lp discography - covers & lyrics

1.

WRECK OF THE OLD 97

(Henry Whitler - Charlie W. Noell - Fred J. Lewey) «© '51 Shapiro-Bernstein Co, ASCAP / Sage Brush Music, BMI »
They gave him his orders at Monroe Virginia
Sayin' Steve you're way behind time
This is not 38 but it's old 97
You must put her into Spencer on time

Then he looked around and said to his black greasy fireman
Shovel on a little more coal
And when we cross that White Oak Mountain
You can watch old 97 roll
[ fiddle ] It's a mighty rough road from Lynchburg to Danville
With a line on a three mile grade
It was on that grade that he lost his air brakes
So you see what a jump we made
[ guitar ] He was goin' down the grade makin' ninety miles an hour
When his whistle broke into a scream
He was found in the wreck with his hand on the throttle
And a scalded to death by the steam
[ fiddle ] Now ladies you must take a warning from this time on and learn
Never speak harsh words to your true lovin' husband
He may leave you and never return
**********

2.

UNFAITHFUL

(Don Robertson - Frances Kane) «© '53 Anne Rachel Music, ASCAP »
Unfaithful unfaithful the whole town knows
You're breaking my heart secretly
Unfaithful unfaithful your cheatin' shows
You care for me so carelessly

You take any chance for a new romance
They whisper wherever you go
Unfaithful unfaithful your lies go on
While I go on loving you so
[ fiddle - guitar ] You take any chance...
**********

3.

SPANISH FIREBALL

(Dan Welch) «© '53 ATV Songs, BMI »
I met a girl in Laredo down in Mexico while I was makin' the rounds
Down in a dim cafe she does the swing and sway
That's the talk of the town
I never learned her name but she's called the Spanish Fireball

While she kept rhythm with her hips from her ruby lips
Came a love song so bright
And as she rhumbed by the fire in her eyes
Looked like flames in the night
T'was then I understood why she's called the Spanish Fireball
[ guitar ] I finally asked her for a dance and I got the chance
Holding her closely to me
While we were cheek to cheek I grew too weak to speak
And it was plain to see
That I had fallen in love with this cute little Spanish Fireball

She wore a ruby braclet and a blue white diamond
Upon her little brown hand
She made a perfect date and in her Cadillac eight
Love began to expand
I played the part and gave my heart to the Spanish Fireball
[ guitar ] We wandered out beneath the stars while the old guitars
Strummed a Mexican tune
And as I stole a kiss I knew too well that this
Would all end too soon
Cause I must go away and leave my Spanish Fireball

As that old moon was sinkin' low I heard the whistle blow
My train was pulling in sight
And so we kissed goodbye The tears were in her eyes
As I left in the night
But someday I 'll go back and claim my Spanish Fireball
**********

4.

LAZY BONES

(Johnny Mercer - Hoagy Carmichael) «© '55 Johnny Mercer Music, ASCAP / PSO Limited, ASCAP / Songs Of Peer, ASCAP »
Lazy bones sleepin' in the sun how you think you gonna get your day work done
You'll never get your day work dones leepin' in the noonday sun
Lazy bones sleepin' in the shade how you gonna get your corn meal made
You'll never get your corn meal made sleepin' in the noonday shade

When taters need sprayin' I bet you keep prayin' the bugs fall off of the vine
And when you go fishin' I bet you keep wishin' the fish won't grab at your line
Lazy bones loafin' through the day how you spec you gonna make a dime that way
You'll never make a dime that way sleepin' in the noonday shade

[ spoken part ]
Lazy bones loafin' through the day how you spec you gonna make a dime that way
You'll never make a dime that way sleepin' in the noonday shade
**********

5.

I WONDER WHERE YOU ARE TONIGHT

(Johnny Bond) «© '41 Red River Songs, BMI »
Tonight I'm sad my heart is weary I'm wondering if I'm wrong or right
Although you've gone and found another I wonder where you are tonight

That old rain is cold and slowly falling upon my window pane tonight
And though your love was even colder I wonder where you are tonight

Your heart was cold you never loved me though you said you often cared
And now you've gone and found another someone to know the love I've shared
That old rain is cold...
[ fiddle - steel ] Then came the dawn the day you left me I tried to smile with all my might
But you could see the pain within me that lingers in my heart tonight
That old rain is cold...
**********

6.

HOBO BILL'S LAST RIDE

(Waldo LaFayette O'Neal) «© '30 Southern Music, ASCAP »
Riding on the eastbound freight train speeding through the night
Hobo Bill a railroad bum was fighting for his life
The sadness of his eyes revealed the torture of his soul
He raised a weak and weary hand to brush away the coal

No warm lights flickered around him no blankets there to fold
Nothing but the howling wind and the driving rain so cold
When he heard a whistle blowing in a dreamy kind of way
The hobo seemed contented for he smile there where he lay
[ steel ] Outside the rain was falling on that lonesome boxcar door
But the little form of Hobo Bill lay still upon the floor
As the train sped through the darkness and the raging storm outside
No one knew that Hobo Bill was taking his last ride
[ steel ] It was early in the morning when they raised the hobo's head
The smile still lingered on his face but Hobo Bill was dead
There was no mother's longing to soothe his weary soul
For he was just a railroad bum who died out in the cold
**********

7.

LADY'S MAN

(Cy Coben) «© '52 Delmore Music, ASCAP »
I'm a lady's man oh yes siree I like the gals and the gals like me
Can I make 'em swoon oh yes I can
Don't know what it is about me they love But what it is I got plenty of
Make way for me I'm a lovin' lady's man

I'm a lady's man and that's no crime I like 'em round me all of the time
I've got a line of talk they understand
Now you may like a baseball game Vut as for me that's much too tame
I get my thrill just bein' a lady's man
[ guitar ] Been a lady's man since I was three the women used to bounce me on their knee
They'd always say when he grows up watch out
When the gals see his big blue eyes they'll hang around like a bunch of flies
Those women knew what they were talkin' about
[ fiddle ] I'm a lady's man I get the breaks I guess I've got everything it takes
When it come to lovin' they like my brand
Oh the gals won't leave me alone I have to disconnect my phone
That's how it is when you're a lady's man
[ guitar ] I'm a lady's man oh yes siree I love the gals and the gals love me
And when it comes to dates I'm in demand
Oh I like 'em short I like 'em tall As a matter of fact I love 'em all
They make way for me I'm a lovin' lady's man
**********

8.

MARRIED BY THE BIBLE (DIVORCED BY THE LAW)

(Johnny Rector - Neva Starns - Pee Wee Thueritt) «© '52 Unichappell Music, BMI »
What a strange world we live in what a shame oh what a shame
Someone's always quarrelin' then marriage don't remain
Divorces by the thousands is this human race insane
I always thought that marriage should be a sacred thing

Married by the Bible divorced by the law
Everyday there's more and more the worst I ever saw
Things have changed they're not the same as the days of ma and pa
They were married by the Bible no divorced by the law

Steps are often taken without thinking twice
And oft times a child or two who left to pay the price
Those little hearts so innocent they don't know who's to blame
No mom and dad to love them what a shame oh what a shame
Married by the Bible...
Married by the Bible...
**********

9.

CARNIVAL OF VENICE

(Jean B. Arban) «© '56 Thompson Edition, BMI »
[ instrumental ] **********

10.

OLD DOC BROWN

(Red Foley) «© '55 Unichappell Music, BMI »
He was just an old country doctor in a little country town
Fame and fortune had passed him by though we never saw him frown
As day by day in his kindly way he'd serve us one and all
Many a patient forgot to pay although Doc's fees were small
Though he needed his dimes and there were times that he'd receive a fee
He'd pass it onto some poor soul that needed it worse than he
He had to sell his furniture couldn't pay his office rent
So to a dusty room over a livery stable Doc Brown and his satchel went
And on the hitchin' post at the kerb below to advertise his wares
He nailed a little sign that read Doc Brown has moved upstairs
And one day he didn't answer when they knocked upon his door
Old Doc Brown was layin' down but his soul was no more
They found him there in that old black suit on his face was a smile of content
But all the money they could find on him was a quarter and a copper cent
So they opened up his ledger and what they saw gave their hearts a pull
Beside each debtor's name old Doc had write these words Paid In Full
Old Doc should had a funeral fine enough for king
It's a ghastly joke our town was broke and no one could give a thing
Cept Jones an undertaker he did mighty well
Donated an old iron casket he had never been able to sell
And the funeral procession it wasn't much for grace and pomp and the style
But those wagon loads of mourners they stretched out for more than a mile
We wanted to give him a monument we kinda figured we owed him one
Cause he made our town a better place for all the good he'd done
We pulled up that old hitchin' post where Doc had nailed a sign
We painted it white and to all of us it certainly did look fine
Now the rains and the snows have washed away our white trimmin's of paint
There ain't nothin' left but Doc's own sign and that's gettin' pretty faint
But you can still see that old hitchin' post as if in answer to our prayers
Mutually tellin' the whole wide world Doc Brown has moved upstairs
**********

11.

ANNIVERSARY (BLUE YODEL NO. 7)

(Jimmie Rodgers) «© '33 Peer International, BMI »
I was a stranger passing through your town
I was a stranger passing through your town
Well I asked you a favor good gal you turned me down
You may see me out a walking walking down that railroad track
You may see me out a walking walking down that railroad track
But good gal you done me wrong I ain't never coming back
[ fiddle ] I've rode that old Southern I've rode that L & N
I've rode that old Southern I've rode that L & N
And if the police don't get I'm gonna ride them again
[ guitar ] Some like Chicago some love Memphis Tennessee
Some like Chicago some love Memphis Tennessee
Hey pretty mama give me sweet Dallas Texas
Where the women think the world of me
[ guitar ] I'm not singing the blues I'm just tellin' you the hard luck I've had
I'm not singing the blues I'm just tellin' you the hard luck I've had
Cause the blues ain't nothing but a good man feeling bad
**********

12.

DRUNKARD'S SON

(Hank Snow) «© '45 Unichappell Music, BMI »
In an old dusty attic of a tenement house I happened to wander one day
And there on the rafters neath shavings and chips a drunkard's poor little boy lay
Oh why are you lying up here in the cold what makes you lie on this hard bed
My father's a drunkard and he beat me today my darling old mother is dead

I'm hiding from father and please sir don't tell he beat me cause I would not steal
He said he would kill me the next I failed and I'm so afraid sir he will
I'm leaving you here son I sadly replied but I will be back right away

But when I returned to the attic I found that Jesus had been there that day
The chips and the shavings were there as before and the little boy lie on his bed
With tears on his cheeks and his hands at his side the poor little fellow was dead

A picture of mother lay close to his heart a faint little note by his head
As I opened the paper my eyes filled with tears vor these were the words that I read
I'm hiding with Jesus across the divide with dear mother forever I'll dwell
And thank you dear mister for your kindness to me and now it's alright if you tell
**********