IN A SHANTY IN OLD SHANTY TOWN 
From the film "Crooner" (1932)
(Joe Young / Little Jack Little / John Siras)

Ted Lewis & His Band (vocal: Ted Lewis) - 1932
Ted Black & His Orch. (vocal: Chick Bullock) - 1932
The Pennsylvania Collegians (vocal: Rex Blane) - 1932
Joe Green's Ambassadors (vocal: Frank Luther & Dick Robertson) - 1932
Jack Hylton & His Orch. (vocal: Pat O'Malley) - 1932
Belle Baker - 1932
Singin' Sam - 1932
Harold Van Emburgh - 1932
Spark Plug Smith - 1933
Johnny Long & His Orch. - 1940 (Re-recorded 1946)
Don Plant - 1941
Edmond Hall (Instr.) - 1944
Buck Clayton (Instr.) - 1944
Hadda Brooks - 1947
Henry "Red" Allen & His Orch. (vocal: "Red" Allen) - 1947
Doris Day - 1950
Big Bill Broonzy - 1952
Rose Murphy - 1953
Pepi Adorno & His Orch. (Instr.) - 1954
The Ink Spots - 1955
Somethin' Smith & The Redheads - 1956
Max Bygraves - 1957
Mitch Miller & The Gang - 1959
Lloyd Price - 1960
Tommy Kane - 1960
The Knightsbridge Chorale - 1960
Fats Domino - 1961
Gary Miller with Kenny Ball & His Jazzmen - 1961
Mac Beattie's Melodiers - 1967
Mickey Gilley - 1975

Also recorded by: 
Teresa Brewer; Coleman Hawkins Quintet; Dizzy Gillespie; The Mills Brothers; 
Jerry Lee Lewis; Jimmy Roselli; Arthur Smith; Billy Vaughan, Orch. & Chorus;
Bobby Angel & His Five Eyed Jacks; Matty Matlock; Art Mooney & His Orch.;
Marshall Lytle & The Shooting Stars; Quaker City String Band; Russ Conway;
Lawrence Welk; Slam Stewart & His Royal Rhythm Boys; Carmen Cavallaro;
Jerry Murad´s Harmonicats; Dick Charlesworth & His City Gents; Del Wood;
Johnny Mann Singers; Bert Weedon .......... and many others.                                                    



I'm up in the world
But I'd give the world to be where I used to be
A heavenly nest, where I rest the best
Means more than the world to me

It's only a shanty in old Shanty Town
The roof is so slanty it touches the ground
But my tumbled down shack by an old railroad track
Like a millionaire's mansion is calling me back

I'd give up a palace if I were a king
It's more than a palace, it's my everything
There's a queen waiting there with a silvery crown
In a shanty in old Shanty Town


(Contributed by Graham Gibson - January 2005)
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As recorded by JOHNNY LONG & HIS ORCH, 
12th September 1940 and re-recorded 4th February 1946:


There's a shanty in a town on a little plot o' ground
With the green grass growin' all around, all around
The roof's so worn, so badly torn
That it tumbles to the ground

Just a tumbledown shack and it's built way back
About twenty-five feet from the railroad track
Lingers on my mind most all of the time
Keeps callin' me back to my little old shack

I'd be just as sassy as Haile Selassie
If I were King, wouldn't mean a thing
Put my boots on tall, read the writin' on the wall
And it wouldn't mean a thing, not a doggone thing

There's a Queen waitin' there in a rockin' chair
Just blowin' her top on Gator's Beer (sic)
Lookin' all around and truckin' on down
'Cause I'm dyin' to get back to my shanty town


(Transcribed by Mel Priddle - March 2017)
********************

As recorded by SOMETHIN' SMITH & THE REDHEADS:


Shanty! Shanty! Shanty!

It's only a shanty in old shanty town
The roof is so slanty, it touches the ground
But my tumbledown shack by an old railroad track
Like a millionaire's mansion is calling me back

I'd give up a palace if I were a king
It's more than a palace, it's my everything
There's a queen waiting there with a silvery crown
In a shanty in old shanty town

There's a shanty in a track an' although it's just a shack
There's a G.I. loan, gotta pay it back
The paint's brand new, but the loan is overdue
And I'm double my stack
It's a knocked-out pad, but the neighbours are mad
'Cause the cat next door is a swingin' lad

Out o' my mind most all o' the time
This squaresville settlement's drivin' me mad
I'd be just as sassy as Trigger or Lassie
I wouldn't even pay my union dues
A toast to all, let's have a ball
Hi-fi records blow rhythm and blues
Gotta queen waitin' there in a contour chair
Gave up rockin' 'cause she's no square
But I'm jumpin' up and down an' I'm actin' like a clown
'Cause I gotta get back to my shanty town

I'd give up a palace if I were a king
It's more than a palace, it's my everything
There's a queen waiting there with a silvery crown
In a shanty in old shanty town


(Transcribed by Mel Priddle - January 2005)