AT THE JAZZ BAND BALL
(Edwin B Edwards / Nick La Rocca / Anthony Sbarbaro / Larry Shields 1917 
Johnny Mercer (l) later)

as recorded by 
Bing Crosby & Louis Armstrong
with Billy May & his Orchestra
June 29th 1960 Los Angeles


Back when a nickel would buy
A jug jigger of respectable rye,
And piano players in the honky tonks
Would have to work on the sly!

One two, was known to a few,
Some steady habitues too.
So the word of mouth
Spread around the south,
Very entre nous!

You better dig that jazz band ball,
'Cause it's the ball of them all!
Fou fight positions in the small saloon,
Inventin' the ragtime tune.

They kinda made up their own brand
Without a note up on the stand,
And they call it D-I-X-I-E hyphen,
L-A-N-D land.

Well sir, you know it caught on,
What's more it was strictly barn town.
'Cause like a winner at the starting gate,
Your music got it and gone!

It moved from over the tracks
Into the society shacks.
It was wonderful,
And deductible, from the income tax!

You better dig that jazz band ball,
'Cause it's the ball of them all!
When the trumpet player takes 'em on the low,
The people shout, "Well, a who got dug?"

And if you ask how come that yell?
They kinda grin and then say, "Well,
When the band plays J-A-double Zee,
It's a B-A- double L!"
When the band plays J-A-double Zee,
It's a B-A- double L!




(Transcribed by Peter Akers - June 2020)