AUDIO FIDELITY STEREODISC AFSD 5971
Sing-Along Bawdy Songs & Backroom Ballads
OSCAR BRAND & his Backroom Boys
"No popular version of any sort of ballad, ancient or modern, can be
regarded as common or unclean" (W. Roy MacKenzie in "The Quest of the
Ballad")
This eighth volume of Bawdy Songs contains fourteen popular versions
which should not be regarded as common, but as good clean fun. A few are
ancient, such as "Ball of Yarn", and "The Gathering of the Clans". Some are
recognizably modern, such as "Ta Ra Ra Boom De Ay" ana "Clementine". These
songs are sing-along songs because all good songs are sing-alongs. But in
order to facilitate general participation, we are printing below some of the
words to some of the choruses of some of the songs. Sing along:
Side 1
DO THEY HANG TOO LOW
Any old storm, any old port
Life is long, love is short
Better get a woman, get a woman if you can
If you can't get a woman, get a clean old man
THE GATHERING OF THE CLANS
Wha do you last night?
Wha do you noo?
The man who do you last night
He canna do you noo
THE FOUR LETTER WORDS
Four letter words, four letter words
That ever say quite what they mean
We'd rather be known for our hypocrite ways
Than as vulgar, impure and obscene
BALL OF YARN
Ball of yarn, ball of yarn
It was then I spun her little ball of yarn
Ball of yarn, ball of yarn
It was then I spun her little ball of yarn
FOR THE BIRDS
Toorala, tooralay
A rolling stone gathers no moss, so they say
Sing along, learn the words
It's a wonderful song, but it's all for the birds
CLEMENTINE
Oh, my darling, oh, my darling
Oh, my darling, Clementine
You are lost and gone forever
Dreadful sorry, Clementine.
THE EIGHTEEN POUNDER
Load her up and bang away
Load her up and bang away
Load her up and bang away
With my eighteen pounder
Side 2
THE WOODPECKERS HOLE
(At the proper moment, everyone must say,
BLESS MY SOUL.)
PARTIES, BANQUETS AND BALLS
Parties, banquets, and balls, me boys
Parties, banquets, and balls,
Parties and banquets, and banquets and parties
And BALLS, BALLS, BALLS.
LIMERICKS
Ay ay ay ay, in China they do it for Chile
Here comes another verse that's worse than the other verse
So waltz me around again, Willie
COME AND TIE MY ROOT AROUND A TREE
(COME A TI YI YIPPEE)
Come and tie my root around a tree, around a tree
Come and tie my root around a tree
TA RA RA BOOM DEE AY
Ta ra ra boom dee ay
Ta ra ra boom dee ay
Ta ra ra boom dee ay
Ta ra ra boom dee ay
ZAMBOANGA
(Just whistle after every verse)
SING HALLELUJAH
Sing hallelujah, hallelujah
Put a nickel in the pail, get another piece of tail
Sing hallelujah, hallelujah
Put a nickel in the pail, and you'll be saved
This collection of folk songs is as valid a manifestation of America's
culture as any other. They've been sung around the country for hundreds of
years while the nation was being built, and some of them date back hundreds
of years before then.
About OSCAR BRAND
Oscar Brand is six foot two, weighs one hundred and seventy five pounds,
and was born in 1920. In the entertainment profession, this makes him 25
years old. He has recorded forty five long-playing records, including eight
volumes of "Bawdy Songs and Backroom Ballads" which account for his current
popularity. He has written five books, including "Bawdy Songs and Backroom
Ballads". In his latest book, "The Ballad Mongers" (1962), there is a
definitive chapter on Censorship concerning which he has become an expert.
"The Backroom Boys" who joined Oscar Brand on this album were recruited
from some of the best-known and most respected singing groups in the
country. For that reason, we can not list their names. However, we can
divulge that half of them were familiar with all the songs, that all of them
were familiar with half the songs, and that the recording engineers joined
in on the choruses. (If you listen closely, you will hear off-pitch singing
in the background—that's the engineers.) Go ye forth and do likewise.
