Francis Joseph Julian "Muggsy" Spanier (November 9, 1901 – February 12, 196… Read Full Bio ↴Francis Joseph Julian "Muggsy" Spanier (November 9, 1901 – February 12, 1967) was a prominent cornet player based in Chicago. He was renowned as the best trumpet/cornet player in Chicago until Bix Beiderbecke entered the scene.

Muggsy led several traditional, "hot" jazz bands, most notably Muggsy Spanier and His Ragtime Band (which did not, in fact, play ragtime but, rather, "hot jazz" that would now be called Dixieland). This band set the style for all later attempts to play traditional jazz with a swing rhythm section. Its key members, apart from Muggsy, were: George Brunies - later Brunis - (trombone and vocals), Rodney Cless (clarinet), George Zack or Joe Bushkin (piano), Ray McKinstry, Nick Ciazza or Bernie Billings (tenor sax), and Bob Casey (bass). A number of competent but unmemorable drummers worked in the band.

The Ragtime Band's theme tune was "Relaxin' at the Touro", named for Touro Infirmary, the New Orleans hospital where Muggsy had been treated for a perforated ulcer early in 1938. He had been at the point of death when he was saved by one Dr. Alton Ochsner who drained the fluid and eased Muggsy's weakened breathing.
"Relaxin' At The Touro" is a fairly straightforward 12-bar blues, with a neat piano introduction and coda by Joe Bushkin. The pianist recalled, many years later: "When I finally joined Muggsy in Chicago (having left Bunny Berigan's failing big band) we met to talk it over at the Three Deuces, where Art Tatum was appearing. Muggsy was now playing opposite Fats Waller at the Sherman hotel and we worked out a kind of stage show for the two bands. Muggsy was a man of great integrity. We played a blues in C and I made up a little intro. After that I was listed as the co-composer of "Relaxin' at the Touro" (quoted by Richard B. Hadlock in the notes to the Bluebird CD 'Muggsy Spanier 1939 - The "Ragtime Band" Sessions', 07863 66550).
The (then) young pianist Joe Bushkin was in the Ragtime Band in 1939 and later said of Muggsy: "When he nailed something right, he stayed with it; he wouldn't fix it if it wasn't broke".

In his time, Muggsy made numerous Dixieland recordings that still serve as favorites today. Apart from the famous Ragtime Band, his other most important ventures were the quartet he co-led with Sidney Bechet (the 'Big Four') in 1940 and the traditional band he co-led with pianist Earl Hines at the Club Hangover in San Francisco in the 1950s. During the early 1920s he played with The Bucktown Five in Chicago.

Although Muggsy's real name was Francis Joseph Julian Spanier, he acquired the nickname "Muggsy" either because of his youthful enthusiasm for a baseball hero ("Muggsy" McGraw), or because of his obsession with King Oliver and Louis Armstrong. He was known to have shadowed and "mugged" both of them, copying their styles and incorporating them into his own music. He was allowed, on at least one occasion, to sit in with King Oliver's band (with Louis Armstrong on second cornet) at the Lincoln Gardens, Chicago, in the early 1920s.

He ended his days in the 1960s, leading a traditional jazz band that included old friends like Joe Sullivan (piano), Pops Foster (bass) and Darnell Howard (clarinet). He was not a great technician or virtuoso, but he could lead a traditional ensemble with fire and guts.

Dinah
Muggsy Spanier Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Carolina
Gave me Dinah;
I'm the proudest one
Beneath the Dixie sun.

News is spreadin'
'Bout our weddin';
I hear church bells ringin',

Here's the song my heart keeps singin':

Dinah,
Is there anyone finer
In the state of Carolina?
If there is and you know her,
Show her!

Dinah,
With her Dixie eyes blazin',
How I love to sit and gaze in
To the eyes of Dinah Lee!

Yet, every night,
My, how I shake with fright,
Because my Dinah might,
Change her mind about me!

But if Dinah,
Ever wandered to China,
I would hop an ocean liner,
Just to be with Dinah Lee!

Dinah,
Is there anyone finer
In the state of Carolina?
If there is and you know her,
Show her!

Dinah,
With her Dixie eyes blazin',
How I love to sit and gaze in
To the eyes of Dinah Lee!

Yet, every night,
My, how I shake with fright,
Because my Dinah might,
Change her mind about me!

But if Dinah,
Ever wandered to China,

I would hop an ocean!,
Just to be with Dinah Lee!

Overall Meaning

The song "Dinah" by Muggsy Spanier is a sweet and upbeat love song that celebrates the singer's love for his girlfriend, Dinah. He proudly speaks about how Carolina gave him Dinah and how happy he is to be with her. He sings about the news of their wedding spreading and hears church bells ringing. The singer expresses his love for Dinah by singing her praises, claiming there is no one finer in the state of Carolina.

The lyrics of this song showcase the singer's deep love for Dinah and his fear of losing her. He loves to sit and gaze into her Dixie eyes, and every night he fears that she might change her mind about him. He reassures her that if she ever wandered to China, he would hop an ocean liner just to be with her. The song's melody is light and catchy, and the lyrics are straightforward and easy to understand.

Overall, "Dinah" is a lovely love song that celebrates the singer's love for his girlfriend, Dinah. It is a joyful song that speaks to the universal experience of falling in love and the fear of losing that love.

Line by Line Meaning

Carolina
The place where Muggsy Spanier met Dinah

Gave me Dinah;
Dinah became Muggsy's partner

I'm the proudest one
Muggsy is happy to be with Dinah

Beneath the Dixie sun.
In the land of Dixie, Muggsy is proud to have Dinah

News is spreadin'
News about Muggsy and Dinah getting married is spreading

'Bout our weddin';
People are talking about the upcoming marriage of Muggsy and Dinah

I hear church bells ringin',
Muggsy hears the bells ringing indicating the start of his wedding

Here's the song my heart keeps singin':
The song that plays in Muggsy's heart is about Dinah

Dinah,
The name of Muggsy's partner

Is there anyone finer
Dinah is the perfect match for Muggsy

In the state of Carolina?
Muggsy thinks there is no one better for him than Dinah in all of Carolina