"Rag Mop" was a popular American

song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

of the late 1940s–early 1950s. This 12-bar blues song, written by

Tulsa Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...

western swing Western swing, country jazz or smooth country is a subgenre of American country music that originated in the late 1920s in the West and South among the region's Western string bands. It is dance music, often with an up-tempo beat, which att ...

bandleader Johnnie Lee Wills and

steel guitar A steel guitar () is any guitar played while moving a steel bar or similar hard object against plucked strings. The bar itself is called a "steel" and is the source of the name "steel guitar". The instrument differs from a conventional guitar i ...

ist Deacon Anderson, was published in

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2025 * January 2 – Luis ...

. Considered a

novelty song A novelty song is a type of song built upon some form of novel concept, such as a gimmick, a piece of humor, or a sample of popular culture. Novelty songs partially overlap with comedy songs, which are more explicitly based on humor, and w ...

, the lyrics consisted mostly of spelling out the title of the song; because of the spelling used in the song, it is sometimes referred to as "Ragg Mopp". The Wills-Anderson song was adapted from a 1946 release by Henry "Red" Allen, "Get the Mop". While Johnnie Lee Wills and his band recorded it for Bullet Records in 1950, the most popular version of this song was recorded by The Ames Brothers, and released by

Coral Records Coral Records was a subsidiary of Decca Records that was formed in 1949. Coral released music by Patsy Cline, Buddy Holly, the McGuire Sisters and Teresa Brewer. Coral issued jazz and swing music in the 1940s, but after Bob Thiele became head ...

in 1950 as catalog number 60140. The song was part of a double-sided hit; the flip side was " Sentimental Me". The record first reached the

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

magazine charts on January 6, 1950, and lasted 14 weeks on the chart, peaking at number one. It sold over one million copies. The song was re-released in 1951 by Coral as catalog No. 60397, with the flip side " Hoop-Dee-Doo".Coral Records in the 60000 to 60999 series
/ref> The group re-recorded the song several times. The 1950 recording is considered an example of proto-rock and roll as it contained elements that would later go into the defining of the genre.

Parodies

Lou Monte recorded an Italian-flavored version soon after the Ames Brothers' original, and, in 1963, Allan Sherman recorded "Rat Fink".

Covers

Sharon, Lois & Bram recorded & performed the song on their television series Sharon, Lois & Bram's Elephant Show in 1986. It was aired in Season 2, Episode "Clean Up". The song appears in the 1st season episode of ''

The Muppet Show ''The Muppet Show'' is a variety sketch comedy television series created by Jim Henson and starring the Muppets. It is presented as a variety show, featuring recurring sketches and musical numbers interspersed with ongoing plot-lines with ru ...

'' with

Lena Horne Lena Mary Calhoun Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010) was an American singer, actress, dancer and civil rights activist. Horne's career spanned more than seventy years and covered film, television and theatre. Horne joined the chorus of the C ...

where a vocal group of rag mops sing the song with

Jim Henson James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer, animator, actor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notability as the creator of the Muppets. Henson was also well known for creating ''Fraggle Rock'' ( ...

as the lead singer who is the only one whose handle is not seen.

References

{{Authority control 1949 songs Number-one singles in the United States Ames Brothers songs Johnnie Lee Wills songs