'Alibi-ing Papa' sheet music
<p>“Alibi-ing Papa” is about a woman who is fed up with her husband’s nights spent away from the family and the lies he tells to cover up his nocturnal adventures. The narrative takes place in Mobile, Alabama where alibing Sam always tells his wife he has a lodge meeting when she wants him to do things like, “come and go with her and the kiddies to a movie show”. This nameless wife threatens to, “get a pistol, I don’t care what it costs” to keep in the house. But she knows he prefers being, “ out with the women trying to be a sheik” in what may be a reference to the French-Italian American actor Rudolph Valetino’s famous movie character the Sheik. In the 1920s the term Sheik became slang for a womanizer, which according to his wife fit Sam’s character.</p>
<p>“Alibi-ing Papa” was composed by Effie Tyus and Charles Tyus who also wrote the music and lyrics of “Omaha Blues” 1924 and “I’m Free, Single, Disengaged, Looking For Someone to Love” 1919. Janice Cleary who owns this amazing collection believes Effie and Charles Tyus were entertainers. The song has a 1927 copyright held by W. C. Handy Music Publisher, of 1547 Broadway, New York, New York. The sheet music does not indicate any Omaha address like the other compositions by the Tyus team. Unlike “I’m Free, Single, Disengaged, Looking For Someone to Love” this publication does not have any artwork on its cover or additional promotions of the artists’ other work.</p>
For interviews and oral histories of this and other items please visit the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/HistoryHarvest"> History Harvest YouTube Channel.</a>
Effie Tyus and Charles Tyus
Janice Cleary, North Omaha History Harvest, 2011
W. C. Handy Music Publisher
1927
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New York (New York)
“I’m Free, Single, Disengaged, Looking For Someone to Love” Sheet Music
<p>This post-World War I foxtrot is about a person looking for a “sweetie” who would, “Buzz around me like a Bumble Bee”. The lyrics mention being blue and suffering sleepless nights, “Regretting the day that I was born” and pleading, “won’t someone come and take a chance with me”. Near the end of the song the lyrics beg, “Lots of loving is what I crave, Love me when I’m dead and in my grave” implying this person is looking for a partner not just a quick romance. Within the song there are no clear clues as to the gender of this sad person looking for love in the transitional period immediately following World War I. </p>
<p>The cover of this sheet music shows a photograph of a woman seated at an upright piano in what is probably the home’s parlor. The parlor was the best room in the house and oftentimes contained a piano. The parlor functioned as the place where home entertainment, such entertaining guests and the playing of piano music, centered in the home. On the top of the piano is fancy decorative pottery and glassware that was popular in that period, signaling this room was reserved for the very best things a family possessed. The duos name’s Tyus and Tyus are superimposed on the piano scarf, which suggests the woman at the piano and the man standing at the right, are the composers. Janice Cleary who owns this amazing collection believes Effie and Charles Tyus were entertainers.</p>
<p>The woman is wearing a typical dress from the immediate post World War I era yet the man is outfitted in a top hat and tuxedo. This implies by playing this song, the wider world of exciting entertainment enters a family’s parlor. The man is in blackface, which comes from the minstrel tradition where entertainers both African American and white would apply a layer of burnt cork, shoe polish, or other black substances to their faces and exaggerate their lips and other features with makeup. The use of Blackface reinforced negative stereotypes about African Americans. In the post World War I era, many people viewed these exaggerated images as factual rather than a farcical vehicle of popular entertainment. </p>
<p>Charles Jefferson Tyus wrote the lyrics and Effie Tyus wrote the music published by Tyus and Tyus Music Publishing Company. The song is copyrighted to Charles Jefferson Tyus Music Company, 2524 Patrick Avenue, Omaha Nebraska. The back page of the sheet music includes a promotion for forthcoming Tyus and Tyus Music Publishing Company songs. The listing includes, “I Just Can’t Live Without You, Dearie!”, “I’m Tired Living in this Pig-Iron World Alone!”, “I’m Jazz Crazy, Too!”, and “I Want to Go Back to the Farm!”.</p>
<p>For interviews and oral histories of this and other items please visit the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/HistoryHarvest">History Harvest YouTube Channel.</a></p>
Charles Tyus, Effie Tyus
Janice Cleary, North Omaha History Harvest, 2011
Tyus and Tyus Music Publishing Company
1919
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Omaha (Neb.)
'Omaha Blues' sheet music
<p>A man’s longing for his hometown, the city of Omaha Nebraska, inspires this post World War I blues song, printed as sheet music. The song is about his dreams of returning to Omaha after a life of roaming and his desire to settle down near his parents back at home. He praises, “The folks in Omaha” who, “are nice and kind”. He goes on about his love back in Omaha describing her as, “just as sweet as any peach from a tree”. This man’s desire for home and all the people there drives him to return there even if as he says, “I have to walk”.</p>
<p>Effie Tyus and Charles Tyus wrote the music and lyrics of “Omaha Blues”. Janice Cleary who owns this amazing collection believes Effie and Charles Tyus were entertainers. The song has a 1924 copyright held by the Clarence Williams Music Publishing Company, of 1547 Broadway, New York, New York.</p>
<p>For interviews and oral histories of this and other items please visit the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/HistoryHarvest"> History Harvest YouTube Channel.</a></p>
Effie Tyus and Charles Tyus
Janice Cleary, North Omaha History Harvest, 2011
Clarence Williams Music Publishing Company
1924
Janice Cleary
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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image
Omaha (Neb.)