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ADD: GRANNY'S OLD ARMCHAIR

21 Nov 99 - 04:55 AM (#139099)
Subject: grannie's old armchair
From: Trev

Can anyone let me have the lyrics to this old one - the one about finding a wad of money in the old chair - 'How they tittered.......' etc

Click here for alternate lyrics
also here

Old Brown Pants parody here

21 Nov 99 - 09:37 AM (#139130)
Subject: Lyr Add: GRANNY'S OLD ARMCHAIR^^
From: RoyH (Burl)

GRANNY'S OLD ARMCHAIR.
originally English music hall song 'Grandmother's Chair' written in 1877 by John Read. Adapted and sung as Granny's Old Armchair by the great Frank Crumit. He recorded it in 1929. The story of the song was the basis of the 1941 Jack Benny film 'The Fifth Chair'.

1. My grandmother she, at the age of eighty-three,
One day took sick and died,
And after she was dead, the will of course was read
By a lawyer, and we all stood side by side.
To my brother it was found, she had left one hundred pound,
The same unto my sister, I declare,
But when it came to me, the lawyer said, "I see
She has left you her old armchair."

CHORUS. How they tittered! How they chaffed!
How my brothers and my sisters laughed
When they heard the lawyer declare
"Granny has left you her old armchair."

2. I thought it hardly fair, and still I did not care,
And in the evening took the chair away.
The neighbours they chaffed, and my brother at me laughed,
And said, "It will be useful someday.
When you settle down in life, find a girl to be your wife,
You'll find it very handy I declare.
On a cold and frosty night when the fire burns bright
You can sit in your old armchair." CHORUS

3. What my brother said was true, for in a year or two,
I had settled down in married life.
I first the girl did court, and then a ring I bought,
Took her to the church to be my wife.
Oh, the old girl and me were as happy as can be,
For when my work was over, I declare,
I never abroad would roam, but each night stayed at home,
And was seated in my old armchair. CHORUS.

4. One night the chair fell down; when I picked it up, I found
The seat had fallen out upon the floor,
And there to my surprise, I saw before my eyes
A lot of notes, two thousand pounds or more.
When my brother heard of this, the fellow, I confess,
Went nearly wild with rage and tore his hair.
I only laughed at him, and said unto him, "Jim,
Don't you wish you had the old armchair?" CHORUS.

That's it. A grand song, charming, humorous, and a lovely chorus for all to sing. Enjoy! ^^

Line Breaks added.
-Joe Offer-

21 Nov 99 - 09:40 AM (#139131)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: grannie's old armchair
From: RoyH (Burl)

Trev, sorry I didn't put the first verse in very clearly. I hope you can read it. any problems, get back to me. Happy singing

21 Nov 99 - 10:58 AM (#139155)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: grannie's old armchair
From: Joe Offer

Hi - if you put "chair" in the filter box and set the date for three years, you'll find several threads about this song. If you're looking for sheet music, go to the Lester S. Levy Collection of Sheet Music (click), and search for arm chair. Great song, isn't it?
-Joe Offer-

21 Nov 99 - 12:39 PM (#139179)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: grannie's old armchair
From: RoyH (Burl)

THANKS JOE OFFER. I DON'T KNOW HOW YOU DID THAT, BUT THANKS. YES, IT IS A GREAT SONG. I'VE SUNG IT FOR YEARS, FOR FUN AND IN PERFORMANCE. OLDER AGE AUDIENCES LOVE IT. CHEERS

21 Nov 99 - 12:50 PM (#139183)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: grannie's old armchair
From: Joe Offer

Hi, Burl - It's pretty easy to add HTML line breaks, which look like this:

<br>


A few of us have "edit" buttons so we can fix things others have posted. If you mess up, just send me a personal message with the thread name, and I'll try my best to fix it - or just post a second message in the thread, asking Joe Offer or a JoeClone® to fix it.
It's best to type song lyrics in a word processor, and then use the "replace" function to replace carriage returns with both a carriage return and the <br> HTML line break. Hope that helps.
-Joe Offer-

21 Nov 99 - 12:58 PM (#139185)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: grannie's old armchair
From: Nancy-Jean

David Jones does a wonderful rendition of this song on "Songs of Exquisite Taste". I have the cassette which is done by Collegium Sounds Studio, World Folk Arts, Inc.

22 Nov 99 - 01:22 AM (#139405)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: grannie's old armchair
From: Sandy Paton

David's tape is available from Folk-Legacy, too. I get to claim responsibility for the inspired title: "Songs of Exquisite Taste." When David outlined for me the songs he planned to record and asked for a suggestion, I gave him that, and he liked it! David, by the way, is a splendid singer, originally from England, now living in New Jersey. His most recent recording, on CD, is "From England's Shore," and it's a dandy! Of course, we have that one, too. Just click here: FOLK-LEGACY.

If that blue clicky thing works, I'm making progress, Joe.

Sandy

25 Apr 01 - 07:20 PM (#449435)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: grannie's old armchair
From: dick greenhaus

What Sandy didn't mention is that two--count 'em, two--versions appear on Folk-Legacy's Ballads and Songs of Tradition.

26 Apr 01 - 05:45 AM (#449664)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: grannie's old armchair
From: Orac

I've mentioned this in a thread before ..It isn't clear who wrote this song. In the Library of Congress there are two copies one by John Read as above.. and this one by the performer Frank B. Carr who also claimed to have written it.
See here Click here

26 Apr 01 - 05:51 AM (#449666)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: grannie's old armchair
From: Orac

Damn...Why don't these clicky things work when you want them to?

26 Apr 01 - 11:36 PM (#450328)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: grannie's old armchair
From: Joe Offer

I think part of it may be that the library of congress memory site seems to be down...
You can find sheet music at The Lester S. Levy Collection of Sheet Music here (Cook & Heine) and here (Henry Russell) and here (John Read)
-Joe Offer-