Original subtitles

Pack up all your dishes

make note of all good wishes

and say goodbye to the landlord for me

son of a bitch has always bored me

throw out them L.A. papers and that

moldy box of vanilla wafers

adios to all this concrete

gonna get me some dirt road back streets

[h can just get off of this L.A. freeway

without gettin' killed or caught

I'll be down the road in a cloud of smoke

to some land I ain't bought, bought, bought

and this here's to you old skinny Dennis

only one I think I will miss

I can hear that old bass singin'

sweet and low like a gift you're bringin'

play it for me one more time now

got to give it all we can now

I believe everything you're sayin'

just you keep on, keep on playin'

[H can just get off of this L.A. freeway

without gettin' killed or caught

I'll be down the road in a cloud of smoke

to some land I ain't bought, bought, bought

[h can just get off of this L.A. freeway

without gettin' killed or caught

I'll be down the road in a cloud of smoke

to some land I ain't bought

Yeah.

Little loose.

Give me something for level as soon as you get ready.

All right.

Seems like... seems like the tempo before.

Yeah.

I'm gonna be doin' it in a.

Why don't you run it down?

We can overdub some harp.

That's what the studio's for.

Bunch of opportunities to get ridiculous.

Which one of them?

Don't know..

See what Brent's got.

See what Brent's got.

Well...

Y'all ready to pick, boys?

- Yeah. - Ready.

Let's see what I've got.

Larry, what's the song title?

- “Ohoopee river bottomland." - All right.

Uh, sometimes my tunes

bear a little explanation.

So, uh, but there's enough on the front for a-

you think there are some people

that don't know where the ohoopee river is?

There might be a few.

I wonder if there's anybody in the world

who doesn't know where the ohoopee river is.

You can jump across it.

Hello, Larry.

It's a Georgia gator hole.

Check the tune on guitars.

That one.

Sounds like an a.

Okay, that sounds good.

It's really just a three-pattern, this, uh...

Okay, what's your intro, 11-11,11-11?

Yeah, yup, 11-11, let's see.

No, the intro's gonna be

five,

five, four.

Eleven.

I don't know, I think we really ought to wing it along once.

Run it down, and see what we've got.

Let's do... your tasties are tasty anyway.

Do somethin' with that.

Mm-hmm

it's about a little river in South Georgia

where my family's been for

couple hundred years makin'

generations and sippin' whiskey, I guess.

Yeah, now we'll do the four-five twice

out of the five-four here.

Met a few people that's friends of mine

mostly Utah's been unkind

salt lake city can do without me

there's some folks in Georgia that care a little 'bout me

I'm leaving for home as soon as I can, lord,

to the ohoopee river bottomland

down to a five.

Back to the one.

Five.

Now I want you to vamp out here at the end of one.

We'd have to really count that up,

but yeah, that's fine, somethin' like...

Can you put me down in the phones a little bit?

Same here.

On bass.

Being a group thing, if you have any licks to...

But I'm not a maker of licks.

The song's not... It's not a lick song anyway.

It's a groove.

There's a groove, and it got a little better,

it's like hittin' first, second, third, fourth gear.

Bass kicks in with a full lick instead of a, uh,

one every four.

Then, when you jump in, and then when

the drum does second and third,

and you can become high gear.

If you want, yeah.

- Y'all wanna run one? - Sure!

This is the hooker right here.

One, two, one, two, three, four...

Mm-hmm

Mm-hmm

this low-rent land has turned to sand

and I done stood 'bout all I can, I'm ieavin'

I'm ieavin'

that one really hurts me, uh.

Okay, less guitar, hold on a second.

- Hey, that was cookin' though. - It was good.

I think that's where the groove belongs.

We still rollin'?

Yeah, we can, uh, hold on one second.

We're adjusting a few mics around here.

Okay.

Hey, would you teach me that later?

- It's a lightning lick groove. - I know it!

Oh, something wrong

somethin' wrong, lightning

I know it just can't be all them good things I done

That's all right, I want you to remember

I'm my mama's seventh son

Get the ionesomest sound, yeah.

- As a matter of fact... - Good lonesome campfire type.

Yeah, yeah, 'cause he's on a highway by himself

tryin' to get 2,800 miles.

Okay, okay in the studio, can...

Is it possible to, uh,

just give me a little bit more echo, send...

- Mm-hmm. - The last verse?

Make it sound a little further away?

- Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. - All right.

- Okay. - That's good.

Y'all say when now.

Yeah, go ahead and roll it, Brent.

- All right, sit tight. - That sounds good...

One, two, one, two, three, four...

Mm-hmm

this low-rent land has turned to sand

and I done stood 'bout all I can, I'm ieavin'

I'm ieavin'

papa, he said "good luck, son

try to remember there's always one you can turn to

when you need to

mama, fix the boy some ham and hoe cakes

and dry your eyes 'cause you knew one day

he'd make his own way

quick as he can, lord

from the ohoopee river bottomland

mm-hmm

farmhouse ieanin' and the barn is rottin'

and my back is bent from choppin' cotton in macon

I'm achin'

box and pine and croppin' tobacco with a wore out mule

and the no count tractor quit now

this is it, man

land has brought me pain and sorrow

trailway's comin' through tomorrow, I'm ieavin'

from here as soon as I can, lord

from the ohoopee river bottomland

Two years gone been on my own

my belly told me the money's gone in Reno

Reno

bright, rich town with the city sound

everybody tellin' me to lay your money down, boy

get your bet down, boy

them that's got is them that's gettin'

and them that wins is them that's bettin'

I'm ieavin', a little closer to home

if! Can, lord

back toward the ohoopee river bottomland

mm-hmm

mm-hmm

a hot dry highway, Utah byways

a semi stopped and he's headin' my way

thank you

oh, thank you.

Driver said "son, I just had to ask

did you find yourself a greener pasture?"

No, sir

I said no, sir.

Met a few people that's friends of mine

most of Utah's been unkind

salt lake city can do without me

there's some folks in Georgia that care a little 'bout me

I'm ieavin'

for home as soon as I can, lord

to the ohoopee river bottomland

To the ohoopee river bottomland

The ohoopee river bottomland

mm-hmm

Oh, hell yeah.

Breaker, how 'bout a westbound, you got eastbound iookin'.

He said he ain't never seen nobody come by here that slow.

The nine seven marker now in a brown wrapper.

Breaker 1-9.

Yeah, go ahead breaker.

Yeah, this is the rhinestone cowboy.

I'm iookin' for a front door.

I'm eastbound on this 40.

I'm up here by this old chicken Coop

going to Nashville, Tennessee.

Can I get me a front door up there somewhere?

10-4, David, this is the 1mm,

the Travis Lee, out of the music city.

You got a clean bill of health all the way home, David.

Okay, I sure appreciate it, we're tryin' to get in up there.

We gotta go play at the Tennessee state prison,

and, uh, I was supposed to be there at 3:00,

so I wanna try to hook it on up there.

10-4, rhinestone, you're iookin' good.

Shake it on, baby.

I had some people in here from New York the other day,

two boys.

He had his guitar in hock,

and I went up there and got it out

so he'd come here and play music.

And so far, we got him a job and stuff,

got him goin', and he's,

he's doin' pretty good now in the roofin' business,

but he wanted to be in the music business,

but he's not.

'Course people is iookin'

for progress everyday,

but I believe that the old-time flavor

has really come out of your country music, and so on,

by movin' that show into a modern house

because in the old grand ole opry buildin' up here,

it was so countrified in there.

You know, kinda like us old folks is.

We like to remember what we grewed up with.

And the grand ole opry is growed up,

was in itself, it growed up to be a country music place.

Now they've got out there and got modern,

and it just don't seem right to me to see 'em

on their Saturday night... Saturday evenin' TV show.

It don't seem like the music's as good to me

at their new place.

I'd go up there, and them stars would just

come out in the back,

run in there and get 'em a beer,

get 'em whatever they wanted

before they had to go back on the air,

and, uh,

they are kinda home folks.

Now it kinda seems like they a little bit snobbish.

The ones that I know now seems like they

a little bit snobbish.

They get to fightin' over the swimmin' pool.

They get to fightin' each other,

and all that kinda stuff.

They didn't used to have that

whenever they had the old opry house.

It's like Roy acuff,

all he has now to live on is a name.

That's all he has to live on.

These fellas here's comin' up,

and they are givin'...

Well, somethin' like my grandchildren

that's comin' up in this world.

They are givin' my grandchildren

somethin' like we look back to Roy acuff for.

We look back to him, and like we look to Johnny cash,

and so on, forth.

To my opinion, Johnny cash is, uh,

he's run outta his...

He's done shot his wad.

I believe that Johnny cash has done already shot his wad.

I'd like to introduce myself.

I'm, uh... excuse me... I'm townes Van zandt,

and this is my dog Geraldine here.

Geraldine, come here, Geraldine.

Good dog!

Back out here in the light.

Good dog.

No, don't take her off.

Sure.

Danny.

Okay.

Now this is my girlfriend, Cindy, here.

Smile at the camera.

Okay, now,

we're gonna first walk around

to the backyard.

- Would you like a drink? - No, thank you.

I'll have one.

- Would you hold the gun? - No.

Don't ever aim a gun at a caged animal.

Don't ever aim a gun at a caged animal.

Okay, now.

That dog was hurt and run over by a car.

Hi, Zack, you want me to throw a rock for ya?

Let's, uh,

come on around here to the back.

This is a... this is one of the first oaks

ever born on this whole lot.

It's 42 feet up to there.

I got an intercom up there.

I can order Cindy around 'till she unplugs me.

- Goddammit, townes. - Which is about...

It don't take too long, usually.

Townes, you just missed a good shot

with the dog iookin' right at the chickens, man.

The black dog.

- Oh, that big black dog? - Well, he ran off by now,

but he was sittin' right there iookin' at 'em.

- That big, black dog? - Yeah.

Man, I'm gonna...

Aw, little Smith and little Wesson.

Say hello to the folks, Smith.

These are actually, uh,

champion white buf chickens,

white buf, b-u-f, like buffalo.

This was a opossum was tryin' to get him,

but, uh, that's all we got left.

The old dog got him, just came up there,

and just kinda nipped him right off there.

It was either that or a midget, hungry midget.

I've raised these rabbits for about three years now,

I've, like, uh,

made my motto "the bigger the bunnier.“

it's pretty funny, but I'll tell ya what's funnier,

the better.

See, the bigger the better.

Right? And, uh,

I want y'all to follow me over here,

and I'm gonna show you one of these holes.

I call 'em...

Holes.

Some people call 'em Burrows.

They're just the entrance to Burrows.

Follow me over here, it's not very far.

Here's one.

I'm talkin' 'bout some big rabbits.

Are you hip?

They're, like, as big as a pig, easy as big as a pig.

This is their latest one.

They drink some.

Come over here and look at this one.

We had to close this one up

'cause of the state, the state said close it up.

I don't blame 'em, really, gettin' too, uh...

Now, see, I'm serious.

They started burrowin' under here, and, uh...

Get this off me.

Get this off me!

Somethin's got my leg!

It's got my leg!

Then I also played with the gully jumpers,

Paul warmack and his gully jumpers.

That's been back,

oh, around '37 and '38.

That's been, oh, many moons ago,

but I, but I played with 'em.

It's been years ago.

Then I also played with old uncle Dave

from 193...

1937 until 1941.

And, uh,

we recorded, uncle Dave and I,

for Columbia records.

We had to go to Charlotte, north Carolina

from Nashville.

We had quite a time, you know.

We gettin' up there... Uncle Dave, you know,

he'd want his toddy time, you know.

He carried the little leash, you know,

where he carried his pine in,

and I recall that's the first time

that I ever rode a Pullman train, you know,

where I had a berth to sleep in.

Why, I felt like I was in

some kind of a big kingdom, or something, you know,

because I lived in a low-rent housing project.

What'd you do whenever uncle Dave had to have his little

- toddy time, what'd you do? - Oh, he said toddy time,

we all had toddy time,

and I recall two very distinctly.

You know, if he give you a drink out of his bottle

before toddy time,

why he'd expect you the next day to repay that.

And you had to give him your

toddy time drink, you know,

'cause he didn't wanna be beat out of anything.

- We had better. - I was gonna say, I don't know.

Then I'll have you castrated.

You, you, you put some of that...

Yeah, that's enough.

- New year's Eve's blues. - This whore here

isn't worth a damn, is it?

I tell you what we're gonna do here, if you don't care.

Let's do them “doctor blues“

on new year's day because hey, you know something?

We both of us need a doctor today.

Both of us need one!

What is that, them "doctor blues"?

This is a lovely little song entitled

"I'd rather be sunburned on my vacation

than vaccinated on my weekend."

- Now, what did you say? - I said the “doctor blues."

"The doctor's blues," that's it, well, here we go!

Now get up on this table

pull off that gown

raise up that right leg, let the left one down

pull off them stockin's, the silk underwear

the doctor's gonna cut your mama lord knows where

say, doc, what did you take outta me?

I feel mighty bad

you lay real still and I'll tell ya just a minute

now here's what the doctor took out of you

four monkey wrenches

two horseshoes

pair of old britches and a bale of hay

your ribs were kinda loose, son.

They moved about.

If I hadn't sewed you up everything would fell out

so iput in new tubes

tied up exhaust

And that old-time feelin'

comes and goes in the rain

like an old man with his checkers

dyin' to find a game

that old-time feelin '

plays for beer in bars

like an old-time blues picker

who don't recall who you are

And that old-time feelin'

limps through the night on a crutch

like an old soldier wondering

if he's paid too much

that old-time feelin '

rocks, and spits, and cries

like an old lover rememberin'

the girl with the clear blue eyes

Let's do that break over again.

And that old-time feelin'

goes sneakin' down the hall

like an old gray cat in winter

keepin' close to the wall

Ain't that good?

Yeah.

Give you some money, and then give you

money rod finally to find the money.

Where's the money?

Well, I'm fixin' to interview uncle Seymour Washington,

Seymour Washington from Austin, Texas.

Unc, you had a birthday lately, right?

- Twelfth of July. - July 12th.

Twelfth of July,

you were 36?

Seventy-nine.

Born 1896.

1896, uh, horseshoer

- all your life, right? - I'm a horseshoer,

beginner blacksmith.

You were called the walkin' blacksmith,

- ain't that right? - That's what I was called.

Nicknamed walkin' blacksmith.

- 'Cause, uh... - I didn't have any

transportation, I had to catch the bus,

and then wait for people to pick me up on the ranch,

carry me to the ranch.

Dripping Springs was my big headquarters.

Dripping Springs, buda, and blanco.

- But you lived here, right? - Lived here, but I'd go out

up on the bus to those towns,

and they'd carry me to the ranch.

And I got a knack to handlin' stock, any kinda stock.

In other words, some men go up to a horse to shoe him,

and they go up there cussin' him and kickin' him in the side,

and jerkin' him to make him stand still,

but you wanna go up to a horse's head first

and pet him on the neck and scratch him.

And I don't care how bad and rough he is,

he'll soon understand that you wanna be his friend.

And you go on and ease with him and handle him careful.

And one you get him shod,

he'll always know what you wanna do

when you start to work on him.

If you put the shoe on correctly,

the outside of the hoof is where you put your nail.

It's just like cuttin' your fingernails.

If you cut your fingernail down too deep there,

you got a crippled sore finger.

If you stick a nail inside of this coronary band,

and go into the quick,

and drive it in there, you get blood, and besides,

you quick him, and the horse is lame for a long time.

Probably may go into lockjaw.

So, it's very technical.

Always keep doin' somethin'.

If it ain't much, do a little.

And don't never forget to get down on your knees

and pray to god and thank him

for the time that he's given you on earth.

And from there, go on and talk to the lord

just like you'd talk to us humans on earth.

Live careful and eat three times a day,

and eat common, plain food, soul food, like beans,

turnip Greens, and cornbread.

Drink the best of bourbon whiskey.

People condemn whiskey, but they have no right to.

Really?

Because when god created the heaven and earth,

he created all things.

He also created barley, rye,

and if he didn't think that was good for man,

he wouldn't let those things grow.

- Hallelujah! - Really!

Amen!

- Amen! - But,

he also created cattle of the fields,

and birds of the air, and food for us to subsist on,

but he didn't mean for us to eat so much of it

until it was detrimental to us,

would make us sick.

The same thing applies to drinkin' whiskey,

or beer, or anything you drink.

You don't have to drink a barrel of whiskey

because you see a barrel sittin' there.

Drink a little bit of it, then stop.

And ask god to give you

- the knowledge... - Maybe I should interject

somethin' here, I've seen unc drink until he,

he had to be carried,

he had to be carried from the other side of his yard

and put in to bed,

and it didn't take no barrel of whiskey either.

But now then, on the other hand,

accordin' to Mr. Van zandt's statement,

he have also seen me sit down where there's a lot of whiskey,

like we've got whiskey here now,

but he didn't see me drink all of it.

I will drink some and walk away from it.

And he's also felt kinda embarrassed

because he's offered me whiskey,

and I didn't want it, and he'd ask me

was I angry with him.

I wasn't angry.

I just didn't want no more whiskey.

This is the first song I ever wrote about him.

Is it?

I had no idea.

Well, sometimes I don't know where

this dirty road is takin' me

sometimes I can't even see the reason why

I guess I'll keep a-gamblin'

lots of booze and lots of ramblin'

it's easier than just a-waitin' 'round to die

well, one time, friends, I had a ma

this is my favorite song of townes'.

I even had a pa

he beat her with a belt once 'cause she cried

she told him to take care of me

she headed down to Tennessee

oh, it's easier than just a-waitin' 'round to die

Well, I come 0' age and I found a girl

in a tuscaloosa bar

and she cleaned me out and hit it on the sly

I tried to kill the pain

I bought some booze and hopped a train

seemed easier than just a-waitin' around to die

Then a friend said he knew

where some easy money was

we robbed a man and brother did we fly

they told her to take care of me

they drug me back to Tennessee

and that's two long years a-waitin' around to die

oh, but now I'm outta prison

I got me a friend at last

he don't drink or steal or cheat or lie

well, his name's codeine

he's the nicest thing I've seen

and together we're gonna wait around and die

well, together we're gonna wait around

that's beautiful.

Grandpa, I been thinkin' 'bout you lately

Wondering if you'd found your peace of mind

I'd guess you'd be proud to know your grandson

never crossed the Mason-Dixon line

I still sing the old songs that you taught me

I still pray to Jesus now and then

just like you, I wish that he would save me

to see the day the south would rise again

Daddy wore his purple heart so proudly

long before I had turned into a man

buried with our flag acrossed his casket

I was still too young to understand

I still sing the old songs that you taught me

and I still pray to Jesus now and then

and just like you, I wish that he would save me

to see the day the south would rise again

grandpa, I been thinkin' 'bout you lately

Well, baby says she'd really love a party

we'll get some friends together feelin' fine

well, any friend of mine is worth his habit

a belly full of baby's bluebird wine

and it's all right now

I just hit my stride

right off the bat, lord, I'm drunk on bluebird wine

yes, it's all right now

I just hit my stride

the party just started, lord,

and I'm drunk on bluebird wine

Well, baby showed me some different ways of thinkin'

like how to spend my evenin' here at home

listenin' to that music on the radio

drinkin' all the bluebird we can hold

and it's all right now

I just hit my stride

right off the bat, lord, I'm drunk on bluebird wine

yes, and I'm all right now

I just hit my stride now

party just started, lord, and I'm drunk on bluebird wine

sit down, all right now

I just hit my stride

right off the bat, lord, I'm drunk on bluebird wine

Hey, rhinestone?

You got him, come on.

Where'd y'all work last night?

We was in Dallas, Texas.

Dallas, Texas?

Yeah, 10-4.

Have a pretty good turn out?

Yeah, we was with, uh, Willie Nelson.

There was 8,000 people there.

Oh, 10-4 on the big Willie.

Yeah, it was pretty crazy.

I'm ridin' down

by your shack today

Lord, I've worked

all out in your cotton fields

lord, I worked

all out in your cotton fields

worked so hard I thought

it was unreal

yeah, but I worked

all out in your cotton fields

Alabama highway

Take me on

to the moonlight

toward the day

turn supernatural

take me to the stars and let me play

I wanna be free

Alabama highway

Oh, well, I've loved you

I've loved you, dixieland

yes, I loved you

I've loved you, dixieland

wonderin' why you never give me

a helpin' hand

'cause I've loved you

yeah, I've loved you, dixieland

Alabama highway

Take me on

'neath the moonlight toward the day

turn supernatural

take me to the stars and let me play

I wanna be free

Alabama highway

Look, they've got grooves in them.

So I'll just go ahead and level the fingerboard, okay.

You're the doctor.

You sure I never worked on this guitar?

- You might have. - Man, that's exactly the way

- I fix shit. - You might have,

I bought it in Austin.

Whose was it?

Roland stock had it.

You know Roland, used to own the string shop?

- Yeah. - He had it.

I got all my stuff ripped off about last January.

And uh, he sold me that.

He gave me a real good deal on it.

It was one of his closet guitars.

Far out.

Boy, it's a good guitar.

That's the only guitar I've had for any length of time.

This is the part that's hard to watch

for the guitar owner.

That's one of the nice things about bone

is that it... good solid bone is like working ivory.

It's really consistent and you can judge it just right.

That's why people, all the Chinese and everybody,

carved ivory.

Bone's like, you know, not as good as ivory obviously

but better than wood.

Dammit, I've already cut this too short.

Okay.

You need water soluble glue

so you can repair it without tearing the wood up.

You just wet it, melts

and then you can repair stuff.

So one of the marks of really fine instruments

is it's not put together with some sort of...

Insoluble glue.

'Cause then you can't take the fingerboard off

and straighten the neck or do... you know.

You wind up with...

Something that doesn't do anything.

That's the whole thing about guitars.

That's why I like them.

When you come to the subtleties of them

you can't really count on any kind of mathematics

or you can count on mathematics as far as a scale's concerned

but once it gets down to making them play right,

every one's different.

You know, they're like really unique things.

So you wind up treating every one different

and then working on them, you don't get bored.

Which is one of my main aims.

Okay, now.

Bridge pins.

What'd I do with them?

There.

All right.

That looks just about right to me already.

Here you go.

All right.

Hit me that string right there.

Okay.

Hit me that next one.

I'm going down to Austin, Texas

I'm going down to save my soul

get that barbecue and chili

eat my fill and come back home

I'm gon' take my baby with me

we gon' have a high old time

we gon' eat till we get silly

sho' do make a beer taste fine

oh my, mama, ain't that Texas cookin' somethin'

oh my, mama, it'll stop yo' belly and backbone bumpin'

oh my, mama, ain't that Texas cookin' good

oh my, mama, eat it every day if I could

I know a place that got fried okra

beat anything I ever saw

I know a woman cook cabrito

it must be against the law

we gon' get a big old sausage

big old plate of ranch style beans

I could eat the heart of Texas

we're gon' need some brand newjeans

oh my, mama, ain't that Texas cookin' somethin'

oh my, mama, it'll stop yo' belly and backbone bumpin'

oh my, mama, ain't that Texas cookin' good

oh my, mama, eat it every day if I could

oh my, mama, ain't that Texas cookin' somethin'

oh my, mama, it'll stop yo' belly and backbone bumpin'

oh my, mama, ain't that Texas cookin' good

oh my, mama, eat it every day if I could

Now, nothing too exciting ever happened at Charlie's

except when Harvey came in.

Harvey was a prominent, devout, deeply committed,

totally involved, commode-hugging drunk.

He dealt mainly in small numbers.

He'd steal hubcaps off peterbilt diesels

at the a&w root beer parking lot

and fence them at the western auto store.

He would dynamite catfish in copious commercial quantities

in the little econlockhatchee river

and sell them in bulk to Howard Johnsons for scallops.

Cut 'em out with a copper tube.

But he was chiefly celebrated among the populace

of our community for having imported

into our thankful midst a young woman

of sporting morality.

An unconscionable aesthete by the name of marita

who had been drummed out of high-rolling society

in phenix city, Alabama,

after her health card had been punched so many times

it disappeared into thin air.

And this marita considered herself an interpretress

of the modern dance.

And io, whenever the dulcet and mellifluous tones

of miss Peggy Lee were heard to resonate upon the wurlitzer,

singing that grand old American standard “fever,"

marita would lose herself in an engaging series

of peregrinations, pirouettes, and bumps and grinds

calculated to leave even the most diffident of observers

fraught with horn.

On this particular night, Harvey and marita

and a Randy retinue of rednecks

came stomping into Charlie's.

All the local good ol' boys

are bellied up the bar, snapping the suspenders

on their big dads,

their left hands upraised in that fervid type

of monodigital articulation

which bespeaks an argument in progress

about the relative merits of post hole digging attachments

for John deere vis-a-vis

international harvester tractors.

They turn about and beheld the entry of Harvey and marita

and in a great man-swarmed gaggle

of arcadian underachievers,

they slewed crabwise over the polished floor

of that gaming establishment,

stoking the juke with legal tender

in such a manner that Peggy Lee's “fever“

played 92 times.

And marita so lost herself in a transcendental evocation

of her timeless art, struggling gamely as it were

up the olympiad of her sensibility,

that she shucked her duds right on Charlie's terrazzo floor.

That's the second most exciting thing

that ever happened around a Turkey farm

after the great massacre of '53.

I responded to this visual phenomenon

of unslaked carnality by instantly proposing marriage

to a one-eyed waitress who happened by.

I didn't want to get into anything heavy.

I just wanted to set up light housekeeping

in a pup tent in the parking lot

before closing time.

I was out there with my borrowed ball-peen hammer

and my steel tent stakes, putting that mother

up in the asphalt.

Some fool run over my foot with a pickup truck,

emptied out his ashtray in my sleeping bag,

peed in my cook fire.

And the woman rejected me.

So I had to go home and write this damn song.

I just wanted you to know the true story

so you'd understand where art comes from.

On that night of nights, there were a mess of us

knocking around Charlie's,

scarfing up huge quantities of an appalachian ambrosia

concocted by a craven miscreant named motlow.

Who along with a handpicked group

of charcoal-filtered felons

from Moore county, Tennessee,

turns his firewater out

in what is rumored to be short supply.

Although armed with approximately eight dollars

and the address of any whiskey store,

I've never yet failed to find at least five shelves

groaning under the weight of these rare square bottles.

I'm not talking about Jim beam.

I ain't talking about Ezra Brooks,

jw dant, or George dickel.

I'm talking about Tennessee sour mash sipping whiskey.

I'm talking about Jack Daniel's Tennessee sour mash

sipping whiskey

and this is the old "black label blues.“

A cabaret on the highway

you know the time is ten till two

a pretty waitress at my table

a pretty waitress at my table

she say, "what can I do for you?"

That's just what she said now

oh, baby, I'm so lonely

and my mind is ill at ease

I need a woman to love me

mm, but if you cannot love me, then

Jack Daniel's, if you please

a whiskey and water

oh, a whiskey and water

here's to fear and pain and sorrow

Jack Daniel's, if you please

look out now

Then I called on miss Maggie gentry

you know, I fell way down upon my knees

now, Maggie darlin', I need some iovin'

oh, deep, deep down in my dark ol' soul

won't you set my mind at ease

oh, baby, ibelieve I'm gonna love you

so lay your head down across my knees

thank you, darlin'

I'm gonna kiss you, and I'll caress you

mmm, but honey, there's just one little thing

I gotta ask you for first

what's that, darlin'?

Jack Daniel's, if you please

she liked it too

whiskey and water

oh

Whiskey and water

here's to fear and pain and sorrow

Jack Daniel's, if you please

with a black label on it

it's so good to be playing

for a bunch ofjuicers again.

Sid's got the best foot in the house,

I'll tell ya that right now.

Best foot in the whole house.

Let me introduce to you this time

Mr. Mack mcgowan and his lovely wife.

She always was a little bashful.

Hope you're enjoying yourself down here, bless your heart.

Good, good to have you down here.

All right, this is Mr. Mack and his lovely wife.

With all these people I want to tell you now,

my wife has just got in from her other job

and what it amounts to her other job,

well, I wasn't there,

I don't know what it amounted to,

but I want to say this much,

it's good for all you people to be here with us

in this little old thing here

because this is where I make my day

and where I make my living for myself

and my five grandchildren and two daughters

and uh...

Who else's children we got, honey?

That's all, I hope.

Well, I've got some more somewhere.

We like to do this little thing,

a little song of my own now.

It's a little fast ditty.

When you love halfway

someone has to pay

I won't accept a point of view

let's go all the way

love me day and night

then I'll know it's right

love me till I hear you say

oh, let's go all the way

all the way

means happiness

living side by side

halfway means heartbreak

if one of us should lie

just give me a kiss

that you know I'll miss

hold me in your arms

and say oh, let's go all the way

Let's you and I pretend

our love will never end

tell me you'll be mine today

oh, let's go all the way

all the way means happiness

living side by side

halfway means a heartbreak

if one of us should lie

just give me a clue

that you love me too

hold me in your arms and say

oh, let's go all the way

oh, let's go all the way

Wonderful, Peggy.

Charlie.

Hey, hon, I didn't see you.

You're getting so tall...

How are you, good to see you.

- Hi Charlie. - Hey, babe!

How you've been?

Charlie, this is my brother's little girl.

Oh no, let's put all the Up in here.

Yeah, but I'm still gonna leave room

like enough to walk behind though.

That's about as far back as I'm gonna go.

- That's a beaut. - It's a nice fit, y'all.

I don't know if it's pheasant or peacock

- or something like that. - No, that's pheasant.

Hey! How you doing?

Good to see you, merry Christmas to you.

Pretty good if I can find me a chord here to tune up with.

That's the flood, it's not the special.

Where?

The one you're focusing right now.

- That's not the drum special. - I know it's not!

Okay!

Well, you goddamn better hurry up.

I got a strap right here.

To “Birmingham blues.“

"or"? What is this “or" shit?

Damn, they learned new song.

He learns a new song,

he used to be a star.

Which one are we gonna do, boss?

- Hello, Charlie. - Hey, Terry, how are you.

I'm good, buddy.

How you doing?

All right.

Everybody just hang on here a second.

We're gonna hook up a fiddle.

This is one of our new tunes.

This is off of nightrider and it's called “Texas."

There's a place not too far away from here

out with the cows and the lone star beer

where the iivin' and iovin' is quite all right with me

they call it Texas, it's a mighty fine place to be

runs from texarkana to El Paso

and Oklahoma out to old Mexico

and there's Houston, Dallas, Austin, and San Anton'

people in Texas sure do make you feel at home

They just want everybody to leave them alone

while they drink their whiskey and roll their own

they like their music with a little bit of southern sound

they kick up their heels every evening when the sun goes down

you can call them country and they don't care

if you don't like the way they wear their hair

you can take your like and shove 'em on up the line

people in Texas don't care if the sun don't shine

Thank you!

That's terrible.

About two years ago we had captive music

going pretty strong and uh...

People were just sort of using my name

and they uh...

A couple inmates in there sent some songs to me.

And they were sent back to them

and said we couldn't use the song or something like that.

I guess they wrote a letter to the warden

and said that if I ever came back in there

they were going to kill me, so they barred me from there for...

And I was surprised when I found out

that we were gonna there today to do a show.

Supposed to be doing a concert here

at Tennessee state prison.

All right, how many you got on there?

All right, what the head count is here.

Ten.

- Ten... counting me? - Yup.

Ten.

All right, all set.

The pink building's the woodshop

and this here is the metal shop.

They make almost all your state furniture in them two places.

And that's the school right there.

The center's operations, on the right is unit three.

On the left is unit two and up the end

you'll see another building that's unit four.

That's unit one, that's maximum security.

That's your death row and all your lockup.

They don't attend anything.

If you get in a position like I'm in a position

to talk about something and I go out there and say,

"well, the food's bad and uh..."

You know, then I'm just another jerk to them.

But if I can go out there and tell them,

you know, what I think... That I think that they need

more psychologists, that you can't have 5,000 men

and one psychologist or one psychiatrist in an institution

and to handle all these men's cases.

Because the only time you see them

is when you cause a problem,

so they can't help you.

And when luttrell was... Had this this prison here

and I came out here

and he asked me about this place here

and I said, “well," I said,

"I think your biggest problem is that

when you shut brushy mountain down

you overcrowded your prison here

and I think that you have to get something

to take the place of brushy mountain

if you can't open that back up.

But you have to have a separate place,

you know, for old timers.“

'cause old timers don't like to be around no young con.

I mean, motherfuckers in here trying to pull time,

that's what they're doing.

I just got my daddy out of prison.

I don't know whether y'all...

The last time I was here I was talking about my dad

- and he was... - He was in prison, yeah.

Whole life, yeah.

He did a life sentence

and me and my youngest brother just got...

He's been out one year and he came home for Christmas

in his first airplane.

We met him at the airport and he was...

He was scared to death, you know he...

He just... he was just biting his nails and shit but...

But I wasn't a criminal when I first went

to the boys' industrial school in Lancaster,

it was because my parents didn't want me.

You know, so they went down and said,

"well, we don't want him, you gotta do something with him.“

well, they couldn't put me in a children's home

because I had parents, so they put me in

starr commonwealth for boys in albion, Michigan.

I was there for two weeks and ran away with two older boys

that stole a car, we sat on each other's laps

and one worked the pedal and one steered.

Got home and my parents called up and turned us in.

Whoa!

Women love an outlaw I heard folks say

and I'll be an outlaw till my dying day

You know, I got a big greyhound bus out here

and there ain't nothin' out there but Cadillacs.

These guards all drive Cadillacs.

That's the truth... No, it really is.

It's the truth.

Now they told me that you all had a lot of drugs in here,

so now if they're driving Cadillacs

and you got drugs in here then there must be a connection.

So I decided that I would call the FBI up and tell them

that there was drugs in the joint

and Cadillacs in the parking lot

and I figured that the drugs and you

ought to be in the parking lot

and the Cadillacs and them ought to be in here.

Well, you know, I started sniffing

this typewriter fluid.

You know how you sniff typewriter fluid.

On the rag and everything.

And we got really, you know, pretty wasted.

Well, they got a truck that comes in

and brings guards' uniforms to the laundry, you know,

and they wash the guards' clothes.

So this guy came in with the truck and he parked it

and got out and I said "say, man, “

I'd only been here about three weeks, you know.

I said "man, the truck's still running."

The guy said, "yeah, man," so I said, "man, shit.

Let's get out of here, you know,

let's take that truck and go on.

You ain't gonna be jumping over no fence."

So we jumped in this truck,

zoom across the yard, 55 miles an hour.

Wham! Right into the gate.

Nothing happened.

Nothing happened, man.

It didn't even move, you know.

So we jumped out the truck

and we've got these little knives that we made

and we're saying "motherfucker!

Open the gate!“

he's standing there with a machine gun and laughing.

Saying, "are you guys crazy?“

"man, you better open this gate!“

with a little old knife, man. This guy's got a gun.

So they took me to the hole and kicked my ass,

you know, and transferred me to lewisburg penitentiary.

Well, I got up there and I decided,

well, man, I'm gonna be cool.

You know, I'm not gonna do nothing wrong.

I was walking in the dining hall

and I was only 18 years old at the time.

You know, I still had one of those

spit curls in my hair, you know.

Man, you know how when you walk in the dining hall it's just...

You know, everything's going on.

Man, I walked in the dining hall I heard all that shit,

I got to the door and I walked in

and all of sudden is was, swoop.

Just total silence.

I looked around, everybody was looking at me, you know.

They was looking at me like I was Marilyn Monroe.

You know.

So by the time I get to the table,

you got to your seat, you know, they seat six people at a table.

Well, the other table is full over here

and the guard's standing here.

Some guy gets up and starts talking to the guard.

"Hey, blah, blah, blah."

By the time I get to the table there's three dudes

sitting there and another dude holding my chair for me.

You know, so I sit down, I put my tray down here, you know.

And they started firing them quick.

"Where you from, whatcha doing, whatcha in here for,

where you going?" Firing them questions.

"You want any cigarettes, you need any..."

I said, "whoa, wait... man, shit. Wait a minute, man, you know."

I stayed in my cell, you know,

you didn't have to go nowhere.

I didn't go nowhere.

I stayed in my cell for three weeks.

Didn't eat, didn't go to supper or nothing.

I was scared, you know, I was 18 years old, scared.

So they come by and they had a pass,

they took me up to the warden's office

and he says, "what's wrong with you, boy?“

I said "ain't nothing wrong with me, captain.

I just don't want to go out there

with all them animals, you know."

And he said "aw, them boys ain't gonna hurt you.“

I said "okay, man."

So they put me out there in the population, you know.

The first day I was there,

there was two dudes standing over here washing their clothes

in the mop buckets, you know, and this other dude comes up

and says "say man, you got my bucket!“

dude said, "man, it's a state bucket."

He said "man, that's my bucket, man, give me my bucket!“

"get out of here, motherfucker, I'm washing my...“

"man, give me that bucket!"

Dude stabbed the dude to death right there in front of me,

man, over a state mop bucket, right.

They carried the dude out.

I said, "oh man, shit, I'm not staying here."

You know.

Two days later, I'm running across the yard.

Man, you know, I'm out there and everybody's playing football

and all of a sudden some dude just runs right by me.

Swoop!

Another dude falls down, swoop!

I look down and this dude's running with a baseball bat,

knocked this dude's head off.

I wrote a letter to my mother, I said "dear, mom.

Man, you gotta get me out of here.

I ain't never did nothing wrong in my life and you know,

whatever it is that they got me in here for,

I ain't never gonna do it again.“

well, two days later.

I was in the shower and this dude comes in and he said...

“Hey, mama."

I said, "say man, you must have me mixed up with somebody else."

He said “yeah, sure do.

But not for long."

Well, there was, you know, a mop bucket there

and I said, "look man, you know, you better leave me alone."

I was scared to death, you know.

So I ease back and I got this mop, you know.

So I said "bam!" I hit the dude on the head

and he fell on the floor and he said,

"man, I was just joking!" I said, "motherfucker! “

I found out right then that no matter how young and skinny

or pretty you are, you got the strength in your two arms

to kill a motherfucker if they fuck with you.

And ain't no one ever fucked with me since.

I want fresh tear drops from a newborn child

in a cup made in timbuktu

if you can't get that, try a stewed pole-cat

smothered with catfish brew

take the ears from a rat-tailed monkey

mixed with a spider's left eye

and make me a salad ofjungle roots from Africa

and I'll be ready to die

oh, warden

now you know just how I feel

I'll be ready to die now

just as soon as I eat my last meal

Thank you.

River, you heard my first cry as a baby

like my mom, you sang me lullabies

you knew my fishing pole

when I was eight years old

and river, you never told me lies

river, I can see you from my window

your muddy water makes me feel alone

river, you keep flowing

like you know just where you're going

but, river, will you ever take me home

river, I'm not proud of what I've done

somehow my fishing pole became a gun

through these prison bars

isee that you're still running free

but river, I've got nowhere to run

river, I can see you from my window

your muddy water makes me feel alone

river, you keep flowing

like you know just where you're going

but, river, will you ever take me home

river, will you ever take me home

Thank you very much.

When I'm dead and I'm gone

won't you carry me home

to that little white church in my daddy's hometown

lord knows I'm some kind of sinner

but I've done come this far

and it's too late for changing

when this race has been run

take me back where I came from

and let me return what I took from the ground

when this body won't carry me no further

take me home

lay me down

- Well, that's nice. - Boy, ain't that pretty?

- All right. - I'm out.

- This is the bottle. - Yes it does.

Well, if you can't do that then you can't do nothing.

I've heard ideas but he can still...

- I don't know. - I don't know either.

John, listen man.

Check into a guy by the name of John huey.

He'll blow you away.

I want... I want to try this...

Silent night

holy night

all is calm

all is bright

round yon virgin, mother and child

holy infant, so tender and mild

sleep in heavenly peace

oh, sleep in heavenly peace

silent night

holy night

Shepherds quake

in the night

round yon virgin, mother and child

holy infant, so tender and mild

sleep in heavenly peace

sleep in heavenly peace

Damn! God damn!

Oh, baby Jesus we're coming to you!

Silent night

holy night

all is good

all is bright

round yon virgin,

mother and child

holy infant, so tender and mild

sleep in heavenly peace

sleep in heavenly peace

sleep in heavenly peace

Does somebody have that on tape?

All right!