book (Grandma's Lye Soap). [e-mail]

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29 Oct 10 - 08:06 PM (#3018992)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Grandma's Lye Soap
From: Larry The Radio Guy

Roy Forbes (from North Vancouver) has several copies of the original capitol 78 rpm of It's In the Book Part 1 and 2 (the latter IS Grandma's Lye Soap), which he often sells on ebay under the moniker of 7845.

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04 Oct 12 - 01:27 PM (#3414317)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Grandma's Lye Soap
From: GUEST

bILL wOOLFOLK
At 73, my memory is not what it used to be. But I swear I remember this song being sung by Andy Griffith back in he early 1950's. His version was more boisterous,vibrant,compelling than the version I am hearing from Standly. I was up,jumping around with arms in the air,and singing too. I also recall that I once had that '45 record and that it was on the flip side of Andy's story: What It Was Was Football. Does anyone else recall Andy doing this version?
There was once a magazine ( newsletter? )called GOLDMINE. It listed all the old 33.3 and 45 records with current prices. It was a publication that was somewhat sporadic, I think. But it was highly prized by collectors. Does anyone know about this publication> Could it list the version of Grandma's Lye Soap in it?

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04 Oct 12 - 01:38 PM (#3414327)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Grandma's Lye Soap
From: GUEST,Kendall

I don't recall Andy singing Grandmas lye soap but I do remember What it was was football. I believe the flip side was Romeo and Juliet.

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05 Oct 12 - 10:22 AM (#3414846)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Grandma's Lye Soap
From: GUEST,999

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xr_XQjBEgzk

The song is done at that Youtube link.

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05 Oct 12 - 12:22 PM (#3414924)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Grandma's Lye Soap
From: kendall

They used to say that in regard to Lydia Pinkham, "There is a baby in every bottle." Not surprising considering the alcohol content.

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05 Oct 12 - 04:21 PM (#3415037)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Grandma's Lye Soap
From: JohnInKansas

The "words" to "It's in the book" are something of a problem, as there were lots of "Hallelujahs" and "Amens" as background on the 78 recording that were part of the performance. Both sides of the record are sort of "ya gotta hear it" to get it really right.

Lydia Pinkham is from a somewhat different era, frequently being reported as collected from US Civil War times, which is about right for the time when the "medication" appeared. Most collections that make reference to Lydia place it along with another from that era that I believe was usually titled "John Harrelson" or something of the sort, for the demand that the ladies should save their pee for making gunpowder. (Appparently John Harrelson(?) was a real person(?) - and did make that request(?).)

"All of the above" have been discussed in earlier threads here if memory serves me, althought this thread, started in 1997, might be one of the "older threads" I remember.

John

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24 Nov 18 - 01:20 AM (#3962997)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Grandma's Lye Soap
From: Joe Offer

email from somebody named Sally -

I looked up the words to lye soap - Paul Dixon used to lip sinc the song on his broadcast years ago and I found it on your site it always made me feel warm and fuzzy as I helped my granny make lye soap in a kettle outside in a fire pit in Waynesburg ky.

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