A BIZARRE COLLECTION OF THE MOST UNUSUAL SONGS
(RCA Victor LSP-3497)
November/1966
Produced by Chet Atkins & Bob Ferguson
John D. Loudermilk - vocal/guitar/leader
Jerry Kennedy, Joseph Tanner, Jimmy Colvard - guitar
Henry Strzelecki, Bobby Dyson, Joe Zinkan - bass
James Isbell, James Stewart - drums
Floyd Cramer - piano
Charlie McCoy - harmonica
Norro Wilson - harpsichord
Ray Stevens - organ
Jean Slates, Farry Williams - vibes
Strings:
Byron Bach, Brenton Banks, George Binkley, Howard Carpenter, Lillian Hunt,
Pamela Goldsmith, Martin Kathan
Vocals:
The Anita Kerr Singers (Anita Kerr, Dorothy Ann Dillard, Louis Nunley, Bill Wright)
The Jordanaires (Gordon Stoker, Raymond Walker, Hoyt Hawkins, Neal Matthews)
Recorded: 1965-1966 RCA Victor Studio, Nashville
1.
TO HELL WITH LOVE
(John D. Loudermilk)
« © '65 Acuff-Rose Music, BMI »
You say I should lie looking you straight in the eye
That what you don't know ain't a gonna hurt you none
Well if it's square being honest with you
That's the kind of love you're speaking of then to hell with love
[ strings ]
You say steal regardless of the way I feel
Just a little extra lovin' on the side'll do me good
Well if it's wrong being honest with you
What you speak of you're calling love then to hell with love
[ strings ]
You say cheat that'll make love complete
So this is what this old world has finally slipped down to
Cause if it's wrong being honest with you
Your love's not for me I hate to be speaking grossly
So pardon me but to hell with love
**********
2.
MARY'S LITTLE BOY CHILD
(Jester Hairston)
« © '62 Bourne Co, BMI »
Long time ago in Bethlehem so the Holy Bible say
Mary's boy child Jesus Christ was born on Christmas Day
Hark now hear the angels sing a new King's born today
That man will live for evermore because of Christmas Day
Trumpets sound and angels sing listen what they say
That man will live for evermore because of Christmas Day
While shepherds watched their flock by night they see a bright new star
Then hear a choir of angels sing music seems to come from a far
Now Joseph and his wife Mary come to Bethlehem that night
They found no place to lay the child not a single room was in sight
Hark now hear the angels sing...
By and by they found a little nook in a stable all forlorned
In a manger cold and dark Mary's little boy was born
Hark now hear the angels sing...
**********
3.
MA BAKER'S LITTLE ACRE
(John D. Loudermilk)
« © '65 Acuff-Rose Music, BMI »
Now a little old lady by the name of Ma Baker lived out of town on one square acre
In a little white house with a picket fence all around
She had a kind and a gentle way till the day the TVA
Tried to make Ma Baker sell her little acre of land
They showed her a map of how the river ran and a sketch of a brand new dam
But Ma Baker wouldn't sell her little acre of land
She said Pa left this to me sonny and I wouldn't sell for love nor money
No sir Ma Baker's gonna keep her little acre of land
The next time they came they brought the sheriff
Found Ma a rockin' in an old porch chair
Just a knittin' and a rockin' out in the evening sun
She said I think you best to wait and don't just step through the picket gate
And on Ma's lap they noticed Pa's old shotgun
[ harmonica ]
Yeah now out in the middle of the brand new lake is a little island of one square acre
And Ma Baker's just as happy as she can be
And she can't swim but she can float and catch big bass from her motor boat
And when the wind ain't blowin' too much she can water ski
Yeah and my Baker still owns her little acre of land
**********
4.
NO PLAYING IN THE SNOW TODAY
(John D. Loudermilk)
« © '63 Acuff-Rose Music, BMI »
My little boy with smiling face and dancing eyes
Come bobbing down the steps on Christmas morn
And as he gaily opened up his Santa Claus
I wish that darling child had never been born
Outside the window lay the deadly fallen snow and on my lap the morning headlines lay
As he tried to find the footprints Rudolph left it was all that I could do to say
No playing in the snow today son no snow ice cream at all today
No snowman making no sleding or no skating no no playing in the snow today
He looked up at me with the tear in each blue eye
And when he asked me why I nearly died
I said some things are hard to explain then I picked him up and kissed his little eyes
In somewhere way up in a tower cold and grey power hungry men insainly play
In satanic style and laughter while ten million parents sadly say
No playing in the snow today...
**********
5.
BAD NEWS
(John D. Loudermilk)
« © '63 Acuff-Rose Music, BMI »
Bad news travels like wild fire good news travels slow
They all call me Ol' Wildfire cause everybody knows
That I'm bad news everywhere I go hm hm always gettin' in trouble ha ha
And leaving little girls who hate to see me go
Well I've picked peaches in Georgia I lumberjacked up in Maine
I've been hired and fired and jailed in any state you can name
Cause I'm bad news everywhere I go
Always gettin' in trouble ha ha ha and leaving little girls who hate to see me go
From north to south from east to west the story is the same
From one state to the other I have to change my name
Cause I'm bad news yeah everywhere I go
Yeah I'm always a gettin' in trouble ha ha ha
And leavin' little girls who hate to see me go
Well they tried to hang me up in Oakland and they did in San Frisco
But I wouldn't choke and I broke their rope and they had to let me go
Cause I'm bad news everywhere I go
Always gettin' in trouble ha ha ha and leaving little girls who hate to see me go
**********
6.
LITTLE GRAVE
(John D. Loudermilk)
« © '63 Acuff-Rose Music, BMI »
On Christmas Eve I went a walking out beyond the city gate
For to fetch a fresh young pheasant for my darling's Christmas plate
It was snowing oh so quietly and the woods were wide and soft
Just the sound of snowflakes falling and the footsteps as I walked
There I saw a fresh young pheasant and I shot and killed him there
And I heard a distant church bell as the bird fell from the air
[ strings ]
As I held his dying body the strangest thought came over me
God had made this little body that I have killed on Christmas Eve
All the woods were dark and shadowed with the light the cold stars gave
I sent a prayer to God in heaven and covered up the little grave
And covered up the little grave
**********
7.
TALKIN' SILVER CLOUD BLUES
(John D. Loudermilk)
« © '66 Acuff-Rose Music, BMI »
I've been singing rock most all my life I got three little boys and a sweet young wife
I feed 'em good cause I make good bread thank God for the man that said
Rock'n roll is the answer son you can't beat 'em join 'em
Get your guitar get your drum get your set of iron ear drums
A thousand watt column and you're in the business son
Got my first Cadillac in '54 since then I had about five more
Mercedez Benz and a Porsche too the other day I was thinking this wouldn't do
Cause the price of a Cadillac times two comes out to the cost of a Rolls Royce new
But soon the Cadillac's obsolete and the Rolls Royce is still a running sleet
Figure four years instead of two before you gotta buy something new
Put an extra fifteen hundred in to pay for the bar and air-conditionin'
You don't need no chauffer get your bartender and ride baby
So the other day I drove down from a hill went to my bank to get me some bills
And boots and Levi's worn and tan I ambled into the Rolls Royce stand
Showroom four was quiet that day I walked up to a silver grey
Silver Cloud all sleek and long standin' there loose and so alone
Such a beautiful sight I never did see sparkled and shone like a Christmas tree
He was really something to admire I loved in close and I hicked the tire
Had to get some attention I got some quickly
Well I was comin' my hair down in the chrome when up steps a man in a herring bone
Said good morning son may I help you I said yes sir I'd like to testdrive
This new Silver Cloud II
Well he jumped back his face was sore he looked me over from my head to my toe
His face formed into a sneer he said sorry kid this car stays here
And don't you kick tose tires don't open the doors don't touch the chrome
You're gettin' dandruff on the radiator
Well I got put on for an hour or more they ushered me in the bossman's door
It wasn't long till I came out the bossman followed up with a shout
Open the door there look alive and take this boy for a testdrive
In the silver grey Silver Cloud the little cat's loaded
Lumps in is clothes gotta look for those
How do you think I got where I am today hmm
Now I'm driving along ole 501 listening to them big wheels hum
Gotta get home before it's five take my wife and kids for a drive
Now the moral is the part that's best never judge a man by the way he is dressed
Don't you brush him off or treat him wrong
He may be the singer of rock songs don't you forget it
What's that pounding noise what's burning
Well the temperature is up and the oil is down
Termites running around and around on my dashboard
Spots on my windshield trading time
**********
8.
I'M LOOKING FOR A WORLD
(John D. Loudermilk)
« © '65 Acuff-Rose Music, BMI »
A paper pack of sugar a plastic spoon and knife
A paper cup a paper plate a different girl each night
I'm getting tired of a paper and a plastic world
One that's not a lasting world that's how I feel
I'm looking for a silver and a crystal world
Not an artificial world but one that's real
Plastic flowers electronic steeple chimes
Seem to be becoming the symbols of our times
I'm looking for a simple sandy suntan world
Not a handy sunlamp world but one that is true
I'm searching for the kind and honest world
That I'll find in a girl like you
**********
9.
LAMENT OF THE CHEROKEE RESERVATION INDIAN
(John D. Loudermilk)
« © '63 Acuff-Rose Music, BMI »
They took the whole Cherokee Nation put us on this reservation
Took away our way of life tomahawk and the bow and the knife
Put our papoose in a crip took the buckskin from our ribs
They took away our native tongue and taught their English to our youngs
[ ac.guitar ]
Although they've changed our ways of old they'll never changed our hearts and souls
Though I wear a white man shirt and tie I'm still a red man deep inside
The old teepee we all love so they're using now for just a show
And all our beads we made by hand are nowadays made in Japan
**********
10.
INTERSTATE 40
(John D. Loudermilk)
« © '66 Acuff-Rose Music, BMI »
Walkin' down the shoulder of Interstate 40 just a cussin' every rock that I kick
Since I lost everything in the last depression I just give up and I quit
But I'm happy though I ain't had nothing since morning but a cold drink and a pie
And it rained up the road bout an hour ago but I've walked these brogans dry
But that's just my life out on Interstate 40 but I'm a happy son of a gun
The governments givin' me Interstate 40 and the good Lord's give me a thumb
Now you gotta be carefull out on Interstate 40 cause the highway men ain't dumb
There's a law against hikin' out on Interstate 40 so you gotta know who to thumb
But if you're like me you wouldn't mind at all cause what the law calls punishment
Is ninety wonderful days of patchin' up old Interstate 40 cement
Yeah that's just my life...
Now the world's my castle and the grass my carpet and my heart is all my own
The rains my bath and Interstate 40 is my home sweet home sweet home
Now when I die just plant me close to where the big trucks whine and moan
Just anywhere along ole Interstate 40 will rest my weary bones
Ha ha ha that's just my life...
And the good Lord's give me a thumb
**********
11.
YOU'RE LOOKIN'
(John D. Loudermilk)
« © '66 Acuff-Rose Music, BMI »
Here you go out again this time to a show you've seen it already baby I know
Our friends have noticed when they see you ride by
They know what's happening by the look in your eyes
They know you're lookin' yeah baby you're lookin'
Searchin' for somethin' I don't know why hmm hmm why
And what would you do if you found it this strange lovely thing that you need so much
Oh would you hold it close and caress it and bet your heart it would never leave
Yes you would darling I know what you'd do
I know darling cause you see darling I was lookin' too when I found you
I know darling cause you see darling I was lookin' too when I found you
**********
12.
WHERE HAVE THEY GONE
(John D. Loudermilk)
« © '66 Acuff-Rose Music, BMI »
Plates on the table ham in the platter eggs on the stove wood in the firebox
Where (oh) where oh where have they gone
Plow in the furrow mule standing silent reins hangin' useless sun's gone down
Where (oh) where oh where have they gone
Block scattered gaily dolls in the corner three little bears nursery rhyme books
Where (oh) where oh where have they gone
**********