Five Nights Experience- Rice & Stokes (NC) 1938 REC; Bronson 34
["Five Nights Experience" was learned in childhood by "Mustard and Gravy" AKA Frank Rice & Ernest Stokes) and recorded on September 28, 1938; Rock Hill, S.C. on Bluebird Rec. No. 7905. This version was transcribed by Judith McCullough; Jackson, 1966, p. 124. p ii (inflected III)
R. Matteson 2013]
All music bio: Frank Rice and Ernest L. Stokes got together as "Mustard & Gravy" in 1933 in North Carolina, and spent the next 20 years entertaining country audiences, writing a few folk-style classics and one rockabilly-style number in the process. They both hailed from Wilson, NC, and were related by marriage to a pair of sisters. After winning a local talent contest on WGTM in Wilson, they moved up to bigger radio stations and also got a recording contract with RCA-Victor's Bluebird label, cutting sessions in September of 1938 in South Carolina. Mustard & Gravy's music was essentially country-novelty with a hillbilly edge, although they could also do minstrel-style numbers and even helped anticipate rock & roll to some degree. They were discovered by Smiley Burnette -- himself a country-novelty performer -- and recommended by him to Columbia Pictures, which put them in two B westerns in 1946 and used them for another in 1949. The duo also appeared in one movie with Eddy Arnold, whom they had toured with as well. After World War II, they cut at least one single, "Be Bop Boogie," written by Rice, for Gotham in 1950, which was, in turn, first covered by Harry Gay and later, in pure rockabilly fashion, by Don Hager and the Hot Tots late in the '50s. The B-side of that single, "That Ain't in Any Catalog," represents the novelty-song side of their sound, and is a funny and lusty piece of country humor. The Library of Congress has reissued one of their recordings of a Frank Rice original, "Circus Parade."
Five Nights Experience (BS 0277-) - Mustard & Gravy - Dixie's Tastiest Combination [Frank Rice & Ernest Stokes], (vcl w/2 gtrs) - 09-28-1938. Rock Hill, S.C. Bb 879; 05-11-1938
1 a. First night when I come home
Was drunk as I could be,
Found a horse standing in the stable
Where my horse ought to be.
b. "Now come here, my little wifey,
Explain this thing to me,
How come a horse standing in the stable
Where my horse ought to be?"
c. "Blind fool, you crazy fool,
Can't you plainly seel
Nothing but the milk cow
Your granny has sent to me."
d. I've traveled this world over,
Ten thousand miles or rnore,
But a saddle on a milk cow's back
I never did see before.
2 a. Second night when I come home
Was drunk as I could be,
Found a coat hanging on the rack,
Where my coat ought to be.
b. Now come here, my little wifey,
Explain this thing to me,
How come a coat hanging on the rack.
Where my coar ought to be?"
[c. "Blind fool, you crazy fool,
Can't you plainly see?
Nothing but the buggy robe
Your granny has sent to me."]
d. I've traveled this world over,
Ten thousand miles or more,
But a pocket on a buggy robe,
I never did see before.
3. Third-night when I come home
Was drunk as I could be,
I found a pair of boots siiting in the corner
Where my boots ought to be.
b. "Now come here, my little wifey,
Explain this thing to me,
How come the boots sitting in the corner
Where my boots ought to be?"
c. "Blind fool, you crazy fool,
Can't you plainly see?
It's nothing but the stovepipe
Your granny has sent to me."
d. I've traveled this world over,
Ten thousand miles or more,
But heels on a stovepipe
I never did see before.
4 a. Fourth night when I come home
Was drunk as I could be,
I found a head a-laying on the pillow
Where my head ought to be.
b. Come here, my little wifey,
Explain this thing to me,
How come a head laying on the pillow
Where my head ought to be?
c. "Blind fool, you crazy fool,
Can't you plainly see?
Nothing but the cabbage head
Your granny has sent to me."
d. I've traveled this world over,
Ten thousand miles or more,
But a mustache on a cabbage head
I never did see before.
5 a. Fifth night when I come home,
Was drunk as I could be,
Found a Ford setting in the yard
Where my Ford ought to be.
b. "Now come here, my little wifey,
Explain this thing to me,
How come a Ford sitting in the yard
Where my Ford ought to be be."
c. "Blind fool, you crazy fool.
Can't you plainly see?
It's nothing but the 'bacco truck
Your granny has sent to me."
d. I've traveled this world over-
Ten thousand miles or more,
But a steering wheel on a 'bacco truck
I never did see before.