The AFU and Urban Legend Archive
Songs
 what is a jellyroll more




From: catherine yronwode <cat@luckymojo.com>
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Accomplished...er, organist
Date: Sat, 09 Nov 1996 11:58:06 -0800

rick larson wrote:
>
> mojobabe1@aol.com wrote:
> >
> > Can anyone confirm the story I recently heard that Jelly Roll
> > Morton's cognomen was bestowed on him in reference to the size and
> > shape of his penis?
>
> Richard A. Spears says in _Slang and Euphemism_ (New American Library,
> 1983) that "jelly roll" refers to the female genitalia. The
> appelation is thus presumably not an anatomical reference to the great
> artist, but refers to certain predilections.

Correct -- and there's a bit more to it. The pianist and band leader Ferdinand Morton's earlier nickname was "The Windin' Boy." He explains the origin of this name in the spoken introduction to the song of the same name recorded for the Library of Congress in the 1940s and widely available on Morton compilations and on compilations of "dirty" blues. I will quote a portion of the intro from memory (pretty close, as i know the song well...) and give the chorus and a sample verse:

"This happens to be one of my first tunes in the blues line, back in the New Orleans. Back in those days, when a man played piano, the stamp was on him for life -- the femininity stamp -- and i didn't want that on me, so when i first started playing, the songs came out a little smutty not *too* smutty, a bit like this: 

     I'm the Windin' Boy, don't deny my name (x3)
     I can pick it up and shake it like Stavin' Chain
     I'm the Windin' Boy, don't deny my name

     Nickle's worth of beefsteak, and a dime's worth of lard (x3)
     I'm gonna salivate your pussy til my peter gets hard
     I'm the Windin' Boy, don't deny my name"

Other "not too smutty" lyrics include "i fucked her 'til her pussy stunk" and the song was not released for air play in this form, needless to say.

The Windin' Boy is a boy who can execute deft motions with his pelvis, windin' or twirling his penis in and about his partner's vagina. "Stavin' Chain" (or more properly "Stave 'n' Chain") was a legendary (possibly real) late 19th century strong man who worked on the railroad and was known for his large "stave."

When Morton switched nicknames, he did not become "Jelly Roll Morton" at once -- he first became "Mr. Jelly Lord" -- that is, the lord or master of jelly (female lubricating fluid; hence female sexual arousal). Eventually, he became "Jelly Roll" Morton, taking on the name of the female pudenda he so assiduously salivated.

cat "and good for him, i say" yronwode


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