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Ragtime Chicken Joe/C-H-I-C-K-E-N/Dat’s the Way to Spell Chicken/Chicken
Old-time Song with fiddle breaks; Written by Sidney L. Perrin and Bob Slater, 1902
ARTIST: "Ragtime Chicken Joe" by "Fiddling Doc Roberts Trio" Conqueror 8566 Recorded: September 1935
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes
DATE: 1935 Bob Cole and J. Rosamund Johnson in 1899; (recording 1924, Henry Whitter) "There is No Chicken That Can Roost Too High For Me" by W.J. Simons, published in 1899. Fred. Lyons “Dem Chickens Roost Too High”c1887; Dat’s the way to Spell Chicken by Sidney L. Perrin and Bob Slater, 1902;
RECORDING INFO: Uncle Tom Collins, "Chicken, You Can't Roost Too High for Me" (OKeh 45140, 1927) Dixie String Band, "Chicken Don't Roost Too High for Me" (Puritan 9160, n.d. but prob. c. 1926) Georgia Potlickers, "Chicken, Don't Roost Too High" (Brunswick 595, 1932; rec. 1930) Earl Johnson & his Clodhoppers, "They Don't Roost Too High for Me" (OKeh 45223, 1928; on Cornshuckers2) Riley Puckett, "Chicken Don't Roost Too High for Me" (Columbia 150-D, 1924) Uncle Tom Collins, "Chicken Can't Roost Too High for Me" (OKeh 45140, 1927) Henry Whitter, "Chicken Don't Roost Too High for Me" (OKeh 40077, 1924) Jones, Grandpa. 24 Great Country Songs, King 967, LP (1975), trk# A.04 [1950] McClung Brothers. West Virginia Hills. Early Recordings from West Virginia, Old Homestead OHCS 141, LP (1982), 9 [1927/03/07] (Chicken, [Oh Chicken]) Webb, Bob; and Craig Edwards. Cluck Old Hen, Richmond Webb RWA 4303, CD (2004), trk# 13 (Mister Chicken) "Ragtime Chicken Joe" by "Fiddling Doc Roberts Trio" Conqueror 8566, McGee Brothers (1927), Kirk McGee (1927), Asa Martin (1933 under the title 'Ragtime Chicken Joe' and Tobacco Tags (1939 under the title 'De Way to Spell Chicken'.
RELATED TO: C-H-I-C-K-E-N; Dem Chickens Roost Too High
OTHER NAMES: Rooster Don't Roost to High for Me; Dem Chickens Roost Too High; There Is No Chicken That Can Roost Too High for Me; Ragtime Chicken Joe;
SOURCES: BrownIII 434, "Chicken" (1 short text) Roud #11777; E.C Perrow;
NOTES: Lyrics: "Chicken, oh, you chicken, went up in a balloon, Chicken, oh, you chicken, roost behind the moon.... Tell it all to the bad boy, chicken don't roost so high... When they see me coming All round this old plantation, There can't be a chicken seen." Singer tells chicken not to roost too high, but to come down out of his tree. Sometimes there are other verses about chasing a chicken to kill and eat, but mostly this is a fiddle tune with incidental verses.
“Dat’s the way to Spell Chicken” by Sidney L. Perrin and Bob Slater, 1902 is the source of Ragtime Chicken Joe/C-H-I-C-K-E-N versions. Many versions, like "Ragtime Chicken Joe" by "Fiddling Doc Roberts Trio" Conqueror 8566, add the “Chicken don’t roost too high” verse, combining the two songs. The McGee version was called "C-H-I-C-K-E-N Spells Chicken", and it appears on collection "Sam McGee Complete Works 1926-1934" CD Document 8036, 1999. It was also recorded by Mississippi John Hurt (as "C-H-I-C-K-E-N Blues" also with a verse from “Chicken don’t roost too high”), the Red Clay Ramblers, Tom Paxton, and Van Dyke Parks. One version by John Hurt includes the chorus only. The other recording that includes a verse ("Chicken, don't you roost too high for me") is played in the key of C.
Fred. Lyons wrote “Dem Chickens Roost Too High”c1887, which is a different song that introduces the “Chicken roost too high” lyrics.
“Chicken Don’t Roost Too High for Me,” is listed by Meade as written by Bob Cole and J. Rosamund Johnson in 1899. According to Saints and Songsters by Paul Oliver "There is No Chicken That Can Roost Too High For Me" by W.J. Simons, was published in 1899. To what extent the 1887 “Dem Chickens Roost Too High” version had an influence on these subsequent versions is unknown.
Here are the lyrics to "Ragtime Chicken Joe":
"Ragtime Chicken Joe" by "Fiddling Doc Roberts Trio"
Conqueror 8566 Recorded: September 1935
Once there was a country schoolhouse where the coons all used to go,
And one old coon in school, they called him Ragtime Joe.
Old Joe had a problem with spelling, that the teacher couldn’t understand,
They gave him out the word chicken to spell, and this is the way it began.
C – am the first letter
H – am the second
I - am the third
And C K – is the *word.
E – am the way you eat her
And N is the last one
C-H-I-C-K-E-N
The way to spell chicken.
Chicken oh chicken won’t you come down outta that tree.
Chicken yes chicken you don’t roost too high for me.
I’m going up in a big balloon I’m gonna pull that chicken out behind the moon.
Chicken oh chicken you don’t roost too high for me.
(Solo)
Oh Chicken yes chicken you don’t roost too high for me.
Chicken oh chicken won’t you come down outta that tree.
I’m going up in a big balloon I’m gonna pull that chicken out behind the moon.
Chicken oh chicken you don’t roost too high for me.
(Solo)
*word (should be: bird)
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