Big Marv Plays - Artie Matthews - Pastime Rags No. 3 and 4

Artie Matthews

 Artie Matthews (1888-1958) got hisd first instruction on the piano from his mother. Later in his teens he started to play in the local taverns and other venues in Springfield, IL.  His ambition was to become a ragtime piano player, and he took personal instruction from some local pianists. He began playing anywhere he could, including bordellos in Springfield. 

He moved to St. Louis when he was 18 years old. The year was 1907, right in the middle of the ragtime craze. He got employment with Tom Turpin, the local saloon keeper and ragtime composer and pianist. While in St. Louis, Matthews got formal training in music at a local school of music. Matthew's furthering of his education makes him distinct from many ragtime pianist/composers who didn't have formal training, some without the ability to read music. Matthews went on to compose a few ragtime pieces, including  the 5 Pastime Rags, published between 1913-1918. 

Eventually Matthews wrote blues numbers as well as jazz, but most of his later life was dedicated to education of black musicians. Formal education for black musicians was scarce at the time, as many music schools did not accept them. Matthews started his own school in Cincinnati, Ohio and was honored with an honorary doctorate. 

We at Big And Tall Records are fortunate to have Big Marv as one of our artists and producers. His knowledge of music ranges from Dixieland Jazz to Classical, and he has some comments about the two ragtime pieces he plays:

Artie Matthews didn't compose many ragtime pieces, but what he wrote are of high quality, especially the 5 Pastime Rags. These are written in a 'slow drag' style, and there is a definite 'latin' feel in the rhythm that shows up here and there. It was emphasized by many of the ragtime writers to not play ragtime too fast! Some of the renditions we've heard over the years takes way too much off the mystique of the style by playing it too fast. One example of how slow and mellow ragtime can be is this example of The Slippery Elm Rag written by Clarence Woods -

I chose only two out of  the five, number 3 and number 4. These are the two that my professor in college used as examples of classic ragtime. The 3rd has a distinct latin feel to the first section after the introductory trills. But it regains it's classic rag stance with the finale. There's a temptation to add to this rag, to embellish it. Some players do, but I prefer to follow the advice of ragtime composers themselves who would write on their compositions don't fake it! In other words, play it as written!

Number 4 is the one I really remember from school! My professor was a concert quality pianist as well as a fine teacher, and when he first played the piece it was strange. It took a bit until we in class realized  that the different sounds we were hearing were tone clusters! Bunched up notes, played 4 at a time, all close together. Prof really brought out the quality and distinct sound of the clusters in the repeat of the section when he took it louder. It was like big, fat harmony, like an elephant clumping along! A most unique rag! 

Big Marv, Sheila Jonsmithe - Beethoven Scherzo From Symphony No. 2 For Piano 4 Hands

 One afternoon after a meeting in our conference room here at Big And Tall Records, a group of us walked down the hall next to the recording studio and we heard the sound of someone playing the piano. We looked in the big window of the studio and saw Big Marv and his wife Sheila Jonsmithe sitting next to each other on the bench playing 4 hand piano music. Now we had no idea that Sheila played the piano, so we knocked on the door and let ourselves in the studio. They quickly stopped playing, but after some urging they continued. They were playing from a book of classical music arranged for 4 hand piano. We pulled up chairs and listened as they ran through pieces by Mozart, Haydn, Brahms, and Beethoven. It was interesting to see, as Sheila had took the Primo part, that is the upper part of the arrangements where most of the melody is. Big Marv was handling the accompaniment with his usual skill, and all of us there had the same thing in mind without saying a word we discovered later. We need to record some of these things for release!

We were especially impressed with the Scherzo from Symphony No.2 by Ludwig van Beethoven. The interplay between the performers was impressive, and it was this piece we decided to release. We don't know how well this will do, as we've never released a so-called classical music piece before, but we're willing to try. Big Marv tells us about the piece and their playing together:

Sheila and I have been playing piano 4 hand music since we first met. She's a classically trained pianist as well as singer, can sight-read anything you put in front of her and play it well the first time. She was in church choirs in her youth, and sometimes would work choir rehearsals as the pianist. Her main interest is cooking, preparing and the history of Cajun food specifically. She chose to not pursue music as a profession, but kept up her technique and singing abilities for her own pleasure. We change who plays the main part and who plays the accompaniment, and we like pieces like the Beethoven Scherzo because both players are involved in playing the themes of the music. 

Beethoven wrote the 2nd. Symphony in D Major in 1801-1802, and it was one of the final works from his first period. In earlier symphonies as in Mozart and Haydn, one of the 4 movements of a symphony was a minuet. But sometimes it was a minuet in name only, as both composers wrote movements that could have been called scherzos. Scherzo is Italian for joke, so a scherzo is markedly different from the original minuet, which was a slow, rather dignified dance. Beethoven did much to promote the change to scherzo in many of his works, even though sometimes he still labeled them  as minuet.

We have also embedded an orchestral performance of the Scherzo so the listener can hear the orchestral version as Beethoven wrote it. 4 hand piano music was very popular in the times before commercial recordings. Many homes had a piano with at least one person in the family that could play it.

Big Marv Plays George Gershwin

 Big Marv continues  to surprise us with his ability in so many different styles of music. Here he plays some of his favorite George Gershwin pieces. He gives a short biography and describes the pieces below:

 Gershwin didn't think much about music until he was about ten years old when he heard a friend play a violin recital. His natural abilities took over, and with some lessons and much practice, he became a 'song plugger' in Tin Pan Alley. He sold his first song in 1917 for 50 cents! He went to work for a piano roll company and created an unknown number of rolls for player pianos in his name and others. 

 His first national hit was 'Swanee' in 1919, a song taken up by Al Jolson which created notoriety for Gershwin. He went on to write music for 18 Broadway musicals, 6 scores for films, 1 London musical, and of course in 1924 the famous 'Rhapsody In Blue', 2 operas, and pieces for orchestra. Sadly, he died of a brain tumor in 1937, at only 38 years of age.

 The Man I Love - A song that is in The Great American Songbook, along with many other Gershwin compositions. Written for other musicals but not used until 'Strike Up The Band' in 1927. 

Three Preludes -Gershwin's intention was to write a complete set of 24 Preludes and call it The Melting Pot, and he worked on different ones with these three being the main result and were published in 1926. All three are examples of American Classical Music in the jazz idiom of the 1920's.

Number One - Allegro ben ritmato e deciso (Fast- Well rhythmic, and decisive) - Gershwin's use of traditional Italian tempo and descriptive terms shows how he was intent on writing serious pieces in a classical tradition. The prelude shows influence of Cuban syncopated rhythms, and well as harmonies that while sounding more commonplace to modern ears, were very revolutionary in the 1920's.

  Number Two - Blue Lullaby - Andante con moto (Walking pace, but with motion) - Written in C-Sharp minor, a bluesy prelude. In the second playing of the theme, there is a middle voice that needs to be brought out. Gives the impression of 3 hands playing.  Left hand has some difficult stretches of a tenth, a large hand definitely an asset. Gershwin must have had big hands! Has a middle section with the melody in the bass register of the piano.

Number Three - Spanish - Agitato (Agitated) - Agitated indeed! It's a puzzle for most people why Gershwin named it 'Spanish'! The three preludes ends with a flourish, a very difficult piece with hand crossings and leaps. Written in E-flat minor, the key of E-major has a battle that it finally wins in the end.

In my Modern Music class when I was in school, our teacher started out with two American composers that he said influenced modern music as much as Stravinsky or anyone else; Scott Joplin, and George Gershwin. We had to learn selected Scott Joplin pieces, and the same with Gershwin with the 3 Preludes as mandatory. Both composers taught us about rhythm and technique that stemmed directly from classical composers, as both Joplin and Gershwin knew the classics.

Big Marv Plays Scott Joplin - Elite Syncopations

 Big Marv with his interpretation of Scot Joplin's Elite Syncopations Rag. He has told us he learned
ragtime from an old ragtime piano player in New Orleans that was a real stickler for playing it the right way. Big Marv tells the story:

I was in High School when I met Clyde Merskin when he played with a band that was the house band of a gin joint. I was underage, but I knew the owners and all the employees and they'd let me in to hear the music, and told me if they ever caught anybody buying me alcohol they'd throw my ass out. Tellin' ya, I was way more into music than booze, so I'd just sip on a sody pop. Anyway, I knew Clyde gave lessons and I asked him if he'd give me some. He agreed, and he told me before my first lesson I needed to get a copy of a small booklet called 'The School Of Ragtime' by none other than Scott Joplin! Clyde told me that ragtime was one of the beginnings of all jazz and modern popular music, and that a lot of players didn't play it like Joplin wanted it played. He went on ranting about that for a while, so I knew it stuck in his craw. I found an old beat up copy of it in the library (this was way before the internet) and studied the six exercises and commentary. Joplin wrote it to help players get the style down, as at the time it was something new.  

I learned one of Joplin's rags for my first lesson too, the same one I play on this recording, Elite Syncopations. I thought I was gonna wow old Clyde, but I hadn't got four bars into it when he stopped me. He had a pencil in his hand, and he made me play the syncopations hands alone while he tapped out the tempo. We did that for the entire lesson, didn't get much further along than the first 12 bars. Now I had heard Clyde play plenty of times, never remembered him being so rhythmically strict. But he told me I had to crawl before I could walk. So it's sunk into my head how to play a Joplin rag with respect towards the composer's wishes. Get that rhythm and that hesitating pulse of ragtime right on the button! Strict time! Some other rag composer's rags I give myself more leeway in, but as for a Joplin rag, no way! 

Big Marv - Plays Duke Ellington Again!

 Big Marv continues with his recording of the great Duke Ellington, this time in a medley of three timeless classics; Caravan, Don't Get Around Much Anymore, It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing) Big Marv's interpretations are somewhat mainstream, although he does let loose with the last song. 

Big Marv Plays Duke Ellington - Sophisticated Lady

 This is the first instrumental we've released here at Big And Tall Records, and it's appropriate that it is by one of our most influential artists in determining our outlook as a recording company. Big Marv has recorded with his own group The Hodads, as well as many others, and contributed to many other groups in assisting in song composition as well as being a recording producer. Some might accuse Big Marv of not having 'taste' in music, at least the music he performs or participates in. If taste means having a predilection for a certain thing or style, in that sense, Big Marv doesn't have it. He has a powerful love of music, even in kinds he does not understand. Music is a powerful element of the times and culture it arises out of, not so much a predictor of the ways things will be, but a mirror of how they were in a given time. He seems comfortable in sitting in on a recording for Rock and Roll, or playing Dixieland with his band, Ragtime, or even the very strange first recording he made for us, Stanky Thang, which he's confided with us that he isn't very proud of, especially for a first effort. But he refused to allow us to remove it from our catalog., and has recorded a piece of experimental music (at least for him) in a second version of a song titled Swamp Ass Joe. So this recording of Duke Ellington's jazz standard Sophisticated Lady is an example of his range in music performance.

Not many know that Marv has a background of a solid classical training, but in addition was exposed to many other kinds of music in his home town of New Orleans. He is capable of going from one style to the other, but admits that he needs much more preparation when playing compositions of classical masters, and he includes Duke Ellington and many other jazz musicians as well. 

He came to play and love Duke Ellington in his student days when he had a job as a piano player in a piano bar. Duke Ellington was one of the most requested jazz composers, so he became very familiar with his works. He plans on working up some more of Ellington's compositions, and we hope he gives us more to record. In the long term, he'd like to do a series of other composers as well. He named off Chopin, Scott Joplin, Debussy, Beethoven, Liszt, etc. He's also participated in performances of Henry Cowell, a composer in the 20th century that made it somewhat a specialty to play directly on the strings of the piano such as The Banshee, as well as the 12-Tone piano music of Arnold Schoenberg.

Big Marv And The Hodads - Sheila & Big Marv

Wow! Must've been his wife Sheila that persuaded him to sing this, as Big Marv doesn't like to sing that much. True, his voice is more of a growl (as he admits), but he brings a musician's sense of timing to a song. There's more to music than just a nice voice! Truth be known, this song started out to be something for a different artist, but somewhere along the line Marv was convinced to write one for his wife and himself.  And this song could be considered as an answer to the song his wife just recorded Big Daddy. Big Marv did say he was working on a short song to put on the answering machine of their catering/music business. Imagine, with everything else he does, he and his wife still do a lot of work for private parties, and have quite a backlog. 

 Gonna write a song for somebody else 

But they wanted me to sing it 

But I don't really sing so well, oh hell! 

I purty much just growl it 

 

Now my wife, she's my baby 

She can sang like a bird 

Not too bad to look at , no!

 Believe me, take my word 

 

Sheila and Big Marv incorporated 

Sure make a hell of a team 

We feed ya full, an ear full too 

Give ya'll the party of your dreams 

 

They say the way to a man's heart 

Is through his stomach pouch 

Tell ya what, my baby cooks so good 

She can get a giggle out a grouch! 

 

Lot a times we work together 

She's in the kitchen cookin' up a storm 

I'm at the ol' eighty eights 

Playin' songs glad and forlorn 

 

Sheila and Big Marv incorporated 

Sure make a hell of a team 

We feed ya full, an ear full too 

Give ya'll the party of your dreams 

 

 Don't matter if it's a weddin' 

Or a funeral we get hired for 

We gives 'em all a good send off 

That's what we're known for 

 

We carry on the New Orleans tradition

 Life and death's a celebration 

Whether a person's startin' or endin' 

We give ya'll an invitation 

 

Sheila and Big Marv incorporated 

Sure make a hell of a team 

We feed ya full, an ear full too 

Give ya'll the party of your dreams 

 

 Sheila brings all her own pans 

I tell ya, it's a mighty big stack! 

But man, ya'll gotta furnish the piano

 Can't carry one on my back! 

 

Be just us two or if ya want more 

We can bring all the help that we need 

To give ya musical entertainment 

And one hell of a good feed 

 

Sheila and Big Marv incorporated 

Sure make a hell of a team 

We feed ya full, an ear full too

 Give ya'll the party of your dreams

Big Marv And The Hodads - Swamp Ass Joe (2nd version)

 Towards the end of last year, Big And Tall Records published a strange song by an even stranger singer. A polka number called Polka Polka! The song itself wasn't so strange, although part of it was in Polish. Bu the singer was decidedly strange, an owner of a Polka Dance Hall, a Polish immigrant by the name of  Ziegniew 'Zbig' Szafrański. This guy is really old, has a voice you can't believe. Rough isn't the word. We don't have an adjective that describes the grating, downright scary quality of it. Some of our on the road associates went to this guy's dance hall to record some polka music for us. They didn't get too far, as Zbig came out in the middle of the recording and ordered everyone off the stage but a few musicians. He then announced that he was going to record him singing one of his own songs instead of the band. Evidently the man is as intimidating size wise as his voice, so they did. This is the single most crazy song we've recorded. Well, at least up 'til now.

Another backstory: In January, Big Marv And The Hodads recorded a song called Swamp Ass Joe, that had a beginning section played by The Noir Players, then Big Marv and his band came in for the song. The 1st version of the song. Ends up that Big Marv and one of the producers for The Noir Players got together and did an experimental version of the song, with Big Marv doing the singing. It's an odd thing coming from Big Marv and the boys, as they're known for Cajun, Dixieland, and other styles of music. So when Marv brought it to us a while back, we played it through a few times and told him we'd think about it. 

Wasn't unanimous by a long shot, but by a majority vote we've decided to release it. A short intro that sounds like it came from the bowels of hell that is run through so many filters there's can be no identification of what instruments played it. Big Marv's voice isn't the most tuneful either, and that is filtered with added distortion as well. One of  the band plays an acoustic slide guitar heavily amplified, and pounding drums are added. The entire mish mash winds down with some howling, thumping, and yelps before it fades out. Big Marv's really proud of the result, must be for the sheer novelty of it!

Lemme tell ya’ll a story ‘bout a man 

Lives in the swamp and the slough, 

Some say he’s a legend, but I know better, 

He’s a man not like me or like you 

 

Swamp Ass Joe is a man of the earth, 

He hunts the big alligator, 

He then sells the meat for what it’s worth, 

And then he says ‘See ya later. 

 

I seen him myself, so I know he’s real 

He’s built ‘bout six foot five 

Raw boned and strong, long scraggly beard, 

He hunts any ‘gator alive 

 

 Swamp Ass Joe lives out in the swamp 

In a little shack made of drift wood 

Got no phone, no electricity 

Only one in his neighborhood 

 

Ev’ry body asks why they call him Swamp Ass

 The answer is so plain to see 

Never takes a bath, unless swamp water counts,

 His life is completely free 

 

Swamp Ass Joe stinks to high heaven 

His hair is full of swamp bugs 

You can smell him comin’ a mile away, 

Dead gator on his back he lugs 

 

Some say he’s hunderd and fifty year old, 

Don’t make no sense to me. 

Ain’t nobody that old, can do what he done, 

An’ wrassle alligators you see! 

 

 So when gator season opens, keep yer eye peeled 

For Joe to start makin’ his rounds 

Of the places he sells the meat 

His stink always annoys the hounds!

 

 Imagine, livin’ in the swamp 

With all the bugs, snakes and critters 

To him their just like his kin 

But it shore would give me the jitters. 

 

Swamp Ass Joe, a legend in his time 

He shore ain’t like one of those 

That lives like the rest us, decent and clean 

And ya’ll can ‘see’ him first with yer nose…….

 

 

Big Marv And The Hodads - Cajun Spring Fling

 Big Marv's been minus his Hodads for a few months as they went to Mardi Gras. He elected not to go, and worked with other groups here at Big And Tall Records in the interim. The Hodads are back, after playing a ton of gigs, drinking beer and eating good Cajun food down in N.O. Truth be told, they've been back for a week, but had to use that time to recuperate! Big Marv threw a big Springtime party to welcome them back, and penned this song to commemorate it. Big Marv's wife, part time singer/full time Cajun chef  'Big' Sheila Jonsmithe did all the arranging and cooking for the party, so it was a spectacular event! Rumor has it that the band got her to sing a few tunes after the cooking was all done, but we haven't seen any evidence of a recording yet. Big Marv talks about the Cajun tradition of Spring Fling:

Every spring the Cajun community likes to get the appearance of nice weather off to a good start with a big party. 'Course, being Cajun means partying with your neighbors no matter what the day is! So while we do traditionally celebrate on certain days of the year, the real tradition for Cajuns is just plain celebratin'!

Sounds good to us! In this recording Big Marv eschews his usual instrument the piano for the double bass. We weren't aware he could play it, but he lays down a solid bass for the rest of the Hodads to follow in this happy tune! 

We going to have us a high ol' time 

We going to be feelin' mighty sublime 

When the party starts at my place 

In the warm air of springtime 

 

From our history in Acadiaa 

We going to sing songs that we known 

Since we was li'l babys 

An until we been all grown 

 

From the haunting refrain 

Of La Belle et le Capitaine 

To songs of such power as

 Here Take This Lovely Flower 

 

 We going to eat plenty Cajun food oh ya! 

Like them Crawfish Étouffée 

And our favorite Jambalaya 

And seafood cooked ever which way! 

 

We going to have us a high ol' time 

We going to be feelin' mighty sublime 

When the party starts at my place 

In the warm air of springtime 

 

Then there's going to be plenty dancing too 

We be pickin' up an layin' 'em down 

Ya'll eat 'till yer belly's full up 

Then dancing will wear it all down 

 

 We going to have us a high ol' time 

We going to be feelin' mighty sublime 

When the party starts at my place 

In the warm air of springtime

Big Marv and The Hodads - Swamp Ass Joe

 This may be the last recording for Big Marv and The Hodads for a while. Big Marv isn't going down to New Orleans with the band for Mardi Gras, and he has no idea when they'll get back. Big Marv says:

I been to Mardi Gras lots of times. Too damn old for that nonsense anymore. Got no interest in throwin' strings of beads to women showin' their titties, all the boozin' dope, carousing in general. Oh, the boys will have their share of music to play an' all, but them guys won't draw a sober breath the whole time. Hell, Mardi  Gras doesn't start until March 4th this year, but they got lots of gigs before then, I guess. Least that's what they told me. They tried to get me to go along, to keep unity with the group. But we've never been a tight knit group. The Hodads just might go on without me, even after they get back, but it's no skin off my nose. There's lots of opportunities for my wife and I to make music!

 By the way, Big Marv's wife is 'Big' Sheila Jonsmite, known for her gourmet Cajun food, plus she's a good singer and musician in her own right that has recorded for us as well. But back to the recording.

The bayous, swamps ans sloughs of Louisiana have given us a lot of folktales from the people that live there. A local legend that no doubt has basis in fact is what Big Marv has named as Swamp Ass Joe. This recording is unique for Big And Tall Records as it is basically a blues/boogie woogie piece that is prefaced by a short introduction by a full orchestra and operatic tenor! 

Seems Big Marv was sitting in on a rehearsal of The Noir Players and he got the idea while listening to them. He had a talk with the leaders within the group, and they agreed to do the intro if he would allow them to use the idea for their own recording! 

So the recording is not mislabeled, it's Big Marv and The Hodads with one of the brass players singing the lead and Big Marv ripping up the piano part!  

 Introduction

 What's that coming up the dirt road, 

It's form can just be made out, 

A ghastly silhouette of terror! 

Long legs and body stout! 

LOOK! It's covered in long hair! 

All the folks closely watch 

It comes nearer........,and nearer..... 

OH MY GOD IT LOOKS LIKE SASQUATCH! 

 

 Swamp Ass Joe

WHOA! HOLD ON! HOLD ON BOYS! I SAID HOLD ON! 

That ain't no Sasquatch! 

That's just Swamp Ass Joe! 

 

He's big as a squatch, 'bout as hairy too, 

But he ain't gonna do nothin' to you. 

He's friendly as a puppy dog, 

'Bout as bright as a cedar log. 

If you're a gator it's a differnt story, 

Causes all the 'gators a whole lot of worry 

He hunts them down and they see defeat, 

Cuz he strips 'em down and sells their meat! 

 

 Swamp Ass Joe, lives in the swamp, 

Next door to the cottonmouth snakes 

Don't eat nothin' but catfish, crawdads and gator, 

He knows every square inch of the swamps and lakes 

 

 Lives in a bug infested cabin in the boonies, 

Got lights and TV, likes to watch cartoonies 

In gator season he becomes a predator, 

Of anything looks like an alligator 

He snares, 'em, ropes 'em, knocks 'em in the head, 

When he drags them in the boat wants be sure theys dead 

 

Swamp Ass Joe came to town was all mad and sad, 

We tried to cheer him up, tell him a joke that’s funny 

"Ain't no use," he said hangin' his head. "I'm feelin' bad!

My TV done quit showin' that rascal Bugs Bunny!” 

 

He comes to town, folks give him room, 

In his pocket I saw a growin' mushroom, 

That's how dirty and nasty he is, what a stink! 

He don't even bother to wash in the sink! 

So people just want to avoid the smell, 

His long hair and beard are just nasty as hell, 

He thinks folks don't like him, but he don't care, 

Wears overalls with no underwear! 

 

Swamp Ass Joe, tol' me he used to wipe his ass, 

With a page from the Catalogue of Sears fame, 

But they don't print 'em, long gone and passed, 

So he don't wipe at all, that's how he got his name!

 

So you ain't gotta be 'fraid of ol' Joe, 

He's like a little boy.He likes sit and whittle out little toys 

The children don't seem to mind his smell, 

And flock to him to listen to stories he tells. 

He's a good ol' boy, just a little dense, 

And his personal hygiene is a mess. 

But it's gator season and he's the reason 

Why we always have a gator meat fest! 

Swamp Ass Joe! 

Swamp Ass Joe!

 

 

 

Big Marv and The Hodads - Keep Lovin'

Big Marv and The Hodads

 Big Marv was at the recording session recently when Tugboat Jackson laid down his song 'Keep Lovin'', and he took a shine to it. Just shows how these music guys really are into their craft, because  Marv got his arrangement down, got his band together plus the two soloists, and laid his cover of the song down the next day! He invited Tugboat to the session, and Tugboat was grinning and tapping his foot the whole session! 

There's a solo for trombone in the middle that's played by Willis 'Lumpy' Hochstedder, a trombonist that Marv has been trying to get into the band, and after hearing him, we can understand why. The singer is Tommy McVellie, who's worked with Marv before, and his style seemed to be perfect for this song. 

You'll no doubt notice the changes made to the lyrics. Marv formed them to fit into his musical vision he had for the song. Tugboat had no problem with that, as his style and Marv's are quite different. But Tugboat's quite pleased, even honored that Big Marv was so taken with the song! 

I got a fine woman, yes indeed! 

Got a fine woman, yes indeed! 

 

Young folks, listen to what I say. 

Keep on lovin' and it won't go away! 

Things will change you can bet, 

But your needs'll still be met! 

 

When we're together, my heart is glad. 

When we're together, my heart is glad. T

urns me happy, from bein' so sad! 

 

Yeah, you lose some things when ya grow old. 

But you can still be happy, and be bold!

 Enjoy what ya'll can still do, 

Can still have fun when yer through! 

 

Still a spark to get us goin' 

Still a spark that gets us goin'

 Sure a lot better than bein' alone.

 

 Still make love from time to time, 

We just fill in the blanks with our mind, 

With lots of sweet talk, that's mighty fine. 

Hope ya'll know what I'm talkin' 'bout. 

 

Don't stop sweet talkin' her! 

Don't you stop sweet talkin' her! 

That'll help keep love goin' for sure. 

 

Treat her with love, and respect!

 Listen! You treat her with love, and respect! 

And your love will have no defect! 

 

Still make love from time to time, 

We just fill in the blanks with our mind, 

With lots of sweet talk, that's mighty fine. 

 Hope ya'll know what I'm talkin' 'bout 

 

Don't stop sweet talkin' her! 

Don't you stop sweet talkin' her!

 That'll help keep love goin' for sure. 

 

 Treat her with love, and respect! 

Listen! You treat her with love, and respect!

 And your love will have no defect! 

 

Ya know, we all grow old, or we don't. 

You bet, we all grow old, or we don't. 

If you don't keep goin'......you surely won't

 

 

 

Big Marv And The Hodads - Stanky Thang!

 Big Marv and The Hoodads are for the most part a dixieland jazz band out of New Orleans that play all kinds of events such as wedding receptions, family get-togethers, anything that involves people wanting to have a good time. Big Marv is the leader of the group, and is mostly known for his virtuoso ability playing ragtime, dixieland, and anything else that suits his fancy. He's a classically trained pianist, and at one time pursuing a career as a piano recitalist, but he fell back on his love of dixieland, and has been playing it with his band ever since.

This recording is a little different in that it spotlights Big Marv in a singing role, something he rarely does. He's got a voice that has been described as 'Broken glass mixed with steel balls rolling down a tin gutter'. We don't know about that, but his voice is unique! Here sings a son of his own devising, said he made it up as he went along one night after the band got through with a gig and were just 'playin' round' afterwards. Who is it he's singing about? Maybe no one. Just the result of a fertile imagination, sometimes 'fertile' as in the same way a cow pasture is fertile! word is that it was recorded way early in the morning, and Big Marv may have been 'in his cups', as they say...

Big Marv

Dang, you got a stanky thang!Don’t ya’ll ever wash!

Soap and water don’t cost much for ya’ll to scrub it! 

Dang, you ‘spect any body wanna get close to it? 

Don’t be so lazy, and break down and wash it! 

Stankey thang, no smelly feet can match it! Stankey thang, no armpit can top it! 

The stank ya got driftin’ off you is worse than I ever smelt!

 Don’t be so damned lazy and scrape off the crust 

from that funky, stankey ol’ Daisy! 

Stankey Thang, no stench can rise above it! 

Stankey thang, take a lot get the funk off of it! 

 

The stank you got is hard to describe, 

kinda like a mixture of old dirty socks, 

mixed with pickled egg farts and dirty jock strap! Woman, your stank ain’t good, 

like old dead horse cock stirred in with rotten cow livers and 30 day ol’ dog shit!

Stankey thang, makes my gut retch!

Stankey thang, be a terrible stench! 

Stankey Thang, Stankey Thang, Stankey Thang, 

 

Stankey thang  I remember when we were just kids,

you told me if I show you mine, you'd show me yours. 

Well, I showed mine alright, but when you pulled your 

drawers down, it was a terrible fright! 

 

Stankey Thang, no words can really describe it! 

Stankey thang, shit would even say that it stinks!