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