Stay A Little Longer

Infobox Standard
title="Stay A Little Longer"
comment="(Stay All Night)"


image_size=
caption=
writer=Bob Wills/Tommy Duncan
composer=
lyricist=
published=
written=
language=English
form=Western swing
original_artist=Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys
recorded_by="(many, many other artists)"
performed_by=

"Stay A Little Longer" is a Western swing dance tune written by Bob Wills and Tommy Duncan. The title comes from a refrain in the chorus::"Stay all night, stay a little longer,":"Dance all night, dance a little longer,":"Pull off your coat, throw it in the corner,":"Don't see why you can't stay a little longer."

The song consists of a number of unrelated verses, one of which (verse three) comes from an old folk song—"Shinbone Alley"::"You ought to see my Blue Eyed Sally,":"She lives way down on Shinbone Alley.":"Number on the gate, the number on the door,":"The next house over is the grocery store." [Cohen, "Folk Music", p. 290-210: "A version of 'Shinbone Alley' was published in 1833, though its origins may be still older.:"Old Miss Tuck and my aunt Sallie":"Both lived down in shinbone alley.":"No sign on the gate, no number on the door;":"Folks around here are gittin might poor."]

Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys recorded it in 1945 and it reached #3 in 1946. [Whitburn, "The Billboard Book of Top 40 Country Hits", p. 493] Willie Nelson (#22, 1973) and Mel Tillis (#17, 1982) also charted Top 40 hits. The song has been recorded numerous times.

References

Bibliography

*Cohen, Norm. "Folk Music: A Regional Exploration". Greenwood Press, 2005. ISBN 0-313-32872-2
*Whitburn, Joel. "The Billboard Book of Top 40 Country Hits". Billboard Books, 2006. ISBN 0-8230-8291-1