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Lyr Req: Frim Fram Sauce

19 Feb 05 - 06:34 PM (#1415202)
Subject: Frim fram sauce
From: GUEST,Sheila

Does anyone know what frim fram sauce, ausen fay and chifafa (on the side) are? Nat King Cole, Ella and others sing it.   Is it nonsense or some southern reference?   Thanks.


19 Feb 05 - 06:50 PM (#1415214)
Subject: Lyr Add: FRIM FRAM SAUCE (from Diana Krall)
From: Peace

Frim Fram Sauce
All For You (A Dedication to The Nat King Cole Trio)

I don't want French-fried potatoes,
Red, ripe tomatoes.
I'm never satisfied.
I want the Frim Fram Sauce
With the oss and fay
With shifafa on the side.

I don't want pork chops and bacon.
That won't awaken
My appetite INSIDE.
I want the Frim Fram Sauce
With the oss and fay
With shifafa on the side.

Well, you know,
A girl, she really got to eat,
And a girl, she should eat right.
Five will get you ten
I'm gonna feed myself right tonight.

I don't want fish-cakes and Rye bread,
You heard what I said.
Waiter, please, I want mine fried.
I want the Frim Fram Sauce
With the oss and fay
With shifafa on the side.

Shoo, doo-doo-doo-ya, doo, doo;
Shuuba doo-ya doo, sheeya-did'n'doo.

I don't want French-fried potatoes,
Red, ripe tomatoes.
I'm never satisfied.
I want the Frim Fram Sauce
With the oss and fay
With shifafa on the side.

I don't want pork chops and bacon.
That won't awaken
My appetite INSIDE. *************
I want the Frim Fram Sauce
With the oss and fay
With shifafa on the side.

Now you know,
Girls, we really got to eat,
And you know we should eat right.
Five will get you ten
I'm gonna feed myself right tonight.

I don't want fish-cakes and Rye bread,
You heard what I said.
Waiter, please, I want mine fried.
I want the Frim Fram Sauce
With the oss and fay
With shifafa on the side.
Ooh, with shifafa, uh, on the side.
(as recorded by Diana Krall)


19 Feb 05 - 06:57 PM (#1415219)
Subject: ADDPOP: Frim Fram Sauce
From: Joe Offer

I have to say that I am embarrassed that we haven't had this song posted here yet. I found lyrics and an explanation here: http://www.thepeaches.com/music/ella/FrimFramSauce.txt
It's the best explanation I've seen so far. I first heard the song on a Diana Krall recording, and I've also heard Nat King Cole's version. I wonder where to find Ella's version - apparently, she and Louis Armstrong introduced it in 1946, and Nat "King" Cole's recording was a cover.
-Joe Offer-



from JohnnyO
There's a good reason that you couldn't decipher that part...because it's gibberish. In Nat's original version, there's a tip-off sentence that explains the whole thing. Here first is Diana's version, followed by Nat's. Each of them, by the way, uses a different gibberish line in the song, so each has been given the one specific to that performer.

Having said that, I must, in all fairness, give equal time to those who have a dissenting opinion. Quoting from the liner notes to Mosaic's 18-CD set, "Some older musicians contend that, while the title made as much sense as "Shoo Fly Pie," in fact there really was an "Ausen" bakery that served something called "chefafa" on the side." Personally, I wonder more about what those "older musicians"
had been drinking than what they had been eating...especially in light of Nat's final line.

There was a wealth of material to choose from for Nat, this being one of his most-recorded songs, including a V-disc recording and 3 live versions that have been issued on CD alone, ALL of which include the final line that explains the whole thing. I went with the domestically-released studio version for the transcript.

Anyway, it's a shame to realize that my dream girl has feet of clay... leaving out the joke without which the song makes no sense. But she compensates for it with a neat stride intro which sounds a lot like Fats Waller with a hangover...as opposed to Nat's own intro, which sounds more like Art Tatum on 'ludes...and I must say it's refreshing to know that this is the second lyric from Diana/Nat I've been asked to post here...

[See Brucie's transcription of the Diana Krall version above.]

The Frim Fram Sauce
(Joe Ricardel and Redd Evans)
as recorded by Nat King Cole/The King Cole Trio

I don't want French-fried potatoes,
Red, ripe tomatoes.
I'm never satisfied.
I want the Frim Fram Sauce
With feeossanfay
With shifafa on the side.

I don't want pork chops and bacon.
That won't awaken
My appetite inside.
I want the Frim Fram Sauce
With feeossanfay
With shifafa on the side.

A fella really got to eat,
An' a fella should eat right.
Five will get you ten
I'm gonna feed myself right tonight.

I don't want fish-cakes and rye bread.
You heard what I said.
Waiter, please serve mine fried.
I want the Frim Fram Sauce
With feeossanfay
With shifafa on the side.

A fella really got to eat,
An' a fella should eat right.
Five will get you ten
I'm gonna feed myself right tonight.

I don't want fish-cakes and rye bread.
You heard what I said.
Waiter, please serve mine fried.
I want the Frim Fram Sauce
With feeossanfay
With shifafa on the side.

[spoken] Now, if you don't have it,
Just bring me a check for the water.

---

From: "Johnny O"




tpeach@gte.net


19 Feb 05 - 07:26 PM (#1415236)
Subject: RE: Frim fram sauce
From: GUEST,Sheila

You folks are incredible! Many thanks.


19 Feb 05 - 07:46 PM (#1415249)
Subject: RE: Frim fram sauce
From: GUEST,Sheila

Joe, Ella and Louis Armstrong sing it on "Ella Fitzgerald: 1936-1950". I heard a sound clip on www.CDconnection.com with a search for Ella. It's a 4 CD collection. Thanks again for the help.