1.

(# 1 country hit)

Daddy Frank (The Guitar Man)

Merle Haggard

© Blue Book Music, BMI

Let me tell you about a song that I feel it explains itself
It's called Daddy Frank the Guitar Man

Daddy Frank played the guitar and the french harp
Sister played the ringin' tambourine
And mama couldn't hear our pretty music
But she read our lips and helped the family sing
That little band was all a part of livin'
And our only means of livin' at the time
And it wadn't like no normal family combo
Cause Daddy Frank the guitar man was blind

Frank and Mama counted on each other
Their one and only weakness made 'em strong
Mama did the drivin' for the family
And Frank made a livin' with a song
Home was just a camp along the highway
A pickup bed was where we bedded down
Don't ever once remember goin' hungry
And I remember mama cookin' on the ground

Daddy Frank played the guitar and the french harp...

Don't remember how they got acquainted
I can't recall just how it came to be
There had to be some special help from someone
And blessed be the one who let it be
Fever caused my mama's loss of hearing
Daddy Frank was born without his sight
And mama needed someone she could lean on
And I believe the guitar man was right

Daddy Frank played the guitar and the french harp...

**********

2.

They're Tearin' The Labor Camps Down

Merle Haggard

© Blue Book Music, BMI

I guess it's no secret eh that I did a few years in San Quentin
And on my release I noticed that a lot of different things had come to pass
While I was out of circulation
Like the girls dresses were shorter and the freeways were wider
And the ole steam engines were gone forever
But the one thing I noticed most of all down through the San Joaquin Valley
Was the disappearance of so many labor camps
Where once I'd lived from time to time myself
I noticed that that one there at Houston California was gone
And the ole crown's camp that lie between Formosa and Bakersfield
Was just a barren spot with a few cottonwood trees
And surrounded by an olive orchard
Tho a few still remain like the ole blackburn's camp out on Weedpatch Highway
It was an evident fact that someone was tryin' to do away with them all
And I couldn't help but wonder what's gonna happen to the farm workers
And the fruit pickers who move from town to town
The man with the big family who can't afford the ole high standard of livin'
And was these thoughts and my mem'ries that inspired me to write this song

I came back to this ole town cause my home was here
And to try to find some things I'd left behind
Tho' I've only been away for just a few short years
But I'd forgot about the pace of modern times

I saw changes all around me and some were good
But I hardly recognized my side of town
They tore down the swingin' casing from the cottonwood
And that tree was all that marked familiar ground

Oh they're tearin' the labor camps down
And I feel a little sentimental shame
Where's a hungry man gonna live at in this town
Oh they're tearin' the labor camps down
[ instrumental ]
The Hilltop family market had been moved somewhere
And the name was changed to fit the newer homes
The folks that I remember were no longer there
And the cabin that my daddy built was gone

Oh they're tearin' the labor camps down...
They're tearin' the labor camps down...

**********

3.

The Man Who Picked The Wildwood Flower

Tommy Collins

© Shade Tree Music, BMI

Let me tell you about a song
That was brought to me by a good friend of mine who's a good songwriter
And everytime he brings me a song I'm always willing to listen
But the story and the reasons for writing this song
Were even more interesting to me than the song
The old friend and fella I'm speaking of is Tommy Collins
Tommy told me about an experience he had when he was a minister
Where he was called to preach a funeral for a man with no identity
Tommy said he never forgot the way he felt
Like here is a human being who someone must have loved at sometime
And yet there was no one present to pay respect
Just a couple of grave diggers a funeral man and Tommy
Then the story switched to another thought bout during his last visit to Nashville
He went down to listen to an ole street singer
That he always made a point to go hear each time he was in town
And it was then that Tommy discovered
That Jack Dupree the ole street singer had passed away
And Tommy said he wondered how many were present at Jack's funeral
And it was these two true to life incidents that inspired this song

I only saw five people when they buried Jack Dupree
Two diggers and the preacher the funeral man and me
The prayer was said and the hole was filled in less than half an hour
And I said goodbye to the little man who picked the Wildwood Flower

For twenty years I'd seen him on the lower Nashville streets
They said he always earned enough to buy his clothes and eats
He'd stop awhile and check his watch with the big clock on the tower
That's when I asked him once if he could pick the Wildwood Flower

He always drew a crowd because he put on such a show
He'd dance and sing and play and smile just like a polished pro
And everytime he saw me standin' in the crowd
I knew the tune that he'd play next would be the Wildwood Flower

I told him once that he could be what people call a star
And he said why boy I'm happy how many of them folks are
I'd hate to have to force a smile and feel myself turn sour
There ain't no put on in my face when I pick the Wildwood Flower

Then I saw a thousand people as they begin to come
Business men and opry stars party girls and bums
And on that little mound of clay bouquets begin to shower
As they paid respect to the little man who picked the Wildwood Flower

**********

4.

Proudest Fiddle In The World

Bob Wills

© Anne-Rachel Music, ASCAP

with Bonnie Owens

Merle titled this album Let Me Tell You About A Song
But right now let me tell you about a fiddle
One that was given to Merle out of kindness by the great Bob Wills
After leavin' the Wills' home that day
Merle was so moved he just sat and stared silently at the fiddle for a long time
Finally he said wish this fiddle could talk
Then he said on second thought
What if that fiddle that's in the Hall of Fame
The one he played on San Antonio Rose could just talk
What a story it could tell
And Merle said I think if I were that fiddle this is what I'd say

Who I am and what I was I'm sure the whole world knows
Why I'm the great Bob Wills fiddle that played on San Antonio Rose
But I lay here now in the Hall of Fame a show piece that no one plays
And my tone that used to thrill the dancin' crowds is gone with the good ole days

I wish my strings could just talk and tell my story to all the passin' fans
Boy I'd I'd even like to rear back and play a break down
But I can't do it without the master's hands
Yeah I was part of something great and I know it
I even played on the Old Brown Skin Girl
Tho my strings are old and dusty now
I'm still the proudest fiddle in the world

**********

5.

Bill Woods From Bakersfield

Red Simpson

© Central Songs, BMI

Bakersfield
An oil town that really had it's boom during the heart of the depression
And Bakersfield was also destined to become somewhat of a center for country music
And even back as early as the 50's it began to gain national recognition
For the popularity of songs like Dear John Letter Ferlin Husky's Gone
And a string novelity hits from Leonard Sipes or better known as Tommy Collins
Country music is a profession in Bakersfield
And like all other professions whether it be that of a doctor
Or a scientist or a steady ditch digger
Everyone seems to have a particular someone who offered that helping hand
At the right time
And country music is no exception
But in Bakersfield that same helping hand kept reachin' out time after time
To different people such as Jeanne Sheppard Ferlin Husky Tommy Collins
Buck Owens Billy Mize Herb Henson Merle Haggard and also Red Simpson
Who saw reason to compose this song called Bill Woods From Bakersfield
Bill here's to you

Let me tell you all a story bout a guitar pickin' man
To me he is the greatest picker in the land
He taught me how to play in G and he taught me how to sing in key
Bill Woods from Bakersfield the Bakersfield guitar man

Well Bill gave old Buck the first job he ever had
Bill must've been a good teacher cause old Buck didn't do too bad
He sits up there chewin' his ole cigar playin' Wildwood Flower on his guitar
Bill Woods from Bakersfield the Bakersfield guitar man

Well Bill never hit it big but he didn't miss it far
But in my book he'll always be considered a star
I followed him and he taught me guitar pickin' and harmony
Bill Woods from Bakersfield the Bakersfield guitar man

When the roll is called up yonder and we've all met our quest
I'll bet he'll be chosen to pick there with the best
Up there with his gold guitar where things're right ol' Bill will be a star
Bill Woods from Bakersfield the Bakersfield guitar man

Well everybody loves old Bill cause he's quite a man
And if anybody should need some help well he'll sure lend you a hand
There's one more thing I'd like to say before my story's through
Bill Woods from Bakersfield we're all proud of you

**********

6.

Old Doc Brown

Red Foley

© Hill And Range Songs, BMI

Let me tell you bout a song called Doc Brown
That needs no introduction

He was just an old country doctor in a little Kentucky 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 more than he
He had to sell his furniture cause he 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 on the curb below to advertise his wares
He nailed a little sign that read Doc Brown has moved upstairs
Then one day he didn't answer when they knocked upon his door
Old Doc Brown was lyin' 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 just a quarter and a copper cent
So they opened up his ledger and what they saw gave their hearts a pull
For beside each debtor's name old Doc had written these words Paid In Full
Old Doc shoulda had a funeral fine enough for king
It was a ghastly joke our town was broke and no one could give a thing
Expectin' ole Curly Jones an undertaker he did mighty well
He donated an old iron casket he had never been able to sell
And that funeral procession well it wadn't much for grace pomp and 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
So we pulled up that old hitchin' post where Doc had nailed his 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' paint
There ain't nothin' left but Doc's own sign and that's gettin' kinda faint
But you can still see that old hitchin' post as if in answer to our prayers
Mutely tellin' the whole wide world Doc Brown has moved upstairs

**********

7.

Grandma Harp

Merle Haggard

© Blue Book Music, BMI

Let me tell you about a song that I wrote about my Grandma
Now know I guess the thing that I remember most about Grandma
Was her pretty blue eyes and her tremblin' hands
As she served the best baked apple pie I'd ever ate
And it always amazed me how til the age of seventy five years
She personally raised her own black-eyed peas and her own turnip greens
That the ole corner market just couldn't match
But one day the ole summer sun just got too much for her
And she fell and broke her hip
And after that she seemed to slow down for awhile
But bless her heart she lived to be ninety-three
And it was like she'd lived to see a thousand years of progress
From the horseless carriage through two world wars
And the first man walk on the moon
But the times in which she lived was not what mattered
It was how she lived it and that made it all worth while

Grandma's maiden name was Zonethelines
And there's ninety years to tell about in a few short lines
Born in Newton County down in Arkansas
Then in 1901 she married grandpa

We laid her soul to rest on Sunday morning
And everybody knew she'd done her part
Don't get set to hear no hidden family legend
Just a song about the life of Grandma Harp

Just think about the times that she lived through
And to think about the changin' world she saw
Now some how she reared a decent family out of poverty
And for seventy years she loved the same ole grandpa

To me her passin' brought a closin' chapter
To a way of life that I loved within my heart
I just mean to say I think we owe her something special
If just a song about the life of Grandma Harp

Grandma's maiden name was Zonethelines...
We laid her soul to rest on Sunday morning...

**********

8.

Turnin' Off A Memory

Merle Haggard

© Blue Book Music, BMI

Let me tell you about a song
That I wrote especially for my friends with drinkin' problems
Or maybe I should say my friends with problems enough to drink
Anyway it's just an old theme of a man sittin' in a barroom
Tryin' to drown his past
It's called I'm Turnin' Off A Memory

You can find me in dim lighted barroom
If your coldness should ever turn warm
But the chances of you ever changing
Are as slim as your two loving arms

So I'm turnin' off a mem'ry
As quickly as time will allow
I'm turnin' off a mem'ry
And the wine seems to help me somehow

If I'm lucky I'll some day forget you
When the wine finally takes full control
It's not much of a future to look to
But I can't stand this pain in my soul

So I'm turnin' off a mem'ry...
And the wine seems to help me somehow

**********

9.

Irma Jackson

Merle Haggard

© Blue Book Music, BMI

Let me tell you all about a song
That I wrote and recorded sometime ago
That I didn't release for one reason or another
Possibly because the time wasn't right
But I feel it's right now
And the song is purely fiction and created solely from my imagination
And it's just a love story of two people of two different races
And a situation that their families and society wouldn't accept
And of all the songs that I've written this may be my favorite
Because it tells it like it is

I'd love to shout my feelings from a mountain high
And tell the world I love her and I will till I die
There's no way the world will understand that love is colorblind
And that's why Irma Jackson can't be mine

I remember when no one cared about us being friends
We were only children and it really didn't matter then
But we grew up too quickly in a world that draws a line
Where they say Irma Jackson can't be mine

If my lovin' Irma Jackson is a sin
Then I don't understand this crazy world we're livin' in
There's a mighty wall between us standin' high
But I'll love Irma Jackson till I die
[ instrumental ]
She tells me she's decided that she'll go away
And I guess it's right that she alone should have the final say
But in spite of her decision forcin' us to say goodbye
I'll still love Irma Jackson till I die

If my lovin' Irma Jackson is a sin
Then I don't understand this crazy world we're livin' in
It's a mighty wall between us standin' high
But I'll love Irma Jackson till I die

**********

10.

The Funeral

Tommy Collins

© Shade Tree Music, BMI

Let me tell you about a man Tommy Collins
A veteran in country music who interrupted his career by his own choice
To become a minister and by the way I understand he was very successful
And during this period of his life Tommy pastored a small Baptist church
In the very small town of Lincoln California
And it was during this time that he was called upon to speak at a funeral
And the poem I want to recite for you now is a true experience of Tommy's
And it's simply called The Funeral

A funeral is always a saddening thing for everybody is somebody to someone
But some funeral scenes chill you to the bone one day in our town we had one
A very young mother had died something that you just don't expect
And the shops and stores had all closed their doors they did it out of love and respect
And in the crowded funeral home that day with everyone present weeping
The sound of a little girl's voice was heard she said that's my mommy she's sleeping
Then I heard the sound of her little feet tap tap tap
As she made her way down the aisle
Her little purse dangled from her tiny wrist and it brushed her best Sunday dress
And she boldly asserted the confidence that little folks like her possess
To the life that has no final chapter there's no ending and no last mile
The preacher and the rest were petrified but on the little girl's face was a smile
She said wake up Mommy wake up
And still not satisfied she reached out with her little hand
And touched her face and cried
Then the broken hearted daddy spoke with a gentleness and with power
And the words that issued from his lips was the sermon for the hour
In a childlike faith he told her that the dead in Christ will rise
God gave us his word he said and we know that he never lies
We can't wake up our sleeping mommy but we know someone who can
Baby only God can wake up mommy
Let's go home and leave her in his hands

**********

11.

Bring It On Down To My House Honey

Bob Wills

© Anne-Rachel Music, ASCAP

Well let me tell you about a song that's just right to put ya'll in a good mood
It's the old Bob Willis number Bring It On Down To My House Honey
And if I can just hit on the fiddle it goes like this
One two a one two three
[ instrumental ]
Well bring it on down to my house honey there ain't nobody home but me
Bring it on down to my house honey I need your company
Aunt Claudy went to town to buy a new slip
Uncle John went fishin' on a three day trip
Bring it on down to my house honey ain't nobody home but me
[ instrumental ]
Billy Liebert

Well bring it on down to my house honey there ain't nobody home but me
Bring it on down to my house honey I need your company
Yeah you're mama won't fret if you bring it over here
Preacher won't know and the neighbors dont'care
So bring it on down to my house honey ain't nobody home but me
[ instrumental ]
Roy yeah uh huh yeah

Well bring it on down to my house honey ain't nobody home but me
Bring it on down to my house honey I need your company
(Well I'll come around if you can play the fiddle)
Bring it on down cause I can play a little
Bring it on down to my house honey
There ain't nobody home but me
[ instrumental ]
And Mr Hamlet

Yeah bring it on down to my house honey ain't nobody home but me
Bring it on down to my house honey I need your company
(I'll come around if you can play the fiddle)
Well bring it on down cause I can play a little
Bring it on down to my house honey ain't nobody home but me

**********