I have been having difficulty beginning a new post so I decided to search for ideas and I found the above quote that seemed to speak just to me. I thought, man, that is deep. Turn the faucet on. Start writing. Write anything.
So, I decided to write about a song my father, Eddie Green, wrote in 1923 titled “King Tut Blues”. I found out that for this song, Eddie was responsible for words and melody, and arrangement was by W. Benton Overstreet. W. Benton Overstreet was an African-American pianist, composer and bandleader, who, in 1917 composed the song “There’ll Be Some Changes Made”, along with a man named Billy Higgins.
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I wondered why my father would write a song about King Tut and the blues. so I researched 1923 and discovered a newspaper article stating that on February 16, 1923 Howard Carter finally uncovered King Tut’s tomb, which he had been trying to discover with the help of his British benefactor, Lord Carnarvon,
Of course, I know about King Tut, but I am not really interested in the field of Archaeology. I have always thought it was rather a shame to dig up the treasurers of those long ago people who had such a belief in their after-life, just so us modern folks could display their wealth in museums. Lord Carnarvon, the British benefactor, died about six weeks after this discovery, which gave rise to rumors of a curse. Maybe that is why Eddie wrote the song. He heard about the curse and figured King Tut was having the blues because someone invaded his tomb. The copyright information for King Tut Blues reads like this: Words and melody by Eddie Green, arrangement by W. Benton Overstreet, March 30, 1923, right around the time Lord Carnarvon died.
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This has nothing to do with King Tut, but I also found out that In 1929, six years after working with W. Benton Overstreet, Eddie composed a song with Billy Higgins titled “Big Business”, that was performed in the Broadway production “Hot Chocolates”. Billy Higgins, wrote the words to “There’ll Be Some Changes Made”, to which W. Benton Overstreet wrote the music. Billy Higgins was an African-American who was born in 1888 in Columbia, South Carolina, and became a singer and comedian. By the late 1910s, he was a top performer in a string of vaudeville shows, traveling troupes and burlesque revues. I actually own a copy of a recording of “Big Business”. The production “Hot Chocolates” also showcased such performers as Louis Armstrong, Fats Waller and Andy Razaff.
Some of the names on this recording are still recognized today, but Eddie’s name has sunk into obscurity. Maybe because Eddie died in 1950. Or, maybe it’s like my mom said, Eddie was low-key. One of the reasons I have begun writing a book about my father, is that I want Eddie to be remembered for his contribution to the entertainment industry that flourishes today. Because he was there.
You know, it’s hard to stop once you get started. I guess Louis L’Amour was right. You have to turn the faucet on.
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“Entering King Tut’s Tomb, 1922,” EyeWitness to History http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com (2000).
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pininthetush 
Happy Super Bowl Sunday, Elva.
Hey is this your dad’s tune? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKm21zOf_h0
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This is so funny. I do not know if this is the tune, because last time I looked I could not find anything. After seeing your comment I looked again and came up with THIS:
Way over in Egypt
Diggin’ down in the ground
Of all the surprises,
What do you think they found?
They found the name of old King Tut
Who had long since been dead,
He had a lot of writing on the wall
and here is what the writing said:
CHORUS:
Old King Tut he had the weary blues,
Nothing else but the dreary old weary blues,
In his land he ruled alone,
Ev’rything that happened they carved on stone;
He had to have a wagon to bring in the daily news.
There was something else they saw,
Old King Tut had a moth’r-in-law,
And carved in the wall they found Old King Tut’s Blues.
Patter:
King Tut’s wife was like a willow reed,
King Tut said,”She’s just the gal I need,
She is long a tall and she is surely built for speed.”
King Tut’s bed held sixteen folks or more,
Made of stone it got the King’s back sore,
So he gave it to his wife and he slept on the floor.
Listing Details
Type
Song
ComposerEddie Green
Copyright1923
PublisherClarence Williams Music Publishing Co., New York
TypeM
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I don’t know if the whole song lyrics downloaded. I am going to try again. I have never, until today, been able to find this info. Notice Eddie’s name at bottom.
King Tut Blues Lyrics
Way over in Egypt
Diggin’ down in the ground
Of all the surprises,
What do you think they found?
They found the name of old King Tut
Who had long since been dead,
He had a lot of writing on the wall
and here is what the writing said:
CHORUS:
Old King Tut he had the weary blues,
Nothing else but the dreary old weary blues,
In his land he ruled alone,
Ev’rything that happened they carved on stone;
He had to have a wagon to bring in the daily news.
There was something else they saw,
Old King Tut had a moth’r-in-law,
And carved in the wall they found Old King Tut’s Blues.
Patter:
King Tut’s wife was like a willow reed,
King Tut said,”She’s just the gal I need,
She is long a tall and she is surely built for speed.”
King Tut’s bed held sixteen folks or more,
Made of stone it got the King’s back sore,
So he gave it to his wife and he slept on the floor.
Listing Details
Type
Song
ComposerEddie Green
Copyright1923
PublisherClarence Williams Music Publishing Co., New York
TypeM
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http://arabkitsch.com/directory/king-tut-blues Here’s the link: Ha Ha, I’m so jazzed I don’t know if I am sending this or not. Anyhow thanks!! I will send you, not I think I will write a post and imbed the youtube video of his last movie.
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Awesome find, Elva. I do think the tune on the video is the one that goes with these lyrics. Seems to me I saw them maybe on youtube? Anyway, so glad you found the lyrics. Eddie must be pretty happy about now. 🙂
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Yes he probably is. I have the info I need so far as copyright goes, now I just need the $. Eddie actually renewed his copyright. I saw the youtube thing. It was posted by a guy in Lebanon.
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In case you haven’t come up with a copy of the lyrics yet, here you go 🙂
(from http://arabkitsch.com/directory/king-tut-blues )
KING TUT BLUES
Way over in Egypt
Diggin’ down in the ground
Of all the surprises,
What do you think they found?
They found the name of old King Tut
Who had long since been dead,
He had a lot of writing on the wall
and here is what the writing said:
CHORUS:
Old King Tut he had the weary blues,
Nothing else but the dreary old weary blues,
In his land he ruled alone,
Ev’rything that happened they carved on stone;
He had to have a wagon to bring in the daily news.
There was something else they saw,
Old King Tut had a moth’r-in-law,
And carved in the wall they found Old King Tut’s Blues.
Patter:
King Tut’s wife was like a willow reed,
King Tut said,”She’s just the gal I need,
She is long a tall and she is surely built for speed.”
King Tut’s bed held sixteen folks or more,
Made of stone it got the King’s back sore,
So he gave it to his wife and he slept on the floor.
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Hi. My message says “Someone” sent this comment. Thanks, someone, I own the copyrights till 2019, so I am working on getting the paperwork.
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… “someone” was me, I’d posted from work…
I’m with a tiny radio station way up here in snow-bound Maine. Our format is pre 1955 music. I was hopeful we might have had a copy of King Tut Blues in our collection, but i haven’t been able to find it. I DID find a link to a very small image of the sheet music cover though. It’s pretty small, but you can clearly see your Dad’s name on it right under the title.
I’m loving your blog & can’t wait to read your book!
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Oh!!! Thank you so much, Scott Scroggins, you have given me a real boost. So glad you are reading my blog. Hope your station is well-heated. People like you that I have met during my book-writing project, keep me pumped.
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…oops, sorry, I didn’t see you already had that info 😦
LikeLiked by 1 person