27 Dec 97 - 02:11 AM (#18319) Subject: Kay From: murray@mpce.mq.edu.au I am trying to find the lyrics and performer of a song. It is sung with voice and piano in a style very much like Big Bill Broonzy's (and the performer could very well be him.) The singer tells the story of a girl he knew named Kay who wandered off somewhere and he is looking for her. He develops this theme, constantly begging the listener to tell kay he is looking for her if the listener happens to run into her. The last line of the song is So remember everybody, If you see Kay...
Thanks Murray |
27 Dec 97 - 06:26 PM (#18333) Subject: RE: Kay From: Earl The singer was Memphis Slim. It is avalible on a CD called "Bawdy Blues" on Prestige/Bluesville Records. Most of the song is a spoken monolog and I'll try to transcirbe it tomorrow. The chorus is sung, a 12-bar blues: If You See Kay
If you see kay, tell her to come back home and it ends:
So remember to contact Memphis Slim |
28 Dec 97 - 04:17 AM (#18354) Subject: RE: Kay From: murray@mpce.mq.edu.au Thanks Earl, I am glad to hear of the Memphis Slim version. If you transcribe it, put it on the database. There is nothing under [If you see Kay] at the moment. I will put the CD on my wish list. It isn't the one I had in mind, because the one I remember doesn't hit you with "If you see Kay" until the very end of the song, making a better joke, albeit a less bawdy song. "My" version is also all talking rather than singing with a blues piano accompaniment. Murray
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28 Dec 97 - 02:13 PM (#18363) Subject: ADD: If You See Kay (Memphis Slim) From: Earl Here's the Memphis Slim version. The CD lists it as public domain, I would guess the concept is as old as the hills. I've performed this song and I would say the problem with saving the punchline for the end is that people don't always catch on right away. Putting it earlier gives people time to ask "What did he say?" before hearing it again. Anyway here it is:
IF YOU SEE KAY
(sung)
(spoken)
(sung) |
29 Dec 97 - 08:44 PM (#18432) Subject: RE: Kay From: murray@mpce.mq.edu.au Thanks Earl, The text of this version is pretty close to what I remember. If anything it is better. The version I heard was played on the radio in the early 60s. The final line came as a surprise and the last chord of the piano was still ringing in my ear when I "caught on". It is not because I am slow, but you just didn't expect to hear that on the radio! I think that at the time the piece was recorded, audiences wouldn't have expected to hear it either. I could see it would be different in a live performance in the 90s with a good audience who is "with" you and is less naive than audiences 30 or 40 years ago. Murray |
29 May 98 - 07:48 PM (#29653) Subject: RE: Kay From: murray@mpce.mq.edu.au Earl, I finally got the Memphis Slim Disk. It is the same version that I was thinking of. What I forgot was that the verses are so long. Thanks for telling me about it. Murray |
29 May 98 - 08:43 PM (#29657) Subject: RE: Kay From: Roger Himler You may not be slow, Murray, but I certainly am. It took multiple readings of this thread to realize the last words of the song were very similar to four letters in a four letter word. And I had always thought I was quite the man of the world. Roger in Baltimore |
30 May 98 - 12:20 AM (#29667) Subject: RE: Kay From: Art Thieme Big Bill DID play the piano once in a while, but recordings of that were rare. This just doesn't sound like a song he would've done. Memphis Slim liked novelty audience pleasers like this. |
30 May 98 - 06:10 AM (#29685) Subject: RE: Kay From: murray@mpce.mq.edu.au Yeah, Roger, but hearing it is different from reading it. It might show you are a good reader and don't say things to yourself while you read. Murray |
30 May 98 - 10:15 AM (#29691) Subject: RE: Kay From: Earl The first time I ever heard the song it was performed by a piano player named Sweet Pie. He played downstairs at a strip clup in Salisbury, MA wearing nothing but a loin cloth. Between songs he would individually insult everyone in the audience. That's entertainment. |
30 May 98 - 08:24 PM (#29720) Subject: RE: Kay From: murray@mpce.mq.edu.au There used to be a guy like that in a Phila cafe in the early 60s. I forget his name, but he dressed up like a cave man (and insulted the audience during numbers!) He didn't do anything as good as "Kay", though. Murray |
30 May 98 - 09:48 PM (#29728) Subject: RE: Kay From: Barbara I get it! I get it! It's like that song from the 60s...Miss Morse I want you... and the chorus goes: Dit dit dah dit, dit dit dah, dah dit dah dit, dah dit dah. Right? Barbara |
04 Dec 15 - 07:12 PM (#3755776) Subject: RE: Kay From: GUEST,kev The Strokes have a version if you see Kay more than a tip of the house 2 the original Blues version |
04 Dec 15 - 10:39 PM (#3755797) Subject: RE: ADD: If You See Kay (Memphis Slim) From: Joe Offer Hmmmm....interesting. I didn't get the double entendre until I heard this recording by Memphis Slim: There are those who say that Joe Offer is not too quick at recognizing double entendres. They're probably right. Part of my boyish innocence, I suppose. |