1.

Hummin' It Up (Introduction)

Norman Hamlet

© Tree Pub, BMI

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 the 1920's
Up to his current sounds of today
And now live in New Orleans - Merle Haggard
[ instrumental ]


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2.

(# 1 country hit)
(# 62 pop hit)

Everybody's Had The Blues

Merle Haggard

© Shade Tree Music, BMI

Let me say one thing to ya
Please just for one second
I've got to put this on the record OK
I've always been interested in history especially when it comes to music
And I find a great connection between the popular music of today in all fields
And the music that originated here in New Orleans over a half a century ago
And who knows maybe it got started in the cotton fields of the south
But here’s a song that I've written I wanna put on this album and it's a it's another blues number but but what's better than blues I don't know
And I guess a man ain't got no right to sing the blues unless he's had 'em and I've certainly had the blues one time or another
And here's a song we call Everybody's Had The Blues Sometime

Everybody sings the blues sometime
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
[ instrumental ]
A lonely song someone is gone...

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3.

Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now)

Jack Yellen - Milton Ager

© E.H. Morris Co, ASCAP

I tell ya we've been busier than a pair of jumper cables at a family reunion the last three days
Uh tryin' to get this album together
Here's a song that was recorded way back when and once again by a fellow by the name of Emmett Miller
A lot of people don't know who Emmett Miller is but he's the guy who inspired a lot of folks such as Jimmie Rodgers Hank Williams Bob Wills and a lot of great people in our business
And he did a song that uh I want to do on this album
And he cut it here in New Orleans in 1924
And it's called Big Bad Bill From Louisville

In the town of Louisville they got a man they called Big Bad Bill
I want to tell you he sure was tough and he'd certainly strut his stuff
He had folks all 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

Yeah he's the man they all used to fear
Now the people call him Sweet Papa Willie Dear
Stronger than Sampson I'll declare until a brown skinned mama bobbed his hair
Big Bad Bill don't fight anymore washes dishes and he mops up the floor

He used to spend his evenings a lookin' for a fight
But now he's got to see his mama every night
Big Bad Bill is Sweet William now
[ instrumental ]
Yeah he used to spend his evenings a lookin' for a fight...

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4.

I Forget You Every Day

Merle Haggard

© Shade Tree Music, BMI

Mem'ry is a gift a man can't live without
And at 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
[ instrumental ]
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

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5.

I Ain't Got Nobody (And Nobody Cares For Me)

Spencer Williams - Roger Graham - Dave Taylor

© Jerry Vogel Music, BMI

Well there's been a sayin' goin' round I begin to think it's true
It's awful hard to love someone when they don't care about you
Once I had a lovin' gal the sweetest little thing in town
But now she's gone and left me she done turned 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 nobody cares for me
[ instrumental ]
Yeah I ain't got nobody nobody cares for me...

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6.

Carolyn

Tommy Collins

© Shade Tree Music, BMI

Carolyn let me tell you what I heard about 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 a man might do that sometimes out of spite
But Carolyn a man will do that always
When he's treated bad at home
[ instrumental ]
Yes Carolyn a man will do that sometimes on his own...

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7.

Champagne

Roy Nichols - Norman Hamlet - Biff Adam

© Shade Tree Music, BMI

Right now here's The Strangers to do a song that we selected especially for this album and titled Champagne
It goes like this one two three four
[ instrumental ]


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8.

Lovesick Blues

Irving Mills - Cliff Friend

© Mills Music, ASCAP

It's been many years since I've sang this song
I learned it off of Hank's record
And I'm gonna try to do it for ya tonight
Ya'll remember Lovesick Blues
OK here we go

I got a feelin' called the blues oh Lord since my baby said goodbye
Lord 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 I tried to keep her satisfied but she just wouldn't stay
So now that she is leavin' this is all I can say

I got a feelin' called the blues oh Lord since my baby said goodbye...

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9.

(# 3 country hit)

The Emptiest Arms In The World

Merle Haggard

© Shade Tree Music, BMI

Thank you so very much
Talkin' about the current day sound of our records this is one that uh I guess could be called our latest
It's called the Emptiest Arms In The World
We can get Mr Norm Hamlet to kick it off here for us

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 longer 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 you I'm holding
I've got the emptiest arms in the world

My 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
[ instrumental ]
And you alone can fill this empty feelin' of the emptiest arms in the world

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10.

Nobody Knows I'm Hurtin'

Merle Haggard

© Shade Tree Music, BMI

We're gonna do a Bonnie come here and sit just sit right down there on that stool
We're gonna do another new song we hope that someday
This is a brand new song I wrote especially for this album and it's um it's called Nobody's Hurtin'
And I hope that it's kind of a blues number and I hope maybe someday they'll say here’s an old Merle Haggard blues number
I hope that it'll be remembered that long at least
You all ready for this new thing are ya
Nobody knows huh is it rainin' it's rain uh it's leakin' right on top of this microphone and on this stand here
That just makes for a good atmosphere right
OK here we go

Nobody knows I'm hurtin' and nobody cares
Nobody knows I'm yearnin' and no one's aware
That I'm even livin' with more heartaches than my share
Nobody's cryin' for me and I got nobody to care
Well I'm out 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 out to find me a good ole gal who'll want me when I come
[ instrumental ]
Cause nobody knows I'm hurtin' and nobody cares...

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11.

Intro To Way Down Yonder To New Orleans

Merle Haggard

© Shade Tree Music, BMI

An earthy soulful music was born in our great land
But how it all got started is what we need to understand
It had to come 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 through the old French Quarters I hear a familiar ring
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

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12.

Way Down Yonder To New Orleans

Henry Creamer - Turner Layton

© Shapiro-Bernstein Co, ASCAP

Mr John McCormick Gene Bowen and Dale Hampton the Dixieland Express
The one called Way Down Yonder In New Orleans
[ instrumental ]


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13.

Okie From Muskogee

Merle Haggard - Eddie Burris

© Blue Book Music, 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
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
[ instrumental ]
Leather boots are still in style for manmade 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

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14.

(# 1 country hit)

I Wonder If They Ever Think Of Me

Merle Haggard

© Blue Book Music, BMI

I got one more song I'm gonna sing for ya
I'm sure that in the past New Orleans has given dearly in the defense of our country
And I'm sure that it bears it's share of sorrow in war time
And here's a song that I want to dedicate to all the service men in New Orleans and to all the POW's who have returned and to all those who we pray who will return OK

There's not much a man can do inside a prison
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 ran 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

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15.

Finale

Merle Haggard

© Shade Tree Music, BMI

On behalf of The Strangers Miss Bonnie the Dixieland Express and yours truly Old Hag
I hope that uh we done something here tonight that's worth recording
I feel we have and I'm I wanna thank you for bein' part of it and helpin' me on it and uh we'll see ya the next time we're down this way
Won't be long

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