[Dixielandjazz] Someday Sweetheart

[TBW504 at aol.com]

As a youngster I often listened in fascination at the stories told by my 
paternal grandfather of his days as a prize-fighter. One of the names I remember 
from over sixty years ago was one he often repeated in admiration: Joe Gans, 
America's first black world champion. Imagine my surprise in reading a 
transcription of a Jelly Roll Morton recording for Lomax and the Library of Congress to 
find the following, in a explanation of the genesis of the tune usually 
attributed to the Spikes Brothers, "Someday Sweetheart": (it) "was a tune that . .  
a . . racetrack man friend of mine (composed -my interpolation) - Kid North. 
He only could play one tune. And he told me that I could have the tune since 
he found that I was a writer . . . of music and we had been friends then for 
quite a while. He was a former trainer of Joe Gans, the old champion from 
Baltimore. Then he had been in racetrack business for a long time. The title of the 
tune that he wanted to give to me, which a part of it was taken for "Someday 
Sweetheart". The title was named Tricks Ain't Walkin' No More. All right?" 
Morton was undoubtedly a self-booster but, as with Mamie Desdunes, he never 
claimed other people's material for his own. In a letter to Roy Carew dated Dec 
23rd, 1939 Morton wrote: "Mamie Desdune (sic) wrote "Mamie's Blues" in the 
late 90ies (sic). I dont (sic) like to take credit for something that dont 
belong to me. I guess she's dead by now, & there would probably be no royalty to 
pay but she did write it."  Today Mamie's Blues is more commonly referred to as 
"2.19 Blues"
This Joe Gans (originally Joseph Gaines) is not to be confused with another 
boxing celebrity "Panama" Joe Gans.
Brian Wood