I just came across this lovely piece by Eric McHenry in The American Scholar that seems to provide the definitive story behind “Mama Lou” and the origins of songs like “Ta-Ra-Ra-Boom-De-Ay” and “Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight”:
Bessie Smith’s recording of “Hot Time” may be the closest we will ever get to Mama Lou’s original version, but the UK’s Ottilie Patterson and Chris Barber do a great job with it, too.