True story of how we met legendary Taranaki musician Keith Cramer
lyrics
We were playing up Taranaki, at a ball or some such thing
for a village full of older folks, who liked our kind of swing;
just about to kick things off, in a tempo bout like this
when a fella comes up and asked me if I’d mind him joining in
Said his name was Cramer, we shook hands and said g’day
I said ‘you don’t have an instrument, what is it that you play?’
He said ‘I used to play a drum kit, but they won’t allow that here
so I brought along me bongos, and they’re underneath me chair’
well it was counter to my instincts, and the band looked kinda grim
as they shuffled round up on the stage to make some room for him;
The big hand got to twelve and I said ‘We’ll start with ‘C’est si Bon’
He said ‘you just count it off & I’ll play along.’
You just count it off and I’ll play along;
and I sing a bit, so I’ll help you out, if I happen to know the song;
I don’t see too well, I can’t hear much and I might be gettin’ on
so you just count it off, and I’ll play along.
Well we played Latin, we played country, we played jazz and western swing
and Cramer, he was great, just played along with everything
straight or syncopated, he’d just fit it in somehow
and if he felt the time was right he’d yell out ‘bongo solo now!’
You just count it off and I’ll play along;
and I sing a bit, so I’ll help you out, if I happen to know the song;
I don’t see too well, I can’t hear much and I might be gettin’ on
so you just count it off, and I’ll play along.
So Kramer was a lucky find, I’ll happily admit
trading solos in Sweet Georgia Brown, the guy just wouldn’t quit;
cracking jokes and popping out one-liners like a pro,
Like if I forgot the words he’d yell ‘play something that you know!’
and if he lost the tempo, he’d just laugh and give a shrug
and suggest to me that perhaps I might try harder to keep up;
and if I missed a chord change, or I fluffed a solo part
I’d hear him yell across the stage ‘Shall I write you out a chart?
So whenever we were ‘Naki bound, I’d give old Keith a call;
He’d turn up with his bongos, and entertain us all
till they called to say, that he’d passed away at an old folks home up there
now at all our Taranaki gigs, we set out an extra chair…
You just count it off and I’ll play along;
and I sing a bit, so I’ll help you out, if I happen to know the song;
I don’t see too well, I can’t hear much and I might be gettin’ on
so you just count it off, and I’ll play along.
credits
from Get Back To Work!,
released June 1, 2021
Andrew London: guitar & vox
Kirsten London: bass & vox
Trumpeter and composer Mark Kavuma aims to bring jazz back to the dancefloor with this energetic collaboration with The Banger Factory. Bandcamp New & Notable Oct 14, 2021