Sausage Me a Gregory
I don't know how we got round to it but the subject of strange titles for songs and tunes came up in conversation the other day. There are many of them, and not all have a logical explanation.
Some of the tune titles I know came about because musicians got (and still get) fed up with people asking them what the name of the tune was that they just played. The reply was mostly Gan Anim: for 'no name'. Sometimes however, the musician, in a desperate attempt to get rid of the person asking the question, would make something up. Hence titles like or .
was a title that I thought came from a similar stable until I learned that Con Curtin was a real man (and a fine musician) who ran a pub in London called The Big Balloon. I am guilty of one such title myself, a blues harp riff called Sausage Me A Gregory which came from a quote by Yorkshire gypsy guitarist and Good Time Charlie, the late great . One cold winter's night I heard him ask Jenks, the Fuhrer who ran the folk and jazz nights at the Manchester Sports Guild whether Jenks could (sausage and mash = cash) Diz a Gregory ( = cheque). Sausage me a gregory = cash me a .
The following is a selection of folky song and tune titles that are somewhat less than quotidian. Every one of them is real. Any further suggestions (but they have to be real) will be pasted into the hall of famous daft or curious "handles."
It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry
Bareback To Bullhassocks
Hold My False Teeth While I Show You How To Dance
Elephants Roost In Bamboo Trees
The Angels Have Taken My Racehorse Away
And so to the tunes. There are some I could not include on a family blog, but here are the clean ones...
Tom Cronin's Homework
The Hairy-chested Frog
Kitty Got A Clinking Coming From The Fair
The Eel's Nephew
Kiss Me Quick My Mammy's Coming
And my current favourite, so named because the composer's mum got the name ofÌý Fat Albert, the cartoon, completely wrong:
Fatal Bert
The following is a selection of folky song and tune titles that are somewhat less than quotidian. Every one of them is real. Any further suggestions (but they have to be real) will be pasted into the hall of famous daft or curious "handles."
It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry
Bareback To Bullhassocks
Hold My False Teeth While I Show You How To Dance
Elephants Roost In Bamboo Trees
The Angels Have Taken My Racehorse Away
And so to the tunes. There are some I could not include on a family blog, but here are the clean ones...
Tom Cronin's Homework
The Hairy-chested Frog
Kitty Got A Clinking Coming From The Fair
The Eel's Nephew
Kiss Me Quick My Mammy's Coming
And my current favourite, so named because the composer's mum got the name ofÌý Fat Albert, the cartoon, completely wrong:
Fatal Bert
Comment number 1.
At 14th May 2010, Tertonmike wrote:Enjoying the blog. 'Nuff Respect and all that but a small linguistic quibble...the Irish for "name" is "ainm" - admittedly pronounced "anim" as you have it, but spelt thusly. Just thought you'd like to know! Keep up the good work!
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Comment number 2.
At 1st Jun 2010, dannylerudd wrote:Hi,
Just a word on behalf of Dr Strangely Strange. I see the recording Kip of the Serenes is now on CD.
Great name for a group. I remember seing them live at a pub in Hull in 1969? Love the song Strangley Strange but oldly normal.
'only the other day I was making hay 'cos I supposed the sun was shining, but when I looked up by Hashnian? I was struck...must be just my sence of timing.'
With lyrics like that it must be worth a play on the show?
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