JAMBOREE JONES
(Johnny Mercer)

Spike Jones & his City Slickers (vocal: The Nilsson Twins) - 1944

Also recorded by: Judy Garland; Johnny Mercer; 
The Pied Pipers; Dick Sudhalter; Bobby Troup.


I'll begin the story
Out in West Virginia
Is a little college
(Rah, Rah, Rah)
All the student body
Only cared for football
Never mind the knowledge
(Rah, Rah, Rah)
Never mind the sheepskin
They preferred the pigskin
Seemed to have it in their bones
Yeah, they knew all about it
Couldn't do without it
All except a certain Mr. Jamboree Jones
And he played the clarinet with all his might
He studied night and day, he practiced day and night
No runnin' up the field for Mr. Jones
He'd rather run up the scale and down the scale,
What tones.
Even though his buddies
always cut their studies
to attend the rallies
(Rah, Rah, Rah)
While they all were rootin'
You could hear him tootin'
"What's become of Sally"
(Rah, Rah, Rah)
How they used to hate him
Co-eds wouldn't date him
Thought he was an awful bore
Oh, but he liked his rhythm
More than being with `em
So he'd only turn in
For to practice some more
And meanwhile the team marched on to greater fame
Till they were asked to play that famous Rose Bowl game
And on that day of days the students beamed
What did they do when the team marched on the scene
I want to tell you ladies and you gentlemen, they screamed.
Rah, Rah, Rah, Rah
Biff-boom-bah, bah-bah-dee-addle-oh
Yea-ho, watch `em go
Startin' from the kick-off,
They pulled every trick off
But they couldn't win it
(No, no, no)
Instead of goin' forwards
They were goin' backwards
`Bout a mile a minute
(Yeah, yeah, yeah)
Seein' their position
They called intermission
And they heard the referee say
Hey, seventeen to nothin'
Ain't exactly nothin'
And you've only got about a minute to play
And then from the stand there came a distant wail
And it was Jamboree a-swingin' "Hold `em Yale"
(Bula, bula, bula)
And then the students all began to yell
The players marched up the field
And down the field, pell mell.
Now on a certain West Virginia hill
There stands that college still
Just as it always will
And there's a picture in the hall of fame
You'll find the boy in the frame who won the game
Jamboree Jones was the gentleman's name.


(Transcribed by Bill Huntley & Mel Priddle - October 2005)
(Corrections by Bill Huntley - as verified by the book
"Our Huckleberry Friend" - November 2005)