Topic: Ben Curry/Bogus Ben Covington Lyrics

[Johnm]

I'm still hearing another syllable in there, and I don't think "'em" follows "cut", sounds like "the" does to me.

[Old Man Ned]

In the 4th verse for
Charleston man teacher come to our town, teachin' everybody how to get it down, old woman got out, a little too fast, caught the rheumatism on her yas-yas-yas

I'm hearing 'poor woman' not old woman

I'm also hearing 'meat cutter from the block' but can't figure the rest if that's any help.

All the best,
Ned

[Johnm]

Hi all,
I re-listened, and I think the front end of the tagline of the last verse of "The New Dirty Dozen" is:

            Meat cutter from the block, cut the bone from the steps

I will enter that.
All best,
Johnm

[Johnm]

Hi all,
The one remaining issued title by Bogus Ben Covington/Ben Curry is his version of "Fat Mouth Blues", released by him as Ben Curry and recorded in Grafton in January of 1932. This one is really tough to hear, and I would very much appreciate help with the first verse's two opening lines or any other passages you think I have wrong. I think "burleycue" is a corruption of "burlesque". Here is "Fat Mouth Blues":



INTRO SOLO

Told me the fat mouth bully cooks don't need no line
They told the fat mouth mama, bully cooks don't need no line
There's so many hard-working women, tellin' men, "Don't need no job."

HARMONICA/BANJO-MANDOLIN SOLO

Said she ain't gonna sell it, and she will not give it away
And she said she ain't gon' sell it, and she will not give it away
She's gonna save it for Charlie, he will be home today

SOLO X 2

Some of these funny women just like drivin' a automobile
Some of these funny women just like drivin' a automobile
She have to step on his gas, to make him climb the hill

SOLO

Never mind, never mind, baby, I got my eyes on you
Never mind, never mind, baby, got my doggone eyes on you
Some of these days, mama, you're gon' do like I want you to

SOLO X 2

CODA

Edited 2/14 to pick up corrections from waxwing
Edited 2/17 to pick up correction from banjochris
Edited 2/18 to pick up correction from banjochris

All best,
Johnm

 

[waxwing]

2nd line seems pretty similar to the 1st line in V1 to me Johnm. I'm not convinced it's "Told me to say", but I got nothing better. Might be "somebody said"? I think the last word is "job" and he isn't trying to rhyme. Anyway, could be something like:

Told me to say my burleycues don't need no lies
Oh, told me to say, my mama, burleycues don't need no lies
There's so many hard-working women, THOSE men don't need no JOB.

It's tough.

Wax

[Johnm]

Thanks very much for the help, wax. I think your suggestions for the second half of the tagline are spot on, and make perfect sense with the first half of the line. The only change I would make is to begin the second line with "They" rather than "Oh". I will make the changes.

[banjochris]

Hi all,
I re-listened, and I think the front end of the tagline of the last verse of "The New Dirty Dozen" is:

            Meat cutter from the block, cut the bone from the steps

John, I think that's a great suggestion and I can't listen again right now (I'm on a work call) but do you think it's possible he's saying "cut the bone from the steaks" so quickly that the vowel in "steaks" shortened up a bit?
Chris

[Johnm]

That is certainly plausible, Chris. Re-listening three times at pretty high volume through a good speaker, it does sound like "steps" at the back end of the word, though, with it ending in "ps" rather than "ks". I suspect that he meant to sing "steaks" as you suggest, and mis-spoke. It wouldn't be the first times somebody did that, myself included!

[banjochris]

John, I think that first verse of "Fat Mouth" is:

Told me THE FAT MOUTH BULLY COOK don't need no lies
They told me THE FAT MOUTH, mama, BULLY COOK don't need no lies
There's so many hard-working women, TELLIN' men "don't need no job"
(I don't hear an S in job)

Chris

[Johnm]

Thanks very much for that catch and suggestion, Chris. I'm especially happy to see "fat mouth" fit in so well in the front end of those first two lines--it takes the song out of the realm of  "mystery title". Do you have any sense of what a "bully cook" would mean? I googled "bully cook" and came up dry. I have heard of "bully stew", I'm pretty sure, and the phonetics are spot on, so I will make the change. Thanks!

[banjochris]

I don't think it's an expression, I think he's just referring to a particular person who happens to be a bully and a cook.

It's a rather peculiar verse however you look at it but I wonder if it's one of those references that made sense to him and his friends but not to a wider group.

If anyone has a better idea or if it is an expression I hope they let us know!

[waxwing]

I keep wondering if there is a word that sounds like "lies" that refers to kitchen help or waiters, perhaps in a derogatory way. The sense I get from the verse is that Bogus Ben might be looking for a job but they told him the fat mouth cook doesn't need anyone, and the third line reveals that the staff is all women, who work harder than men. Maybe the unneeded "lies" are those told by a  job seeker?

Just trying to make some sense out of it. Verses don't really seem to be related to each other.

Wax

[banjochris]

I had considered “line” in the sense of a job, Wax, but thought that might be a stretch. Will have to listen some more.

[Johnm]

Hi guys,
"Line" actually does make sense, in terms of working in a kitchen. In a large restaurant or institutional kitchen, people are often referred to as "line cooks".  If you put the word in as ending the first two lines of the verse, it could mean the fat mouth bully cook is saying, "I don't need any help, I can do it all myself in here, and I have so many women working at the necessary unskilled positions, that we don't need to hire any men to work in here." So it would be suggesting he wants to be ruler of the roost, and doesn't want any competition or questioning of his authority, which other men might be liable to do. I just re-listened a couple of times, and at the end of the first line especially it does sound like "line", and in neither line could I hear an "s" at the end. I think it is "line". I would be willing to go with "line", both for sound and sense.
All best,
Johnm

[dj]

"Bully" used as an adjective has another meaning: good, great, excellent.  Think of the expression "Bully for you", or our speaking of the Presidency as a "Bully pulpit" (a term first used, I think, by Teddy Roosevelt).  That meaning is now well on its way to being archaic, but Ben Curry would have known it.  Thinking of this meaning of bully, the sense of the line could be "Great cooks don't need any excuses" or, if you hear "line, it would be "Great cooks don't need any helpers".  I'm not entirely convinced that this is the correct meaning of the line, but it's a possibility.