[Dixielandjazz] Goofus

[Bruce Stangeland]

Ted,

I have a version of "Goofus" that includes the lyrics. The song is in A 
- B - A format. (not Verse/chorus).

A:
I was born on a farm out in I-o-way, a flam-ing youth who was bound that 
he'd fly a-way. I packed my grip and I grabbed my sax-o-phone. Can't 
read notes, but I play an-y-thing by ear. I made up tunes on the sounds 
that I used to hear. When I'd start to play, folks used to say, "Sounds 
a lit-tle Goo-fus to me."

B:
Corn-fed chords ap-peal to me. I like rus-tic har-mon-y. Hold the note 
and change the key. That's called "Goo-fus." Not ac-cord-ing to the 
rules that you learn at mu-sic schools, but the folks just dance like 
fools. They go "Goo-fus."

A:
Got a job but I just could-n't keep it long. The lead-er said that I 
played all the mu-sic wrong. So I stepped out with an out-fit of my own. 
Got to-geth-er a new kind of or-ches-tra and we all played just the same 
goo-fus har-mon-y. And I must ad-mit, we made a hit. Goo-fus has been 
luck-y for me.

These words are very close to yours.

Cheers,
Bruce Stangeland
Berkeley banjoist
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 8
> Date: Sat, 22 May 2010 23:36:12 -0700
> From: "Tim Eldred" <julepjerk at surewest.net>
> To: "'Kevin Yeates'" <kyeates at yahoo.com>
> Cc: 'Dixieland Jazz Mailing List' <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Goofus
> Message-ID: <001201cafa42$3ce3fb80$b6abf280$@net>
> Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="utf-8"
>
> The piano roll I have has that wording as the start of the first verse.  I don't know that there is a chorus - the middle portion below is kind of a bridge between the two verses and has a different melodic line.  Here are the words on the roll:
>
> I was born on a farm out in Ioway/a flaming youth who was bound that he'd fly away/I packed my grip and I grabbed my saxophone.  Can't read notes but I play everything by ear/I made up songs on the sounds that I used to hear/when folks hear me play they always say/sounds a little Goofus to me.
>
> Corn fed chords appeal to me/I like rustic harmony/hold the note and then change the key/that's called Goofus.  Not according to the rules/that you learn at music schools/but the folks just dance like fools/they go Goofus.
>
> Got me a job but I just couldn't keep it long/the leader he said that I played all the music wrong/so I set out with an outfit of my own.  Got together a new kind of orchestree/and we all played just the same Goofus harmony/and I must admit we were a hit/sounds a little Goofus to me.  (Not sure on the last line - can't find the piano roll to check, but that's what I remember it to be...)
>
> The piano roll then repeats the "Corn fed chords" and "Got me a job" portions, with "sounds a little Goofus to me" as the ending.
>
> Hope this helps...
>
> Tim Eldred
> Roseville, CA
> Lurker and amateur musician...
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: dixielandjazz-bounces at ml.islandnet.com [mailto:dixielandjazz-bounces at ml.islandnet.com] On Behalf Of Kevin Yeates
> Sent: Saturday, May 22, 2010 8:23 PM
> To: julepjerk at surewest.net
> Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List
> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Goofus
>
> Every version I have heard of Goofus contains what I would call the chorus.  The part I am referring to has the words that include
>
> ?I was born on a farm out in Ioway
> A flaming youth who was bound that he?d fly away?
>
> I had only heard it played that way until I was listening to a recording of it by Slim Lamar?s Southerners.  They play a whole lot more of the tune than simply the famous part I have mentioned above.  In fact that part seemed to come up only once. (I wasn?t listening that carefully to it.)
>
> Can anyone tell me if there actually is a verse to the tune or did  Slim Lamar?s Southerners simply do a good job of creating a bit more to flesh things out. If there is a verse as well, does anyone have the words?
>
> Kevin Yeates
> Vancouver, Canada
>
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