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.
You Took Advantage of Me
Muggsy Spanier Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It must go to someone of course
It can't be sister or brother
And so I love my horse
But horses are frequently silly
Mine ran from the beach of Okhala
And left me alone for a filly
So I have picked you up
I'm a sentimental sap, that's all
What's the use of trying not to fall?
I have no will, you've made your kill
Cause you took advantage of me
I'm just like an apple on a bough
And you're gonna shake me down somehow
So, what's the use, you've cooked my goose
Cause you took advantage of me
I'm so hot and bothered that
I don't know my elbow from my ear
I suffer something awful each time
You go and much worse when you're near
Here I am with all my bridges burned
Just a babe in arms where you're concerned
So lock the doors and call me yours
Cause you took advantage of me.
I'm a sentimental sap, that's all
What's the use of trying not to fall?
I have no will, you've made your kill
Cause you took advantage of me
I'm just like an apple on a bough
And you're gonna shake me down somehow
So, what's the use, you've cooked my goose
Cause you took advantage of me
I'm so hot and bothered that
I don't know my elbow from my ear
I suffer something awful each time
You go and much worse when you're near
Here I am with all my bridges burned
Just a babe in arms where you're concerned
So lock the doors and call me yours
Cause you took advantage of me
You took advantage of me
The first stanza of "You Took Advantage of Me" by Muggsy Spanier employs an interesting metaphor to describe the singer's situation. The singer compares his love to the heart of a mother, which cannot be given to siblings and must go elsewhere. He explains how his horse was initially the target of his love but now that it has run away, he has turned his attention to the addressee. The second stanza is a confession of the singer's vulnerability: he's a helpless, sentimental person who has fallen victim to the addressee's charm. He compares himself to an apple ready to be shaken down, and a bird with no way back to shore. The final stanza continues the theme of his helplessness, as he describes himself as having burnt all his bridges and being totally dependent on the addressee.
Overall, the song is highlighting the singer's sense of being trapped in a relationship he was not quite prepared for. He is "hot and bothered," and "suffers something awful." The lines "I have no will, you've made your kill / Cause you took advantage of me" demonstrates the singer's feeling that he has been coerced into loving the addressee. In other words, the singer feels duped into giving his heart away, and now feels totally exposed and vulnerable. The song is an expression of the agony of his love, and how the addressee's action has resulted in his becoming a helpless mess.
Line by Line Meaning
When a girl has the heart of a mother
When a woman has a kind and nurturing heart
It must go to someone of course
She will naturally give her love to someone
It can't be sister or brother
She cannot love her siblings in that way
And so I love my horse
So, I have found another being to care for
But horses are frequently silly
However, horses often display silly behavior
Mine ran from the beach of Okhala
My horse ran away from me at Okhala beach
And left me alone for a filly
And left me alone to find a new companion
So I have picked you up
So, I have chosen you to fill that void
I'm a sentimental sap, that's all
I am a romantic and emotional person
What's the use of trying not to fall?
What is the point of resisting my feelings?
I have no will, you've made your kill
I have no power over my emotions, you have won
Cause you took advantage of me
You used my vulnerability to win me over
I'm just like an apple on a bough
I am vulnerable and ready to fall
And you're gonna shake me down somehow
You will take advantage of my weakness and shake me down
So, what's the use, you've cooked my goose
There's no point in resisting, you have already won
I'm so hot and bothered that
I am so overwhelmed and flustered that
I don't know my elbow from my ear
I am so disoriented that I can't tell my elbow from my ear
I suffer something awful each time
I go through immense pain every time
You go and much worse when you're near
You create even more suffering when you are close to me
Here I am with all my bridges burned
I am left with nothing and have no other options now
Just a babe in arms where you're concerned
I am completely vulnerable and dependent on you
So lock the doors and call me yours
So, take ownership of me and keep me close
Cause you took advantage of me
Because you used my vulnerability to make me yours
You took advantage of me
You exploited my weakness
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind