For this morning different genre of music
Since I didn't have anything to read this morning
Jimmy Dean... "Big BAD John" (Original Version) 1961 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RN3exiuyQJc
I did not know there were two more songs that went along with Big John "The Cajun Queen" and "Little Bitty Big John"
Ev'ry mornin' at the mine you could see him arrive
He stood six foot six and weighed two forty five
Kinda broad at the shoulder and narrow at the hip
And everybody knew, ya didn't give no lip to Big John
Nobody seemed to know where John called home
He just drifted into town and stayed all alone
He didn't say much, he kinda quiet and shy
And if you spoke at all, he just said, "Hi" to Big John
Somebody said he came from New Orleans
Where he got in a fight over a Cajun Queen
And a crashin' blow from a huge right hand
Sent a Louisiana fellow to the Promised Land, Big John
Then came the day at the bottom of the mine
When a timber cracked and men started cryin'
Miners were prayin' and hearts beat fast
And everybody thought that they'd breathed their last, 'cept John
Through the dust and the smoke of this man made hell
Walked a giant of a man that the miners knew well
Grabbed a saggin' timber, gave out with a groan
And like a giant Oak tree, he just stood there alone, Big John
And with all of his strength he gave a mighty shove
Then a miner yelled out, "There's a light up above"
And twenty men scrambled from a would-be grave
Now there's only one left down there to save, Big John
With jacks and timbers they started back down
Then came that rumble way down in the ground
And then smoke and gas belched out of that mine
Everybody knew it was the end of the line for Big John
Now they never reopened that worthless pit
They just placed a marble stand in front of it
These few words are written on that stand
At the bottom of this mine lies a big, big man, Big John
(Big John)
Big Bad John
Sixteen Tons - Tennessee Ernie Ford - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUpTJg2EBpw
Listen while you read!
Some people say a man is made out of mud
A poor man's made out of muscle and blood
Muscle and blood and skin and bones
A mind that's weak and a back that's strong
You load sixteen tons and whattaya get?
Another day older and deeper in debt
St. Peter don'cha call me 'cause I can't go
I owe my soul to the company store
I was born one morning when the sun didn't shine
I picked up my shovel and I walked to the mine
I loaded sixteen tons of number nine coal
And the straw boss said, "Well, bless my soul"
You load sixteen tons and whattaya get?
Another day older and deeper in debt
St. Peter don'cha call me 'cause I can't go
I owe my soul to the company store
I was born one morning, it was drizzlin' rain
Fightin' and trouble are my middle name
I was raised in the Cane break by an old mama lion
Can't no high-toned woman make me walk the line
You load sixteen tons and whattaya get?
Another day older and deeper in debt
St. Peter don'cha call me 'cause I can't go
I owe my soul to the company store
If you see me comin' better step aside
A lotta men didn't, a lotta men died
One fist of iron, the other of steel
If the right one don't getcha then the left one will
You load sixteen tons and whattaya get?
Another day older and deeper in debt
St. Peter don'cha call me 'cause I can't go
I owe my soul to the company store
Burl Ives - The original recording of Ghost Riders In The Sky -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2klh2cTa_Q (Stan Jones was first I believe)
I like this version as well:
Vaughn Monroe - Riders in the Sky - 1965 concert performance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyDNnQbbkSQ
Burl Ives - I had mostly associated with Christmas songs
An old cowpoke went riding out one dark and windy day
Upon a ridge he rested as he went along his way
When all at once a mighty herd of red-eyed cows he saw
A'plowin' through the ragged skies and up a cloudy draw
Yi-pi-yi-ay, Yi-pi-yi-o
Ghost riders in the sky
Their brands were still on fire and their hooves were made of steel
Their horns wuz black and shiny and their hot breaths he could feel
A bolt of fear went through him as they thundered through the sky
For he saw the riders comin' hard and he heard their mournful cry
Yi-pi-yi-ay, Yi-pi-yi-o
Ghost riders in the sky
Their faces gaunt, their eyes were blurred, and shirts all soaked with sweat
They're ridin' hard to catch that herd but they ain't caught them yet
They've got to ride forever in that range up in the sky
On horses snortin' fire, as they ride on, hear their cry
Yi-pi-yi-ay, Yi-pi-yi-o
Ghost riders in the sky
As the riders loped on by him, he heard one call his name
"If you want to save your soul from hell a' ridin' on our range"
"Then cowboy change your ways today or with us you will ride"
"A-tryin' to catch the Devil's herd across these endless skies."
Yi-pi-yi-ay, Yi-pi-yi-o
Ghost riders in the sky
Ghost riders in the sky
