Cabbage Head, Part 1 & 2- Tom Archia (TX-IL) 1948 REC
[Not sure of the last line in Part 2, one source has "voutieoreenie" [1]. Vout-O-Reenee was hipster speak used by guitarist Slim Gaillard (of Slim & Slam) in his Vout-speak. He even had a Vout-O-Reenee dictionary which describes Vout-o-reen-ee as good performance. In Archia's version it's an inside joke about Slim's hip-speak. In this case Vout-o-reen-ee would be slang for an unmentionable anatomical part- you just have to use your imagination. (info on Vout-O-Reenee from Mick Pearce)
R. Matteson 2013]
Bio: Tom Archia From Wikipedia,
Ernest Alvin Archia, Jr. (November 26, 1919 – January 16, 1977), was a jazz tenor saxophonist. He took "Texas Tom" as his marquee name.
Archia was born, in Groveton, Texas. Raised in Baytown and Houston, Texas, he graduated from Prairie View A&M University in 1939.
In 1940, he joined Milt Larkin's band which, at the time, according to Down Beat, also included Eddie Vinson, Arnett Cobb, and Illinois Jacquet in the reed section and Cedric Haywood as pianist and arranger. Archia arrived in Chicago as a member of Larkin's band, which took up a 9-month residency at the Rhumboogie Club from August 1942 to May 1943.
In November 1943, he was a member of the Roy Eldridge orchestra that recorded in Chicago for the Brunswick label. Other band members included Ike Quebec, Ted Sturgis, and Doc West. He moved to the Rhumboogie "Dream Band," which lasted from November 1943 to June 1944. Along with Charlie Parker, Archia frequently disrupted band discipline, so when Marl Young took over as bandleader, his first act was to fire Archia.
In 1945 Tom Archia went to Los Angeles to join Howard McGhee's combo, with Teddy Edwards, Bob "Dingbod" Kesterson, among others. Shortly afterwards, he was recording with the Jacquet brothers, Illinois and Russell, as well as Helen Humes.
Returning to Chicago in 1946, he became a headliner at Leonard Chess's club, the Macomba Lounge, and recorded extensively for Aristocrat Records, the predecessor to Chess Records, during 1947 and 1948. He also recorded with Wynonie Harris and Hot Lips Page (on King Records). He frequently participated in tenor saxophone duels with Buster Bennett, Gene Ammons, Claude McLin, and Hal Singer, among others.
His run at the Macomba ended when the club was closed by a fire in 1950. Although Tom Archia worked steadily on the South Side of Chicago during the 1950s, and added Harold Ashby, Porter Kilbert and Lucius Washington to his roster of duelling partners, his recording opportunities were sparse and unheralded but included two sessions accompanying Dinah Washington. His last recording session was a blues jam organized by Jump Jackson in 1960 for visiting German critic Joachim-Ernst Berendt, who was touring the United States doing research on jazz history.
Archia scuffled for gigs in the 1960s. He retired to Houston in 1967, after being temporarily disabled by a broken jaw. After recovering, he played Houston clubs for the rest of his life. He worked with Arnett Cobb in the Sonny Franklin Big Band, which also included Joe Bridgewater and Don Wilkerson, with guest appearances by Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown and another old Larkin bandmate, Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson. Many of the band's arrangements were by another Larkin alumnus, Cedric Haywood. Archia's death in 1977 was commemorated with a jazz funeral in Houston's Fifth Ward.
“Cabbage Head- Part 1”- Tom Archia's All Stars; Recorded July 1948, Aristocrat 803, vocalist “Doc” Jo Jo Adams.
1. Well Monday night when I came home,
Just as high as I could be.
Well I saw a hat hanging on the rack,
Where my hat's supposed to be.
I said, "Wake my wife, my beautiful wife,
Wake up and answer me.
Tell me whose old hat is that on that rack,
Where my hat is supposed to be?"
She said, "Be 'shamed you fool, you drunken old fool,
Well honey can't you see?
That ain't nothin' but a coffe pot,
That your grandpa gave to me.
I said, "I've travelled this world for many miles,
And I hope to travel some more.
But I'll be dogged if I ever saw a coffee pot
With a hat band round it before.
Vamp: Baby what can the matter be,
Honey what you trying to do to me?
Honey is you trying to put me down,
Tell me pretty baby can I really stick around?
Tuesday and Wednesday, I got high again,
Just as high as I could be.
Well I saw something in the shoes,
Where my feet supposed to be.
I said, "Wake my wife, my beautiful wife,
Wake up and answer me.
Tell me whose old feet is that in them shoes,
Where my feet supposed to be?"
She said, "Now you just be 'shamed, you drunken old fool
Well honey can't you see?
That ain't nothin' but an empty pair of shoes,
That your grandma gave to me.
I said now listen, "I've been around this world many miles,
And I hope to go some more.
But I'll be dogged if I ever saw an empty pair of shoes
With feet stickin' in it before.
Vamp: Baby what can the matter be,
Honey what you trying to do to me?
Honey is you trying to put me down,
Tell me pretty baby that you'll let me stick around.
“Cabbage Head - Part 2” Tom Archia's All Stars; Recorded July 1948, Aristocrat 803, vocalist “Doc” Jo Jo Adams
1. Well Thursday night I got high,
Just as high as I could be.
Well I saw a head laying on the bed,
Where my head's supposed to be.
I said, "Wake my wife, my beautiful wife,
Wake up and answer me.
Tell me whose old head is that on that bed,
Where my hat is supposed to be?"
She said, "Be 'shamed you fool, you drunken old fool,
Well honey can't you see?
That ain't nothin' but a cabbage head,
That your grandma gave to me.
I said, "I've travelled this world for many miles,
And I hope to travel some more.
But I'll be dogged if I ever saw a cabbage head
With a hair growing on it before.
Vamp: Baby, honey, is you trying to put me down,
Tell me, tell me, can I stick around?
Baby is you trying to let me be?
Tell me pretty baby that you really love me.
1. 'Cause Saturday I got paid,
Just as high as I could be.
Well I saw a thing in the thing,
Where my thing's supposed to be.
I said, "Wake my wife, my beautiful wife,
Wake up and answer me.
Tell me whose old thing is in that thing,
Where my thing is supposed to be?"
She said, "Be 'shamed you fool, you drunken old fool,
Well honey can't you see?
That ain't nothin' but a rolling pin,
That your grandpa made for me.
I said, "I've travelled this world for many miles,
And I hope to travel some more.
But I'll be dogged if I ever saw a rolling pin,
With a voutieoreenie on it before. [1]
Footnote:
1. Usually it's: With balls on it, or With bullocks on it. In this case Luigi Monge and David Evans have "voutieoreenie" which is probably Vout-O-Reenee, a slang word (see above).