Some of the most enjoyable albums for fans of hardcore country music often come from the songwriters who have written some of country’s all-time biggest hits… but have virtually remained hidden in the background while their songs have done the talkin’. In recent years we've had albums by Hank Cochran, Whitey Shafer, the late Dave Kirby, and many others, all of which have put new perspective to their songs made famous by the superstars…and now we get another wonderful collection that fits the criteria, this time Wayne Kemp, with an album featuring his own versions of several of his biggest ‘songs', supported by a handful of new tunes he has co-written for this project.
Wayne Kemp, now 64, enjoyed a fairly solid career himself as a recording artist, with a couple of mid-1970's albums on Decca / MCA, and charting some two dozen singles on the Billboard Country charts, including two songs, Darlin' and Listen which were written by Canada's Ray Griff. But only one of Kemp's recordings, Honky Tonk Wine, cracked the Top 20; so he concentrated on his songwriting; and scored major hits by penning tunes like George Strait's The Fireman; One Piece At A Time (Johnny Cash), Johnny Paycheck's The Only Hell My Mama Ever Tried To Raise; Feelin' Single – Seein' Double, recorded by George Jones and by Emmylou Harris, and dozens of cuts by everyone from Conway Twitty to Ricky Van Shelton. Wayne Kemp's song Love Bug, was twice turned into a Top 10 hit, by George Jones in 1965, and George Strait in 1994.
Needless to say, Wayne Kemp can write a hit song… and on this album (as in his previous recordings) he shows he can sing ‘em with the best as well. On One Song At A Time we get Kemp delivering tasty versions of his familiar hit songs like One Piece At A Time, The Fireman, The Only Hell Mama Ever Raised (done slower here than Paycheck's hit recording); and Don't Send Me No Angels, cut before by both George Jones and by Ricky Van Shelton.
Some of the new material here gives proof that Wayne Kemp still can write a pretty powerful song…several of which he co-writes with his son, Robert Kemp. Cryin' For Their Mama's (done recently by Texas newcomer Jason Allen); and a couple of great hurtin' tunes; Somehow Without You and Hole In My Heart, are particular standouts. Pretty Boy Floyd is an interesting story song, not unlike something that Merle Haggard would have written in his heyday.
There is a beef here however. The album is too darn short… 10 songs and a 28-minute running time just flashes by all too quickly. Hopefully there will be a sequel from Wayne Kemp.
WAYNE KEMP
ONE SONG AT A TIME
BSW CC-22752005
1.
FIREMAN
(Wayne Kemp - Mack Vickery)« © '78 Tree Publishing, BMI »
Call me the fireman cause that's my name
I'M makin' my rounds all over town a puttin' out ole flames
Everybody'd like to have what I got
Well I cool 'em down when they're smolderin' hot
I'm the fireman that's my name
Last night they had a bad one a mile or two down the road
Well my buddy walked out left his woman burnin' out of control
Well I was down there in about an hour or so
And with a little mouth to mouth she was ready to go
I'm the fireman that's my name
They call me the fireman honey that's my name
Makin' my rounds all over town a puttin' out ole flames
Everybody'd like to have what I got
Well I cool 'em down when they're smolderin' hot
I'm the fireman that's my name
[ guitar ] I got a fire engine red thunderbird automobile
In a minute or less I can be dressed to kill
I work twenty-four on and twenty-four off
When they get hot they just give me a call
That's why they call me the fireman honey that's my name
They call me the fireman baby that' s my name...
**********
2.
SOMEHOW WITHOUT YOU
(Wayne Kemp - Robert Kemp)« © '82 Tree Publishing, BMI »
I built a house in the valley cause that's what you wanted
There's nothing that's too good for you
On the left is a river that runs through the city
That means more to you than I do
On the right stands a mountain that we climbed together
And made love in the soft morning dew
Now all I have left is a small piece of paper
That gives the right to love you
But the sun never shines in the deep dark mines
Neath the mountain with the soft morning dew
But I love these hills and I always will
And I'll make it somehow without you
[ guitar ] I dig the coal from the mountains that goes to the city
That keeps your whole world shining bright
And it's good to know I can still do something
To keep the one I love satisfied
But the sun never shines in the deep dark mines...
There'll be a low mournful sound when this mountain comes down
And that's when I'll be over you
**********
3.
LITTLE BIT WEAKER
(Wayne Kemp - Robert Kemp)« © '05 Tree Publishing, BMI »
I hold my head up high when you walk by
Tears well up but you're never gonna see me cry
I'll say hello just like there's nothin' wrong
But I get just a little bit weaker from tryin' to be strong
I see that you've been seeing someone else
Well I wish I had the heart to see someone else myself
But I'd rather sit right here alone
And get just a little bit weaker from trying to be strong
[ guitar ] I guess I'm hanging round so you can watch me bawl
Last night I got loaded and I don't drink at all
I'm losin' my will and the strength to carry on
And I'm gettin' just a little bit weaker from trying to be strong
I'm losing my grip I'm barely hanging on
I've got some pride left but it won't last too long
I can feel an unhappy ending coming on
and I'm gettin' just a little bit weaker from trying to be strong
Weaker and weaker weaker and weaker
Weaker and weaker weaker and weaker
**********
4.
DON'T SEND ME NO ANGELS
(Wayne Kemp)« © '82 Tree Publishing, BMI »
When the storm clouds gather and I'm losing my way
She stands right beside me she lights up my day
She's the one thing I've found right in my whole life long
She's the words and music to the world's finest song
Lord let me keep her at least for a while
I promise I'll love her till I walk my final mile
When your trumpets are sounding and you're calling me home
Don't send me no angels cause I've got my own
[ piano ] She stayed with me through the hard times that still going on
That old feeling between us is still coming on strong
When my eyes close forever and my last breath is gone
Don't send me no angels cause I've got my own
Lord let me keep her at least for a while
I promise I'll love her till I walk my final mile
When my eyes close forever and my last breath is gone
Don't send me no angels cause I've got my own
Don't send me no angels cause I've got my own
**********
5.
CRYING FOR THEIR MAMA'S
(Jason Allen)« © '05 Tree Publishing, BMI »
A barstool is just a big highchair for grown up fools to cry on
The jukebox pacifies them all night long
Suckin' on a longneck bottle keeps their mouth shut for awhile
The bartender just a babysitter
To give another bottle to make them feel better
Sittin' around playin' their little games together
And cryin' for their mama's that's gone
She dropped him off on her way to work and he ain't seen her since
That was three days ago she didn't know he took the money to pay the rent
He bought a beer with a fifty got change for a twemty
Didn't even see the deal go down
When he's drinkin' he ain't the smartest man in town
A barstool is just a big highchair for grown up fools to cry on
And the jukebox pacifies them all night long
Suckin' on a longneck bottle keeps their mouth shut for awhile
A barroom is just a big playpen
They pout for awhile then they're fightin' again
Sittin' around tellin' each other their men
And cryin' for their mama's that's gone
[ guitar ] A barstool is just a big highchair for grown up fools to cry on...
The bouncer he can whip their bottom
It's a big job 'cause there's quiet a lot of 'em
Sittin' around tellin' each other they're men
And cryin' for their mama's that's gone
**********
6.
PRETTY BOY FLOYD
(Woody Guthrie)« © '60 Woody Guthrie Publishing, BMI »
I was raised in the Cookson Hills where the smoke gives away the stills
And the old folks tell the stories to the young
They tell about Charles Floyd who's name was Pretty Boy
And they say the first toy he played with was a gun
In the year of '29 in hard depression times
Pretty Boy had a run in with the law
A handsome man at twenty-one he was friends with everyone
Except the man who owned the bank at Sallisaw
It was early in the fall when a good man of the law
Lay dyin' where somebody shot him down
Thoug the evidence was thin when they brought the verdict in
they gave Pretty Boy fifteen long years in the pen
In an Oklahoma town Pretty Boy rolled and hit the ground
Through the window of a train that was prison bound
Two long years was hit and miss he's at the top of the list
Pretty Boy made enemy number one
But everbody kept him hid for the good things that he did
Cause everbody was his friend in Sequoia County
On an Indiana farm he took refuge in the barn
Cause the law meant to do some harm to Pretty Boy Floyd
Across an open field he ran why he did we don't understand
That' s when the devil shook the hand of Pretty Boy Floyd
But everbody kept him hid for the good things that he did
Cause everbody was his friend in Sequoia County
**********
7.
HOLE IN MY HEART
(Wayne Kemp)« © '95 Tree Publishing, BMI »
If I could only hold her I know I could show her
That I love her and I always will
But it's over I know and it's time to let go
But there's a flame burning inside me still
I tried to drown it by drinking what in the world was I thinking
It's been out of control from the start
One love's like a flame that can't be contained
It's burning a hole in my heart
[ fiddle - piano ] If I could hold on a little longer hang up the phone be a little stronger
She'll come back if I don't fall apart
For love is like a flame that can't be contained
It's burning a hole in my heart
For love's like a flame that can't be contained
It's burning a hole in my heart
**********
8.
I'M THE ONLY HELL MY MAMA EVER RAISED
(Wayne Kemp - Mack Vickery - Bobby Borchers)« © '75 Tree Publishing, BMI »
I can't sell my mama short on lovin' me
I guess that's why she let me go so far
Mama tried to stop me short of stealing
I guess that's why I had to steal that car
Mama told me not to smoke it
But it made me fly and took me far away
And I turned out to be the only hell my mama ever tried to raise
Then I rolled into Atlanta
With stolen plates and almost out of gas
I had to get myself some money
Lately I've learned how to get it fast
For the neon angels wanted me and I just had to get downtown
For I reached into the glove box another liquor store went down
Precious mem'ries take me back to them good ole days
Let me hear my mama singing Rock of ages cleft for me
She tried to turn me on to Jesus but I turned on to devil's ways
And I turned out to be the only hell my mama ever tried to raise
Then they put my hands behind me
I kicked and fought and tried hard to resist
But they just clamped them handcuffs tighter
Till I felt that metal bite into my wrist
They took my belt and my billfold
My fingerprints a profile of my face
And then they locked the way the only hell my mama ever tried to raise
**********
9.
LESSON IN LOVE
(Wayne Kemp - Robert Kemp)« © '05 Tree Publishing, BMI »
You're gonna get a lesson in love you're gonna get a lesson in love
He's got all the makin's of someone used to takin' and never givin' anything up
Baby you can take it from me he'll take anything you'll give away free
He wasn't sent from up above you're gonna get a lesson in love
There ain't no doubt about it I can barely do without it
And I'll probably have a lotta lonely days
I know I can't buy it so I won't even try it
Your love is for givin' away
But I don't understand it how you can go and hand it
To someone who is treatin' you so bad
Go have a swingin' good time I'll be hangin' round on this line
When you find out you've finally been had
You're gonna get a lesson in love you're gonna get a lesson in love
He's got all the makin's of someone used to takin' and never givin' anything up
You ain't gonna listen to me so go ahead and get your degree
He wasn't sent from up above and you're gonna get a lesson in love
[ guitar ] You're gonna get a lesson in love...
I don't mean to be a preachin' but he's gonna do the teachin'
And you're gonna get a lesson in love
**********
10.
ONE PIECE AT A TIME
(Wayne Kemp)« © '76 Tree Publishing, BMI »
Now I left Kentucky back in '49
Went to Detroit got a job on assembly line
The first year they had me puttin' wheels on Cadillacs
Every day I'd watch them beauties roll by
And sometimes I'd hang my head and cry
Cause I've always wanted me one that was long and black
One day I derived myself a plan
That should be the envy of any man
I'd sneak it out of here in the lunchbox in my hand
Now gettin' caught meant gettin' fired
But I figured I'd have it all time I retired
I'd have me a car worth at least a hundred grand
We're gonna ride around in style we're gonna drive everbody wild
Cause we got the only one there is around
So the next day when I punched in
With my lunchbox and the help from my friend
I left that day with the lunchbox full of gears
Now I've never considered myself a thief
But General Motors wouldn't miss just one little piece
Especially if I strung it out over several years
Now the first day I got me a fuel pump
The next day I got me an engine and a trunk
Then I got me a transmission and all the chrome
Now the little stuff I could get out
My lunchbox like nuts and bolts and all four shocks
But the big stuff we snuck out in my buddy's motor home
Up to now my plan went alright
Till me and this friend tried to put it together one night
And that's when we noticed that something was definitely wrong
The transmission was a '53 the motor turned out to be a '73
And when we tried to put in the bolts all the holes were gone
So we drilled it out so it would fit
And with just a little bit of help from an adopter kit
We had that engine hummin' like a song
Now the headlights they was a hell of a sight
We had one on the left and two on the right
But when we pulled the switch out all three came on
Now the back end looked kinda funny too
But we put it together and when we got through
that's when we noticed that we only had one fin
Now about that time my wife walked out
And I could see in her eyes that she had her doubt
But she opened the door and said honey take me for a spin
So we drove uptown to get my tags
And just for hell we made the main drag
I could hear everybody laughin' for blocks around
Up at the courthouse they didn't laugh
Cause to type it up it took the whole damn staff
And when we got through the title weighed sixty pounds
We're gonna drive around in style we're gonna drive everbody wild
Cause we got the only one there is around
A breaker for that southbound psychodelic Cadillac there
You got a copy on this super trooper come on
Yeah go ahead super trooper you got the pack rat here
Yeah 10-4 buddy that sure is a pretty thing
I bet it cost you a little bit didn't it a negative on the cost
You might say we went right up to the factory and picked it up
It's cheaper that way
Yeah what model is that thang
It's a 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 automobile
It's a 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 automobile
**********
