lp discography - covers & lyrics

INTRODUCTION

Ladies and gentlemen just a few blocks from the concert building
Where we're performing and recording this evening
There's a place known as French Quarter
With the longest row of night clubs that line the world famous Bourbon Street
And this evening Merle Haggard has brought us his Strangers
His wife Bonnie plus The Dixieland Express
To take you on a nostalgic trip from the early sounds of 1920's
Up to his current sounds of today
And now live in new Orleans - Merle Haggard
**********

1.

HUMMIN' IT UP

(Norman Hamlet)
« © '69 Tree Publishing, BMI »
[ instrumental ] **********

2.

EVERYBODY'S HAD THE BLUES

(Merle Haggard)
« © '73 Tree Publishing, BMI »
Everybody sings the blues some time and everybody knows the tune
And everybody knows the way I'm feeling cause everybody's had the blues
A lonely song someone is gone a story old as time
Love hate or want and wait till mis'ry fills your mind
But everybody knows the way I'm feeling cause everybody's had the blues
[ steel ] A lonely song someone is gone...
**********

3.

BIG BAD BILL (IS SWEET WILLIAMS NOW)

(Jack Yellen - Milton Ager)
« © '24 Edwin H Morris Co, ASCAP / WB Music, ASCAP »
In the town of Louisville they got a man called Big Bad Bill
I want to tell you he sure was tough
Yeah all folks scared to death when he walked by they held their breath
He was a mighty man sure enough
Now Bill took himself a wife now he's a different guy
Big Bad Bill is Sweet William now
Married life has changed him somehow
Yet he's not the man they used to fear
Now the people call him Sweet Papa Willie Dear
Stronger than Sampson I'll declare and he's bound in mama comb his hair
Big Bad Bill don't fight anymore wash his dishes and he might sweep the floor

Yeah he used to spend his evenings a lookin' for a fight
But now he gotta see his mama every night
Big Bad Bill is Sweet William now
[ guitar - dixieland ] Yeah he used to spend his evenings...
**********

4.

I FORGET YOU EVERY DAY

(Merle Haggard)
« © '73 Tree Publishing, BMI »
Mem'ry is a gift a man can't live without
And in times we can't control the things we think about
So sometimes I still remember you in every way
But for a little while I forget you every day

Seems like I forget you just in time
Cause it's always just before I lose my mind
I wake up every morning hurtin' the same old way
But for a little while I forget you every day
[ steel - guitar ] Seems like I forget you every day
And it's always just before I lose my mind
I wake up every morning hurtin' the same old way
But for a little while I forget you every day
**********

5.

I AIN'T GOT NOBODY (AND NOBODY CARES FOR ME)

(Spencer Williams - Roger Graham - Dave Taylor)
« © '57 Edwin H Morris Co, ASCAP / Jerry Vogel Music, ASCAP »
Well there's been saying goin' round I began to think it's true
It's awful hard to love someone when they don't care about you
Once I had a loving gal the sweetest little thing in town
But now she's gone and left me she done turn me down

But I ain't got nobody nobody cares for me
And I'm so sad and lonely won't somebody come and take chance with me
I'll sing you sweet love songs honey all of the time
If you'll only be the pretty mama of mine
Cause I ain't got nobody cares for me
[ guitar - dixieland ] Yeah I ain't got nobody nobody cares for me...
**********

6.

CAROLYN

(Tommy Collins)
« © '71 Tree Publishing, BMI »
Carolyn let me tell you what I've heard bout a man today
He didn't come home from work and he went away
Till he came to a city bright in the night time like day
There they say he met up with some women dressed in yellow and scarlet
Their warm lips like a honeycomb dripped with honey
Somethin' about the smell of strange perfume
Made him feel warm and not alone

Yes Carolyn a man will do that sometimes on his own
And sometimes when he's lonely
And I believe that man might do that sometimes out of spite
But Carolyn a man will do that always
When he's treated bad at home
[ guitar ] Yes Carolyn a man will do that...
**********

7.

CHAMPAGNE

(Roy Nichols - Norman Hamlet - Biff Adam)
« © '73 Tree Publishing, BMI »
[ instrumental ] **********

8.

LOVESICK BLUES

(Irving Mills - Cliff Friend)
« © '49 Mills Music, ASCAP »
I got a feelin' called the blues oh Lord since my baby's said goodbye
Oh I don't know what I'll do all I do is sit and cry oh Lord
That last long day she said goodbye well Lord I thought I would cry
She'll do me she'll do you she's got that kinda lovin'
Lord I love to hear her when she calls me sweet daddy
Such a beautiful dream I hate to think it all over
I've lost my heart it seems
I've grown so used to you somehow well I'm nobody's sugar daddy now
And I'm lonesome I've got the lovesick blues

Well I'm in love I'm in love with a beautiful gal that's what's the matter with me
I'm in love I'm in love with a beautiful gal but she don't care about me
Lord I tried and tried to keep her satisfied but she just wouldn't stay
So now that she is leavin' this is all that I can say

I got a feelin' called the blues...
**********

9.

EMPTIEST ARMS IN THE WORLD

(Merle Haggard)
« © '73 Tree Publishing, BMI »
I only call when I've had that one too many
And my lonely room goes spinning in a whirl
And tonight I couldn't even find my pillow
I've got the emptiest arms in the world

I no longrer wear the gold band on my finger
And from time to time I find myself a girl
But when I realize that she's not who I'm holding
I've got the emptiest arms in the world

Empty arms won't ever hold you close again
And these cheap hotels they're like a prison cell that keeps closin' in
And you alone can fill this lonely feelin'
Of the emptiest arms in the world
[ steel - guitar ] And you alone can fill this empty feelin'
Of the emptiest arms in the world
**********

10.

NOBODY KNOWS I'M HURTIN'

(Merle Haggard)
« © '73 Tree Publishing, BMI »
Nobody knows I'm hurtin' and nobody cares
Nobody knows I'm yearnin' and no one's nowhere
I'm even livin' with more heartaches in my share
Nobody's cryin' for me and I got nobody to care

Well I'm not to find me someone who'd do a little somethin' for me
I'm lookin' for a gal who's kind and sweet cause I need some sympathy
I just can't feel quite sorry enough for the way I been done
I'm about to find me a good ole gal who'll want me when I come
[ guitar ] Cause nobody knows I'm hurtin'...
**********

An earthy soulful music was born in our great land
But how it all got to started that's just what we need to understand
It had become from somewhere and while searching for the clues
I found myself in Dixie near the birth of negro blues
From Tennessee to Georgia and then to New Orleans
As I walk to the old French Quarters I hear familiar rings
And something there reminds me of the sounds I hear today
There's something quite familiar in the soulful way they play
As I walk I listen to all the different beats
And somehow I knew without a doubt that Jimmie Rodgers walked these streets

11.

WAY DOWN YONDER TO NEW ORLEANS

(Hentry Creamer - J. Turner Layton)
« © '53 Peer International, BMI »
[ instrumental ] **********

12.

OKIE FROM MUSKOGEE

(Merle Haggard - Eddie Burris)
« © '69 Tree Publishing, BMI »
We don't smoke marijuana in Muskogee
We don't take our trips on LSD
We don't burn our draft cards down on Main Street
Cause we like living right and being free

We don't make a party out of loving
But we like holding hands and pitching woo
We don't let our hair grow long and nasty dirty
Like the hippies out in San Francisco do

(Everybody sing one time)

And I'm proud to be an Okie from Muskogee
A place where even squares can have a ball
We still wave Ol' Glory down at the courthouse
And white lightning's still the biggest thrill of all
[ guitar ] Leather boots are still in style for manly footwear
Beads and Roman sandals won't be seen
And football's still the roughest thing on campus
And the kids there still respect the college dean

Hey and I'm proud to be an Okie from Muskogee...
We still wave Ol' Glory down at the courthouse
In Muskogee Oklahoma USA
**********

13.

I WONDER IF THEY EVER THINK OF ME

(Merle Haggard)
« © '72 Tree Publishing, BMI »
There's not much of men can do inside a prisoner
Just take his mem'ry trips and fight the pain
And a word from home can mean so much to a prisoner
And it's been years now since that last letter came

Not a day goes by that I don't think of mama
And my nights are filled with thoughts of sweet Marie
And old friends I run around with keep on running through my mind
But I just wonder if they ever think of me

I wonder if they know that I'm still living
Still proud to be a part of Uncle Sam
I wonder if they think I died of hunger
In this rotten prison camp in VietNam

Not a day goes by that I don't think of mama
And my nights are filled with thoughts of sweet Marie
And I remember daddy saying you'll come back a better man
And I just wonder if they ever think of me
Oh I just wonder if anyone thinks of me
**********