Edited by Azizi Powell
Revised September 8, 2018 [removed links to my now inactive cocojams.com website]
"Hooka Tooka Soda Craka" is a song that is most often associated with the Rhythm & Blues singer Chubby Checker or the Folk/Pop singer Judy Henske.
A number of places online I read a story about this song that fans attributed to Judy Henske. According to that story Judy Henske said that the lyrics to "Hooka Tooka Soda Cracker" come from Black American children* who would sing this song to warn their mothers who were prostitutes that the police were outside the building where the mothers were working. For example, read this YouTube sound file publisher's summary:
Hooka Tooka Two
Man06ful, Uploaded on Aug 22, 2009
"the main lyrics here came from a skip rope song by children of prostitutes playing outside the whore houses. Somehow Judy Henske found this song - svaed [sic] it. The kids were holding soda crackers and chewing tobacco to pass to their mothers if there was a bust."
-snip-
This video uploader expands on that story in his or her comments on that sound file's viewer comment thread:
"Henske made up the lyrics - Green Rocky Road - and had a law suit for years with Chubby Checker who - used her lyrics. Henske introduced the song - explaining the bit about kids in front of whore houses holding chewing tobbacco and soda crackers for their mothers if there was a bust - because in jail they werent allowed cigarettes and the bread was mouldy. The rythme - lyrics are exactly like other skip rope songs....
-Man06ful, 2010 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsAt9hrrKh0
-snip-
The story that "Hooka Tooka Soda Cracka" comes from a "skip rope song by children of protitutes playing outside the whore houses" just doesn't seem credible to me.
It ssems probable to me that this story is an elaboration by fans of a joking comment that Judy Henske made during an introduction to that song, an elaboration which was not only accepted by some of her fans, but grew to include the "holding soda cracker and chewing tobacco" portion. According to a blogger with the screen name "old frat" on this 1996 discussion thread https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!topic/rec.music.folk/SkUpw3iKaQs "Hooka Tooka My Soda Cracker"
"Judy Henske does a great version of this song ["Does your mama chaw tobacca?], and is probably the one you remember.
On the album, it starts with a humorous monologue intro where she asks the group to repeat the chorus. She then says, "You sound like a bunch of kids outside a Chicago whorehouse." The song itself doesn't really seem to be about this subject at all --or I've been mssing the true meaning of soda cracker all of my life."
-snip-
The question about which album this comment is found in was answered in 2003 by Joe Offer on this thread of the Mudcat Folk & Blues music forum http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=59549 "Lyr Req: PLease help 'Hucka CHucka soda cracka'?":
"I found the Henske arrangement - it's on her self-titled album, released on Elektra in 1963 and recently reissued on CD. She calls it "Hooka Tooka," and says it's traditional, arranged by Henske."
If this story [about the children singing in front of a Chicago whore house] isn't an elaboration by her fans of a comment that Judy Henske made about the quality of her audience's singing that "Hooka Tooka" song, [and] if Judy Henske actually believed the story about the song being used by children to warn their mothers of a police bust story, I have these questions:
How did that singer learn that the jump rope rhyme/song "Hooka Tooka Soda Cracka" was used by those Black children* (in Chicago or elsewhere) as a means of warning their mothers or other women in that whore house that a police bust was imminent? Did she hear the children singing that song and then go up to them and ask them why they were singing it? If the children told her that story, did she believe it without checking it? And how would she check such a story? Isn't it possible that those Black children made up a fanciful story for that White woman?
Also, how did she know that they were "holding soda crackers and chewing tobacco to give to their mothers if there was a bust?" Where were these items placed while they were turning a jump rope and jumping rope? Furthermore, is it consistent with mothers' behaviors that they would force their children or encourage their children to play in front of the house where they are whoring so that their children would warn them in a pre-arranged manner of a possible police bust?
In my opinion, that this story has been accepted by so many people without questioning its crediblity speaks to [is a reflection of] Americans' negative stereotypes about Black women.
Even if Judy Henske somehow learned that "Hooka Tooka Soda Craker" was sung by some children in Chicago to warn their mothers of a police bust, that doesn't mean that this song was first sung for that reason. Nor does it mean that this song was always sung for that reason.
*[April 8, 2014] In response to a comment that is added to this post, I admit that I haven't read that Judy Henske attributed this song to Black children singing this song in front of Chicago whorehouses to warn their prostitute mothers that the police were coming, but just to children singing this song in front of a Chicago whorehouse. I've read that story several places including https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/rec.music.folk/SkUpw3iKaQs [Bill Schiers, 3/26/96 refers to children without any race given.] That said, although I've done no research to test that theory, I still believe that when most people besides me read that theory, they think that it refers to Black children/Black prostitutes. Read my full response to this commenter in the comment section below.
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CORRECTING THAT URBAN MYTH
I believe that the song "Hooka Tooka Soda Cracka" is an American (probably African American) adaptation of the United Kingdom children's counting out rhyme "Icka Backa Soda Cracker". I also believe that the United Kingdom children's singing game "Walking On The Green Grass" is another source of "Hooka Tooka Soda Cracker" song. The American song "Green Green Rocky Road" sometimes include a version of "Hooka Tooka Soda Cracka".
By the way, the end word of "hooka tooka soda cracka" rhymes with the second line in that couplet -"does your mama chew tobacca". The "does your mama chew tobacco" line probably originated as a "dig" (an insult, rip, diss). That phrase definitely predates Judy Henske's 1963 song, "Hooka Tooka" song e.g. read the entry "Green Green Rocky Road" given below which "was collected [in 1955] from the children of Lilly Chapel School in York, Alabama and is found in "Negro Songs From Alabama" by Harold Courlander".
I'll let others debate whether Judy Henske or Ernest Evans (Chubby Checker) was the first to write the "Hooka Tooka" song.
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FEATURED SOUND FILES AND VIDEOS
Example #1: Chubby Checker Hooka Tooka
Marcello Felici, ploaded on Feb 27, 2012
Hooka Tooka 1963
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Example #2: hookatooka
.
redheadedberry, Uploaded on Feb 22, 2009
-snip-
Girls singing "Hooka Tooka" around a camp fire.
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Example #3: Taj Mahal & André Christovam - Green Green Rocky Road
Annecysavoie | December 27, 2008
Heineken Concerts - Bourbon Street - São Paulo - 2000
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Acka Backa Soda Cracker!
julietlovesjoe Published on Jun 12, 2012
They played a game at Luka's concert this morning. Check it out!! 6/12/2012
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND THANKS
The content of this post is presented for folkloric, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to the composers of this song. Thanks also to those whose comments I quoted. Also, thanks to those featured in these videos, to the producers of these videos, and to the video's publishers on YouTube.
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
Dave Van Ronk discusses the (alleged?) writing of "Green Rocky Road" (before Henske's release of "Hooka Tooka", I believe): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngFUyhuF31U
ReplyDeleteThe Mighty Louche,
DeleteThanks for your comment. My apology for just reading it so late.
I didn't mean to imply that Chubby Checker and Judy Henske are the only vocalists who have recorded the song "Hooka Tooka".
DeleteIf I were re-writing the first sentence to this post, I would change that sentence to read that those two vocalists currently appear to be most often associated with the song "Hooka Tooka".
Okay, so you have zero experience with folk music, anything that has been passed down as folk music, things people list as "traditional" (that's a big one) or basically anything about the whole genre? I thought so. When someone attributes a song as "traditional", that means they picked it up some where, learned it, it was passed down. From www.traditionalmusic.co.uk: "TRADITIONAL MUSIC DEFINITION: Songs and tunes which have been performed, by custom, over a long period (usually several generations). They are most often folk songs, country dance or similar types of folk music but they can also be pieces from known early composers and may have been the "pop music " of their time. Traditional music (or public domain) is also used as a copyright status covering music which is out of copyright. In Europe (EEC) music copyright does not expire till 70 years after the death of the composer." They claim no ownership over the lyrics, and no one else does either. She arranged the song, added portions of "Prominade in Green" (since you did NO research on this piece, I will let you know that is a completely different folk song), and made a bitchen song, with a bitchen story. You have done no debunking, no disection, only postulating with no research. Congratulations on writing one of the worst music articles I have ever read.
ReplyDeleteGosh, and I forgot to ask why you think it's about black children, or black women??? PLEASE! You never even listened to the song did you? Or are you assuming that when she says the bordellos of Chicago were all black women at the time (who knows the time, the song is old as heck) racist much?
DeleteThanks for your comments, J.C. Kelly.
DeleteWith regard to your first comment - Yes. I'm aware of definitions for "traditional music".
As to the song "Promenade In Green" (Also given as "Green Green Rocky Road", I am aware that that is an independent song that is sometimes combined with "Hooka Tooka Soda Cracker".
My post doesn't include the lyrics to any version of this song, but two versions of those lyrics can be found at https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/rec.music.folk/SkUpw3iKaQs comment by Duke Wilson & Ranger Rita 4/2/96
Here's the lyrics that Duke Wilson posted:
Green Green Rock Road
When I go by Baltimore, got no carpets on my floor.
Got no carpets on my floor, when I go by Baltimore.
ch.
Green green, rocky road
Promenade and green,
Tell me who you love,
Tell me who you love.
When you see me coming fast, sweep the floor and mow the grass.
Sweep the floor and mow the grass, when you see me coming fast.
ch.
bridge:Tell me who you love,
tell me who you love,
won't you tell me who you love.
Hooka Duka soda cracker, does you mother chew tobacca.
Does your mother chew tobacco, hooka duka soda cracker.
ch.
See that crow up in the sky, he can't walk but he can fly.
He can't walk but he can fly, can't be free like you and I.
ch.
bridge:
[continuation]
DeleteJ.C. Kelly,
I appreciate your comments because it has motivated me to return to this post and add to it these words:
"In response to a comment that is added to this post, I admit that I haven't read that Judy Henske attributed this song to Black children singing this song in front of Chicago whorehouses to warn their prostitute mothers that the police were coming, but just to children singing this song in front of a Chicago whorehouse. I've read that story several places including https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/rec.music.folk/SkUpw3iKaQs [Bill Schiers, 3/26/96] refers to children without any race given. That said, although I've done no research to test this theory, I still believe that when most people besides me read that theory about Hooka Tooka Soda Cracker, they think that theory refers to Black children/Black prostitutes."...
-snip-
If I were writing this post now I would add those lyrics given above by Duke Wilson (with a note that "Hooka Duka" may be a typo). And I would share my opinion that the lyrics to that song reflect African American Vernacular English as does other lyric versions of that song that are combined with "Green Green Rocky Road" lyrics. For example, the words "When I go by Baltimore, got no carpets on my floor." are part of or similar to floating verses that are found in a number of late 19th century or early 20th century "folk songs" that are attributed to African Americans (For instance, the song "Driving In A Buggy Miss Mary Jane".)
J.C.Kelly: Clearly, you are an idiot. The woman who wrote this is african-american. Your ridiculous comment "racist much" would not have been necessary had you taken a moment to read that on the right of the article rather than hop on the defensive train without a ticket.
DeleteThanks, Cassy.
DeleteI appreciate your support.
I am a little confused by this discussion - as for "fans attributing" the story, Henske herself outlines it in full (taking almost 2 minutes to do so) on this version http://open.spotify.com/track/6fq1evgojrQUh4C5w2ZHEY
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments tricktd.
DeleteI appreciate the link you provided to Judy Henske's introduction to and performance of "Hooka Tooka". That hyperlink is http://open.spotify.com/track/6fq1evgojrQUh4C5w2ZHEY
In that introduction, Henske speaks of children standing in front of Chicago bordellos (i.e. brothels, whorehouses) to act as spies, warning those inside that the police were coming by singing "Hooka Tooka Soda Cracka". In this post I express my doubt that this story is true or if it was true for a particular group of children in Chicago or elsewhere, that was likely an isolated incident, and not the real purpose of the song.
With regard to the race of the children who Henske referred to, please read my April 8, 2014 comment and my note referring to that comment that I added to this post. In that comment and in that post I acknowledge that Judy Henske didn't mention the children's race. In that comment I indicated that I jumped to that conclusion because some lyrics to that song are found in songs that have definitely been attributed to Black people.(ie. the lines that are also found in "Riding In A Buggy Miss Mary Jane" and other songs.)
As to contacting Judy Henske to find out where she got that story from, that's a good idea. If you have her contact information, and would share it with me (via my email address given in the About us section of this blog), I will contact her. Or if you prefer to contact her yourself, please let us know the results of your query.
Thanks for the correct link. She has a web site- maybe contact her via that? It would be interesting to find out where she got the story from.
DeleteThere is an address given on her site if you wish to write a letter. Judy Henske
DeleteP.O. Box 326 Plaza Station
Pasadena, CA 91102
...In that elaboration, she refers only to the children of prostitutes, making no reference to race. It would, I feel, be quite surprising if there were no white sex workers around in Chicago at the relevant time. As for where Henske got the story from, she is happily still with us, so perhaps someone could ask her?
ReplyDeleteBack and forth drama. Probably these children heard this song passed down through generations and just used it as a rump rope song while forced to play outside the house while Mama was doing her thing inside. Reading all this hoopla is not going to change my life one bit.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment, Anonymous.
DeleteAs an old fart from NYC, I can testify that girls would recite the rhyme while jumping rope. Not just black girls, girls of all colors. I heard it as "ooka dooka" but "hooka tooka" works just as well. This was in the early 1950s, long before Judy Henske and Chubby Checker. There are some great source books of jump-rope rhymes and other verses associated with children's games, but I don't have a reference handy. Might post a link later.
ReplyDeleteAnyone interested in more jump rope rhymes can find over 600 in A Dictionary of Jump Rope Rhymes by Roger Abrahams, American Folklore Society, published by University of Texas Press. See https://utpress.utexas.edu/books/abrjum
ReplyDeleteAnd just to be clear, the girls I saw reciting to this rhyme had no connection to sex workers. That sounds to me like a myth, and if they said it was black girls, a racist myth to boot.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, thanks for your comments, including demographics, about the "hooka tooka soda cracka" rhyme. I agree with you that the "sex worker" connection is an urban myth.
DeleteI'm familiar with Roger Abrahams "Dictionary of Jump Rope Rhymes" and strongly recommend it. Here's the link to that book https://utpress.utexas.edu/books/abrjum.
Excuse my butting in on a five-year-old discussion, but I've just found this piece when I was looking for background on the song. This really doesn't work as a debunking. Songs like this get passed around, and the people who compile or record them talk to all sorts of people. No reason why the singer or her source couldn't have got the story from a prostitute who was part of that scene. Whether that was the origin of the song, or whether that was just part of its history as it passed from singer to singer, who can say?
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment, Koro Neil.
DeleteI stand by my comments written in this post that "Even if Judy Henske somehow learned that "Hooka Tooka Soda Craker" was sung by some children in Chicago to warn their mothers of a police bust, that doesn't mean that this song was first sung for that reason. Nor does it mean that this song was always sung for that reason."
While it's certainly possible as you wrote that the singer or her source could have gotten the story from a prostitute who was part of that scene, that story doesn't sound credible to me.
But that's just my opinion.
Good write-up. Henske beat Chubby Checker to the market with "Hooka Tooka" (the actual title on both records). According to the March 30, 1963 issue of Billboard, her first LP "Miss Judy Henske" was set to be "released shortly." The Checker single didn't come out till October of that year according to 45cat.
ReplyDeleteI can't comment on the lyrical content. But I will mention that before this release, Checker had gone to #1 twice with the same song, "The Twist." The song became a hit the second time around because it caught the attention of society types. It's doubtful Cameo-Parkway would have let him put out a record had they associated it with prostitution -- even if it was a B-side (the A-side was "Loddy Lo").
Days of the Broken Arrows, thanks for sharing that information.
DeleteI appreciate it and agree that Chubby Checkers' record company wouldn't have allowed him to put out a record that was associated with prostitution.
I didn't know that Checkers' "Hooka Tooka Soda Cracker" song was the B-side of that record.
Thanks again!
Azizi,
DeleteThanks for your reply. Just to clarify, "Hooka Tooka" might have been a B-side, but it was a good sized chart hit. The A-side, "Loddy Lo" got to #12, while "Hooka Tooka" hit #17.
This was one of several doubled-sided hits he had. For example "Limbo Rock" was backed with "Popeye" and they got to #2 and #10, respectively. All told, Checker racked up 25 Hot 100 hits in his career. It's a shame he's been snubbed for the Rock 'N Roll Hall of Fame, because he was major force in music in his day.
Hello,Days of the Broken Arrows.
DeleteI was a teenager in the 1960s and remember The Twist and Limbo Rock. I don't remember the other songs at all, but that might be because I was a book worm and not a party girl.
I agree that Chubby Checker deserves to be in the Rock "N Roll Hall of Fame. I'm sure there are honorees who had less hits than he did.
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI agree with Azizi, it's doubtful the song was originally linked with the "prostitute" story. I even think Judy Henske made it up to spice up the story.
The words Judy Henske sings were sung before in a version by Ingman and Ira. They rather begin with the Green Rocky Road verse and end with the exact "Hooka Tooka" lyrics that were used later on by Judy Henske and all the others.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=OLAK5uy_lrcrwXS0XADm8ZrAbBVGgMZbYBKDSkM-k&time_continue=84&v=jRm-66zmRfk&feature=emb_logo
I have also tried to find out more about the history of the song
https://jopiepopie.blogspot.com/2015/09/ackabacka-icka-backa-hooka-tooka-green.html
Joop greets
The youtube link wasn't correct: this one is.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?list=OLAK5uy_lrcrwXS0XADm8ZrAbBVGgMZbYBKDSkM-k&time_continue=19&v=kXg3ugeGORk&feature=emb_logo
Joop greets
Thanks Joop.
DeleteHere's the hyperlink that you shared:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=OLAK5uy_lrcrwXS0XADm8ZrAbBVGgMZbYBKDSkM-k&time_continue=19&v=kXg3ugeGORk&feature=emb_logo
Green, Green Rocky Road
Leroy Inman & Ira Rogers - Topic, December 18, 2014
Inman & Ira - The New Folk Generation
Absolute garbage, this is another propaganda piece to paint Foundational Black Americans in a bad light. Worst music article I ever read filled with racism. YOU ARE TRASH!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment, Anonymous.
DeleteI respect your right to express your opinion.