King Kong Kitchie Kitchie Ki-Me-O by Chubby Parker and his Old Time Banjo [Anthology Revisited - Song 8]

TL;DR -- A tale of interspecies relations with which many readers have some familiarity. Order of article is different, Uncle Pecos arrives, and Parker sold signature banjos.

Welcome to the eighth stop in Anthology Revisited, a song-by-song journey through The Anthology of American Folk Music, compiled by Harry Smith and released on Folkways Records in 1952. In this edition, we’re flipping the first record of Volume One - Ballads - to check out the B side, and the side opens with “Chubby” Parker and His Old Time Banjo performing “King Kong Kitchie Kitchie Ki-Me-O”, a song about a wedding dates back more than 400 years.

I’ve known this song for most of my life, but I did not know the song by this name until I encountered the Anthology. I’m not alone. This song is very, very well known in the USA, but not by this name.

Due to this song’s popularity under different names, I’m switching up the usual order of business in this article. Typically, Harry Smith’s liner notes from the Anthology, a short introduction, and an examination of the headline precede the video.

This time, I’m mixing things up for the benefit of people who’ve never heard this recording, and am opening with the song. The lyrics appear in their usual location, just before the section on “The Song”.

So, without further delay, here is “King Kong Kitchie Kitchie Ki-Me-O” as performed by “Chubby” Parker and His Old Time Banjo on August 23, 1928 for Columbia Records.

The first time I listened to the Anthology, I was gobsmacked by this song. I’d known for most of my life, and couldn’t believe it was the same song I’d first heard on a cartoon. More on that later, let’s get down to business and check out the liner notes provided by Harry Smith.

So, the recording blew me away because I knew the song, and when I read Harry Smith’s liner notes, I was amazed to find that “King Kong Kitchie Kitchie Ki-Me-O” had roots back in the 1500’s. I later discovered that the song is even older than Smith suggests, but more on that later. Before we start tearing things apart, let’s examine Harry’s headline.

ZOOLOGIC MISCEGENY ACHIEVED IN MOUSE FROG NUPTUALS, [sic] RELATIVES APPROVE

I like the silly, overly-serious tone in using big words to describe a children’s song. Countless articles about the Anthology cite this particular headline, and with good reason. With the exception of the spelling error (or typo), this may be the most perfect headline in the set. It’s short, pithy, and tells the story in very few words, (although the term miscegeny was new to this reader).

For those like me who didn’t know, miscegeny refers to the interbreeding across races, and it’s a word with an interesting history. This archaic term is a derivative of “miscegenation”, which first appeared in the 1800’s. Full text on the word’s etymology from Wiktionary provides a bit of backstory.

Blend of Latin miscēre (“mix”) +‎ Latin genus (“race”) +‎ -ation. Coined by American journalist David Goodman Croly in 1864 and first used in an anonymous pamphlet he co-authored, which claimed to be written by a person who believed in the inherent unity of all racial groups, that marriage between blacks and whites would create a better race, and that the American Civil War was a fight for the latter idea. Later, it was exposed that the pretext of the pamphlet was false and that it had actually been written by a group which hoped to inflame anger, particularly against then-US President Abraham Lincoln who was up for reelection.

SOURCE: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/miscegenation#English

With the archaic term deciphered, what does the headline say? Basically, it says this is a song about interbreeding across species, as demonstrated by the offspring produced by the marriage of a mouse and a frog, a union to which no relative held protest.

As you can see in the lyrics below, this particular version of the song includes no sign of approval from the families, but in other versions of the song, Uncle Rat must give consent before the wedding of the frog and his niece is allowed to proceed. At least one such version will appear in the “Other Interpretations” section later in this piece.

Lyrics

Frog went a courtin' and he did ride
King kong kitchie kitchie ki-me-o
With a sword and a pistol by his side
King kong kitchie kitchie ki-me-o
Ki-mo-ke-mo ki-mo-ke
Way down yonder in a hollow tree
An owl and a bat and a bumblebee
King kong kitchie kitchie ki-me-o

He rode 'til he came to miss mouse's door
King kong kitchie kitchie ki-me-o
And there he knelt upon the floor
King kong kitchie kitchie ki-me-o
Ki-mo-ke-mo ki-mo-ke
Way down yonder in a hollow tree
An owl and a bat and a bumblebee
King kong kitchie kitchie ki-me-o

He took Miss Mouse upon his knee
King kong kitchie kitchie ki-me-o
And he said, "Little mouse will you marry me?"
King kong kitchie kitchie ki-me-o
Ki-mo-ke-mo ki-mo-ke
Way down yonder in a hollow tree
An owl and a bat and a bumblebee
King kong kitchie kitchie ki-me-o

Miss Mouse had suitors three or four
King kong kitchie kitchie ki-me-o
And there they came right in the door
King kong kitchie kitchie ki-me-o
Ki-mo-ke-mo ki-mo-ke
Way down yonder in a hollow tree
An owl and a bat and a bumblebee
King kong kitchie kitchie ki-me-o

They grabbed Mister Frog and began to fight
King kong kitchie kitchie ki-me-o
In that hollow tree 'twas a terrible night
King kong kitchie kitchie ki-me-o
Ki-mo-ke-mo ki-mo-ke
Way down yonder in a hollow tree
An owl and a bat and a bumblebee
King kong kitchie kitchie ki-me-o

Mister Frog hurled the suitors to the floor
King kong kitchie kitchie ki-me-o
With his sword and his pistol he killed all four
King kong kitchie kitchie ki-me-o
Ki-mo-ke-mo ki-mo-ke
Way down yonder in a hollow tree
An owl and a bat and a bumblebee
King kong kitchie kitchie ki-me-o

They went to the parson the very next day
King kong kitchie kitchie ki-me-o
And left on their honeymoon right away
King kong kitchie kitchie ki-me-o
Ki-mo-ke-mo ki-mo-ke
Way down yonder in a hollow tree
An owl and a bat and a bumblebee
King kong kitchie kitchie ki-me-o

Now they live far off in a hollow tree
King kong kitchie kitchie ki-me-o
Where they now have wealth and children three
King kong kitchie kitchie ki-me-o
Ki-mo-ke-mo ki-mo-ke
Way down yonder in a hollow tree
An owl and a bat and a bumblebee
King kong kitchie kitchie ki-me-o

The Song

I already mentioned that this song is old, but how old is it? At the time of this writing (May 2025), the song is around 475 years old. The first mention of the song was circa 1549 in Wedderburn's Complaynt of Scotland where the ballad was referred to as “The frog cam to the myl door”. (“The frog came to the mill door” in modern English.)

In 1580, a version of the ballad titled “A moste strange weddinge of the frogge and the mouse” was licensed to Edward White, at Stationer’s Hall in London, as referenced by Smith’s liner notes, but no further text exists.

In 1611, the full text of the song, complete with the music, appeared in the “Country Pastimes” section of Thomas Ravenscroft's Melismata, a book of songs collected and compiled by Ravensroft. Here’s an image of the page on which it appeared followed by a transcription of the text.

SOURCE: https://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/ravenscroft/melismata/mel37small.html
https://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/ravenscroft/melismata/

Here’s the text in a more readable form, with archaic spellings intact.

The Marriage of the Frogge and the Movse (1611)

'Twas the Frogge in the well,
humble dum, humble, dum.
And the merrie Mouse in the Mill,
tweedle, tweedle, twino.

The Frogge he would a woing ride,
humble dum, humble, dum.
Sword and a buckler by his side,
tweedle, tweedle, twino.

When he was upon his high horse set,
humble dum, humble, dum,
His boots they shone as blacke as jet,
tweedle, tweedle, twino.

When he came to a merry mill pin,
humble dum, humble dum,
Lady Mouse beene you within?
Tweedle, tweedle, twino.

Then came out the dusty Mouse,
humble dum, humble dum.
"I am Lady of this house,"
tweedle, tweedle, twino.

"Hast thou any minde of me?"
humble dum, humble dum.
"I have e'ne greate minde of thee,"
tweedle, tweedle, twino.

Who shall this marriage make?
humble dum, humble dum.
Our Lord which is the rat,
tweedle, tweedle, twino.

What shall we have to our supper?
humble dum, humble dum.
Three beanes in a pound of butter,
tweedle, tweedle, twino.

When supper they were at,
humble dum, humble dum.
The Frog, the Mouse, and even the Rat,
tweedle, tweedle, twino.

Then came in gib our cat,
humble dum, humble dum,
And catcht the mouse even by the backe,
tweedle, tweedle, twino.

Then did they separate,
humble dum, humble dum,
And the frog leapt on the floore so flat,
tweedle, tweedle, twino.

Then came in Dicke our Drake,
humble dum, humble dum,
And drew the frogge even to the lake,
tweedle, tweedle, twino.

The Rat run up the wall,
humble dum, humble dum.
A goodly company, the divell goe with all,
tweedle, tweedle, twino.

If the text was difficult to decipher, here’s a verse-by-verse breakdown of events.

VERSE 1 - Frog (who lives in a well) and mouse (who lives in a mill) are introduced.
VERSE 2 - Frog goes a-courting, with a sword and shield by his side.
VERSE 3 - The frog rides a horse to the mill where the mouse lives
VERSE 4 - Frog arrives at the mill, and knocks on door.
VERSE 5 - Mouse confirms her identity and presence.
VERSE 6 - Frog asks if the mouse has feelings for him. She replies in the affirmative.
VERSE 7 - Frog and mouse discuss wedding, decide rat would officiate.
VERSE 8 - Wedding supper of 3 beans and a pound of butter is chosen.
VERSE 9 - Frog, mouse, and rat sit down to dine
VERSE 10 - Cat shows up, catches mouse.
VERSE 11 - Frog goes flat on the floor.
VERSE 12 - Dick the Drake swoops in and takes Frog to the lake.
VERSE 13 - Rat flees up the wall.

Chubby Parker’s version of the song appeared over 300 years after this text was composed, and as we can see, much more than the nonsense syllables were changed.

The second verse of the 1611 text is nigh identical to the first verse of Parker’s recording, with the only difference being that Parker’s frog has a pistol in lieu of a shield.

The events following the frog’s arrival, however, are quite different. In 1611, there was a quick wedding and dinner, but things fell apart rapidly when the cat and the drake took the bride and groom away.

In Chubby’s version, before the wedding could take place, Mr. Frog had to compete with three or four other suitors for the affections of Miss Mouse. Mr. Frog went on a killing spree to prove his love, taking out all four of the other suitors. After this murderous rampage, the Frog and Mouse got married, went on a honeymoon, and returned to the hollow tree, where they had several offspring and lived happily ever after. No information as to the appearance of the offspring was provided, much to the dismay of this writer.

So we’ve had a pretty dramatic shift in the narrative, but a lot of things happened over the span of 300 years, and in the “Other Interpretations” section, we’ll look at alternate versions of the song (including ones where some relative approves).

One last thing before we move on to the Performance itself. This is the first song on the Anthology to contain a chorus. None of the ballads on Side A of Volume One contained a chorus, and to be honest, I never noticed that until I started writing this article.

The Performance

On August 13, 1928, Frederick R. Parker and his old-time banjo hit the New York City studios of Columbia Records to record this song. Not only was Chubby Parker an entertaining performer, he was a heck of a whistler. Some of you may not be impressed by Parker’s whistling skills, but as one who cannot whistle a melody, I’m impressed when anyone can do it.

There’s not a whole lot to say about the performance that isn’t readily evident to any listener. There’s a certain whimsy in Parker’s delivery. The tenor voice, the nonsense refrain, the whistling, the subject matter… all of it… whimsical.

Instrumentally, Parker doesn’t get very flashy with the old time banjo playing. To my ear, Parker’s banjo style is akin to that of a rhythm guitar player, in that his focus is on keeping the rhythm and playing in the right key. There’s no intricate clawhammer picking like we heard from Clarence Ashley or Buell Kazee.

The Performer

Frederick R. “Chubby” Parker was born in Lafayette, Indiana on October 23, 1876. He graduated Purdue University with a degree in electrical engineering in 1898. Based upon US Census data in the entry for Frederick R. Parker on familysearch shows that Parker lived in Lafayette until as late as 1900, and moved to Chicago sometime during the first decade of the 20th century, where he resided for the rest of his life.

In 1907, Parker married Frances Kischel. The 1910 US Census lists Parker’s professions as “Patent Attorney” and “Inventor”. In 1918, during the final months of World War I, Chubby Parker submitted two songs (“The Land of Liberty” and “The Sound of Liberty”) for copyright, on which he is listed as composer and lyricist. He received copyright for a third song, “A Mother’s Dream” in 1919. The sheet music for all three submitted by Parker is available via the Library of Congress website.

When the 1920 Census rolled around, the Parkers had added a daughter to their family (Claudia, born in 1911), and Chubby’s profession was listed as “Electrician”. For the 1930 census, Parker has yet another new career in radio broadcasting, which we’ll discuss right after you check out what seems to be the only picture of Chubby Parker.

In 1925, Parker joined the cast of WLS’ National Barn Dance out of Chicago. During his tenure on the program, Parker played banjo and sang old ballads and folk songs, often whistling or playing harmonica. (NOTE: In 1929, the same National Barn Dance attempted to recruit Buell Kazee (who was featured in Anthology selections 6 and 7), but Kazee opted to preach instead.)

In the late 1920’s, Chubby Parker was a beloved radio personality. During a single week in February 1927, Parker received a whopping 2,852 pieces of fan mail, a record for the time. For a period, his popularity was such that Sears-Roebuck (which owned WLS), sold Supertone “Ragtime King” banjos that bore Parker’s autograph.

Jake Wildwood, (a self-described “country guitar doctor” from Vermont who restores old instruments, among other things), posted a blog entry in January 2009 on his work restoring one of these Supertone “Ragtime King” 5-string banjos. As you can see in the images below, even in 2009, Chubby Parker’s signature was still visible. Check it out!

From 1926 through 1931, Parker recorded 40 sides for Gennett Records, which recorded and pressed records for the Sears-Roebuck labels Supertone and Silvertone. I used the term "whimsical” to describe Parker’s performance on “King Kong Kitchie Kitchie Ki-Me-O”, and I’m here to tell you that the very same word could be applied to the rest of his catalog. A full listing of Parker’s recordings sessions is available at the Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) page devoted to Chubby Parker, but so you can get a better appreciation of his work, here are a few other songs recorded by Chubby Parker.

I am a Stern Old Bachelor (recorded 2/23/1927)

Nickity nackity now now now (from 10/21/1930)

Bib-a-lollie-boo (same date as above)

Davey Crokett (1931)

In 1926 and 1927, Parker played banjo on 14 dance recordings by Tommy Dandurand and his Gang. Dandurand was a fiddler and dance caller who performed on the National Barn Dance alongside Parker. Here’s one example of Parker’s work with Dandurand and his Gang. It’s “Haste to the Wedding”, recorded on March 19, 1927 in Chicago, Illinois for Gennett Records. (We’ll explore this type of music further in Volume Two - Social Music.)

From what I can tell, Parker stopped recording in 1931, and ended his run on the National Barn Dance around the same time. In 1936, Parker returned to WLS for a brief stint, which marked the end of his career as a professional performer. Chubby Parker died on August 28,1940 in Chicago, Illinois and was buried in Acacia Park Cemetery in Norwood Park, Illinois

SOURCE: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/237667022/frederick-r-parker#view-photo=251341221

Annoying note for the sake of accuracy: I don’t like it when I have to say something that goes against accepted facts, but that’s what I have to do today. “A Booklet of Essays, Appreciations, and Annotations Pertaining to the Anthology of American Folk Music” which was included in the 1997 reissue of the Anthology of American Folk Music indicates that Parker is from Kentucky. This is not accurate. Genealogical records show that like their son, both of Chubby Parker’s parents were born in Indiana. Although, Chubby’s paternal grandparents were from Kentucky, so there is a Kentucky connection here.

Connections

Just because we flipped the record over doesn’t mean we’re into all new territory. some threads of Smith’s tapestry continue onto the flip side of the record. For instance, we’ve got a few solid connections between “King Kong Kitchie Kitchie Ki-Me-O” and “The Wagoner’s Lad” in that they’re both closely related to more well-known tune (“Froggie Went a Courtin’’ and “On Top of Old Smokey” respectively). They both deal with relationships, although this time, there’s joy rather than heartbreak, and both songs are performed by a vocalist accompanied by a banjo. (That’s three in a row, for anyone keeping score).

Death comes to visit for the 6th time in 8 songs. Like “Old Lady and the Devil”, “King Kong Kitchie Kitchie Ki-Me-O” includes nonsense syllables. Lastly, it’s the third humorous song in the collection. “Drunkard’s Special” and “Old Lady and the Devil” being the other two funny cuts so far.

Other Interpretations

Discography

Froggie Went a Courtin’ - Artus Moser - Smith’s Discography lists only AAFS 58, which is track 58 on the Archive of American Folk Song, a multi-volume set of recordings released by the Library of Congress in 1942, for school and library collections. Track 58 of that set is a version of “Froggie Went a Courtin’” performed by Artus Moser. Unfortunately, no copy of that recording seems to be available digitally.

Further Interpretations

Crambone - Uncle Pecos - My first encounter with this song went something like this… I cannot be alone in this.

Froggy Went A-Courtin’ - Tex Ritter - this version contains variations that appear in other versions of Frog(gy/gie) went a courtin’, with some additional nonsense lyrics at the end.

Froggy Went A-Courtin’ - Peg Leg Sam - This field recording from 1975 features Peg Leg Sam on foot stomping, harmonica, and vocals. Is additional instrumentation needed? Nope!

Froggie Went A-Courtin’ - Bob Dylan (1992) - On the day of the 1992 US Presidential election, Dylan’s first collection of all solo acoustic folk songs, Good As I Been to You, appeared on shelves. It’s a diverse selection of songs, and has a dynamite version of “Froggie Went A-Courtin’”. This version is significantly longer than Parker’s (because Dylan wasn’t constrained by limitations imposed by 1928 technology), and walks us through the whole proposal, the approval of Uncle Rat, the preparations, and the procession of animals at the reception. There’s no violence until the snake eats all the wedding cake, then the cat comes in, and… well….

Froggie Went A- Courtin’ - Bruce Springsteen - In 2006, Springsteen released The Seeger Sessions, full band renditions of folk songs, one of which was our song about a frog and a mouse… Lyrically speaking, this version is basically the same as Dylan’s.

Froggy Went A-Courtin’ - Elvis Presley - Not the best version of the song you’re ever gonna hear, but this is a fun take of Elvis and his band messing around on “Froggy Went A-Courtin’”. Full transparency, I’ve already confessed my longtime Dylan fandom. I’m also quite fond of Elvis as well.

Conclusion

This is just a hoot of a song. It’s “Crambone”, after all. One could wander the digital catacombs of YouTube for days listening to different recordings of this song, but, to paraphrase certain versions of the song… “if you want any more you can play them yourself.”

On the next installment of Anthology Revisited, we’re going to check out “Old Shoes and Leggins” by Uncle “Eck” Dunford. It’s another humorous courting tale, this one featuring a peculiar old fella who’s looking for some affection, but whose behaviors are so weird earn him no affections, only sideways glances and giggles behind his back.

Lastly, if you found this analysis interesting and want to tell folks about it, by all means, please share! If you’re inspired to do more research about this song or artist, the sources I used when constructing this article are below, and they’re a great place to start if you’d like to learn more.

Sources

Frog Went a-Courting - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frog_Went_a-Courting

Chubby Parker - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chubby_Parker

Discography of American Historical Recordings - Chubby Parker
https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/mastertalent/detail/112762/Parker_Chubby?Matrix_page=100000

Chubby Parker | Old Time Blues
http://oldtimeblues.net/tag/chubby-parker/

FamilySearch - Frederick R. Parker
https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/details/9WX2-LRY

Find A Grave - Frederick R. Parker
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/237667022/frederick-r-parker

The World's Most Popular Radio Artist: Tuning in Again to Chubby Parker
Old Time Herald Vol 11 Issue 8 - by Tony Russell
Retrieved via the Wayback machine
https://web.archive.org/web/20101028032021/https://www.oldtimeherald.org/archive/back_issues/volume-11/11-8/chubby-parker.html

The Marriage of the Frogge and the Mouse
Complete text from Melismata - Musicall Phansies Fitting the Court, Citie, and Countrey Humours, To 3, 4, and 5 Voyces. (London, 1611)
https://web.archive.org/web/20090417214133/http://home.earthlink.net/~highying/froggy/froggy1.html

miscegenation - Wiktionary, the free dictionary
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/miscegenation#English

C. 1925 Supertone “Ragtime King” 5-String Banjo (and images of same)
https://jakewildwood.blogspot.com/2009/01/c1925-supertone-ragtime-king-5-string.html

Chubby Parker | Old Time Blues
http://oldtimeblues.net/tag/chubby-parker/

Parker, Chubby - LC Linked Data Service - LC Authority File
(Links to sheet music submitted for copyright in 1918 and 1919).
https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/no2005066694.html

Bluegrass Messengers - Kemokimo
https://web.archive.org/web/20080127021029/http://www.bluegrassmessengers.com/master/kemokimo27.html

Chappell (Popular Music of the Olden Times), Vol. 1, 1859
https://archive.org/details/popularmusicofol01chapuoft/page/88/mode/2up

"King Kong Kitchie Kitchie Ki-Me-O" - "Chubby" Parker and His Old Time Banjo - Where Dead Voices Gather : Life at 78rpm
https://theanthologyofamericanfolkmusic.blogspot.com/2009/11/king-kong-kitchie-kitchie-ki-me-o.html

8 “King Kong Kitchie Kitchie Ki-Me-O” by Chubby Parker | My Old Weird America
https://oldweirdamerica.wordpress.com/2009/01/05/8-king-kong-kitchie-kitchie-ki-me-o-by-chubby-parker/