"When the Moon Shines on the Moonshine" (Bert Williams,1919)

A Black man appearing in exaggerated blackface was a bizarre irony of the Minstrel Show era--Bert Williams was enormously popular with audiences of every background.

In "The Ziegfeld Follies of 1919" the most popular, show-stopping number was this boozy Prohibition protest song--music of Robert Hood Bowers set to words by Francis DeWitt.

WHEN THE MOON SHINES ON THE MOONSHINE

The Mahogany is dusty,
All the pipes are very rusty,
And the good, old-fashioned Musty,
Doesn't musty anymore.

All the stuff's got bum and bummer,
from the middle of the Summer.
Now the bar is on the hummer,
and "For Rent" is on the door.

How sad and still tonight,
by the old distillery,
And how the cob-webs cob,
on the old machinery.

But in the mountain tops,
far from the eyes of cops,
Oh how the moon shines on
the moonshine, so merrily!

Goodness me, how misery doubles,
Ain't one thing to use for bubbles,
Or to drive awy your troubles,
For the tide has gone and went.

Days and nights are getting bleaker,
shivering for an old-time sneaker,
Even water's getting weaker,
'Bout one tenth of one per cent.

How sad and still tonight,
by the old distillery,
And how the Monas moan,
at the Lager brewery.

So, mister, if you please,
Don't let nobody sneeze,
Up where the moon shines
On the moonshine, so sillily!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here's more on the phenomenal Bert Williams from Wiki:

Egbert Austin Williams (November 12, 1875 March 4, 1922) was the pre-eminent Black entertainer of his era and one of the most popular comedians for all audiences of his time. He was by far the best-selling black recording artist before 1920.

Williams was a key figure in the development of African-American music. In an age when racial inequality and stereotyping were an accepted part of life, he became the first black American to take a lead role on the Broadway stage, and did much to push back racial barriers during his career. Fellow vaudevillian W.C. Fields, who appeared in productions with Williams, described him as "the funniest man I ever saw and the saddest man I ever knew."....


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bert_Williams

Category:

Music

Tags:

• 1919
• Bert
• Williams
• when
• the
• moon
• shines
• on
• moonshine
• blackface
• Ziegfeld
• Bowers
• DeWitt

[lordmahan11]

Another good one from RReady555! Great song.

[RReady555]

Thank, m'lord! A unique moment in American musical and social history.

Regards,

-RR

[vinylsingleman]

Thanks for posting this!

[RReady555]

A true treasure! That W.C. Fields quote about Williams is quite moving.

Best wishes,

-RR

[mrdee11091]

another star in te sky thanks rr

[RReady555]

Bert was an amazing talent, Paul--shame he died for talking films came in; he'd have reached a still huger audience.

Best,

-RR

[atomiccronic420]

lol but i might as well make a wise ass comment, is this guy the first rapper ?

[atomiccronic420]

well this wasnt what i was looking for

[harvey1954]

@nicodagger Marlo Thomas !

[nicodagger]

@harvey1954 Love to! Wonder who did the voice of Suzy Creamcheese though....like in that part "If she were MY daughter, I'd..."..."what woud you do, Daddy"? etc.

[harvey1954]

@nicodagger You should hear Bert's version of "Call Any Vegetable" or "Brown Shoes Don't Make It".

[Crackdown1288]

Not

[Crackdown1288]

Ahmeds amazing mustys shit

[robbieware]

I love it, all that moonshine waiting to be tasted!!!!!!!!

[dscottn101]

Damn you Devil!

[GekkoKamen]

I have laughed a lot listening to this. "Lloyd George's Beer" and this one are the two funniest alcohol-issue songs of that era. :)