By the time of this, his 13th and a relatively unlucky album, Hoyt Axton's talent was not always as strong a force as his own firm belief in the Axton legend: a genius songwriting artist with his own niche, not quite country, not quite rock, not quite pop. It is also the concept of "good old boy" charm that is wrapped around this album like yellow ribbons during a hostage crisis; it is something along the order of a Mac Davis vibe, and like the similarly well-tanned Davis, Axton comes across best when in a rowdy mode. His "Roll Your Own" is an in-your-face, unabashed pot song that would give a rasta a coughing fit, but there is equal time to drink in "Whisky," visit "Nashville," and get caught in a "Speed Trap." These titles all form an inner block inside the record when the listener may begin to feel like all is right with Axton's world — he is cooking along and the God-squad philosophies of his earlier albums have happily vamoosed. Elsewhere on the album, however, is an excruciating version of "Greensleeves" and a flabby number called "Pride of Man" which unfortunately has led jumpy discographers to credit Axton with composing a different song with the same title by the Quicksilver Messenger Service. But while that "Pride of Man" was a highlight of the latter band's debut album, the Axton song is nothing to be proud of, like several numbers in this collection that seem like half-finished throwaways. Sometimes the songs themselves actually may have had the potential to come across much better than they do due to the party-hearty studio atmosphere, in which all manner of celebrity interface and networking seems to have been going on. Cheech & Chong make an appearance and so does television hunk David Hasselhoff. There is the warbling of Linda Ronstadt as well as that of Bob Lind, the one-hit wonder behind "Elusive Butterfly." The thoughtful Axton is on to some truths and gets his musicians into worthwhile grooves on a few less of the tracks than most listeners will find satisfactory.
HOYT AXTON
SOUTHBOUND
A&M SP-4510March/1975
Produced by Henry Lewy
1.
I LOVE TO SING
(Bob Lind) « © '71 Unart Catalog, BMI »I love to sing I love to sing
And I sometimes wonder why not let go
Why not let go in the early morning
And in the evening why not let go
Oh yes I'm crazy that's right I'm crazy
You know I'm crazy it's all right
Because I love you that's right I love you
You know I love you why not let go
I love to sing I love to sing...
Oh yes I'm crazy that's right I'm crazy...
I love to sing I love to sing...
**********
2.
SOUTHBOUND
(Hoyt Axton - Mark Dawson) « © '74 Irving Music, BMI »Is your glass half empty is your glass half full now
I hope you're happy I hope you're happy
Is your glass half empty is your glass half full
I hope you're happy I hope you're happy
When you weak up in the mornin' is your mind thoughtful
I hope you're happy I hope you're happy
And that is why I can say to you without fear of misunderstanding
Southbound how would you like to go
Somewhere tropical breezes blow
Southbound how would you like to be
Swingin' in the branches of the coconut tree
I hope you're happy I hope you're happy
And that is why I can say to you without fear of misunderstanding
Southbound unfold your wings and fly away into the starry sky
Soon you'll be a friend of mine
Eat plenty of coconut and have a good time
Is your glass half empty is your glass half full now
I hope you're happy I hope you're happy
And that is why I can say to you without fear of misunderstanding
Southbound I hope you're happy...
**********
3.
LION IN THE WINTER
(Hoyt Axton) « © '74 Irving Music, BMI »Like a lion in the winter I can hear the summer call
Like a ship out on the ocean made of stone
And sometimes when I get lonely I can swear I hear you call
Oh the nights are cold when you don't keep me warm
And when I first saw you I first loved you
With a song that I sang to the fire in your eyes
But somebody told you that it wouldn't be easy
And you carried that lie for the devil to sing
Some sail rivers deep and muddy some sail rivers clear and cold
But the river that I'm sailin' goes to sea
And sometimes I do grow weary sometimes I feel old
And sometimes I wonder if you think of me
And when I first saw you I first loved you...
Like a lion in the winter I can hear the summer call...
And when I first saw you I first loved you...
**********
4.
BLIND FIDDLER
(Hoyt Axton) « © '74 Irving Music, BMI »I lost my eyes in a blacksmith shop in the year of '76
While working on a revolver and it was out of six
Well I am so sad and lonely and I am condemned to roam
Well I am a blind fiddler I'm a great long ways from home
I've been down to Knoxville had a talk with Dr Lane
He operated on one of my eyes but nothing could he gain
Hmm oh I'm so sad and lonely and I am condemned to roam
Well I am a blind fiddler I'm a great long ways from home
I've got a wife and three little kids depending now on me
They're sharin' all my troubles wherever they may be
Mhm oh I hope that they'll be careful as through this life they roam
Cause I am a blind fiddler and I cannot help them none
And I lost my eyes in a blacksmith shop...
Well I am a blind fiddler I'm a great long ways from home
**********
5.
PRIDE OF MAN
(Hoyt Axton - David P. Jackson) « © '74 Irving Music, BMI »Pride of man do you understand what you've been stealing
May not be reality but only dreaming
And I believe that somewhere there are other starry skies
Where the rainbows are not wasted on a fool
Where the rainbows are not wasted on a fool
Good times come and good times go hard times right behind 'em
I don't know where the good times go sometimes it's hard to find 'em
Yet I believe that somewhere there are other happy days
Where to good times are not wasted on a fool
Where the rainbows are not wasted on a fool
Do you know where to go when you're in need of loving
I need you you need me hey what more is there to loving
Yes I believe that somewhere there are other shining seas
Where the rainbows are not wasted on a fool
Where the rainbows are not wasted on a fool
**********
6.
GREENSLEEVES
(Hoyt Axton) « © '74 Irving Music, BMI »Alas my love oh you do me wrong to cast me out so discourteously
I have loved you so long delighting in your company
Greensleeves was my heart's delight
She was my everything
How was I to know she would not treat me right
She was my everything
[ flute ] There is a house in New Orleans the rising sun
And it's been the ruin of many young girls
Sweet greensleeves was just another one
Alas my love oh you do me wrong
I have loved you so long
Delighting in your company
Delighting in your company
**********
7.
NO NO SONG
(Hoyt Axton - David P. Jackson) « © '74 Irving Music, BMI »A woman that I know just came from Colombia
She smiled because I did not understand
Then she held our some marijuana ha ha
She said it was the best in all the land
And I said no no no no I don't smoke it no more
I'm tired of wakin' up on the floor
No thank you please it only makes me sneeze
And then it makes it hard to find me door
A woman that I know just came from Majorca Spain
She smiled because I did not understand
Then she held out a ten pound bag of cocaine
She said it was the best in all the land
And I said no no no no I don't sniff it no more...
A man I know just came from Nashville Tennessee-o
He smiled because I did not understand
Then he held out some moonshine whiskey oh oh
He said it was the best in all the land
And I said no no no no I don't drink it no more...
No thank you please it only makes me sneeze
And then it makes it hard to find me door
**********
8.
NASHVILLE
(Hoyt Axton) « © '74 Irving Music, BMI »I remember all those nights in good old Nashville
Hangin' out with all them country stars
Ain't no better nights than nights in Nashville
Making music on my old guitar
And the stars are shining bright on the Opryland tonight
And I sometimes get the feelin' I must go
Hey walk out of this bar turn the radio on in my car
And listen to that Grand Ole Opry show
[ fiddle ] I remember all those nights in good old Nashville
Pretty girls with stardust in their eyes
I'll bet they're having fun tonight in Nashville
Underneath those happy southern skies
And the stars are shining bright on the Opryland tonight...
[ guitar + steel ] I remember all those nights in good old Nashville
Funny how the time can slip away
And every now and then I think of Nashville
And now I'm going back there some sweet day
And the stars are shining bright on the Opryland tonight...
I mean listen to that Grand Ole Opry show
**********
9.
SPEED TRAP (OUT OF STATE CARS)
(Hoyt Axton) « © '71 Irving Music, BMI »I'm the cop in a little bitty town and I don't get much pay
Oh but I caught seventeen out of state cars and four of my friends today
Yeah I let the hometown boys go home they paid five dollars bail
Oh but all the drivers in the out of state cars had to go to jail
Well they hollered and they moaned and they cried and they groaned
They all swore that they'd sue
But the judge was high and so was I and we needed the money too
Yeah the judge and me got a deal you see we split the money fair
Except for thirty percent to the county seat to keep the law out of our hair
And old Charlie's working out real good
Down at the corner store where the red light is
He sees them out of state plates two blocks away
And when they get right up on top of that green light
Old Charlie pushes that secret button underneath the corner drugstore counter
That yellow light only lasts for a tenth of a second
Oh the county pays me about forty a week ain't that the living end
If it wasn't for them tourists in them out of state cars I'd have no look to spend
But the way it stands this year so far I've made a hundred thou
For a high school dropout I'm a doin' fine
I make more than the president now
Of course he's honest
So if you're driving down the road and flashing lights you see
If they're on a top of a red Rolls Royce you can bet your boots it's me
Cause I'm the cop in a little bitty town and I'd sure like to see
All the drivers in them out of state cars try to get by me
**********
10.
ROLL YOUR OWN
(Mel McDaniel) « © '73 Maple Music, ASCAP »If you don't like the way they make 'em in the city
Cause they taste too strong the dang paper ain't pretty
Roll your own roll your own
You'll leave the ready rolls behind when you finally find a roll your own
There's the raspberry strawberry pretty red wine
Besides tasting good you're gonna have a nice time
Roll your own roll your own
You're gonna have a nice time I ain't lyin' roll your own
Well the first time you try it you're gonna cuss and shout
Cause the paper keeps tearin' and the stuffin' falls out
But don't give up cause after a while
You'll be smokin' right on with a big ole smile
Roll your own roll your own
[ harmonica ] When you finally get the hang of rolling your own
You'll want to share it with a friend let 'em pass it along
Roll your own roll your own
You won't smoke so dang much when you finally get the touch
So roll your own
You'll leave the ready rolls behind when you finally find
A roll your own
**********
11.
WHISKEY
(Hoyt Axton) « © '72 Irving Music, BMI »I think it was early this mornin' Whiskey came to my door
I could tell ny her eyes that she had been cryin'
Said I can't go home anymore
Her daddy was a rock'n roll singer the head of a popular band
The last thing he said before he put her to bed
Was Whiskey you just don't understand
Whiskey come in out of the pourin' rain
He left you before he's gonna leave you again
He's fyling high on some silver liner or hidin' in a Hiliday Inn
He thinks that the livin' is finer keepin' all that heavy bread comin' in
Doesn't that put your head in a spin girl keepin' all that heavy bread comin' in
But does he love you does he love you
Whiskey come in out of the pourin' rain...
I think it was early this mornin'...
**********
12.
IN A YOUNG GIRL'S MIND
(Hoyt Axton - Mark Dawson) « © '74 Irving Music, BMI »Hand me my guitar there's a song that I was singing
When I was young had a hell of the time
Looking for love in the misty waters
Of the seas that roll in a young girl's mind
Only in shadows and lonely at night
She turns to you softly you turn on the light
You use her abuse her and you know it ain't right
To treat one who loves you so badly
When she's doing the best that she can
You know she's doing the best that she can
Do you believe in dreams do you believe in dreamers
Hoping that you'll find what you're looking for
Oh you don't have to worry there's a bright tomorrow
In the dreams that roll in a young girl's mind
Only in shadows and lonely at night...
So hand me my guitar...
Of the seas that roll in a young girl's mind
**********
13.
SOMETIMES IT'S EASY
(Hoyt Axton) « © '74 Irving Music, BMI »I used to laugh a lot that's why my face is crinkled
That's why my teeth are chipped by sandy wind
Sometimes it's easy sometimes it's not so easy
Sometimes I feel like I can't go on
Then I remember what really makes it easy
Being with you when I'm singing my song
Everybody got to have 'em some happy
Everybody got to have 'em some happy
Everybody got to have 'em some happy
[ guitar ] I used to laugh a lot...
Then I remember what really makes it easy
Being with you when I'm singing my song
**********
