the meat and the motion

[Arnold Zwicky]

On Jan 27, 2010, at 4:27 PM, Larry Horn wrote:

>
> At 3:37 PM -0500 1/27/10, Charles Doyle wrote:
>> It's not the meat, it's the motion. 1951 The saying may have entered
>> oral tradition from the title and recurring line of a
>> rhythm-and-blues song written by Henry Glover and recorded by The
>> Swallows: "It Ain't the Meat (It's the Motion)." Or, the song may
>> have been built around an existing proverb, as yet undiscovered.
>> Proverbial uses of the expression do not appear in print until the
>> 1980s, after Maria Muldaur's popular rendition of the song in 1974
>> had nudged it--and the saying--toward the (white) mainstream.
>> Interestingly, in the song the term _meat_ refers sexually to a
>> woman ("It ain't the meat, it's the motion / Makes your daddy want
>> to rock");
>
> I distinctly remember Maria (D'Amato) Muldaur singing "...that makes
> your mama want to rock".  I don't have that one on my iTunes,
> curiously, although I have 15 other songs of hers, but that's my
> memory.

i do [have it on my iTunes], and she has "mama".

arnold

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