Concert Garden~

It was in a concert garden
And the fun was at its height,
And I’ll tell you boys, the wine began to flow;
When a young man in the corner
Slowly rose with hat in hand;
Said it’s surely growing late boys, I must go.
 
Chorus:
Somebody’s waiting for me.
Sombody loves’ me I know.
Somebody’s wonderin’ where I can be,
And what can be [...]

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Utah Carol~

And now my friends you’ve asked me what makes me sad and still
And why my brow is darkened like the clouds upon the hill
Run in your ponies closer and I’ll tell to you my tale
Of Utah Carol my partner and his last ride on the trail
We rode the range together and rode it side by [...]

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Heart of My Heart~

I sometimes wish I was a kid again,
Down in the old neighborhood.
Just to be with Charlie,
With little Joe and Pete,
Boy, we had a quartet that
Was mighty hard to beat!
I’d love to stand down by that cellar door,
Just to hear that quartet sing once more:
“Heart of my heart”
I love that melody.
“Heart of my heart”
Brings back a [...]

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Shanty in Old Shanty Town~

It’s the only song that Dad played and sang without any kind of introduction.  Most songs had some kind of measure to give us a hint of what was coming but not Shanty in Old Shanty Town.  Such a pretty song.
It’s only a shanty in old Shanty Town.
The roof is so slanty it touches the [...]

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No Other Love~

I’m on a song-roll.  I think my favorite memory of this song is the time when we lived in Miners Oaks on El Roblar, when they had the reel-to-reel going and Aunt Marilyn sang along.  I don’t ever remember her singing any other time.
We’ve had our stormy weather.
We’ve had our sunshine too.
We’ve shared them both [...]

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Blind Child’s Prayer~

They tell me papa that tonight
You’ll wed another bride,
And you will clasp her in your arms
Where my dear mama died.
And she will lay her graceful head,
Upon your manly chest
Where she who now lies low in death
In life’s last hours did rest.
Her name is Mary too, they say;
The name my mother wore.
Oh papa is she kind [...]

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Old Shep~

When I was a lad
And old shep was a pup,
Over hills and meadows we’d stray.
Just a boy and his dog,
We were both full of fun.
We grew up together that way.
I remember the time at the old swimming hole,
When I would have drowned beyond doubt.
But old Shep was right there-
To the rescue he came.
He jumped in [...]

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Tramp’s Heaven

Dad sang this one almost every time he played.  I remember him talking about it on the way to school one morning and pointing out the lousy theology of the song.  It seemed to dad that the tramp implied that he’d be admitted to heaven simply because he was poor and downtrodden on earth.  I [...]

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Cowboy Jack~

 I  have no idea if this is based on any kind of true story but I imagine similar things happened throughout time.  Maybe it was Soldier Claudius or Crusader Althwulf.  Whomever it was, I’m sure their sorrow was as great as the other men who regretted impulsive actions and lost a sweetheart.
He was just a lonely [...]

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Bonnie Black Bess~

Bonnie Black Bess
When fortune’s blind goddess
Had fled my abode,
And friends proved unfaithful
I took to the road;
To plunder the wealthy
And relieve my distress,
I bought you to aid me,
My Bonnie Black Bess.
No vile whip nor spur
Did your sides ever gall,
For none did you need,
You would bound at my call;
And for each act of kindness
You would me caress.
Thou [...]

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