Edited by Azizi Powell
This post showcases a 1949 jump Blues recording of the song "Rag Mop" by The Treniers.
Information about The Treniers, information about the "Rag Mop" song, and the lyrics to that song are also included in this post. A video of "Rag Mopp" by the first group to record that song, Johnnie Lee Wills & All His Boys, and a link to the 1950 recording by The Ames Brothers which popularized that song are also included in this post.
The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to The Treniers for their musical legacy. Thanks also to the publisher of this video on YouTube, and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
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INFORMATION ABOUT THE TRENIERS
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Treniers
"The Treniers were an American R&B and jump blues musical group,[1] led by identical twins Cliff and Claude Trenier with the Gene Gilbeaux Orchestra which included Don Hill on saxophone, Shifty Henry and later James (Jimmy) Johnson on bass, Henry (Tucker) Green on drums and Gene Gilbeaux on piano, along with the Treniers Twins and later, additional Treniers brothers Milt, Buddy and nephew Skip joining the group on vocals. The group's name was shortened to "The Treniers", and there were many other session musician and line up changes over the years including Herman Washington and Mickey Baker on guitar.
Active since the 1940s, they played a cross between swing and early rock and roll. Though their sound is more swing influenced, the Treniers incorporated a thumping backbeat and copious songs that included the words "rock" and "roll" - "Rocking on Sunday Night" and "It Rocks! It Rolls! It Swings!", for example, and in the 1940s were already playing "Rockin' Is Our Bizness," which was inspired by Jimmie Lunceford's "Rhythm Is Our Business" of the 1930s (the Trenier twins got their start playing in Lunceford's band). They were also known for the humorous content of many of their songs, and their on stage acrobatics were seen as precursors to the wild antics of many later rock and roll groups. Their lively stage presentation influenced Bill Haley and Comets, The Shadows in the UK in 1959, Paul Revere and Raiders, and beyond."...
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From http://www.metafilter.com/114299/The-Treniers
"The Treniers
March 28, 2012 2:53 AM posted by flapjax
Do you know The Treniers? Back in the 40s and 50s, they straddled the lines between jump blues, swing, early rock'n'roll, jazz dance, hep jive and comedy. They were a whole hella fun, and they happened to be the backing band for what must be the best dance performance Jerry Lewis ever gave the world. That particular clip, BTW, from a Dean Martin/Jerry Lewis "Colgate Comedy Hour" in 1954, is purported to be the first rock'n'roll performance on national television, and it may well have been."
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INFORMATION ABOUT THE "RAG MOP" SONG
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rag_Mop
"Rag Mop" was a popular American song of the late 1940s-early 1950s.
The song, a 12-bar blues, was written by Johnnie Lee Wills and Deacon Anderson* and published in 1949. Considered a novelty song, the lyrics consisted mostly of spelling out the title of the song; because of the spelling used in the song, it is sometimes referred to as "Ragg Mopp."
The most popular version of this song was recorded by The Ames Brothers, and released by Coral Records as catalog number 60140...The 1950 recording is considered an example of proto-rock and roll as it contained elements that would later go into the defining of the genre.
On the Beany and Cecil cartoon show, Cecil the sea-sick sea serpent would frequently sing the song."
-snip-
*The Western Swing group Johnnie Lee Willis & His Boys are documented as the first group to record "Rag Mop". However, as a result of a law suit, it was determined that "Rag Mop" was plagiarized from a 1946 song entitled "Get The Mop" by jazz trumpeter Henry Allen.
The Treneirs' recording of that song precedes that of The Ames Brothers.
Click http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISf_OJKYChY for a video of Cecil the sea-sick serpent singing "Rag Mop".
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SHOWCASE VIDEO: RAGGMOPP (Ragmop) - The Treniers
clotho98, Uploaded on Sep 6, 2008
This song has been stuck in my head since the early 1960s, when I first heard it on "The Beany and Cecil Show" (episode "DJ the DJ"). It wasn't until just recently that I saw this original performance by The Treniers. WOW! Can those guys ever dance!
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LYRICS: RAG MOP
(Deacon Anderson - Johnnie Lee Wills)
JOHNNIE LEE WILLS & HIS BOYS (BULLET 696, 1949)
M, I say M-O, M-O-P, M-O-P-P
Mop, M-O-P-P, Mop-Mop-Mop-Mop
R, I say R-A, R-A-G, R-A-G-G
Rag, R-A-G-G, M-O-P-P
Rag Mop, doodle-ee-dah, dah-doo-dee
Rag Mop, doodle-ee-dah, dah-doo-dee
Rag Mop, doodle-ee-dah, dah-doo-dee
Rag Mop, doodle-ee-dah, dah-doo-dee
Rag Mop, doodle-ee-dah, dah-doo-dee
R-A-G-G, M-O-P-P, Rag Mop
A, I say A-B, A-B-C, A-B-C-D
A-B-C-D-E, A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I
I say M-O, M-O-P, M-O-P-P
Mop, M-O-P-P, Mop-Mop-Mop-Mop
R, I say R-A, R-A-G, R-A-G-G
Rag, R-A-G-G, M-O-P-P
Rag Mop, doodle-ee-dah, dah-doo-dee
Rag Mop, doodle-ee-dah, dah-doo-dee
Rag Mop, doodle-ee-dah, dah-doo-dee
Rag Mop, doodle-ee-dah, dah-doo-dee
Rag Mop, doodle-ee-dah, dah-doo-dee
R-A-G-G, M-O-P-P, Rag Mop
Mop-Mop
The author of the song was actually Henry 'Red' Allen. When it became a hit for Johnnie Lee, he was sued by the publisher of Red Allen's 'Get The Mop'. Bluebird insert notes say: "Although listed as co-composer, Wills acknowledged that he hadn't written a note of it but insisted that his steel guitarist Deacon Anderson had written all. Wills & Anderson lost and Red Allen's record provides the reason, it's the same song."
Also recorded by The Ames Brothers (CORAL 60140, 1950)"
Source
http://www.rockabilly.nl/lyrics3/r0189.htm
-snip-
Click http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn1zY1Kh_Ec for a sound file of Johnnie Lee Wills & All His Boys - Rag Mop
Here's a comment from that sound file's viewer comment thread:
Joseph Scott, 2014
"Written by Johnnie Lee Wills and Deacon Anderson and published in 1949. it is sometimes referred to as 'Ragg Mopp.'" It was actually written by the jazz trumpeter Henry Allen and first recorded by him in 1946 as "Get The Mop." Johnny Lee Wills apparently thought Deacon Anderson had really written it (not realizing he had plagiarized it from Allen), and muscled in on some credit as so many did. Allen reportedly sued and won."
-snip-
For the historical record, Johnnie Lee Willis & His Boys are an Anglo-American Western Swing musical group.
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RELATED VIDEO: RAGG MOPP Johnny Lee Wills & His Boys
MissIvy Uploaded on Jan 13, 2011
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RELATED LINK
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGnuYtvOpQA
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