I'se Muggin

SUDS · May 2006

Hello

Has anybody heard this song "ISE MUGGIN." If so, do you know where I could find the lyrics and is Django actually singing the song? Im farely certain he is though so it;s definetly worth checking out.

Thanks

SUDS

Jack · May 2006

The singer is Freddie Taylor, recorded 4 May 1936...I haven't seen the lyrics online, though.

Best,
Jack.

[edit] Oops-Ted's response was posted while I was writing mine...one more thing to add is that the tune is generally attributed to Stuff Smith.

Jack · May 2006

There is a version here, just not the Django/Freddie one:
http://www.heptune.com/iseamugg.html

Best,
Jack.

a · May 2006

yeah, but the background vocals..? django?

Jack · May 2006

a wrote:

yeah, but the background vocals..? django?

Do you mean the sort of 'badah badah' stuff? I suppose he could be in there somewhere, but none of the accents sound particularly like him to my ear. If anyone's got some hard facts, I'd be glad to hear them.

Best,
Jack.

Teddy Dupont · May 2006

Jack wrote:

a wrote:

yeah, but the background vocals..? django?

Do you mean the sort of 'badah badah' stuff? I suppose he could be in there somewhere, but none of the accents sound particularly like him to my ear. If anyone's got some hard facts, I'd be glad to hear them.

Best,
Jack.

It is claimed to be the entire Hot Club Quintet and I am sure Django is in there. He would have loved doing the bahdaleahdas.

SUDS · May 2006

Thanks for the help guys. See its for a gig and I thought it would be an interesting twist to play (and sing it). And the post of the lyrics helped coz there were some I couldnt figure out. Im kinda bummed that it wasnt Django singin, I sure wanted to believe it though.

SUDS

Charlie Ayers · May 2006

I've been trying to convince the band that I play rhythm with, to do this song, for a number of years - unfortunately without success. We don't do any vocal tunes, and I've always thought that this one would be quite novel....

Charlie

keary18 · May 2006

The song was recorded with Django according to this Complete DJango Reinhardt-QHCF Sessions (Disc 1) and Django Reinhardt: The Classic Early Recordings (Disc 4) with Freddie Taylor. I haven't found the hard copy on it either. Hope this helps.
David

trumbology · May 2006

Tune is by Stuff Smith, says "The Chronological Classics" label (Classics 706).

Stuff recorded it February 11, 1936, and it was his first record session as a leader. Stuff is of course one of the architects of swing violin, and during this phase of his career his records combined solid musicianship with jive novelty vocals that were similar to those by groups like Slim [Gaillard] & Slam [Stewart] and The Cats and the Fiddle. All of these jive groups were playing the 52nd street clubs in NYC during this time, and were embraced by musicians and non-musicians alike. Django covered Slim & Slam's "Flat Foot Floogie", although as most of you know, it's not one of the QHCF's outstanding efforts.

"You'se a Viper" is another ode to grass that Stuff Smith waxed around this time. Alex Chilton put that one on his "Loose Shoes and Tight Pussy" record a couple of years ago, so Stuff is not forgotten!

What makes me laugh every time I listen to Django's version of "I'se a Muggin'" is the fact that Freddie Taylor misprounces both Django and Stephane's names at the end, singing "DANGO's muggin'...STEVEN's muggin..."

Neil