"Ronald McDonald A Biscuit" & Other Children's Rhymes That Include The Word "Biscuit"

folkstreamer, Uploaded on Aug 3, 2006

A 1967 film by Bob Eberlein and Bess Lomax Hawes that looks at continuity and change in girls' playground games at a Los Angeles school
-snip-
This clip shows only a very small portion of the "A Biscuit" rhyme [the first game shown] as well clips of other singing games. However, the film documents that a rhyme with an "a biscuit" refrain was performed as a circle game in 1967.

Here's my transcription of that "A Biscuit" rhyme which I think is part of an "I Have A Boyfriend" rhyme:
"Dum de dum
Dum de dum
A biscuit
Dum de dum
Dum de dum
A biscuit
Ooh she she wah wah
a biscuit"...

In contrast to the circle formation that is shown in this video, the examples of this "I Have A Boyfriend" rhymes that are found in this pancocojams post were probably chanted while performing two partner hand clap routines..

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Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post provides information about the words "a biscuit" or the word "biscuit" in certain African American originating children's recreational rhymes.

This post also showcases examples of playground rhymes that include the words "a biscuit".

The content of this post is presented for folkloric and recreational purposes.

Thanks to all who are quoted in this post.

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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S COMMENTS
"A biscuit rhymes" is my term for playground rhymes that include the words "a biscuit" or a similarly spelled word as a refrain or include a folk processed form of those words. The word "a" is usually pronounced "ah" in this rhyme, which is the way that many African Americans (at least informally) pronounce "a".

My position is that the word "biscuit" refers to the baked product with that name, as does the word "triscuit". American children are familiar with "biscuits" and may also be familiar with "triscuits"* which are a brand name for "a snack cracker, made by Nabisco, which takes the form of square baked whole wheat wafers. It was invented in 1900, a patent was granted in 1902"... https://www.definitions.net/definition/triscuit

I used to think that the word "triscuit" was related to the song "tisket" in the 19th century rhyme and 20th century Jazz song "A Tiskit A Tasket"*. I now believe that the "A Biscuit" rhymes and songs that are sampled in this pancocojams post may not have anything to do with those older "A Tisket A Tasket rhymes and that song except that those words may have reminded people about those two largely retired words. The word "triscuit" may be found in some "Down Down Baby" and some other contemporary children's recreational rhymes because it rhymes with "biscuit" and because the "Triscuits" cracker product is sold in the United States (if not elsewhere).

For the folkloric record, information about "A Tiscuit A Tasket" is provided in the Addendum to this post.

*According to a commenter on https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/a-tisket-a-tasket.1783783/ "[a tisket a tasket] "doesn't mean anything - these are nonsense words that rhyme with basket.". This conclusion is found on other websites.

**
WHY IS THE WORD "BISCUIT" USED IN THESE CONTEMPORARY RECREATIONAL RHYMES?
The "ah biscuit" refrains are part of "I have a boyfriend" rhymes which are chanted by themselves or combined with rhymes like "Down Down Baby". In those rhymes, after the girl states that she "has a boyfriend", she describes him as being "so sweet". "Sweetness" ties into the "a biscuit" refrain, since one way of eating biscuits is with jelly or jam on top. Furthermore, I believe that "He's so sweet- a biscuit" is a shortened form of saying "He's as sweet as a biscuit" or "He's sweet like a biscuit".

Here's one example, given below as #5 that conveys the analogy between a boyfriend being sweet and biscuits with jelly or jam being sweet:
"I've got a boyfriend, a-biskit,
He's as sweet as a-biskit,
Ice-cream sugar with a cherry on the top,
Ice-cream sugar with a cherry on the bottom,"...
-snip-
Note that in African American Vernacular English, the word "sweet" can have a negative connotation for homosexuality when used to describe a male. However, that connotation isn't meant or implied in these children's recreational rhymes.

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DATING THE 'A BISCUIT" VERSES
The examples of "a biscuit refrain rhymes" that I have found thus far date from 1967 on, with the clip given in the Pizza Pizza Daddy-O film [a clip of which is embedded below] being the earliest example that I've found of those rhymes.

Many of these examples also mention "Ronald McDonald",the mascot for McDonald's fast food franchises. Because that mascot was first created in 1963*, rhymes that include the name "Ronald McDonald can't be older than that date. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_McDonald. I'd love to know if anyone remembers chanting a rhyme with "a biscuit" used as a refrain prior to the 1970s.

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THE AFRICAN AMERICAN ORIGIN OF CONTEMPORARY RHYMES THAT INCLUDE "A BISCUIT" VERSES 
"Down Down Baby" rhymes, "I've Got A Boyfriend", and the other verses that are featured in this his post [except the 19th century rhyme given in Wikipedia] are probably of African American origin. This origin is suggested by contributor demographics for the earliest collected examples, and is reflected in the structure, vernacular English, word pronunciation**, topical references, and other content of those examples as well as in the rhymes' performance activities. These statements don't mean that all of the versions of the rhymes that are showcased in this post were composed by African Americans.)

** In these a biscuit" rhymes, the word "a" in the phrase "ah biscuit" is pronounced "ah" which is the way that many African Americans generally pronounced that word in our informal conversations.

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SELECTED EXAMPLES OF "A BISCUIT" RHYMES
These examples are published in chronological order based on their publication date online, their publication date in the books from which I retrieved them, or the date that I collected them from face to face contacts. The oldest dated examples are presented first. The rhyme example from the movie Big is presented based on the date of that movie's release.

I've assigned numbers to these rhymes for referencing purposes only. These examples are given as they were found online or in books, or as I transcribed them from my direct collection sources. [Note: A few of these examples are different from the examples given in the cocojams2 post whose link is given above.]

These examples are given without any text analysis.

All of these examples are probably "hand games" (hand clap rhymes), although the performance activity isn't always noted.

This is not meant to be a comprehensive listing of what I refer to as "ah biscuit" (refrain) rhymes.

1. DOEMINIQUE DOEMINIQUE
Doeminique, Doeminique
Doemenique a biscuit
Ooh chee chee wah wah
A biscuit

How do you like your lover?
A biscuit

He’s so fine oh.
Like as cherry wine oh
A biscuit.

How do you know it isn’t so
Ice cream
ice cream
Soda pop
soda pop
Gingerale
Gingerale
Seven-Up
Seven-Up
Now it’s time to do your thing,
Now freeze!
-Eleanor Fulton and Pat Smith [editors]: Let's Slice the Ice: A Collection of Black Children's Ring Games and Chants (Magnamusic, June 1, 1978; no page number given)
-snip-
Here are the directions for the clap pattern that is provided in that book. I apologize for not knowing how to re-type clap pattern with the words as it was is given that book, but here's the text of that pattern:

Words of chant Doeme-nique, doeme-nique, doeme-nique a biscuit

One child has one palm facing up (toward the ceiling) and one palm facing downward (toward the floor); the other child turns the opposite palms up and down to strike his partner’s (hand) in the clap.

Each partner reverses the position of his palms

Point the right thumb back over the shoulder

Point the left thumb over the shoulder

On “a biscuit” point the right thumb back and then the left thumb back. The clap pattern described above is repeated for five times. Then continue the “palm up-palm down” pattern through the rest of the chant. Freeze in place on the last word!

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2. DOWN DOWN BABY

Here's a pretty innocuous version. Clapping rhyme, Atlantic City NJ, late 70's:

Down Down Baby, down by the roller coaster
Sweet Sweet Baby, my heart's in love
Ooh, che-chihuahua
Biscuit
I solemnly love her
Biscuit
She is so sweet
Biscuit
Like a cherry treat
Biscuit
Touche Turtle, pull down your girdle
Biscuit
-Ruth Archer, 10 April 07, Down Baby-Race in Kid's Rhymes; https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=100653

For the record, although I was an active blogger on this same Mudcat internet folk music forum. I wasn't aware that Ruth Archer was from my hometown of Atlantic City, New Jersey until I received an email from her with this example and a cheer example given under the name "joan c".

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3. RONALD MCDONALD, HOW DO YOU LIKE MY LOVER
Ronald McDonald, how do you like my lover?
A-biscuit, a-biscuit.
Ooh chi chi awa-wa-a-biscuit.
How do you love my lover?
He's so fine Just like cherry wine.
Take a smoooth shot Take a smoooth shot.
Don't show your dirty teeth You could roll your eye You can suck your tea Now, Puerto Rican, you don't beat me.
-Marisol, quoted in https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-xpm-1993-06-09-0000100990-story.html "Girls Love To While Away Hours With Slap-Clap Games And Rhymes, by Susan Campbell, June 9, 1993.
-snip-
The "You can roll your eyes" portion of this rhyme is a rephrasing of the rather common African American saying "You can roll your eyes and stomp your feet, but this Black girl can not be beat".

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4, DOWN DOWN BABY [From the movie Big]
....Ooh! The spades go, Down! Down! Baby!

Down! Down the roller coaster!
Sweet, sweet baby!
Sweet, sweet delectable!
Shimmy, shimmy cocoa pop!
Shimmy, shimmy rock!
Shimmy, shimmy cocoa pop!
Shimmy, shimmy rock!
I met a girlfriend a triscuit!
She said a triscuit a biscuit!
Ice cream, soda pop,
vanilla on the top!
Ooh Shelly, walking down the street,
ten times a week!
I met it! I said it!
I stole my mother's credit!
I'm cool! I'm hot!
Sock me in the stomach three more times!
-http://www.script-o-rama.com/movie_scripts/b/big-script-transcript-tom-hanks.html

The Big movie was released in 1988.
-snip-
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2011/12/sources-of-big-movie-rap-shimmy-shimmy.html "Sources Of The Movie Big's Rap Shimmy Shimmy Cocoa Pop [Part 1]"

Also, click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-real-meaning-of-spades-go-space-go.html "The REAL Meaning Of "The Spades Go" & "The Space Go" In Playground Rhymes".

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5. DOWN DOWN BABY
Down Down Baby
Down by the Roller Coaster
Ah Biscuit
Shimmy Shimmy Coco Pah
Ah Biscuit
Um Shar Shara
Uh she she ahwa
Ah Biscuit
I had ah boyfriend
Ah Biscuit
He’s so fine
Ah Biscuit
Like a cherry pie
AH Biscuit
Shimmy Shimmy Coco Pah
Um Shar Shara
Uh she she ahwa
I wanna tickle you.
-Diamond, Quala, Ashley, (African American females, under 10 years old); Quinton, Javonte (African American males, under 10 years old); 7/1999; Hand clap rhyme, collected by Azizi Powell, 7/1999 in Duquesne, Pennsylvania

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6. DOWN DOWN BABY
I remember this version of Down Down Baby:

Down down baby
down down the roller coaster
sweet sweet baby
sweet sweet don't let me go
shimmy shimmy coco puff
shimmy shimmy riiight
shimmy shimmy coco puff
shimmy shimmy riiight
i have a boyfriend, (A BISCUIT!)
he's so cute (A BISCUIT)
apples on the table
peaches on the floor
step back baby I don't want you anymore!
to the front to the back
to the side side side
to the front
to the back
to the side side side
-https://hobbylark.com/party-games/Recess-is-BACK-Hand-Clapping-Games
[comment] ZOMG! on February 04, 2012 

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7. DOMINO BISCUIT
Domino, Domino, Domino biscuit
Ooh chi chi wa wa a biscuit 
Kisha’s gotta lover a biscuit 
He’s so sweet a biscuit 
Like a cherry tree a biscut 
Ice cream soda ginger ale pop 
Hop on the initial of your sweetheart

Or…

Kisha’s got a lover a biscuit
He’s so sour a biscuit
Needs to take a shower a biscuit
-Kisha, http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/showthread.php?t=31403&page=6 "Old School Chants, 04-02-2003
-snip-
Posters to this blog thread were members of historically Black Greek letter sororities. I think that this example was performed as a hand clap rhyme.

Although no dates are given for most of their comments, from some other things that were mentioned, such as just completing university, my guess is that most of these "old school chants" are from the early 1980s to the mid 1980s. For instance, although one blogger gave a sub-heading for her post of "the 70s", three bloggers shared examples of a Coca Cola ad jingle ("Have A Coke And A Smile" that aired in 1981. Also, one blogger mentioned her age in 2003 as 23 years old, and another blogger indicated that she remembered the rhyme she shared "from the 1985-ish Houston [Texas]. However, another rhyme included the slang word "fly" which gained popularity because of the 1995 Boogie Boy's record "Fly Girl".

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8. RONALD MCDONALD
Ronald McDonald, a-biskit,
Ronald McDonald, a-biskit,
Ah, shoo-shoo-shoo-wa-wa a-biskit,
I've got a boyfriend, a-biskit,
He's as sweet as a-biskit,
Ice-cream sugar with a cherry on the top,
Ice-cream sugar with a cherry on the bottom,
Down, down, baby, down down the rollercoaster,
Sweet, sweet, baby, I'll never let you go.
Sugar sugar, sugar, sugar, sugar, sugar, pow!
Sugar sugar, sugar, sugar, sugar, sugar, pow! (Poke each other in tummy)
- http://ctac.esrc.unimelb.edu.au/biogs/E000440b.htm , location: Victoria, Australia

Ronald McDonald
Functions: Clapping Game, Language Play and Physical Play
Ronald McDonald is a rhyme that accompanies a clapping game played by some girls.

Details: At School 05
Players: 2
Girls
Age: 11

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9. RONALD MCDONALD
Ronald Mcdonald
A biscuit
Ronald Mcdonald
A biscuit
Ah shimmy shimmy walla walla
Biscuit
I've got a boyfried a biscuit
He is as sweet as a biscuit
Ice cream soda with a cherry on the top
Ice cream soda with a cherry on the top
Down Down baby
Down down the rollercoaster
Sweet Sweet baby, I will never let you go
Shimmy Shimmy coco pop
Shimmy shimmy pow
Shimmy Shimmy coco pop
Shimmy shimmy POW!
-Pistachionut, http://www.dance.net/topic/7106059/1/General/Do-you-remember-those-old-rhymes-you-d-sing-as-a-kid.html "re: Do you remember those old rhymes you'd sing as a kid?", Wed Apr 23, 2008

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10. I WENT DOWNTOWN TO SEE CHARLIE BROWN
I went downtown to see Charlie Brown
He gave me a nickle to buy a pickle
The pickle was sour so he gave me a flower
The flower was dead so this is what he said
Down Down Baby
Down Down The Roller Coaster
Sweet sweet baby sweet sweet I love you so
Shimmy Shimmy coco pop
Shimmy shimmy rah
Shimmy shimmy coco pop
shimmy shimmy rah
I had a boyfriend
a biscuit!
He's so cute...
a triscuit!
Apples on the table,
Peaches on the floor

Step out baby I dont love you anymore!

To the front
To the back
To the side side side
To the front
to the back
to the side side side
Abraham Lincoln sat on a bench
tried to make a dollor out of 50 cents
He missed
He missed
He missed like this !
- kaitlyn renee, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdl8NVSJ_Jo "Blast From The Past :]" , Uploaded on May 3, 2009
-snip-
These words to this rhyme are in the publisher’s summary statement for that video.

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11. DOWN DOWN BABY
me and my friends do down down baby like this even when we are still 6 years old so it goes like this

down down baby
down down the rollacouster
sweet sweet baby
sweet sweet don't let me go
i have a boyfriend a BISQUIT
he so cute a BIQUIT
apples on the table petch in the frot [floor]
step on baby i don't love you any more
to the front to the back
to the side to the side
to the front to the back
to the side to the side and . . . FREEZE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-TIFFINILE, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTFdsz8llOI, July 2010
-snip-
This example was given as a comment in that video's discussion thread. I reformatted this example from its run-on sentence form.

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12. RONALD MCDONALD A BISCUIT
I can only remember the down down baby one, our version went like this

Ronald McDonald, ooh ahh a biscuit
Ronald McDonlad, ooh ahh a biscuit
A-shishi-wa-wa, a biscuit
I've got a boyfriend, a biscuit
He's so-oo sweet, a biscuit

Sweeter than an ice-cream, cherry on top
Sweeter than an ice-cream, cherry on top

Down down baby, down down the rollercoaster
Sweet sweet baby, I'll never let you go

Shimmy shimmy cocopop, shimmy shimmy wow!
Shimmy shimmy cocopop, shimmy shimmy pow!



I can't believe that I remember all that!!
-snip-
mal'occhio, 18 November 2010 http://www.essentialkids.com.au/forums/index.php?/topic/845958-hand-clapping-games/

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13. RONALD MCDONALD A BISCUIT
Me and my friends do a ronald mcdonald hand clapping game it goes like this.................?

Ronald Mcdonald [clap clap] a biscuit x2
a chooochoowaawaa a biscuit
i gotta boyfriend a biscuit
he's so sweet as a biscuit
i cant let u go [hug]
ice cream sundae with a cherry on the top
ice cream sundae with a cherry on the bottom
down down down down the rollercoaster
i i luuuv [whatever you like]
boom boom boom boom pow
boom boom boom moo cow
can u guys tell me any other ones
-Taiza, https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20111217165758AA9Z431, 2011

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14. DOWN DOWN BABY
Down down baby
Down by the rollorcoaster
Sweet sweet baby
Mama never lets you go
Shimmy shimmy cocoa puffs
Shimmy shimmy wow
Shimmy shimmy cocoa puffs
Shimmy shimmy break it down
I have a boyfriend
A biscuit
He is as sweet as
a biscuit
Down down baby
Down by the rollorcoaster
Sweet sweet baby
Mama never lets you go, GUEST, http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=100653&messages=29 "Down Down Baby-Race in Kid's Rhymes", 02 Oct 13

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15. DOWN DOWN BABY
THEY DID IT WRONG IT GOES DOWN DOWN BABY DOWN DOWN THE ROLLERCOASTER SWEET SWEET BABY SWEET SWEET DONT LET ME GO CHIME CHIME COCANAUT CHIME CHIME RAH CHIME CHIME COCANOUT CHIME CHIME RAE I HAVE A BOYFRIEND,A. BISCUIT HES SO SWEET,A BISCUIT APPLES ON THE TABLE PEACHES ON THE FLOOR STEP OUT BABY I DONT WANT YOU AY MORE!!!!!THATS THE PROPPER WAY TO IT BUT WITH THE SAME RYTHM
-Kassandra Vasquez, [comment in the discussion thread for the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLNpgWmx1PM "Mcdonalds hand game", September 2014
-snip-
This was written as a comment in this video's discussion thread. The rhyme that was chanted in the video is "Welcome To McDonalds" (That rhyme  doesn't include any "a biscuit" refrain).

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16. RONALD MCDONALD A BISCUIT
Ronald McDonald, a biscuit (accompanied by thumbs pointing back over the shoulders, first one, then the other)

Ronald McDonald, a biscuit
oh shu shu wa wa a biscuit
ive got a girlfriend a biscuit
shes so sweet a biscuit
sweeter than a cherry treat a biscuit
icecream soda with a cherry on top
icecream soda with a cherry on top
Down, down, baby
Down, down the roller coaster (accompanied by the hand making a horizontal wave motion)
Sweet, sweet, baby (accompanied by both arms crossing the chest)
I'll never let you go
Shimmy, Shimmy cocoa pop
Shimmy, Shimmy POW! (accompanied by punching the air with a fist just below chest-level)
Shimmy, Shimmy cocoa pop
Shimmy, Shimmy POW!
-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Down_Down_Baby (Eastern Massachusetts Version), quote retrieved November 2, 2014

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17. Ooh shishy wah wah ta biscuit*
I've got a boyfriend ta biscuit
He is the sweetest ta biscuit
Ice cream soda with a cherry on top
Ice ream soda with a cherry on bottom
Down down baby, down by the roller coaster
Sweet sweet baby I will never let you go
Just because I kissed you doesn't mean I love you
Ice cream soda with a cherry on top
Ice cream soda with a cherry on bottom
-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Down_Down_Baby , Southern New Hampshire version (late 70's), quote retrieved November 2, 2014
-snip-
*This line may not be the beginning of this rhyme.

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18. The train goes...
Down down baby,
Down down the rollercoaster,
Sweet sweet mama,
My hearts love.
Shimmy shimmy cola bottle,
Shimmy shimmy rock!
Shimmy shimmy cola bottle,

Shimmy shimmy rock!

I gotta best friend,

Likes some biscuits,

She gotta best friend,

Likes some biscuits,

Ice cream cone with a cherry on top,

Ice cream cone with a cherry on top,

T-O-P spells,

T-O-P spells,

T-O-P spells,

TOP TOP TOP!
-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Down_Down_Baby (Eastern Massachusetts Version) (Heard in Liverpool, UK), quote retrieved November 2, 2014

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19.  RONALD MCDONALD
the version i sing is:
Ronald Mcdonald, a biscuit, Ronald McDoanald, a biscuit, i got a boyfriend a biscuit he's so sweet as a biscuit, ice cream cherry with the cherry on the top, ice cream cherry with the cherry on the bottom, down down baby down by the roller coaster sweet sweet baby i'd never let u go, shimmy shimmy coconut shimmy shimmy up, shimmy shimmy coconut shimmy shimmy down, shimmy shimmy coconut shimmy shimmy bow wow whoop cow. PLUS i call it Ronald Mc Donald
-samantha fox, 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCyBMztWUFk [comment from this video's discussion thread; [Note comments are no longer accepted for this video.]

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20. SHIMMY SHIMMY COCOA POP
Okay, this this Gary Ghetto Girl Version of this! :lol:

 *the way it sounded to me*

Shimmy shimmy cocoa pop! Shimmy shimmy doooown....
Bought 'im oh bought 'im oh...bought 'im oh biscuit!
Oooooooh Chi-Chi Wa Wa....A BISCUIT!
IIIIIIIIIIIII found a Lo-ver.....A BISCUIT!
Sheeeeee's so sweeeeet......A BISCUIT!
Like a Cherry TreeeeEEE....A BISCUIT!
Two pounds of tur-tles, pull up your gir-dle,
Two pounds of tur-tles, pull DOWN your gir-dle!

I used to be sittin' there like: "What does this stuff MEAN?!" :xeye: :look:
-Ntelekt, location: Gary Indiana

Mr. Telephone Man (1975), Jul 26, 2006, https://www.hbcusports.com/forums/threads/childhood-expressions.48612/page-3

WARNING-  Some examples in this three page discussion thread include profanity and/or sexually explicit references.

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ADDENDUM- INFORMATION ABOUT THE "A TISKET A TASKET" RHYME AND SONG

Here's information about the rhyme & song "A Tiscuit A Tasket"
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-Tisket,_A-Tasket  [retrieved July 14, 2018]

"A Tisket A Tasket" is a nursery rhyme first recorded in America in the late nineteenth century.[1][2] It was used as the basis for a very successful and highly regarded 1938 recording by Ella Fitzgerald. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 13188.

Traditional lyrics
The rhyme was first noted in the United States in 1938[3] as a children's rhyming game. It was sung while children danced in a circle. One of the number ran on the outside of the circle and dropped a handkerchief. The nearest child would then pick it up and chase the dropper. If caught the dropper either was kissed, joined the circle, or had to tell the name of their sweetheart.[2] An early noted version had the lyrics:

A-tisket a-tasket
A green and yellow basket
I wrote a letter to my mom
And on the way I dropped it,
I dropped it, I dropped it,
And on the way I dropped it.
A little boy he picked it up
And put it in his pocket.[2]

In some variants, the second line is "I lost my yellow basket". In other variants, the last line is "A little girl picked it up and put it in her pocket".

In nineteenth-century England, the rhyme used in the same game had somewhat different but evidently related words:

I lost my supper, last night,
And the night before,
And if I do this night,
I never will no more.
I sent a letter to my love,
I carried water in my glove,
And by the way I dropped it, I did so, I did so:
I had a little dog that said bow-wow!
I had a little cat that said meow-meow!
Shan't bite you, shan't bite you,
Shall bite you.
I dropt it, I dropt it,
And by the way I lost it.[4]

Lyrics by Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Fitzgerald, in conjunction with Al Feldman (later known as Van Alexander), extended and embellished the rhyme into a jazz piece that was her breakthrough hit with the Chick Webb Orchestra in 1938. It has since become a jazz standard."...
-snip-
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/09/a-tisket-tasket-information-lyrics-and.html for a pancocojams post entitled "A Tisket A Tasket" (information, lyrics, and video)".
-snip-
I wonder if the phrase "a tisket a tasket" evolved into the words "a biscuit" after those words and the once popular song with that title were largely forgotten.

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COMMENTS FROM THE JULY 2018 PANCOCOJAMS POST (as of September 20, 2026 at 11:50 AM ET)

1. Azizi PowellJuly 14, 2018 at 6:01 PM

   Here's a comment that was sent to my blog cocojams2 about the rhyme Dominique Dominique A Biscuit:
   
   "We are not familiar with Doeminque rhyme and why would children ask about a lover.... NO! this is how we said that same rhyme for years: Pamela, Pamela, Pamela, A biscuit Ooh chee chee wah wah A biscuit I met a boy, A Biscuit He’s so sweet, A Biscuit Like a cherry treat, A biscuit. Ice cream Soda pop Gingerale POP! Hit it- Oooh Sha-wally wally Oooh Sha-wally wally Now freeze! (Repeat)! You are welcomed" - Ms. Peaches, on 8/24/16
   
   

   ReplyDelete
2. 
   Azizi PowellJuly 14, 2018 at 6:12 PM

   Note that I unfortunately had to disable the comment feature to my cocojams2 blog (and to all other blogs that I curate except pancocojams) because of too much spam.
   
   However, here are three more comments that were sent to that cocojams2 blog's post on "a biscuit" rhymes:
   
   
   I just tried to teach my daughter the version of the rhyme I learnt in school. It was in the eighties, and I forgot a few words, so looked them up. Think it's a mix of Down Down Baby and no. 12s Ronald Macdonald. In 1984 approximately ie I was in year 3 in rural school in NSW Australia and we clapped Ronald MacDonald , a- bisket Ronald MacDonald, ( clap with partner one palm down, and one up, one hand up in air one down low. Then two of your own hands only 'handclaps' at midline waist ), a-bisket ( thumbs stuck out backwards over the shoulder twice and simultaneously) REPEAT Oh shu shu, ...shu wao-wao ( singing and clapping as per Ronald) A- bisket ( thumb over shoulder thing again) I've got a boyfriend, ( clapping the same as per Ronald) a-trisket ( thumb thing) He's as sweet as (clapping) a-biskit, Ice-cream sundae with a cherry on the top, ( put a cherry on top of head no thumbs) Ice-cream sundae with a cherry on the top ( ditto, some people do bottom) Down, down, baby, ( on "A Biscuit" Phrase In Playground Rhymes (Examples & Its Possible Source), Samantha Gerada, 5/4/2016
   
   

   ReplyDelete
   Replies

   
   Azizi PowellJuly 14, 2018 at 6:14 PM
   
   Actually there must be more Shus in the soprano singing part ie Oh shu shu, shu shu, shu Wao...Wao Just tried singing it and it didn't sound right.., that's Been thirty years plus, since I sang it, but it's amazing that It comes back after such a long time. It must get stored in that amgydala part of the brain because of trying to concncetrate in two things together ( which is harder for me than most people since I have a little bit of dyspraxia and had hard time just learning to smile and talk, let alone shoelaces and clapping games, so I always had to work on my coordination and end up visualising doing things outside my body, then practise them slowly before I can then do them). So I'm amazed I remembered that as it took me so much concentration to get it right just so as not to appear unco. on "A Biscuit" Phrase In Playground Rhymes (Examples & Its Possible Source), Samantha Gerada, 5/4/2016
   Delete
   
   Azizi PowellJuly 14, 2018 at 6:19 PM
   Some of my Australian friends also did the Shimmy Shimmy part, and I remember doing that as well a few times, as I had to ask what Shimmy was and my mum said that it was a type of jazz dance from the twenties that they did with the Charleston, but we dropped That part as some kids shook too long, it stuffed up the clapping rhythm and Other kids were teasing us, because we looked silly shaking and equated if with involuntary fits that some kids have. I also remember there was an argument over whether it should be Coca Cola or Coca Pop, because Australians don't call 'soft drink' soda, or pop, like Americans do. Some people call their Grandpas Pop, or Poppy, and there were sherbets called Candy Pops, and Pop Corn, but Soda Pop never seemed to take off here. We usually call it soft drink, ( as opposed to the hard stuff, which is alcohol) and reserve soda to soda water, ie carbonated water which you mix with spirits such as Scotch Whiskey, if you are trying to conserve your alcohol, or on "A Biscuit" Phrase In Playground Rhymes (Examples & Its Possible Source), Samantha Gerada, 5/4/2016
   
   -snip-
   I'm sorry Samantha Gerada and Ms. Peaches for being two years late in thanking you for these comments.
   
   One love!
   
   Delete
   
   Azizi PowellJuly 14, 2018 at 6:25 PM
   By the way, your mother is correct that Shimmy is a type of Jazz dance. However, I don't recall actually doing the Shimmy when I chanted this rhyme and I don't recall seeing anyone else do any movement when they chanted they said those particular words.
   
   Also, the terms for carbonated drinks differ across the USA. In Atlantic City, New Jersey where I grew up, people said "soda". The same term was used in nearby Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. However, six hours away in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where I've lived for some time, the term for carbonated drinks is "pop". And in other parts of the USA, the term could be "soda pop".
   
   Best wishes!
   Delete
   
   Azizi PowellJune 27, 2023 at 8:05 AM
   I'm re-reading the comments for this post (and for that cocojams2 post about "Shimmy Shimmy Co Co Pop" and I realize that some people think (thought) that the "Co Co Pop" is (was) a referent for carbonated soft drink. Some people (in different states and different cities within the United States States and some people in other parts of the world) refer to carbonated soft drinks as "pop", "soda pop", or "soda".
   
   In her comment given above Australian commenter Samantha Gerada wrote that she and her friends thought that the "Co Co Pop" referred to "Coca Cola".
   
   I'm from Atlantic City, New Jersey and people there refer to carbonated soft drinks as "soda". In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania which is two hours away from Atlantic City and six hours away from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, those drinks are also referred to as "soda". When I moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, I learned that those drinks were referred to as "pop".
   
   When I lived in Atlantic City, New Jersey I chanted a version of "I Love Coffee I Love Tea" rhyme that included some "Shimmy Shimmy Co Co Pop" lines. (This was in the 1950s and/or early to mid 1960s.) However, I didn't think that "Co Co Pop" referred to soda or pop. If I thought about it at all, I probably equated the "Co Co" words with meaningless rhythmic sounds and I thought the word "Pop" was the sound that occurs when a balloon burst or what is meant when people say "Pop goes the weasel" (not that I knew what a weasel was") I think I believed those "Pop goes the weasel" words referred to the sudden appearance of the Jack in the box toy.)
   
   Delete
   
   Azizi PowellJune 27, 2023 at 8:16 AM
   Furthermore, I've come across the end word "puff", "puffs", and "pow" instead of the word "pop" in online examples of that rhyme. And when I was a child, I may have chanted those words as "Shimmy Shimmy Co Co pa". However, the word "pop" is the most often used end word that I've come across for versions of those lines.
   Delete
   
   Azizi PowellJune 27, 2023 at 8:19 AM
   Also, I'll add that when I chanted the word "shimmy" in that "I Love Coffee I Love Tea" * rhyme, I didn't think that the words "co co" meant the hot or cold chocolate drink called "cocoa".
   
   Also, I didn't know that "Shimmy" was the name of a hip or butt shaking dance or that chanting that word meant that children should do that dance. I don't remember thinking about what that word "shimmy" meant. It was probably chanted from rote memory, and I definitely don't remember doing any butt or hip shaking dance while chanting it. I would have remembered that since it would have been kinda risque for children to do that way back then.
   Delete
   
   Azizi PowellJune 27, 2023 at 8:32 AM
   I meant to add this note after the asterisk in that last comment:
   The version of "I Love Coffee I Love Tea"/Shimmy Shimmy Co Co Pop" that I remember from my childhood didn't include the words "Down down baby/down by the rollercoaster".
   Delete
   Reply
3. 
   Azizi PowellJuly 13, 2022 at 9:48 AM

   I just noticed that the example #3 includes the ethnic reference "Puerto Rican". I've only come across a few children's recreational rhymes that have references to race/ethnicity or nationality.

   ReplyDelete
   Replies

   1. 
      Azizi PowellJuly 13, 2022 at 8:22 PM

      That rhyme motivated me to collect other examples of children rhymes and songs that include a reference to nationality or ethnic groups. Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2022/07/nationality-andor-ethnic-group.html for a pancocojams post on this subject.

****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome.

Three Examples Of Lyrics For The Calypso Song "Stone Cold Dead In De Market" (also known as "He Had It Coming To Him" & Dead In De Market") with information, comments, & four selected YouTube examples

Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams provides three versions of lyrics for the Calypso song "Murder In De Market" (also known as He Had It Coming To Him" and "Stone Cold Dead In The Market".

Information and comments about this song are included in this post along with four YouTube examples of this song performed by Gracie Barrie (1940s); Ella Fitzgerald/Louis Jordan (1946); Harry Belafonte and The Islanders (1960s), and Lorna Myers; 2010?).

In addition to presenting these lyrics and information, I'm also highlighting the use of the term "stone cold" in these songs.

The content of this post is presented for linguistic, cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes. purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Lord Invader for composing and performing this song and thanks to the other Calypsonians for their adaptations of this song. Thanks also to Houdini and other singers for their renditions of these songs. In addition, thanks to members of the Mudcat online folk music discussion forum who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of these examples on YouTube.

****
This post serves as a companion to this January 31, 2017pancocojams post: https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/01/what-susan-rice-meant-by-term-stone.html
What Susan Rice Meant by The Term "Stone Crazy" In Her Tweet About Trump's National Security Council & Other Comments About The Vernacular Use Of The Word "Stone"

That post quotes this entry from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stone%E2%80%93cold:
"Definition of stone–cold: absolutely (stone–cold sober)

First Known Use of stone–cold: 1592

Definition of stone–cold for English Language Learners: completely or totally".
-snip-
While this post doesn't focus on the issues of spousal abuse and revenge murder, I recognize the significance of those issues in this song and in life itself.

****
SONG LYRICS
These lyrics are given as Example #1, Example #2, and Example #3.

I believe that the composition that is given as Example #1 is older than the composition that is given as Example #2. However, I'm not sure about this.

Example #1:
LYRICS: MURDER IN DE MARKET
(Lord Invader, 1939?)

Murder in de Market, murder.
Murder in de Market, murder.
Murder in de market, murder.
Betsy Thomas, she kill Payne stone dead.

Murder in de market, murder.
Murder in de market, murder.
Murder in de market, murder.
Betsy Thomas, she kill Payne stone dead.

Payne dead, Payne dead, stone dead.
Payne dead, Payne dead, stone dead.
Payne dead, Payne dead, stone dead.

Betsy Thomas she kill Payne stone dead.
"oh, I ain't kill nobody but me husband.
Oh, I didn't kill nobody but me husband.
Oh, I didn't kill nobody but me husband.

Oh, I ain't kill nobody but me husband,
So I could face de judge independent!

Murder in de market, murder.
Murder in de market, murder.
Murder in de market, murder.
Betsy Thomas she kill Payne stone dead.

De big Grand Session is tomorrow,
De big Grand Session is tomorrow,
De big Grand Session is tomorrow,
Betsy Thomas she kill Payne stone dead.

She ain't kill nobody but she husband,
Oh, she didn't kill nobody but she husband,
Oh, she ain't kill nobody but she husband,
Betsy Thomas, she kill Payne stone dead.

Murder in de market, murder.
Murder in de market, murder.
Murder in de market, murder.
Betsy Thomas kill Payne stone dead.

"Pp. 34-36, musical score, notated for voice, guitar, drums and bass.
Edric Connor, Songs from Trinidad, 1958, Oxford University Press.

A version sung by Young Tiger, 1953, is on youtube.

Discussed in Louise Cramer,"Songs of West Indian Negroes in the Canal Zone." California Folklore Quarterly, vol. 5, no. 3, July, 1946. (JSTOR)
This article (not seen) is the basis for assigning the song to Barbados, and has the story behind the song. (It may have the date of the event).

Rewritten and revised as "Stone Cold Dead in the Market" by Wilmouth Houdini, a calypso singer, in 1939,* an adaptation of "He Had it Coming" (another title), it was a hit for Ella Fitzgerald, Belafonte and others. See thread 34020 for the Belafonte version as posted by Joe Offer.
http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=34020

Franklin Bruno, 2011, Popular Music and Society** vol. 34, issue 1, pp. 7-21.
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a933307712
-snip-
posted on Mudcat discussion thread http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=138235 by Q (Frank Staplin), 31 May 11 - 05:57 PM along with the following citation of locations: Barbados, Trinidad, Canal Zone of Panama"
-snip-
Pancocojams Editor: *According to the information given in Comment #3 of the Mudcat excerpt below, the information given in this sentence is incorrect. The corrected information is that Lord Invader composed and recorded this song is 1939 and Houdini, another Calypso singer (Calypsonian), recorded an adapted version of this song in 1946.

**This quote is given in this post after the Ella Fitzgerald/Louis Jordan sound file that is embedded below.

****
Example #2
STONE COLD DEAD IN THE MARKET
"(Frederick Hendricks; aka Lord Invader) [Pancocojams Editor's note: This could be Wilmouth Houdini's 1946 adaptation]

"She: He's stone cold dead in de market,
He's stone cold dead in de market,
He's stone cold dead in de market,
I kill nobody but me husband.

He: Last night I went out drinking,
When I came home I gave her a beating;
So she cotch up up de rolling pin,
And went to work on my head 'til she boshed it in.

I lie cold dead in de market,
Stone cold dead in de market,
I lie cold dead in de market,
She kill nobody but her husband

She: I lick him with de pot and de frying pan,
I lick him with de pot and de frying pan,
I lick him with de pot and de frying pan,
And if I kill him, he had it coming.

He's stone cold dead in de market,
He's stone cold dead in de market,
He's stone cold dead in de market,
I kill nobody but me husband.

He: My family is swearing to kill her,
My family is swearing to kill her,
She: His family is swearing to kill me,
And if I kill him, he had it coming.
He's stone cold dead in de market,

He: He lie cold dead in de market,
Stone cold dead in de market,
He lie cold dead in de market,
She kill nobody but her husband

She: There's one thing that I am sure
He ain't going to beat me no more
So I tell you that I doesn't care
If I was to die in de 'lectric chair

He's stone cold dead in de market,
He's stone cold dead in de market,
He's stone cold dead in de market,
I kill nobody but me husband.

He: (spoken): Hey, child, I'm goming back and bosh you on the head one more time
.
She: (spoken): No, no, man, you can't do dat

He's stone cold dead in de market,
He's stone cold dead in de market,
The criminal is stone cold dead in de market,
I kill nobody but me husband.


This source says the song was written by Frederick Hendricks, Northern Music/ASC
AP
Recorded by Harry Belafonte
Transcribed from "Ella Fitzgerald, 75th Birthday Celebration" (Decca CD) (duet w
ith Louis Jordan)

Another source attributes it to Wilmoth Houdini, 1946."

Source: http://mudcat.org/@displaysong.cfm?SongID=9478

****
Example #3:
LYRICS- MURDER IN THE MARKET
"As recorded by Young Tiger (George Browne) in 1953

Stone cold dead in de market,
Stone cold dead in de market,
Stone cold dead in de market,
Well, she killed nobody but she husband.

Yes, she hit him in de head wit' de fryin' pan,
She hit him in de head wit' de fryin' pan,
She hit him in de head wit' de fryin' pan,
And if she kill him, he had it comin'.

And so he's stone cold dead in de market,
Stone cold dead in de market,
Stone cold dead in de market,
Well, she killed nobody but she husband.

Last night he went out drinkin',
And den he came in and gave her a beatin' [not sure; recording has a glitch at this point]
So she picked up de rollin' pin,
And worked on his head till she bashed it in.

And now he's stone cold dead in de market,
Stone cold dead in de market,
Stone cold dead in de market,
Well, she killed nobody but she husband.

Now his family is swearin' to kill her,
His family is swearin' to kill her,
His family is swearin' to kill her,
So if she kill him, he had it comin'.

And now he's stone cold dead in de market, mother! [or "murder"?]
Stone cold dead in de market,
Stone cold dead in de market,
Well, she killed nobody but she husband."
-snip-
*These lyrics were transcribed by Jim Dixon from the recording on YouTube and posted on Mudcat 04 Jun 11 - 08:46 AM http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=34020

Unfortunately, Young Tiger's sound file is no longer available on YouTube (as of the date of this pancocojams post, but probably earlier.)

****
SELECTED COMMENTS ABOUT "MUrDER IN DE MARKET" (also known as "STONE COLD DEAD IN THE MARKET" & "HE HAD IT COMING TO HIM"

Pancocojams's Editor: These selected comments are given in chronological order based on their publishing date. They are numbered in this post for referencing purposes only. I encourage you to read the entire discussion thread which also includes biographical information for and comments about Lord Invader.

My explanatory comments are given in parenthesis.

From http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=34020
1. [This first comment refers to what this commenter alleges was an actual event that served as the story behind Lord Invader's song].

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Murder in de Market (Caribbean)
From: MorwenEdhelwen1
Date: 01 Jun 11 - 02:13 AM

"Q, Betsy Thomas' murder of Thomas Payne occurred in the 1870s."

**
2. [This comment was written in response to Q's question about the citation of the 1870s date.]

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Murder in de Market (Caribbean)
From: MorwenEdhelwen1
Date: 01 Jun 11 - 05:48 PM

"i have the songbook "Folk Songs of Barbados" collected by Trevor Marshall, Peggy McGeary, and Grace Thompson. They include the song and its melody, unfortunately no accompaniment :( and the date of the events, stating that "Betsy Thomas, the common-law mate of one Thomas Payne, allegedly murdered him during a quarrel". There is a mention of the song in Trinidadian songbooks. What I find interesting is how distanced the folk version is from the events, compared with "Stone Cold Dead in The Market", which is from a first-person perspective, and is, in my opinion, one of the best songs about battered woman syndrome ever, done before battered woman syndrome was ever named or recognised. Also in the case of murder ballads based on true stories, how does a person find information on the actual incident? Because some American murder ballads seem to have a large proportion of people on this forum who have information about the real incident."

**
3. [Q provides information about Lord Invader's composition of this song, including the original song title "He Had It Coming" and the composition date of 1939.]

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Murder in de Market (Caribbean)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 05 Jun 11 - 03:29 PM

"(Houidini's) "Stone Cold Dead describes a murder in Port-of-Spain's Grass Market in 1939. He recorded it himself in 1939 (as "He Had it Coming) but it got no popularity until Songstress Fitzgerald unearthed it......"

Time Magazine, Music: King of Calypso, Aug. 26, 1946. Unsigned article about Wilmoth Houdini (Edgar Leon St.-Clair his real name).

The 1939 incident may have been an unintentional copycat murder?"

-snip-
The information given in comment #3 above corrects the information given in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_Cold_Dead_in_the_Market_(He_Had_It_Coming) about this song:
" "Stone Cold Dead in the Market (He Had It Coming)" is a 1946 song with lyrics and music by Wilmoth Houdini, a Trinidad and Tobago musician who had moved to the United States. It was recorded by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five on Decca and later included in the Ella Fitzgerald album Ella and Her Fellas. The single was the first of five singles that Louis Jordan would take to the number-one spot on the R&B Juke Box chart.[1] The song also reached number seven on the U.S. pop chart.[2] The B-side of the single, "Petootie Pie," was also an R&B chart hit peaking at number three. This song received later notoriety in the 2010s with the 2011 release of L.A. Noire in which this song is featured."

****
SHOWCASE EXAMPLES
Example #1 [Video]: STONE COLD DEAD IN THE MARKET (1940s)



silezukuk, Uploaded on Sep 24, 2009

Gracie Barrie [singer]

****
Example #2: [Sound File] : Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Jordan - Stone Cold Dead In The Market (He Had It Coming)



FunkyChez's channel, Uploaded on Jan 14, 2009
-snip-
Here's a review of this song as mentioned earlier in this post:
From http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03007766.2011.539807
Altmetric Articles
“Stone Cold Dead in the Market”: Domestic Violence and Americanized Calypso"
Franklin Bruno
Pages 7-21 | Published online: 10 Feb 2011

"Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Jordan's recording of “Stone Cold Dead in the Market” was a major R&B and pop hit in 1946. In narrating a woman's murder of her abusive husband from a sympathetic first-person point of view, the recording's depiction of domestic violence raises the question of how it achieved mass popularity in a cultural milieu that discouraged frank discussion of this topic. This paper attempts to account for this popularity by tracing the musical and lyrical changes between the hit recording and its sources, the Caribbean folk ballad “Payne Dead”/“Murder in the Market” and calypso performer Wilmouth Houdini's 1939 adaptation “He Had It Coming,” and by arguing that Fitzgerald and Jordan's adoption of an exoticized West African accent, as well as their public personae, effectively produced a comic and ethnic “mask” from behind which the song's subject matter could be presented with relative frankness."

****
Example #3 [Sound File] MURDER IN DE MARKET (Barbados) - Lorna Myers



angarseno, Uploaded on Aug 10, 2010

A Juilliard School graduate, Lorna Myers' opera and concert career spanned Europe, the USA, Mexico and the Caribbean...

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Example #4 [Sound File]: Lie Stone Dead In The Market by Harry Belafonte & Islanders on early 1960's Mono Celebrity LP.



lrh1966, Uploaded on Jan 9, 2012

Celebrity record album# UT 154. We usually think of the 1956 classic, "The Banana Boat Song", and its signature lyric "Day-O" when we hear the name "Harry Belafonte", but this "King of Calypso" had many other songs and albums as well, including this lp album titled: "An Evening Of Folk Songs & Calypso - With The Islanders". He broke away from "RCA Victor" for a bit to do this lp with the obscure label, "Celebrity". Not sure of exact recording date, but estimate it in the 1960 to 1963 frame of time.

****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome.

Ella Fitzgerald - "Darktown Strutters Ball" (example, lyrics, and more)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post is Part II of a two part series on the Jazz classic "Darktown Strutters Ball".

Part II showcases a 1936 example of "Darktown Strutters Ball" that was recorded by Ella Fitzgerald and the Chick Webb band. The lyrics of this version are included in this post.

The Addendum to this post presents two brief excerpts of biographies of Shelton Brooks and a bonus video of Shelton Brooks singing one of his other compositions, "Hole in the Wall".

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/10/what-words-darktown-and-strutters.html for Part I of this series,
Part I provides information & comments about the meaning of the words in the title "Darktown Strutters Ball". That post also provides a sound file & lyrics of that early Jazz classic, and information about the song's composer, Shelton Brooks.

The content of this post is presented for historical, cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Shelton Brooks, the composer of "Darktown Strutters Ball", Ella Fitzgerald, and Chick Webb & his band for their musical legacy. Thanks also to the publisher of this featured soundfile and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.

****
GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT "DARKTOWN STRUTTERS BALL"
From http://parlorsongs.com/issues/2011-4/thismonth/feature.php
"Just a year after [composing] Walkin' the Dog, Brooks wrote what is his most lasting hit. I suspect that even now, nearly one hundred years later, many people could still sing at least the opening phrase of the chorus; "I'll be down to get you in a taxi honey." It is no doubt his most recorded song as well. Popularized by Sophie Tucker, it may have been introduced on Vaudeville by the young lady on the cover, Blossom Seeley. Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers performed it in the film, The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle in 1937. It was also performed in other films including, Broadway (1942), Incendiary Blonde (1944), The Dolly Sisters (1946) and Little Boy Lost in 1953. Seeley was born Minnie Guyer, in San Francisco, California. A top vaudeville headliner, she was known as the "Queen of Syncopation" and helped bring jazz and ragtime into the mainstream of American music. She introduced the Shelton Brooks classic "Some of These Days" in vaudeville in 1910, one year before Sophie Tucker recorded it in 1911.

This is one of "ragtime's" greatest hits and it simply speaks for itself. Enjoy the music..

****
SHOWCASE SOUND FILE: Darktown Strutter's Ball by Ella Fitzgerald



Fireworksandsunshine, Uploaded on Jul 29, 2011
-snip-
Here are two comments from this sound file's discussion thread.
oldtimeswinger, 2012
"The recording was made on 19 November, 1936. The backing may be by Chick Webb's Band."

**
Sovery Strange, Aug 13, 2012 in reply to oldtimeswinger
"Definitely Chick Webb:)"
-snip-
Click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ella_Fitzgerald for information about African American Jazz vocalist Ella Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917 – June 15, 1996).

Click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chick_Webb for information about African American jazz and swing music drummer as well as band leader Chick Webb(February 10, 1905 – June 16, 1939).

****
LYRICS OF THIS VERSION: DARKTOWN STRUTTER’S BLUES
(originally written by Shelton Brooks [1917], This version as sung by Ella Fitzgerald)

I'll be down to get you in a taxi honey
Better be ready 'bout half past eight
I mean don't be late
Be there when the band starts playin'
Remember when you get there honey
Dance all over the floor, dance all over my shoes
When the band plays the Jelly Roll blues
Say t'morrow night at the darktown strutters ball

[instrumental]

I'll be down to get you in a push cart honey
Better be ready 'bout half past eight
I mean don't be late
Be there when the band starts playin'

'Member when you get there honey
Shim sham wins them all
Dance all over my shoes
When the band plays the Jelly Roll's blues
Say t'morrow night at the darktown strutters ball

Source: http://www.metrolyrics.com/darktown-strutters-ball-lyrics-ella-fitzgerald.html
-snip-
This is a shortened version of the 1917 lyrics for "Darktown Strutters' Ball".

**
"Jelly Roll Blues" (The OriginalJelly Roll Blues" is a 1915 fox trot song that was composed by African American pianist and composer Jelly Roll Morton. Click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jelly_Roll_Blues for more information about this song.

**
Notice the substitution of the "Shim Sham" dance for the two step, the buck and wing and other dances that were mentioned in the 1917 version of this song.

"The Shim Sham" originally referred to and still refers to a tap dance routine.
"If you’re at a tap event, you’ll probably see the classic Shim Sham, which is a lot like Reed’s Goofus: A single chorus routine with four counts of eight bars each. According to Valis Hill’s recent book Tap Dancing America, these sections are: the double shuffle, the crossover, the Tack Annie, and the half break (also known as “falling off the log”). Source: http://www.dancespirit.com/2010/12/the_shim_sham_a_tap_tradition/ [hereafter given as dancespirit:Shim Sham]
-snip-
However, that tap dance evolved to a social dance called the "Shim Sham Shimmy".
"In the 1930s, the Shim Sham became the Shim Sham Shimmy when a quick shoulder shake was added to the choreography. Harold Cromer, a more-than-50-year tap veteran best known as Stumpy from the famous comedy tap team Stump and Stumpy, recalls learning the Shim Sham Shimmy with the chorus girls at the Apollo in NYC. “Over the years, the Shim Sham has mutated into a simple dance,” he says. “But it used to be a sexy dance. That’s what the girls were doing: the Shim Sham Shimmy with frills and heels.” Source: dancespirit:Shim Sham
-snip-
I think that the "Shim Sham Shimmy" (and not the "Shim Sham" tap dance or the "Shimmy" shaking dance) is the dance that is referred to in that "Darktown Strutters Ball" line. Here's information about the earlier "Shimmy" dance from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shimmy
"A shimmy is a dance move in which the body is held still, except for the shoulders, which are alternated back and forth. When the right shoulder goes back, the left one comes forward. It may help to hold the arms out slightly bent at the elbow, and when the shoulders are moved, keep the hands in the same position. In 1917, a dance-song titled "Shim-Me-Sha-Wabble" by Spencer Williams was published, as was "The Jazz Dance", which included the "Shimmy-She", among others. Flappers often performed the dance in the 1920s."
-snip-
In that Ella Fitzgerald version of "Darktown Strutters Ball", the line "Shim sham wins them all" alludes to the dancing contest or dancing contests that occurred during that Strutters' ball.

Part I of this pancocojams series provides information about this actual annual African American event in Chicago, Illinois.

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ADDENDUM: INFORMATION ABOUT SHELTON BROOKS & A VIDEO OF BROOKS SINGING ONE OF HIS COMPOSITIONS
From http://www.aaregistry.org/historic_events/view/lyricist-extraordinaire-shelton-brooks "African American Registry
Tue, 1886-05-04"
"Shelton Brooks, a popular African American music composer, was born on this date in 1886,in Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada.

At about the age of 15, in 1901, he and his family moved to Detroit. Brooks sang, played piano, and performed in vaudeville and in musical comedies. He had a songwriting career and a radio show on the CBS network in the 1930s.

Brooks wrote some of the biggest hits of the first third of the 20th century. His compositions included "All Night Long," "At the Darktown Strutters' Ball," "Every Day," "Some of These Days," "Somewhere in France," "Swing That Thing," "That Man of Mine," "There'll Come A Time," and "Walkin' The Dog." Shelton Brooks died on September 6, 1975."

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From http://www.allmusic.com/artist/shelton-brooks-mn0000024890/biography
"Shelton Brooks was raised in Detroit and began his career as a ragtime piano player, initially entertaining the public in Detroit's cafes and nightclubs, then expanding his territory to include Chicago. It was right around 1909 that Brooks began to compose his own material. By this time he had also developed into an accomplished vaudeville entertainer. Brooks toured the United States of America, Canada, and the British Isles.

"Some of These Days" was published in 1910 and eventually sold more than two million units on the sheet music market. It was also destined to become a jazz standard. Barry Singer, in his biography of lyricist Andy Razaf, claims that this number was "...perhaps the landmark song of this Tin Pan Alley epoch, whereby Brooks, with sophisticated lyric colloquialism and heartfelt passion, elevated the coon song into the realm of expressive emotion." Brooks wrote "All Night Long" in 1912 and "Walkin' the Dog" in 1916. He should also be remembered as the composer of "I Wonder Where My Easy Rider's Gone."

But it was "The Darktown Strutter's Ball" that constituted Brooks' next big hit. First circulated on the vaudeville circuit, this rowdy syncopated novelty just happened to get utilized by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band at their first recording session on January 30, 1917. This first nominal jazz record sold like hotcakes, and the sheet music sales exceeded three million... It was as a performer on-stage, in movies, and on the radio that Brooks continued to circulate after he stopped composing great melodies."...

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Shelton Brooks - Hole in the Wall



Adamgswanson, Uploaded on Nov 26, 2009

Shelton Brooks, composer of "Some of These Days" and "Darktown Strutters' Ball," sings "Hole in the Wall." From a 1939 all-black film, Double Deal. The credits state Brooks also wrote another song for the movie, "Jitterbugs Cuttin' Rugs," but apparently it was cut from the film.

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