Thereby Hangs a Tale is devoted to songs that tell a story, from Eddy Arnold's hit version of Jimmie Driftwood's "Tennessee Stud" to older songs like "Riders in the Sky" and "The Wreck of the Old '97." Johnny Horton's "The Battle of New Orleans" was a phenomenal hit in 1959, and its influence is felt on the historical songs Arnold tackles, from "The Battle of Little Big Horn" to "Boot Hill," the latter of which was released unsuccessfully on a single. Arnold's performances are far more subdued than Horton's and lack the martial snare drum beats, giving Thereby Hangs a Tale a folk flavor. A version of "Tom Dooley" reinforces the folksy tone, as does "The Red Headed Stranger," a contemporary song that Willie Nelson later revived. Arnold's thematic albums are often his most interesting, and Thereby Hangs a Tale is no exception.
EDDY ARNOLD
THEREBY HANGS A TALE (RCA Victor LSP-2036)
October 1959
Produced by Chet Atkins
Chet Atkins, Ray Edenton, Velma Smith - guitar
Bob Moore, Jerry Byrd - bass
Buddy harman, Jerry Douglas - drums
John D. Loudermilk - harmonica/guitar
vocals:
The Anita Kerr Singers (Dorothy Dillard, Anita Kerr, Louis Nunley, William Wright)
Recorded: 1959, RCA Victor Studio, Nashville
Johnny courted Nellie she would be his wife
Johnny went to battle lost his life
Nellie promised Johnny her love for him she'd save
For Johnny's in Savannah an oak tree marks his grave
Nellie sits a waitin'...
No one will tell Nellie who's sittin' all alone
All abided that's coming back but Johnny can't come home
I had some trouble with my sweetheart's pa
One of her brothers was a bad outlaw
I send her a letter by my Uncle Fudd
And I rode away on the Tennessee Stud
The Tennesee Stud was long and lean
The color of the sun and his eyes were green
He had the nerve and he had the blood
And there never was a horse like the Tennessee Stud [ guitar ]
We drifted on down onto no man's land
We crossed the river called the Rio Grande
I raced my horse with a Spaiard foal
Till I got me a skin full of silver and gold
Me and a gambler we couldn't agree
We got in a fight over Tennessee
We jerked our guns he fell with a thud
And I got away on the Tennessee Stud [ guitar ]
Well I got just as lonesome as a man could be
Dreamin' of my girl in Tennessee
The Tennessee Stud's green eyes turned blue
Cause he was a dreamin' of his sweetheart too
We loped right back across Arkansas
I whoopped her brother and whopped her pa
I found that girl with the golden hair
As she was a ridin' on the Tennessee Mare
The Tennesee Stud was long and lean... [ guitar ]
Stirrup to stirrup and side by side
We crossed the mountains and the valleys wide
We came to Big Muddy and we forded the flood
And the Tennessee Mare and the Tennessee Stud
A pretty little babyy and the cabin floor
A little horse cold playin' round the door
I love the girl with the golden hair
And the Tennessee Stud loves the Tennessee Mare
There were muskets arrows cannonballs a flyin'
Yelling screaming a lot of men were dyin' there at the Little Big Horn
There were one thousand Indians standing on the river bank
Two hundred calvary waited there with pride
Then I saw chief Crazy Horse leader of the Indians
Old Gneral Custer with his musket by his side
Then Crazy Horse started things with a yell
That shattered the quiet of the early morn
General Custer gave out a mighty mighty roar
And they met at the Little Big Horn
There were muskets...
Of the one thousand Indians there on the river bank
Five hundred Indians died in the fight
And the brave calvary that had fought there that morning
Two hundred men not a single one survived
He turned around and said to his black greasy fireman
Just shovel on a little more coal
And when we cross that White Oak Mountain
You can watch old 97 roll
He was goin' down the grade makin' 90 miles an hour
His whistle broke into a scream
He was found in the wreck with his hand on the throttle
A scalded to death by the steam
It's a mighty rough road from Lynchburg to Danville
With a line on a three mile grade
It was on this grade that he lost his air brakes
And he see what a jump we made
He was goin' down the grade... [ harmonica ]
So come on you ladies you must take a warning
From this time on and learn
Never speak harsh words to your true loving husband
He may leave you and never return
**********
Don't cross him don't boss him he's wild in his sorrow he's ridin' and hidin' his pain
Don't fight him don't spite him just wait till tomorrow maybe he'll ride on again [ guitar ]
A yellow haired woman leaned out of her window watched as he passed her way
She drew back in fear at the sight of the stallion but cast greedy eyes on the bay
But how could she know that this dancing bay pony meant more to him than life
For this was the horse his little lost darlin' was ridden when she was his wife
The yellow haired lady came down to the tavern looked up the stranger there
He bought her a drink and he gave her some money he just didn't seem to care
She followed him out as he saddled his stallion and laughed as she grabbed at the bay
But he shot her so quick they had no time to warn her she never heard anyone say
Don't cross him don't boss him... [ guitar ]
They buried the yellow haired woman at sunset the stranger went free of course
Cause you can't hang a man for shootin' a woman who's a tryin' to steal your horse
Their brands were still on fire and their hooves were made of steel
Their horns were black and shiny and their hot breath he could feel
A bolt of fear went through him as they thundered through the sky
For he saw the riders comin' hard and he heard their mournful cry
Yi pi yi ay yi pi yi oy the ghost riders in the sky
Their faces gaunt their eyes were blurred their shirts all soaked with sweat
He's ridin' hard to catch that herd but he ain't caught 'em yet
Cause they got to ride forever on that range up in the sky
On horses snortin' fire as they ride on hear their cry
Yi pi yi ay yi pi yi oy the ghost riders in the sky
As the riders loped on by him he heard one call his name
If you want to save your soul from hell a ridin' on our range
Then cowboy change your ways today or with us you will ride
Tryin' to catch the devil's herd across these endless skies
Yi pi yi ay yi pi yi oy the ghost riders in the sky
**********
In eighteen thirteen the Creeks uprose
Addin' redskin arrows to the country's woes
Now Injun fightin' is somethin' he knows
So he shoulders his rifle and off he goes
Davy Davy Crockett the man who don't know fear
Off through the woods he's a marchin' along
Makin' up yarns and a singin' a song
Itchin' for fightin' and rightin' a wrong
He's crazy as a bar and twice as strong
Davy Davy Crockett the buckskin buccaneer
Fought single-handed through the Injun War
Till the Creeks was whipped an' peace was in store
An' while he was handlin' this risky chore
Made hisself a legend for evermore
Davy Davy Crockett king of the wild frontier [ banjo ]
When he come home his politickin' done
The western march had just begun
So he packed his gear and his trusty gun
And lit out grinnin' to follow the sun
Davy Davy Crockett leading the pioneer
He heard of Houston and Austin so
To the Texas plains he just had to go
Where freedom was fightin' another foe
And they needed him at the Alamo
Davy Davy Crockett the man who don't know fear
His land is the biggest and his land is best
From grassy plains to the mountain crest
He's ahead of us all meetin' the test
Following his legend in to the West
Davy Davy Crockett king of the wild frontier
**********
The summer days were gone at last and winter nights grew cold
The snow had trapped us in the pass when we finally find the gold
We took our fortune to the shack to wait the winter through
But the food ran low so I killed my friend what else there was to do
I threw his body just outside into the bitter cold
Somehow I had to stay alive I now had all the gold
But the howling wind just seemed to say you have killed a man
And you'll never get to spend the gold with the blood upon your hands
The cabin's covered now with snow and shelves of food are bare
Satan's waitin' for me now and I'm too cold to care
Is that the devil at the door coming for my soul
Or is it just the old man a looking for his gold
**********
Jesse had a wife to mourn all her life
Their children they are brave
Twas a dirty little coward that shot Mr Howard
They laid Jesse James in his grave
It was Robert Ford the dirty little coward
I wonder how he does feel
For he ate of Jesse's bread and he slept in Jesse's bed
Then he laid Jesse James in his grave
Jesse had a wife to mourn all her life...
It was his brother Frank that robbed the Gallatin bank
And carried the money from the town
It was in this very place that they had a little race
For they shot Captain Sheets to the ground
Jesse was a man a friend to the poor
He never would see a man suffer pain
And with his brother Frank he robbed the Chicago bank
And stopped the Glendale train
It was his brother Frank that robbed the Gallatin bank
And carried the money from the town
It was in this very place that they had a little race
For they shot Captain Sheets to the ground
Jesse had a wife to mourn all her life...
They went to the crossing not very far from there
And there they did the same
And the agent on his knees he delivered up the keys
To the outlaws Frank and Jesse James
Jesse had a wife to mourn all her life...
It was on a Saturday night Jesse was at home
Talking to his family brave
When the thief and the coward a little Robert Ford
Laid Jesse James in his grave
How people held their breath when they heard of Jesse's death
And wondered how he ever came to die
Twas one of the gang dirty Robert Ford
That shot poor Jesse on the sly
Jesse had a wife to mourn all her life...
Jesse went to rest with his hand on his breast
The devill will be upon his knee
He was born one day in the county of Clay
And came from the solitary race
Jesse had a wife to mourn all her life...
They laid Jesse James in his grave
**********
