Sunday, June 27, 2010

Today I Started Loving You Again

Today I Started Loving You Again
written and performed by Merle Haggard

Today I started loving you again
I'm right back where I've really always been
I got over you just long enough to let my heartache mend
And then today I started loving you again

What a fool I was to think I could get by
With only these few million tears I've cried
I should have known the worst was yet to come
And the crying time for me had just begun

I Can't Help It If I'm Still In Love With You

I Can't Help It If I'm Still In Love With You
written and performed by Hank Williams Sr.

Today I passed you on the street, and my heart fell at your feet
I can't help it if I'm still in love with you
Somebody else stood by your side, and he looked so satisfied
I can't help it if I'm still in love with you

A picture from the past came slowly stealing
As I brushed your arm and walked so close to you
Then suddenly I got that old time feeling
I can't help it if I'm still in love with you

It's hard to know another's lips will kiss you
And hold you just the way I used to do
Heaven only knows how much I miss you
I can't help it if I'm still in love with you

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwVQ8xj4lZU

It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels

It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels (1952)
written by JD Miller, performed by Kitty Wells

As I sit here tonight the jukebox playing
The tune about the wild side of life
As I listen to the words you are saying
It brings memories when I was a trusting wife

(chorus)
It wasn't God who made honky tonk angels
As you said in the words of your song
Too many times married men think they're still single
That has caused many a good girl to go wrong

It's a shame that all the blame is on us women
It's not true that only you men feel the same
From the start most every heart that's ever broken
Was because there always was a man to blame

(chorus)

the song starts at about :30 - worth the wait, beware of other versions of this song - they change the melody. And love that fiddle break!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgOK8oaQu4I

Friday, June 25, 2010

I Forgot More Than You'll Ever Know

I Forgot More Than You'll Ever Know (about him)
written by Cecil Null, performed by the Davis Sisters

I forgot more than you'll ever know about him

You think you know the smile on his lips
The thrill at the touch of his fingertips
But I've forgot more than you'll ever know about him

You think you'll find a heaven of bliss
Each caress each tender kiss
But I've forgot more than you'll ever know about him

You stole his love from me one day, you didn't care how you hurt me
But you can never steal away
Memories of what used to be

You think he's your's to have and to hold
Someday you'll learn when his love grows cold
That I've forgott more, than you'll ever know about him

You think he's yours to have and to hold
Someday you'll learn when his love grows cold
That I've forgotten more than you'll ever know about him

one of the great country duets
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bi7-ZU6crZQ

He Stopped Lovin' Her Today

He Stopped Lovin' Her Today
written by George Jones, Bobby Braddock and Curly Putnam, performed by George

He said I'll love you 'til I die
She told him you'll forget in time
As the years went slowly by,
she still preyed upon his mind
He kept her picture on his wall
went half crazy now and then
He still loved her through it all
Hoping she'd come back again

Kept some letters by his bed, dated 1962
He had underlined in red, every single I love you
I went to see him just today
Oh but I didn't see no tears, All dressed up to go away
First time I'd seen him smile in years

(Chorus)
He stopped loving her today
They placed a wreath upon his door
And soon they'll carry him away
He stopped loving her today

(Spoken)
You know she came to see him one last time
Oh and we all wondered if she would
And it kept running through my mind
This time he's over her for good

(chorus)

the classic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VExw77xJsBQ

Precious Jewel

Precious Jewel
written by Roy Acuff and Charlie Louvin, performed by Roy Acuff

Way back in the hills, when a boy I once wandered
Buried deep in her grave lies the one that I love
She was called from this earth, a jewel for heaven
More precious than diamonds more precious than gold

(chorus)
A jewel here on earth, a jewel in Heaven
She'll brighten the kingdom around God's great throne
May the angels have peace, God bless her in Heaven
They've broken my heart and they've left me to roam

When a girl of sixteen, we courted each other
She promised someday to become my sweet wife
I bought her the ring to wear on her finger
But the angels they called her to heaven one night.

(chorus)

This world has it wealth, its' trials and troubles
Mother earth holds her treasures of diamonds and gold
But it can't hold the soul of one precious jewel
She's resting in peace with the heavenly fold.

May the angels have peace, God bless her in heaven
They've broken my heart and they left me to roam.

Ginny Hawker and Tracy Schwarz also recorded a fabulous version of this one, but this is the great Roy Acuff and his Smoky Mountain Boys.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_lT2EE543Q

Together Again

Together Again
written and performed by Buck Owens

Together again, my tears have stopped falling
The long lonely nights, are now at an end
The key to my heart, you hold in your hand
And nothing else matters now, we're together again

Together again, the gray skies are gone
You're back in my arms, now where you belong
The love that I knew is living again
And nothing else matters now, we're together again
And nothing else matters, we're together again

A great duet performance with Don Rich
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=af8eQBfwnes

Don't Come Home A-Drinking

Don't Come Home A-Drinking (with lovin' on your mind)
written by Loretta Lynn and Peggy Sue Wells. Performed by Loretta Lynn - 1966

Well you thought I'd be waitin' up when you came home last night
You'd been out with all the boys and you ended up half tied
But liquor and love that just don't mix, leave a bottle or me behind
And don't come home a drinkin', with lovin' on your mind

(chorus)
No don't come home a drinkin' with lovin' on your mind
Just stay out there on the town and see what you can find
Cause if you want that kind of love well you don't need none of mine
So don't come home a drinkin' with lovin' on your mind

You never take me anywhere because you're always gone
And many a night I've laid awake and cried dear all alone
Then you come in a kissin' on me it happens every time
So don't come home a drinkin' with lovin' on your mind

(chorus)

Loretta changes a few notes here - find the original recording if you can. and watch for Bill Monroe!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBnkAkmLtaw

He'll Have to Go

He'll Have to Go
written by Jan and Audrey Allison, performed by Jim Reeves

Put your sweet lips a little closer to the phone
Let's pretend that we're together, all alone
I'll tell the man to turn the juke box way down low
And you can tell your friend there with you he'll have to go

Whisper to me, tell me do you love me true
Or is he holding you the way I do?
Though love is blind, make up your mind, I've got to know
Should I hang up, or will you tell him he'll have to go?

You can't say the words I want to hear
While you're with another man
Do you want me, answer yes or no
Darling, I will understand

Put your sweet lips a little closer to the phone
Let's pretend that we're together, all alone
I'll tell the man to turn the juke box way down low
And you can tell your friend there with you he'll have to go

I used to have this one on 8-track!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lM63Vr69kHY

Cold, Cold Heart

Cold, Cold Heart
written and performed by Hank Williams Sr.

I tried so hard my dear to show that you're my every dream.
Yet you're afraid each thing I do is just some evil scheme
A memory from your lonesome past keeps us so far apart
Why can't I free your doubtful mind and melt your cold cold heart

Another love before my time made your heart sad and blue
And so my heart is paying now for things I didn't do
In anger unkind words are spoke that make the teardrops start
Why can't I free your doubtful mind,and melt your cold cold heart

You'll never know how much it hurts to see you sit and cry
You know you need and want my love yet you're afraid to try
Why do you run and hide from life,to try it just ain't smart
Why can't I free your doubtful mind and melt your cold cold heart

There was a time when I believed that you belonged to me
But now I know your heart is shackled to a memory
The more I learn to care for you,the more we drift apart
Why can't I free your doubtful mind and melt your cold cold heart

song starts at about :50 - a few clips of cool archival footage of Hank singing(and notice how SLOW it is!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUuzrB_TGyk

Blues Stay Away From Me

Blues Stay Away From Me
written by The Delmore Bros. and Wayne Raney, performed by The Delmore Bros.

Blues stay away from me,
Blues why don't you let me be
Don't know why
You keep on haunting me

Love was never meant for me
True love was never meant for me
It seems somehow
We never can agree

Life is full of misery
Dreams are like a memory
Bringing back
Your love that used to be

Tears so many I can't see
Years don't mean a thing to me
Time goes by
And still I can't be free

with Wayne Raney on classic country blues harmonica
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUk9UDoVyKk

Truck Drivin' Man

Truck Drivin' Man
written by Terry Fell, performed by Buck Owens

Well, I stopped at a road house in Texas
A little place called Hamburger Dan's
Heard that old jukebox start playin'
Was a song about the truck drivin' man

(chorus)
Pour me another cup of coffee
For it is the best in the land
And put a quarter in the jukebox
And play the Truck Drivin' Man


The waitress just brought me up some coffee
I thanked her, then called her again
I said that old song sure does fit me
Lord I'm a truck drivin' man

(chorus)

Well, I climbed back aboard my old semi
And then like a flash I was gone
I got them old truck wheels a rollin'
And I'm on my way to San Antone

(chorus)

later Buck Owens:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nMvKxDFMuo

The Bottle Let Me Down

The Bottle Let Me Down
written and performed by Merle Haggard

Each night I leave the barroom when it's over
Not feeling any pain at closing time
But tonight your memory found me much too sober
Couldn't drink enough to keep you off my mind

(chorus)
Tonight the bottle let me down
And let your memory come around
The one true friend I thought I'd found
Tonight the bottle let me down


I've always had a bottle I could turn to
And lately I've been turnin' every day
But the wine don't take effect the way it used to
And I'm hurtin' in an old familiar way

(chorus)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4ujMvABhkE

If Teardrops Were Pennies

If Teardrops Were Pennies (and Heartaches Were Gold)
written by - let me know! performed by Carl Smith, Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton and others

An acre of diamonds, I'd offer to you,
a solid gold mansion, an airplane or two
This whole world would be yours to have and to hold
If teardrops were pennies and heartaches were gold

(chorus)
If teardrops were pennies and heartaches were gold
I'd have all the riches my pockets would hold
I'd feel oh so wealthy with treasures untold
If teardrops were pennies and heartaches were gold

The tears that have fallen, won't buy you a thing
The heartaches you've caused me won't pay for a ring
The love that I wanted would not have gold
If teardrops were pennies and heartaches were gold

(chorus)

Carl Smith - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvPk1JbBS4U
Porter & Dolly - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LertAlqDFGk

I Can't Stop Loving You

I Can't Stop Loving You
written and performed by Don Gibson

(chorus)
I can't stop loving you, I've made up my mind
To live in memory of the lonesome times
I can't stop wanting you, it's useless to say
So I'll just live my life in dreams of yesterday


Those happy hours, that we once knew,
though long ago, they still make me blue
They say that time, heals a broken heart
But time has stood still since we've been apart

(chorus)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efODuZTge4g

Dim Lights, Thick Smoke

Dim Lights, Thick Smoke
written by Rose Lee Maphis, performed by Joe and Rose Lee Maphis - 1959

(chorus)
Dim lights, thick smoke, and loud, loud music
Is the only kind of life you'll ever understand
Dim lights, thick smoke and loud, loud music
You'll never make a wife to a home-loving man

A home and little children mean nothing to you
A house filled with love and a husband so true
You'd rather have a drink with the first guy you meet
And the only home you'll know is the club down the street

(chorus)

A drinking and dancing to a honky tonk band
Is the only kind of life you'll ever understand
Go out and have your fun, you think you've played it smart
I'm sorry for you and your honky tonk heart

(Chorus)

Check out those drums!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2otguujX_E

Don't Let Me Cross Over

Don't Let Me Cross Over
written by Penny Jay, performed by Carl and Pearl Butler

I'm tempted my darlin' to steal you away
Don't let me cross over, stay out of my way
'Cause you know that I love you and I'm not the stealin' kind
But I'm faced with heartache at love's cheating line

(chorus)
Don't let me cross over love's cheating line
You belong to another and can never be mine
I know one step closer would be heaven divine
Don't let me cross over love's cheating line

I've tried to forget you but what else can I do
When your eyes keep saying that you want me too
And I know if I lose you not a dream will I have left
I don't want to cheat dear, but I can't help myself

(chorus)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kosNroVg_GA

Jambalaya

Jambalaya
written and performed by Hank Williams Sr., 1952

Goodbye Joe, me gotta go, me oh my oh
Me gotta go pole the pirogue down the bayou
My Yvonne, the sweetest one, me oh my oh
Son of a gun, we'll have big fun on the bayou

(chorus)
Jambalay, the crawfish pie and filet gumbo
'Cause tonight I'm gonna see

my ma chers amie-0
Pick guitar, fill fruit jar and be gay-oh
Son of a gun, we'll have big fun on the bayou

Thibodeaux, Fontaneaux, the place is buzzin'
Kinfolk come to see Yvonne by the dozen
Dress in style, go hog wild, me oh my oh
Son of a gun, we'll have big fun on the bayou

(chorus)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnKOVPXhlnE

Walking the Floor Over You

Walking the Floor Over You
written and performed by Ernest Tubb, 1941

You left me and you went away
You said that you'd be back in just a day
You've broken your promise, and you left me here alone
I don't know why you did dear but I do know that you're gone

(chorus)
I'm walking the floor over you
I can't sleep a wink that is true
I'm hoping and I'm praying as my heart breaks right in two
I'm walking the floor over you


Now someday you may be lonesome too
Walking the floor is good for you
Just keep right on walking, and it won't hurt you to cry
Remember that I love you and I will the day I die

(chorus)

live on the Opry in at least the late 1950s, with Kitty Wells looking beautiful in the background!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCFVR7cPbbA

The Race Is On

The Race Is On
-written by Don Rollins, performed by George Jones

I feel tears wellin' up,cold and deep inside
Like my heart's sprung a big break,
And a stab of lonliness sharp and painful
That I may never shake
You might say that I was takin' it hard
Since you wrote me off with a call
But don't you wager that I'll hide the sorrow
When I break right down and bawl

(chorus)
Well the race is on

Here comes pride up the backstretch
heartaches are goin' to the inside
My tears are holdin' back

They're tryin' not to fall
My heart's out of the running,

true love's scratched for another's sake
The race is on and it looks like heartaches
And the winner loses all


One day I ventured in love, never once suspectin'
What the final result would be
How I lived in ear of wakin' up each mornin'
And findin' that you're gone from me
There's ache and pain in my heart
For today was the one I hated to face
Somebody new came up to win her
And I came out in second place

(chorus)

here's the hit record !
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6okqsgJbRg

Your Cheatin' Heart

Your Cheatin' Heart
-written and peformed by Hank Williams Sr., 1952

Your cheatin' heart will make you weep
You'll cry and cry,and try to sleep
But sleep won't come,the whole night through
Your cheatin heart, will tell on you

(chorus)
When tears come down, like falling rain
You'll toss around, and call my name
You'll walk the floor, the way I do
Your cheatin' heart, will tell on you


Your cheatin' heart, will pine some day
And crave the love you threw away
The time will come when you'll be blue
Your cheatin' heart, will tell on you

(chorus)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rvLeCMTofE

I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry

I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry
-written and performed by Hank Williams Sr., 1949

Hear that lonesome whippoorwill,
He sounds too blue to fly
The midnight train is whinin' low
I'm so lonesome I could cry

I've never seen a night so long
When time goes crawling by
The moon just went behind a cloud
To hide its face and cry

Did you ever see a robin weep
When leaves began to die?
That means he's lost the will to live
I'm so lonesome I could cry

The silence of a falling star
Lights up a purple sky
And as I wonder where you are
I'm so lonesome I could cry

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OreFuVSByE

Cryin' My Heart Out Over You

Cryin' My Heart Out Over You
written by Carl Butler, performed by both Jim Eanes and Carl Butler

Off somewhere the music’s playing soft and low
And another holds the one that I love so
I was blind I could not see, that you meant the world to me
But like a fool I stood and watched you go

(chorus)
Now I’m crying my heart out over you
Those blue eyes now they smile at someone new
Ever since you went away, die a little more each day
Cause I’m crying my heart out over you

Each night I climb the stairs up to my room
It seems I hear you whisper in the gloom
I miss your picture on the wall, and your footsteps in the hall
While I’m crying my heart out over you

(chorus)

performed here by Flatt & Scruggs - it's a little different than the country hit, but closer in feel to the original than the Ricky Skaggs hit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZH8W6cSKxi0

Tennessee Waltz

Tennessee Waltz
written by Pee Wee King and Redd Stewart, performed by Patti Page

I was dancin' with my darlin' to the Tennessee Waltz
When an old friend I happened to see
I introduced her to my loved one, and while they were dancin'
My friend stole my sweetheart from me.

I remember the night and the Tennessee waltz
Now I know just how much I have lost
Yes, I lost my little darlin' the night they were playing
The beautiful Tennessee Waltz.

I remember the night and the Tennessee Waltz
Now I know just how much I have lost
Yes, I lost my little darlin' the night they were playing
The beautiful Tennessee Waltz

performed here by Patsy Cline:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRNdap-ioNM

Sing Me Back Home

Sing Me Back Home
written and performed by Merle Haggard -1967

The warden led a prisoner down the hallway to his doom
I stood up to say good-bye like all the rest
I heard him tell the warden just before he reached my cell
Let my guitar playing friend do my request

(chorus)
Sing me back home with a song I used to hear
Make my old memories come alive
Then take me away and turn back the years
Sing me back home before I die


I recall last Sunday morning, a choir from across the street
Came to sing a few old gospel songs
And I heard him tell the singers, There's a song my mama sang
Could I hear it once before you move along?

(chorus)
(Won't you...)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zN5d4TY-wHM

Heartaches By The Number

Heartaches by the Number
Written by Harlan Howard. Performed by Ray Price, 1959.

Heartache number one was when you left me,
I never knew that I could hurt this way,
And heartache number two was when you came back again,
You came back and never meant to stay

(Chorus)
Now I've got heartaches by the number

Troubles by the score
Every day you love me less

Each day I love you more
Yes, I've got heartaches by the number

A love that I can't win
But the day that I stop counting

That's the day my world will end

Heartache number three was when you called me
And said that you were coming back to stay
With hopeful heart I waited for your knock on the door
I waited but you must have lost your way

(Chorus)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AekMuTAjB0A

You just gotta hear this...

There are some songs that everyone should know. Especially if they love singing early country music. I'm gonna post the lyrics for them here, along with the songwriter's name, the name of the artist who made it famous, and hopefully a link to the song. If I can't find the original version, I'll pick one as close to as it as possible.

If you love this music as much as me, you should come to Early Country Music week at the Augusta Heritage Center, in Elkins, West Virginia. For a week straight, you can learn to sing and play this complex, beautiful and exciting music from some masters. The great Ginny Hawker is coordinating the week, and she's lined up an exciting week of instructors. I will be helping Ginny out during the week, and will take up residency on the porch of Halliehurst mansion, singing the old songs as late into the night as I can manage. Enjoy!