Last week I attended the Bix Jazz Festival in Davenport, Iowa (which was wonderful) and heard the wonderful T.J. Muller and his Arcadia Dance Orchestra do a set featuring the music of St. Louis, Missouri bands and composers.
One baudy number he performed was a tune written by St. Louis pianist and composer James “Stump” Johnson, who recorded the first version on the QRS label in 1928.
As luck would have it, I found this fine record by Eddie Johnson’s Cracker-Jacks the next day. This is a Bluebird buff reissue of an original Victor release from 1932. The Cracker Jacks were from St. Louis – formed from the remnants of Oliver Cobb and his Rhythm Kings (who also recorded an outstanding version of the tune) after Cobb tragically drowned in the Mississippi near Davenport, Iowa in 1930.
The tune’s folksy humor and Rabelaisian surrealism are quite infectious – and if you don’t know what a “yas” is, as T.J. Muller put it: “You’re sitting on one.”
“Mama bought a rooster and she thought it was a duck
put him on the table with his legs sticking up.
In steps sister with a spoon and a glass
to stir the gravy from his yas yas yas.”
Recorded in Atlanta, Georgia on February 25, 1932.
Originally released as Victor 23329.
Reissued as Bluebird B-6278.
Credits
Eddie Johnson – piano, director
Harold Baker, James Talphy – trumpet
Winfield Baker – trombone
Fred Martin, Walter Martin – alto sax
Chick Franklin – tenor sax
Benny Jackson – banjo, guitar, v
Singleton Palmer – tuba
Lester Nichols – drums
The Crackerjacks – vocals
@TJMullerMusic