Really want to POLL various versions of “That’s How I Got to Memphis.”
― Barry "Fatha" Hines (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 24 June 2020 20:01 (three years ago) link
I don't know that much of his stuff, but i'm such a sap that "Pay No Attention to Alice" is instant waterworks for me. The way he draws out certain lines like "she maaaaaaade that apple piiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeee from a memory", delaying the payoff, is just incredible.
The whole song is 3:15 and it paints such a distinctive portrait of a 70s view of "normalized" alcoholism. The realization in the third verse that perhaps Alice is not the only alcoholic is crushing. And it is all done so clear-eyed and closely observed.
― Night of the Living Crustheads (PBKR), Wednesday, 24 June 2020 20:47 (three years ago) link
Great comments all through this thread---xxpost Sir Doug's version of "The Homecoming" is a bonus track on Acacia's import remaster of Mendocino (beware of the live thing also with that title). And--hate to pimp-ho for Amazon---it's also on The Complete Mercury Masters, in their Digital Store for 35 bucks and change (OOP CD is $399).
― dow, Wednesday, 24 June 2020 23:41 (three years ago) link
The SDQ Mercury Masters set is also on Spotify, as is Hall's Storyteller, Poet, Philosopher box from '95.
― "...And the Gods Socially Distanced" (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 24 June 2020 23:54 (three years ago) link
He has left us.https://blog.siriusxm.com/siriusxm-remembers-tom-t-hall-dead-at-85/
― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 21 August 2021 00:17 (two years ago) link
No byline, wonder if my neighbor wrote that.
― Hitsville Ukase (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 21 August 2021 02:18 (two years ago) link
The first time I ever really clicked with Tom T. Hall, who was nowhere near on my radar at that time, was in 2004, when I heard the Drive-By Truckers cover "Mama Bake A Pie (Daddy Kill A Chicken)." What an incredible writer this guy was:
People staring at me as they wheel meDown the ramp towards my planeThe war is over for meI've forgotten everything except the painThank you sir, and yes sir, it was worth itFor the ol' red, white and blueAnd since I won't be walkingI suppose I'll save some money buying shoesThe bottle hidden underneath the blanketOver my two battered legsI can see the stewardess make over meAnd ask, "Were you afraid?"I'll say, "Why no? I'm Superman"And couldn't find the phone booth quite in timeA GI gets a lot of laughsHe remembers all the funny lines
[Chorus:]Mama bake a pieDaddy kill a chickenYour son is coming home11:35, Wednesday night
[Verse 2:]Mama will be crying and daddy's gonna say"Son, did they treat you good?"My uncle will be drunk and he'll say"Boy, they doing some real great things with wood"The letter that she wrote me said, "Goodbye"She couldn't wait and lots of luckThe bottle underneath the blanketFeels just like an old friend to my touchI know she'll come and see meBut I bet she never once looks at my legsNow, she'll talk about the weatherAnd the dress she wore the July 4th paradeLord, I love her and I don't believeThis bottle's gonna get her off my mindI see here in the paperWhere they say the war is just a waste of time
― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 21 August 2021 03:00 (two years ago) link
never even occurred to me that he might still be alive. rip
― mookieproof, Saturday, 21 August 2021 03:04 (two years ago) link
No mention of “Harper Valley PTA” in this thread? R.I.P. The final verse of “I Like Beer”:
Last night I dreamed that I passed from the sceneAnd I went to a place so sublimeAw, the water was clear and tasted like beerThen they turned it all into wine
― Shallot Shortage 2021 (morrisp), Saturday, 21 August 2021 15:51 (two years ago) link
Btw, on the subject of “political songs” – this one is dense and specific to a remarkable degree.
― Shallot Shortage 2021 (morrisp), Saturday, 21 August 2021 15:56 (two years ago) link
Here you go. Bill Friskics-Warren on Tom T. https://t.co/OJbagk0WeA— David Cantwell (@dlcantwell) August 21, 2021
― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 21 August 2021 16:31 (two years ago) link
Wow, he wrote “Hello Vietnam”?
― Shallot Shortage 2021 (morrisp), Saturday, 21 August 2021 16:35 (two years ago) link
Well, I know there's a lotta big preachers that know a lot more than I do,But it could be that the good Lord likes a little pickin' too.
RIP Tom, one of my dad's favorites.
― earlnash, Sunday, 22 August 2021 01:33 (two years ago) link
― Hitsville Ukase (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 24 August 2021 02:06 (two years ago) link
Bobby Bare's is my favorite, but it's a hard song to mess up even if you try.
― Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Tuesday, 24 August 2021 03:32 (two years ago) link
Agree 100%
― Hitsville Ukase (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 24 August 2021 03:33 (two years ago) link
FUCK
https://www.tennessean.com/story/entertainment/music/2022/01/05/tom-t-hall-died-suicide-medical-examiner-autopsy/9109362002/
― Precious, Grace, Hill & Beard LTD. (C. Grisso/McCain), Thursday, 6 January 2022 16:45 (two years ago) link