username:

password:



 

 Songs
 Albums
 Diggers
 Comments
 Blogwalls

 About


445,329 Albums + 604,843 Individual Songs
Send
Send
 
 
Descriptions

George Formby Snr 'Grandfather's Clock' Acoustic 1917 78 rpm


Playing Next: Jolity Farm Leslie Sarony with Jack Hylton & His Orchestra


George Formby Snr's self penned parody of 'My Grandfather's Clock' was recorded in 1916 but as with many of his records wasn't released at the time. His recordings were coupled with others from the same session or even sessions a few years earlier and released maybe months or a year or two later as with this one.
This is in incredible condition for 1917 with hardly any surface noise and extremely clear content.
A waterbelly watch is probably a Waterbury watch a very popular make of pocket watch at the time. Waterbury was insolvent by 1944 and reformed as the Timex Corporation.

[Spoken intro]
This is a song about me grandfather, and them that doesn't want to listen, get out o't room please 'cos it's only annoyance to me. Nah then, lads

[Sung]
My grandfather's clock was a waterbelly watch,
It could live ninety days without food.
With a silk hat on its head and me father's meckuntosh (mackintosh),
It was dressed up like a Piccadilly dude.
It was kept in the hall 'til the cup-board got ter small,
And we had no place the food for to stock.
So the butter and the heggs and the little mutton legs,
We kept them in me grandfather's clock.

And the works of the clock, through the butter melting in it,
Sent the fingers flying round at a hundred miles a minute.
And granddad, with a sigh, said, \"I haven't time to die,
So I'll put it off until the clock's repaired\".

[Spoken interlude]
Aye, it was about 't best thing as he could do, d'you know. Very sensible man, was me grandfather. He allus undressed his self before he got into bed

[Sung]
My grandfather's clock was me mother's p'ramberlator,
Round the park in it we used to ride.
There was me and Treacle Tommy, Liza Ann and Justice Hawkins,
Screaming Jimmy and the twins all stuck inside.
So, granddad who was dead changed his mind, got up instead,
And the sight that he saw gave him a shock.
For the man who brought the coal couldn't get it down the hole,
So he slung it in me grandfather's clock.

And we didn't need a shovel as the pend'lum swung higher,
For every time it swung, it knocked some coal into the fire,
And at nine o'clock the crank, used to chime a double blank,
So granddad had to knock he couldn't go.


© 2021 Basing IT