Markj-
Dancingbear here- with the other music question I promised.  My father
used to sing a couple of lullabys when we are little that my brothers
and I can only partially remeber the words to.  There were 2 songs he
sang back to back.  One song is called "Lullaby in Ragtime" and begins
with

"Won't you play the music so the cradle will rock
to a lullaby in ragtime."

Another line of the song is

"Sleepy heads a noddin' to the rock of the boat
as we sail away to dreamland."

Of the 2 songs- I think this is the easier one to find the lyrics to.
If you need more fragments of it to find it let me know and I will add
them in a clarification.

The second song I'm not sure about the title.  It's a simple song
about having 5 pennies- each one bringing a different attribute.  Here
are some of the lyrics I remember:

"This little penny is the dancing penny
see how it glitters and it glows
bright as a whistle
light as a thistle
quick, quick as a wink upon you twinkling toes"

And

"This little penny is to laugh on
to see that tears never fall"

and

"This little penny is the last little penny,
but most important of all 
Cause this litlle penny is to love on
and where love is heaven is there.
And if you have these five pennies.
And just these five pennies,
You'll be a millionaire"

Except for that last penny lyric - which is the end of the song- I'm
not sure about the order of the other pennies- and I'm missing 2
pennies and the begining of the song.  This song has been difficult
for me to track down without knowing the title.  As far as i can tell-
the title is NOT "Pennies from Heaven" since thatbelongs to another
song.

Can you find me the right lyyrics and titles for the two songs?

If there is any other info you might need from let me know.

dancingbear --

Thanks very much for the question, especially since you came up with
one that "hits me right where I live."

Both songs are from a 1959 movie called "The Five Pennies," which is
(very) loosely based on the career of early jazzman Red Nichols, who
fronted a band called by that name.  The movie starred the great Danny
Kaye and the great Louis Armstrong and featured original music written
by Kaye's wife, Sylvia Fine.  Fine also expertly managed Kaye's career
and was a genius at writing simply harmonized music that suited Kaye's
style perfectly


The first song is called, as you remembered, "Lullaby in Ragtime". 
Here is a link to the lyrics:

Soundtrack Lyrics: Five Pennies: Lullaby in Ragtime
http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/fivepennies/lullabyinragtime.htm


The second song is the title song of the movie, called, simply, "Five
Pennies."  Here is a link to its lyrics:

Angelfire: Five Pennies
http://www.angelfire.com/film/dannykaye/Pennies.htm


(For copyright reasons, I have not reproduced the songs'lyrics in the
body of the answer, but you should have no trouble accessing them
through the above links.)


If you are interested in obtaining a recording of the songs, the
soundtrack of "The Five Pennies" has been released on CD, and is
available from the usual online sources.  Here is Amazon.com's listing
page:

Amazon.com: The Five Pennies
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0001DMVY4/qid%3D1108753628/sr%3D11-1/ref%3Dsr%5F11%5F1/002-8200597-0032811

An audio clip of both songs is available on the site of this online seller:

Iclassics: The Five Pennies
http://www.iclassics.com/productDetail?contentId=58988


Should you prefer a particularly mellow version of "Lullaby in
Ragtime," here is a link to the Amazon listing for a CD release of
Harry Nilsson's 1973 recording called "A Little Touch of Schmilsson in
the Night," where you can hear an audio clip:

Amazon: A Little Touch of Scmhilsson in the Night
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000002W5F/qid=1108755602/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/002-8200597-0032811?v=glance&s=music


The song has also been recorded by the wonderful Broadway, now
cabaret, singer Barbara Cook:

Barnes & Noble: It's Better With a Band
http://music.barnesandnoble.com/search/product.asp?sourceid=00401402266275913297&ean=021471147520&bfdate=02-18-2005+14:44:01


I have not been able to come up with alternative recordings of Sylvia
Fine's "Five Pennies," but I suggest that it would be hard to beat the
Danny Kaye version in the soundtrack recording for artistry and
nostalgia.  If you would like me to look further for another
recording, let me know.


Additional Information:

In case you are interested in knowing more about Red Nichols and the
Five Pennies, a convenient source is that band's listing in the All
Music Guide, which can be accessed here:

All Music Guide: Red Nichols
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll


And, here's a link to more information about the incomparable Danny Kaye:

PBS: American Masters: Danny Kaye
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/kaye_d.html




Search Strategy:

Some Google searches helped me to find the information for you.  Here
are a few examples:

"last little penny"
://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLB,GGLB:1969-53,GGLB:en&q=%22last+little+penny%22

"lullaby in ragtime"
://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLB,GGLB:1969-53,GGLB:en&q=%22lullaby+in+ragtime%22

danny kaye sylvia fine
://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLB,GGLB:1969-53,GGLB:en&q=danny+kaye+sylvia+fine



Thanks again for the question.  I have been a Danny Kaye fan since my
childhood in the 50s.  In fact, one of the many classic pop tunes I
remember playing on the piano in those days (for the amusement of my
dad) was "Knock on Wood," another Sylvia Fine tune from an eponymous
Danny Kaye movie.

If any of the above is unclear or incomplete, please ask for
clarification before rating the answer.



markj-ga

---

Request for Answer Clarification by dancingbear-ga on 18 Feb 2005 13:23 PST

I knew I could count on you to come up with the goods- and I'm glad
you got to work on something where you live.  After singing the lyrics
you pointed me to outloud -I discovered it was probably 3 songs he
sang- and I had one run into the other 2.  He used to sing all 3 back
to back.  At the end of "Lullaby in Ragtime" he would launch into
these lyrics (as best as i can remember-)

"Good night...time to call it a day
Sleep tight......"
and then towards the end of the song
"So close your eyes and listen to me darling
its a brand new... " (day?) today?

If any of this rings a bell and it is  easy to find the lyrics- I will
have my childhlood lullaby complete and will be equipped to pass them
on to neices and nephews.  If not let me know and I'll close this out
with your stellar rating and tip.
-DancingBear

---

Clarification of Answer by markj-ga on 18 Feb 2005 13:58 PST

dancingbear --

Unsurprisingly, "Good Night, Sleep Tight" is the last of the three
Sylvia Fine songs in the movie "Five Pennies and is sung by Louis
Armstrong.  Here is a link to the lyrics, along with some annotations
about its context in the film:

Angelfire: Danny Kaye: Good Night, Sleep Tight
http://www.angelfire.com/film/dannykaye/GoodNight.htm


You can find an audio clip at this link:

Barnes & Noble: Five Pennies
http://music.barnesandnoble.com/search/product.asp?userid=9v5tTfpACM&EAN=602498616901&ITM=1

Enjoy!


markj-ga

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Request for Answer Clarification by dancingbear-ga on 18 Feb 2005 23:38 PST

Markj- 
I only used the clarification button because I was pretty sure the GA
system would ding you- let me know if you are interested in seeing- I
mean hearing - the fruits of you labors.  It's a VERY rough recording-
and the tempo is a little too fast- 120 bpm.- but- it is me singing 2
of the songs- lullaby in ragtime and Five Pennies at the same time- it
sounds like a chorus because i recorded myself singing each one
several times in different tracks.  I'm about to pull a version
together and post on my website- let me know if you want to go to it
and I'll post the address.  Thanks again  :-)

---

Clarification of Answer by markj-ga on 19 Feb 2005 02:59 PST

dancingbear --

Thanks for "dinging" me.  It would be a real treat to hear the
Dancingbear version of these ditties.

markj-ga

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Request for Answer Clarification by dancingbear-ga on 19 Feb 2005 13:42 PST

Wow- well that took a lot longer than I expected.

I re-recorded the whole thing this morning at a slower tempo - 90 bpm.
It really is a very rough recording- I used the microphone built into
my laptop - and had to have the metronome in the background when i
sang in order to not get too creative with the beat which messes up
getting the songs synched (which still may not match the original- I
had to guess ;-)

A couple of technical notes-
You may need Quick time in order to hear and see the song- if you're a
PC user and don't have it installed it's Free and easy to download
from:
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/

After you bring the page up- it may take a couple of minutes to load
the file before you can play it- you'll see the loading prgress at the
bottom of the frame where it will play as the grey bar slides past the
player button.  If you have anyproblems let me know- and let me know
what you think of the chorus of 'me'. (I KNOW I'm not Danny Kaye or
Louis Armstrong ;-)
Here's the site.
http://homepage.mac.com/lansingbicknell/LullabySlides/iMovieTheater42.html

The pics are of most of my 14 nnieces and nephews.

-The Dancing Bear

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Clarification of Answer by markj-ga on 19 Feb 2005 15:00 PST

dancingbear -

I had no problem accessing the site. You may not be Danny Kaye or
Louis Armstrong, but then who is?  Your performance is utterly
charming, and I'm sure the kids will enjoy and treasure the "show"
that you have produced.

markj-ga

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Request for Answer Clarification by dancingbear-ga on 19 Feb 2005 15:11 PST

Thanks-
After I get the original soundtrack- I'll tackle the "Goodnight- time
to call it a day" part and try to record in the orignial tempo and
key.  Thanks again for all your help- I think my dad is going to get
the biggest kick out of this.
Over and Out- (until my next musical question)
Dancing Bear

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Clarification of Answer by markj-ga on 19 Feb 2005 15:50 PST

Roger! (I have to post something, anything, in response in order to
close the question at my end.)

I was hoping my additional request was going to be that obvious and
not some obscure tune my dad had thrown into the mix.  Markj- you are
the MAN!  thanks a lot- you've brought big smiles to my face and put
the words to the songs back in my heart.

dancingbear --

Thanks once again for the question that happened to be "right up my
alley."  And thanks for the kind words, the stars and the very nice
tip.

markj-ga