Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar (1940)
2-6
(wm) Don Raye, Hughie Prince and Eleanore Sheehy (P) Will Bradley Orchestra, Ray McKinley voc. (CR) Andrews Sisters (CR) Glenn Miller Orchestra
In a little honky-tonky village in Texas
There’s a guy who plays the best piano by far.
He can play piano any way that you like it.
But the way he likes it best is eight to the bar.
When he plays, it’s a ball, he’s the daddy of them all.
The people gather around when he gets on the stand.
Then when he plays, he gets a hand.
The rhythm he beats puts the cats in a trance
Nobody there bothers to dance.
And when he jams with the bass and guitar,
They holler “Oh, beat me Daddy, eight to the bar.”

A-plink, a-plank, a-plink plank, plink plank
A-plunkin’ on the keys!
A-riff, a-raff, a-riff raff, riff raff, a-riffin’ out with ease!
And when he jams with the bass and guitar,
They holler “Oh, beat me Daddy, eight to the bar.”
He plays a boogie, he plays eight to the bar a boogie-woogie
That is the way he likes to play on his piano.
And we all know
That when he plays he puts them all in a trance
The cats all holler “Hooray”
You’ll hear them say, “Beat me Daddy, eight to the bar.”