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.
Down to Steamboat Tennessee
Muggsy Spanier Lyrics
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Someone will get me and take me away!
I'm gonna leave you baby, goin' down to Steamboat Tennessee,
I'm gonna leave you baby, goin' down to Steamboat Tennessee,
'Cause it's the last time you're a-gonna crease up bedsheets with me!
Your New York lights shine so nice and bright,
I'd rather be down home, walkin' by the lantern light!
They say the time's a-comin' when a woman won't need a man,
They say the time's a-comin' when a woman won't need a man,
I'm gonna keep that time from comin' if I can!
Folks up here say I'm strange and queer,
Folks up here say I'm strange and queer,
I made 'em stay out of my garden, can't plant no cucumbers here!
Don't have to be no fortune teller to read what's on any man's mind,
Don't have to be no fortune teller to read what's on any man's mind,
And I'm glad to be goin', and I ain't leavin' too much behind!
And I'm glad to be goin', and I ain't leavin' too much behind!
The lyrics of Muggsy Spanier’s song Down to Steamboat Tennessee convey a tale of a woman leaving her partner and her current living situation behind to explore better prospects, in a town called Steamboat Tennessee. The opening lines of the song suggest that the woman is looking for a change or a break from her current situation, and is willing to take a risk and leave with someone to another town for just a day. However, as the song progresses, it becomes evident that the woman is leaving for good and not just on a whim. She is unhappy with her current city and wants to move to a place that reveres a simpler way of life, away from the bright lights of New York. She mentions that she would rather walk by lantern light than be surrounded by the bright electric lights of the city.
The woman in the song mentions that “the time's a-comin' when a woman won't need a man,” indicating that she is not afraid to be independent and can make her way in the world without anyone’s help. She further explains that she has had enough of being judged and misunderstood by the people in her current city, and she is excited to move to a place where she can truly be herself. She makes it clear that she is ready for this new chapter in her life and is happy to leave her past behind.
Overall, the lyrics of Muggsy Spanier’s song Down to Steamboat Tennessee depict the story of a woman who is looking for a fresh start and is determined to start a new life on her own terms, without any baggage from her past.
Line by Line Meaning
In the morning, baby, just for a day, Someone will get me and take me away!
I will only be leaving for a day and then someone will take me away.
I'm gonna leave you baby, goin' down to Steamboat Tennessee, I'm gonna leave you baby, goin' down to Steamboat Tennessee, 'Cause it's the last time you're a-gonna crease up bedsheets with me!
I am leaving you to go down to Steamboat Tennessee because it is the last time we will be intimate together.
Your New York lights shine so nice and bright, Your New York lights shine so nice and bright, I'd rather be down home, walkin' by the lantern light!
Although New York lights are beautiful, I would rather be walking with a lantern in my hometown.
They say the time's a-comin' when a woman won't need a man, They say the time's a-comin' when a woman won't need a man, I'm gonna keep that time from comin' if I can!
Although people believe that women will no longer need men in the future, I will try to prevent that from happening.
Folks up here say I'm strange and queer, Folks up here say I'm strange and queer, I made 'em stay out of my garden, can't plant no cucumbers here!
People in this place think I'm weird, so I prevented them from planting cucumbers in my garden.
Don't have to be no fortune teller to read what's on any man's mind, Don't have to be no fortune teller to read what's on any man's mind, And I'm glad to be goin', and I ain't leavin' too much behind!
I know what men are thinking and I am glad to be leaving without leaving too much behind.
And I'm glad to be goin', and I ain't leavin' too much behind!
I am happy to be leaving and not leaving too much behind.
Lyrics © NEXT DECADE ENTERTAINMENT,INC.
Written by: JESS STACY, LEE WILEY, WILLARD ROBINSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind