Saturday 18 October 2014

Jazz Voices

I was listening to some jazz music the other evening and was reminded of my university Jazz History professor.  As part of his course he made a set of audio recordings for all the students to borrow and copy.  These were recordings of jazz pieces by both obscure and well-known musicians.  We had to listen to them until we were able to identify them just from hearing a short phrase.

One of the songs was a piece called "Gimme a Pigfoot", composed by American songwriter Wesley Wilson and first performed by the great blues singer Bessie Smith in 1933.  The lyrics are below, and contain some New York Jive slang which I've translated here:

Full of corn - Alcohol made from fermented corn, most likely moonshine
Pigfoot - Fried pig's foot, a cheap delicacy
Gates - Men
Shim Sham Shimmy - Classic tap dance routine
Reefer - Marijuana cigarette
Gang - A lot

Gimme A Pigfoot

Twenty-five cents? Ha! No! No!
I wouldn't pay twenty-five cents to go in nowhere!
'Cause listen here!

Up in Harlem ev'ry Saturday night
When the high-brows git together it's just too tight
They all congregate at an all-night strut
And what they do is tut-tut-tut
Old Hannah Brown from 'cross town
Gets full of corn and starts breakin' 'em down
Just at the break of day
You can hear old Hannah say,

Gimme a pigfoot and a bottle of beer,
Give me gates, I don't care
I feel just like I wanna clown
Give the piano player a drink because he's bringin' me down
He's got rhythm, yeah! when he stomps his feet
He sends me right off to sleep
Check all your razors and your guns
We gonna be rasslin' when the wagon comes

I wanna pigfoot and a bottle of beer
Send me 'cause I don't care
Blame me 'cause I don't care

Gimme a pigfoot and a bottle of beer
Give me gates, I don't care
I feel just like I wanna clown
Give the piano player a drink because he's bringing me down
He's got rhythm, yeah! when he stomps his feet
He sends me right off to sleep
Check all your razors and your guns
Do the Shim Sham Shimmy 'til the rising sun

Give me a reefer and a gang of gin
Play me 'cause I'm in my sin,
Blame me 'cause I'm full of gin

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