# Beat me daddy 8 to the bar. Big Band. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 16, 2007, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beat-me-daddy-8-to-the-bar-big-band/422899 "2007-10-16T14:03:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2007, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beat-me-daddy-8-to-the-bar-big-band/422899/1 "2007-10-16T14:03:46Z")
So, I’m listening to some big band ( via the 900 music options on cable tv) and a question and a comment/observation have cropped up: **Beat me daddy eight to the bar.** was a popular song back in the day, but what does this line mean? **All that meat and no potatoes** is an album by Will Bradley (best of) and it is an hysterical title. Google-fu tells me that \*\*All that Meat and No Potatoes \*\* is urban slang for a really fat guy. It also tells me it was a [song](http://www.fortunecity.com/tinpan/newbonham/6/allthatmeat.htm) \*I \* think it is more of a sexual slam for " Big Dick with no balls." Also, why does Big Band music go better on a cold rainy day? Discuss. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2007, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beat-me-daddy-8-to-the-bar-big-band/422899/2 "2007-10-16T14:15:02Z")
[QUOTE=Shirley Ujest] **Beat me daddy eight to the bar.** was a popular song back in the day, but what does this line mean? [/QUOTE] I found this: “The double entendre in ‘Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar’ is a musical instruction to the pianist to play in a boogie-woogie style, with eight beats to a 4/4 bar.” (from [American Sexuality Magazine](http://nsrc.sfsu.edu/MagArticle.cfm?SID=F4005F11787C66D5138FDCC93F3C879E&DSN=nsrc_dsn&Mode=EDIT&Article=739&ReturnURL=1).) ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2007, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beat-me-daddy-8-to-the-bar-big-band/422899/3 "2007-10-16T14:24:14Z")
[QUOTE=pinkfreud] I found this: “The double entendre in ‘Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar’ is a musical instruction to the pianist to play in a boogie-woogie style, with eight beats to a 4/4 bar.” (from [American Sexuality Magazine](http://nsrc.sfsu.edu/MagArticle.cfm?SID=F4005F11787C66D5138FDCC93F3C879E&DSN=nsrc_dsn&Mode=EDIT&Article=739&ReturnURL=1).) [/QUOTE] That was an interesting article. Hit me with your rhythm stick. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2007, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beat-me-daddy-8-to-the-bar-big-band/422899/4 "2007-10-16T14:24:34Z")
[QUOTE=Shirley Ujest] Also, why does Big Band music go better on a cold rainy day? Discuss. [/QUOTE] Because it only sounds good when your world is icky, depressing and awful. Thus its popularity among the elderly, extreme social conservatives, and the kind of people who still live in their mothers’ basements. The best colleges that teach big band music are in places like Paterson, NJ; Youngstown, Ohio; and Denton, Texas. That ought to tell you something right there. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2007, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beat-me-daddy-8-to-the-bar-big-band/422899/5 "2007-10-16T14:25:07Z")
[QUOTE=Shirley Ujest] **Beat me daddy eight to the bar.** was a popular song back in the day, but what does this line mean? [/QUOTE] No authorative cite for this, but I’d always interpreted that line to be a reference to how many drum beats there were in a standard measure in swing music. Especially in contrast to other music of the same time, where the beat wasn’t as fast, and sometimes not even noticeable to barely educated music ears. As for why swing goes so well on a rainy day? [tongue in cheek] Most modern Americans associate swing music with WWII era. And most of us older folk, at least, got our exposure to the life and times of that era through black and white movies. Now, on a true cloudy, rainy day, all the colors outside get washed out, and faded - often reminiscent of b&w films. So, they just go together. It’s comfort music for the visual cue. [/tongue in cheek] ETA: **pinkfreud** beat me. (But only once, not eight times!) ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2007, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beat-me-daddy-8-to-the-bar-big-band/422899/6 "2007-10-16T14:35:47Z")
(international tongue-in-cheek emoticon) I was being TIC myself, actually. I am a devoted fan and player of Big Band music, especially the kind too old for the WW2 generation. But it is somewhat marginalized, both commercially and artistically - not quite the upscale, classy thing these days. Which is unfortunate as some of these bands just oozed class. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2007, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beat-me-daddy-8-to-the-bar-big-band/422899/7 "2007-10-16T15:13:03Z")
I love Big Band. Especially Swing. I don’t know why. It’s just so great. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2007, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beat-me-daddy-8-to-the-bar-big-band/422899/8 "2007-10-16T15:17:14Z")
There was a swing revival that lasted about five minutes sometime in the late nineties. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2007, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beat-me-daddy-8-to-the-bar-big-band/422899/9 "2007-10-16T18:24:19Z")
> [@](#): > > All that meat and no potatoes is an album by Will Bradley (best of) and it is an hysterical title. > > Google-fu tells me that All that Meat and No Potatoes is urban slang for a really fat guy. It also tells me it was a song I think it is more of a sexual slam for " Big Dick with no balls." _All That Meat And No Potatoes_ is from the Fats Waller songbook. I have a recording of Louis Armstrong singing it. There could be a sexual angle to anything, I guess, but the lyric is really about food. “All that meat and no potatoes, Just ain’t right, like green tomatoes…” [http://lyricsplayground.com/alpha/songs/a/allthatmeatandnopotatoes.shtml](http://lyricsplayground.com/alpha/songs/a/allthatmeatandnopotatoes.shtml) ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2007, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beat-me-daddy-8-to-the-bar-big-band/422899/10 "2007-10-16T20:48:19Z")
I got into big band music when I was a kid, and Time Life Records send us one of those demo records (the original floppy disks!) with selections from their album series _The Swing Era_, with new stereo recordings of all the classic big band numbers. Darned if I didn’t borrow and enjoy each of those well-annotated albums from the library. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2007, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beat-me-daddy-8-to-the-bar-big-band/422899/11 "2007-10-16T20:55:50Z")
I was amused by an appellate court opinion in _Artie Shaw v. Time Life Records_ from 1975 that begins: > [@](#): > > Many Americans, perplexed by the turmoil of our turbulent era, have sought succor and solace in the fond remembrance of sweeter years gone by. That magical span of time between the two World Wars seems to offer a special attraction and allure. Our informational and entertainment media have focused attention on the writers, artists and musicians who flourished during the second, third and fourth decades of this century. A large number of commercial ventures have been launched with a view towards capturing a piece of the nostalgia market. Nostalgia-oriented pitches are but one segment of the myriad of solicitations conducted by record, book and magazine companies throughout the State and the Nation. I’m guessing His Honor was another big band fan. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2007, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beat-me-daddy-8-to-the-bar-big-band/422899/12 "2007-10-16T21:49:46Z")
[QUOTE=Shirley Ujest] Also, why does Big Band music go better on a cold rainy day? Discuss. [/QUOTE] I dunno. But housecleaning to the Glenn Miller Band is fun! It’s a rainy day, and the house is a mess… where is that CD? (Grumble, grumble.) ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2007, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beat-me-daddy-8-to-the-bar-big-band/422899/13 "2007-10-16T23:12:12Z")
I seem to recall this song is about Peck Kelly, a jazz pianist who, despite not achieving popularity, was regarded as a legend among musicians. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2007, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beat-me-daddy-8-to-the-bar-big-band/422899/14 "2007-10-16T23:59:21Z")
I like Big Band music-mostly Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller. I don’t like the songs as much - I like the dance music. I like standards from that era (ballads, I suppose we’d call them). Never thought about it, but it does sound best on rainy days. Or when I’m driving in the evening… ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2007, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beat-me-daddy-8-to-the-bar-big-band/422899/15 "2007-10-17T01:45:47Z")
I heard on a jazz show that “beat me, daddy, eight to the bar” is a phrase that also describes the rhythm–in other words, it doesn’t just say “eight to the bar” but demonstrates that you play them syncopated, as if you were saying the words in a natural way. (Da-daa, da-daa, da-da-da-da.)