lp discography - covers & lyrics

1.

RHINESTONES

(Merle Kilgore)
« © '63 Painted Desert Music, BMI »
(Rhinestones rhinestones rhinestones rhinestones)

Rhinestones rhinestones for your little hand
Daddy bought 'em from the rhinestone man
Rhinestones rhinestones for your curly hair
Just like the ones mommie used to wear

(Just like the ones your mommie used to wear)

Oh mommie's gone so far away
And daddy thinks of mommie ev'ry day
I don't know but I believe up there
Mama's wearin' diamonds in her hair

(Mommie's wearin' diamonds in her hair)

Oh I wish things could be just like they were
Mommie left you here and you look so much like her
And ev'ry time rhinestones you wanna wear
I think of her rhinestones in her hair

Rhinestone rhinestones for your pretty hand...
**********

2.

SAWMILL

(Mel Tillis - Horace Whatley)
« © '59 Cedarwood Publishing, BMI »
Well once I was a slave at the sawmill
A talk about a poor boy talk about a poor boy
Never saw a dollar bill
My work was so hard at the sawmill
Think about a poor boy think about a poor boy
When you go to write your will

Well see my teardrops fallin' down
My wife left this sawmill town
She said sawmill life had been a sin
The gravy was too thin
And I work no more at the sawmill
Have mercy on a poor boy mercy a poor boy
Let me have a dollar bill

And if you bring your wife to the sawmill
How you gonna please her how you gonna please her
When she wants a dollar bill
They're not satisfied at the sawmill
Cause women like a dollar a women like a dollar
Yes and women always will

Oh see my teardrops fallin' down...

Have mercy on a poor boy mercy a poor boy
Let me have a dollar bill
**********

3.

FAMILY BIBLE

(Paul Buskirk - Claude Gray - Walt Breeland)
« © '60 Glad Music, BMI / Pappy Daily Music, BMI »
(Rock of ages rock of ages cleft for me)

There's a family Bible on the table
Each page is torn and hard to read
But the family Bible on the table
Will ever be my key to memories

At the end of day when work was over
And when the evenin' meal was done
Dad would read to us all from the ol' family Bible
And we'd count our many blessin's one by one

I can see us sittin' round the table
When from the family Bible dad would read
And I can still hear my mother softly singin'
Rock of ages rock of ages cleft for me

Now this ol' world of ours is oh so full of trouble
But this world would oh so so much better be
If we'd find more Bibles on the tables
And mothers singin' rock of ages cleft for me
Rock of ages rock of ages cleft for me
**********

4.

COMPANY'S COMIN'

(Johnny Mullins)
« © '54 Budde Songs, BMI »
Oh mama I'm excited I'm almost outta breath
And what I saw like to made me run myself to death
I was on the mountain side when I looked down below
And glory be I thought I'd better come and let ya know

That we got company comin' yeah there's company comin'
We got company comin' up the road
They're down the road about a mile they'll be here in a little while
There's company comin' up the road

Granny change your apron and Willie shine your shoes
Sally put your new dress on we got no time to lose
Gotta find that welcome mat and spread it out with cheer
I don't know yet just who they are can't make 'em out from here

But we got company comin' yeah there's company comin'
We got company comin' up the road
They're comin' up the mountain side Susie don't you run and hide
There's company comin' up the road

Well we'll run into the henhouse and we'll wring a neck or two
Yeah we'll have chicken and dumplins and some yeller gravy too
Grandpa get that fiddle down cause they might want a tune
Ev'rybody hurry up cause them folks'll be here soon

Yeah we got company comin' yeah there's company comin'
We got company comin' up the road
We'll land the ghost and holler loud they'll be here any minute now
There's company comin' up the road road road road
**********

5.

PICKIN' TIME

(Johnny Cash)
« © '58 Anne Rachel Music, ASCAP »
Well I've got cotton in the bottom land
It's up and growin' and I've got a good stand
My good wife and them kids of mine
Gonna get new shoes come pickin' time
(Get new shoes come pickin' time)

Ev'ry night when I go to bed
I thank the Lord that my kids are fed
They live on beans eight days of nine
But I'll get 'em fat come pickin' time
(Got 'em fat come pickin' time)

Corn is yeller and the beans are high
That sun's hot in that lazy ol' sky
The work is hard till layin' by
Layin' by till pickin' time
(Layin' by till pickin' time)

Well it's hard to see by the coal oil light
And I turn it off pretty early ever night
Cause a jug of coal oil costs a dime
But I'll stay up late come pickin' time
(Stay up late come pickin' time)

Yes my ol' wagon barely gets me to town
I patched the wheels and I watered 'em down
I keep her in shape so she'll be fine
To haul all of my cotton come pickin' time
(Haul all of my cotton come pickin' time)

Last Sunday mornin' when they passed the hat
It was still nearly empty back where I sat
But the preacher smiled and he said that's fine
(The Lord's gonna wait till pickin' time)
Yes the Lord's gonna wait till pickin' time
**********

6.

BUSTED

(Harlan Howard)
« © '62 Tree Publishing, BMI »
Well my bills are all due and the baby needs shoes and I'm busted
Cotton is down to a quarter a pound but I'm busted
I got a cow that went dry and a hen that won't lay
A big stack of bills that get bigger each day
The county's gonna haul my belongin's away cause I'm busted

Now I went to my brother to ask for a loan cause I was busted
I hate to beg like a dog without his bone but I'm busted
My brother said there ain't a thing I can do
My wife and my kids they're down with the flu
And I was just thinkin' about callin' on you and I'm busted

Well I am no thief but a man can go wrong when he's busted
The food that we canned last summer is gone and I'm busted
The fields are all bare and the cotton won't grow
Me and my family's gotta pack up and go
But I'll make a livin' just where I don't know cause I'm busted
Lord I'm broke ain't got no biscuits in this house
**********

7.

SHARECROPPER FAMILY

(Jerry Smith)
« © '63 Careers Music, BMI »
(You and your sharecropper family)
Me and my sharecropper family

There's a little red farmhouse on the hill
With a lotta pine trees and whippoorwills
A little run down not much to see
But if that's good enough for her
Then that's good enough for me

You and your sharecropper family
Me and my sharecropper family

With the sun in the mornin' and the stars in the evenin'
And a pretty girl lovin' me
There's a lotta hard times when we haven't got a dime
But if that's good enough for her
Then that's good enough for me

(You and your sharecropper family)
Me and my sharecropper family

We got sixteen acres of rocky ground
And it's thirteen miles to the nearest town
The good Lord sent a lot of mouths to feed
But if that's good enough for her
Then that's good enough for me

With the sun in the mornin' and the stars in the evenin'...

(You and your sharecropper family)
Me and my sharecropper family
**********

8.

OLD COURTHOUSE

(Wayne P. Walker - Danny Dill)
« © '63 Cedarwood Publishing, BMI »
A hello oh hello Jim
Yeah I just walked in the house myself
Oh it's a fact alright they're gonna tear the ol' courthouse down
I heard about it in town just before I left
Municipal buildin' some of 'em said they're gonna call it
Bigger and better all around
Naw they ain't gonna have no votin' on it
They just decided to tear the ol' courthouse down
Oh I'm like you Jim I reckon I hate to see it go
Why when I's just a boy in my teens
Pa brought me to town for the first time
That was the first big buildin' I'd ever seen
Later bought the license to marry the woman there
Paid taxes on my first piece of land
Voted the first time right there in them ol' wooden halls
I reckon that ol' buildin' watched a lot of us grow into men
Got the children's birth certificates there
All of 'em still livin' cept one
It was the big war Jim you remember
You remember doncha that's where we lost him
The rest of 'ems all married up now and
They got little time for us ol' folks
I reckon that new buildin's for them
Yeah it's gonna be a big one cover the square
Won't have a yard yeah right out to the street
Course that ain't gonna leave no room to argue religion and politics
Or the champion checker players to meet
You know now that they're tearin' that ol' courthouse down
It seems like I'm losin' a friend
Dad burn it Jim that buildin' ain't no older than I am
Guess a feller oughta prepare I reckon for the end
What's that you say Jim
Oh yeah I'll meet you there in town Saturday like I always have
Why I guess out in the street I guess Jim
Yeah but then the courthouse and the wooden benches'll all be gone
There won't be no where to sit down and rest
Hey Jim 'fore you ring off you know I's thinkin'
If there's ever day place in the Promise Land you know
An off duty congregation ground
I believe I'd be happy with that ol' courthouse yard
Where our Lord'll walk up and say welcome
Here's your place come on fellas
Sit down sit down
When the roll is called up yonder I'll be there
**********

9.

PO' FOLKS

(Bill Anderson)
« © '62 Johnny Bienstock Music, BMI / Songs Of Universal, BMI »
There's a whole lotta people lookin' down their noses at me
Cause I didn't come from a wealthy family
There was ten of us livin' in a two room shack
On the banks of the river by the railroad track
And we kept chickens in a pen in the back
And everybody said we was po' folks

My daddy was a farmer but all he ever raised was us
Dug a forty foot well struck thirty-six gallons of dust
The Salvation Army gave us clothes to wear
A man from the county came to cut our hair
We lived next door to a millionaire
Vut that's how it is when you're po' folks

We was po' folks livin' in a rich folks world
We sure was a hungry bunch
And if the wolf would ever come to our front door
He'd a had to brought a picnic lunch

My granddaddy's pension was a dollar and thirty-three cents
That was ten dollars less than the landlord wanted for rent
Oh the landlord's letters got nasty indeed
He wrote get out but pa couldn't read
And we was too broke to even pay heed
And that's how it is when you're po' folks
And that's how it is when you're po' folks

We was po' folks livin' in a rich folks world...

But we had somethin' in our house money can't buy
Kept us warm in the winter and cool when the sun's high
For whenever we didn't have food enough
And the howlin' winds would get pretty rough
We'd patch the crack and set the table with love
Cause that's how it is when you're po' folks
And we wadn't nothin' but po' folks
My mama and my papa was po' folks
My sister and my brother was po' folks
My dog and my cat was po' folks
And that's how it is when you're po' folks
**********

10.

MAMA SANG A SONG

(Bill Anderson)
« © '61 Tree Publishing, BMI / Songs Of Universal, BMI »
(God put a song in the heart of an angel and softly she sang it to me)

You know I get to thinkin' a lotta times about back when I was a boy
The ole home place where I grew up of the days both good and bad
Why my overalls were hand-me-downs my shoes they were full of holes
I used to walk four miles to school ev'ry day through the rain the sleet and the cold
I've seen the nights when my daddy would cry
For the things that his family would need
But all he ever got was a badland farm and seven hungry mouths to feed
And yet yet our home fires never flickered once
Cause when all of these things went wrong
Mama took the hymn book down and mama sang a song
(What a friend we have in Jesus)

Oh I've been rocked to sleep a many a night to the tune of What a Friend
And come mornin' Rock of Ages why it would wake me gently once again
And then dad he'd reach up and he'd take the Bible down
And he'd read it read it loud n long
And I always felt that maybe our home was blessed
When daddy would say mama sing a song
Now let's see sister left home first I guess
Then there was Bob and Tommy and the last was Dan
By then dad's hair was turnin' white and I had to be my mama's little man
Well it seemed that as daddy's back grew weak
My mother's faith just grew that much stronger
And those were the greatest days of all yes they were when mama sang a song
(Rock of ages cleft for me let me hide myself in Thee)

I guess the house is still standin' I don't get to go back there anymore
Least much no voices is left to fill those ol' halls
And I bet there ain't even no steps to grace the floor
Cause you see my mama sings in heaven now up around God's golden throne
But I'll always believe that this world is a better place to live
Because one time my mama sang a song
(Precious mem'ries flood my soul)
**********

11.

BLACKLAND FARMER

(Frankie Miller)
« © '59 Peer International, BMI »
When the Lord made me he made a simple man
Not much money and not much land
He didn't make me no banker or legal charmer
When the Lord made me he made a blackland farmer

Well my hands ain't smooth my face is rough
But my heart is warm and my ways ain't tough
I guess I'm the luckiest man ever born
Cause the Lord gave me help and a blackland farm

I've been breakin' up the new ground early ever day
I'm gonna plant some cotton I'm gonna plant some hay
I love to smell the sweet breeze blowin' through the corn
Lord you sure done me right by my blackland farm

I feel like I'm gettin' closer to you God
A plantin' in the ground a breakin' up the sod
My mind is at ease and I can do no harm
Lord I owe it all to you and the blackland farm
**********

12.

Y'ALL COME

(Arlie Duff)
« © '53 Fort Knox Music, BMI / Trio Music, BMI »
Well when you live in the country ev'rybody is your neighbor
On this one thing you can rely
Yeah they'll all come to see you and they'll never never leave you
Sayin' y'all come to see us by and by

Y'all come (y'all come) y'all come (y'all come)
Oh y'all come to see us when you can
Y'all come (y'all come) y'all come (y'all come)
Oh y'all come to see us now and then
[ guitar ] Them kinfolks're comin' they're comin' by the dozen
And they're eatin' ev'rything from soup to hay
And right after dinner they ain't a looking any thinner
And here's what you'll hear 'em say

Y'all come (y'all come)...
[ guitar ] Well now grandma's a wishin' they'd come to kitchen
And help do the dishes right away
They all start leavin' even though she's a grievin'
You can still hear grandma say

Y'all come (y'all come)...
Y'all come (y'all come)...
**********