TENNESSEE WHISKEY
(Columbia FC-37454)
August/1981
Produced by Billy Sherrill
Billy Sanford, Jimmy Capps, Tommy Allsup, Phil Baugh, Warren Hayes - guitar
Pete Drake, Dale Seigfreid - steel
Henry Strzelecki, Joe Osborn, Bob Wray - bass
Kenny Malone, Jerry Carrigan, Jerry Kroon - drums
Hargus Pig Robbins - piano
John Hartford - banjo/vocals
Jim Richmond - fiddle
Terry McMillan - harmonica
Farrell Morris - percussion
Vocals:
Lea Jane Berinati, Karen Brooks, Rita Remington, Delores Edgin,
Johnny Lee, Louis Nunley, Karen Taylor, Hurshel Wiginton
Recorded:
1981, Columbia Studios, Nashville
1.
TENNESSEE WHISKEY
(Dean Dillon - Linda Hargrove)
« © '81 Algee Music, BMI / Songs Of PolyGram, BMI »
I used to spend my nighttime in a barroom liquor was the only love I've known
But you rescued me from reaching for the bottle
And you brought me back from being too far gone
You're as smooth as Tennessee whiskey you're as sweet as strawberry wine
You're as warm as a glass of brandy and I stay strong to know your love all the time
[ guitar ]
I looked for love and all the same old places
Found the bottom of the bottles always dry
But when you poured out too hard I didn't waste it
Cause there's nothing like your love to get me high
You're as smooth as Tennessee whiskey...
I stay strong to know your love all the time
**********
2.
IF I KNEW
(David A. Coe)
« © '81 Warner-Tamerlane Publishing, BMI »
If I knew I could count on you I would love you my whole life through
There is nothing that I would not do if I knew I could count on you
I've been lonely for a long time I've been looking everywhere
I need someone to believe in I need someone that will care
And if I see that your love is true I will gladly put my faith in you
There is nothing I would rather do if I see that your love is true
I've been searching for a true love I've been looking high and low
I've got all this love inside me and it's good nowhere to go
If I knew I could count on you...
And if I see that your love is true...
If I knew I could count on you...
**********
3.
I'VE GIVEN BOUT ALL I CAN TAKE
(Susanna Clark - Jon Reid)
« © '80 World Song Publishing, ASCAP / WB Music, ASCAP / Reidem Music, ASCAP »
I burned all the letters that you never wrote
I broke all the promises you never spoke
I swallowed my pride till I thought I would choke
Given bout all I can take I've given bout all I can take
You want somebody guess we all do you've got a heart that won't let it come true
And I never was one to fake given bout all I can take
I've given bout all I can take
I cried over milk that never was spilled
And I've danced to waltzes and you just stood still
Time is much too precious to kill given bout all I can take
I've given bout all I can take
You want somebody...
Oh I've given bout all I can take
**********
4.
PLEDGING MY LOVE
(Don Robey - Fats Washington)
« © '54 Songs Of Universal, BMI / Wemar Music, BMI »
Forever my darling our love will be true always and forever I'll love only you
Just promise me darling your love in return
Make this fire in my soul dear forever burn
My heart's at your command dear to keep love and to hold
Making you happy's my desire dear loving you is my goal
I'll forever love you the rest of my days I'll never part from you and your loving ways
[ guitar ]
My heart's at your command...
This is my last letter end of the song my life is so miserable I can't go on
**********
5.
I'LL ALWAYS BE A FOOL FOR YOU
(David A. Coe)
« © '81 Warner-Tamerlane Publishing, BMI »
You change just like the weather I never know if you'll be hot or cold to me
Can't you see what I've been going through
We belong together even though I know at times it just can't be
Honey can't you see I'll always be a fool for you
I'll always be the first to say I'm sorry I'll always be the last to say we're through
I'll always be the one to take another chance
In this romance I'll always be a fool for you
[ piano ]
I'll always be the first to say...
I'll always be a fool for you
**********
6.
SITTIN' ON THE DOCK OF THE BAY
(Otis Redding - Steve Cropper)
« © '68 Irving Music, BMI »
Sittin' in the morning sun sittin' I'll be sittin' when the evening comes
Watching the ships roll in then I watch 'em roll away again
I left my home in Georgia headed for the Frisco Bay
I've had nothing to live for it looks like nothing's gonna come my way
I'm sittin' on the dock of the bay watchin' the tide roll away
I'm sittin' on the dock of the bay wastin' time
[ guitar ]
Looks like nothing's gonnar change everything still remains the same
I can't do what them people tell me to do so I guess I'll remain the same
Sittin' here restin' my bones this loneliness won't leave me alone
Two thousand miles I roamed just too make this dock my home
I'm sittin' on the dock of the bay...
I'm sittin' on the dock of the bay...
**********
7.
JUANITA
(Shel Silverstein - Fred Koller)
« © '81 Evil Eye Music, BMI »
Well I'm finally gettin' used to the water the way the tarantulas bite
Those Federales didn't believe I only came here to watch the bulls fight
Tell my mother I need a good lawyer tell my father I'm getting a tan
My sleepy siesta down south of the border is taking more time than I planned
Oh Juanity somebody betrayed me they've given me ten years to life
Juanita I need you to save me I promise I'll make you my wife
I got a big house in Milwaukee with a color TV and a pool
A Naugahyde bar and a Cadillac car Juanita they're waiting for you
Tie the burro up down in the courtyard to keep the guard busy tonight
When you bring my dinner make sure the tortilla is filled with a gun or a knife
Juanity somebody betrayed me...
Juanita you'll love Wisconsin Wisconsin is gonna love you
Yes all of Milwaukee speaks Spanish
Of course you're gonna wear American shoes
Lake Michigan tastes like tequila frijoles why they grow there on trees
You can say adios to the pigs and the goats if you'll just do this one thing for me
But Juanity somebody betrayed me...
Juanita I swear it was all a mistake
You see I was drowning out there in the ocean and I saw this bale coming by
Man so I grabbed it and I climbed up on top of it
And I found this stick and I rowed myself into shore
And when I got there the Border Patrol was waiting for me
At the I didn't know what it was
I promise you if you'll just marry me so I can become a citizen of Mexico
I'll take you to Milwaukee you can meet all my friends
They got these big shiny motorcycles
And you can ride on the back of 'em with 'em really Juanita would I lie to you
**********
8.
WE GOT A BAD THING GOIN'
(Wayne Carson Thompson - Donn Tankersley)
« © '81 Budde Songs, BMI / Screen Gems Music, BMI »
You got a one horse ranch in Texas you got a mansion in Spain
You blew in on a Greyhound bus honey you flew in your own plane
You got drunk on whiskey seen you get tipsy on wine
We got a bad thing goin' it's just a bad thing goin'
We got a bad thing goin' but don't it feel fine
You sure are a high class lady you got a blue blood in your veins
You're a rose in the bright sunshine I'm a cowboy in the rain
We ain't got nothin' in common cept for a little time
We got a bad thing goin'...
You're a rodeo rattler and a midnight gambler you ain't never had a job
And I just found out your daddy owns a bank I was fixin' to rob
[ guitar ]
You got a one horse ranch in Texas...
Yeah we ain't got nothin' in common you know that girl you must have missed it
Be like ridin' in them barrel races and like sailin' them boats
**********
9.
D-R-U-N-K
(Tim Dubois - Larry Paxton)
« © '81 Warner House Music, BMI »
How do you spell relief I get d-r-u-n-k
Lately Dave since my baby left me I do it almost every day
It's the only thing that I've found that'll take the hurt away
But how do you spell relief John I get d-r-u-n-k
Well every night about sundown I get pain down deep inside
This old broken heart acts up there's a hurtin' in my pride
But I've found a sure fire treatment that'll get me feelin' right
When your memory starts a flarin' up I just head for the neon lights
How do you spell relief...
[ guitar - fiddle ]
I don't need no doctor to tell me what is wrong
I can fill my own prescriptions and it lasts me all night long
It's the perfect medication for an ailment such as mine
I forgot about the tears I've cried when the whiskey hits my mind
How do you spell relief...
How do you spell relief John I get d-r-u-n-k
How do you spell relief John I get d-r-u-n-k
**********
10.
LITTLE ORPHAN ANNIE
(David A. Coe)
« © '81 Warner-Tamerlane Publishing, BMI »
Play your fiddle Little Orphan Annie
Play it for the shrimpers and the pirates out to sea
Play it for the hippies down in Mallory Square
If I'm not there won't you play a song for me
We all called her Little Orphan Annie at the playground
Merry go merry go merry go round
Till she picked her fiddle up we always put her down
When she picked her fiddle up they come for miles around to hear her play
[ fiddle ]
Play your fiddle Little Orphan Annie...
[ fiddle - mandolin ]
Aw Mad Dog Diamond Jim Richmond from the Tennessee Hot Band
John Hartford on the banjo oh Diamond my oldest son Dale
John Hartford playin' the fiddle and the banjo Diamond Jim
**********
11.
BRIGHT MORNING LIGHT
(Larry Kingston)
« © '80 Velvet Apple Music, BMI »
She was a waitress in a west Texas dance hall
I was a cowboy with a throat full of sand
I called her Honey when she brought my whiskey
And later I left there holding her hand
Then we walked down the street to a tumble down hotel
Where she had a room on a cold second floor
And that room looked like hell just a bed and a table
A shade on the window and a lock on the door
I said to myself she's cheap and she's easy
But she don't look half bad I'll stay for the night
But I'll leave when it's early cause I've got this feeling
She won't look so good in the bright morning light
[ harmonica ]
I've known some devils and I've known some angels
I once had a woman on the Mexico line
But I've never been touched like that woman touched me
She lay there beside me and crawled in my mind
And we talked and we smoked and made love till mornin'
The sun come a streamin' through a hole in the shade
And it fell like a spotlight on her face and her body
And it hung like a halo round the bed where we lay
I said to myself she's cheap and she's easy
But she don't look half bad I guess I'll stay for the night
But I'll tell you boys that was five years ago and Lord God what a woman
She still looks as good in the bright morning light
**********