Queen Of The 88's - Live

Now we are gonna tell you all a true story
 About the last of the red-hot mommas, alright
 Her name was Mary, Mary Burke Norton
 And she was otherwise known as the Queen of the 88s
 That's right
 Now when I was ten years old, I'd been playing the piano for 7 years
 But I could not read a note of music
 And one day my momma and daddy they said Kelley
 It's time that you learn how to read some music
 It might come in handy someday, and they were right
 They took me to one, two, three, four, five different piano teachers
 And every one of those old ladies said
 Well, you play alright but this playing by ear
 Is not going to go around here
 And this boogie woogie thing has got to go, got to go
 And every time I would go home crying
 And My mom looked at my dad and she said you know what
 Somethings not right and she got an idea
 She said Kelley c'mon with me and don't cry no more
 'Cause it's time to go see the queen
 So we went down to Fifth and Arundel street in Emporia, Kansas
 That's right
 And we pulled up to a little brown house about the size of this stage
 And out walked Mary
 She's about five feet tall, just about five feet wide
 She had herself a bright red wig on her head
 And that woman had a ring on every finger
 She was waving a cigarette around in the air
 She looked me up and down
 And put her hands on her hips and she said child
 She said child, she said what do you want to do
 And I said well I do not want to take piano lessons from you
 Now remember I was ten years old at the time
 And she was scaring me half to death
 So she said, I don't feel like teaching you any so its alright
 I asked you what you want to do
 So I put my hands on my hips and I looked right back at her and I said
 Well I'll tell you what I wanna do, I wanna boogie woogie
 That's what I wanna do
 And all of a sudden everything changed
 She dropped that cigarette, she took me by the hand
 And said c'mon, c'mon, c'mon, c'mon
 And we went inside of that little bitty house
 And the main piece of furniture in that tiny living room
 It was a chocolate brown baby grand piano
 And I thought I'd died and gone to heaven
 She said I'm gonna sit down, play you a little song
 And you tell me if that's what you wanna learn how to do, alright
 And I said yep, alright, I'm ready, c'mon
 So she got her wig ready, and she got her rings ready
 And she sat herself down on the piano bench and she went
 She went like this
 *INSTRUMENTAL*
 And then she looked at me and she said
 Is that what you want to learn how to do
 And I said yeah, I said yeah, yeah,
 I said yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
 I sure do
 So that's when the party started
 Oh, with the Queen of the 88s
 And you know what, she's not really gone now
 'Cause she's in my right hand (oh yes she is)
 She's in this left hand too
 She's right here in my heart
 And tonight here in Kansas City she's gonna play with me for you
 And here we go, I said yeah
 She was just a young woman in 1933
 She was playing the piano in the church of the Calvary
 But when the congregation left, the preacher went home
 She made sure that she was all alone
 That old piano just shook with a boogie woogie beat
 And it went something like this
 Now, she used to go swingin' at the Eagles club
 Dancin' with the girls and havin' great big fun
 The boys jumped up, threw down their cigars and shouted
 Play that boogie woogie, play it eight to the bar, and they said
 Mary, Mary Burke Norton you're the Queen of the 88s
 Hot dog, you shoulda seen her, I know that you would say the same
 Aw They started shoutin' out Mary, they said
 Mary Burke Norton, you're the Queen of the 88s
 And there will never be anybody else to take your place
 I believe I'm gonna play some right now
 *INSTRUMENTAL*
 Now Mary's gone on up to higher ground
 But she can still make me smile when I hear the sound of an old piano
 I swing and I sway
 I'm the one that's shakin' Mary's rhythm today
 Thank you Mary, Mary, Mary Burke Norton you're the Queen of the 88s
 Aw you shoulda seen her, I know that you'd say the same
 I wanna tell you 'bout Mary, Mary, Mary Burke Norton
 You're the Queen of the 88s
 And there will never be anybody else to take your place
 I'm gonna tell you one more time now
 Mary, Mary, Mary Burke Norton you're the Queen of the 88s
 Aw you shoulda seen her, well I know that you would say the same
 Everybody's talkin' about Mary, Mary, Mary Burke Norton
 You're the Queen of the 88s
 There will never be anybody else to take your place
 Oh, lord have mercy
 Now there will never be anybody else to take your place