Creepy country songs

Lem Smith · Post by **Lem Smith** » 22 Jun 2007 7:26 pm

"The first Mrs. Jones" by Porter Wagoner.

Bruce Etter · Post by **Bruce Etter** » 22 Jun 2007 7:27 pm

Petr Vitous · Post by **Petr Vitous** » 23 Jun 2007 1:09 am

THE ROLLING MILLS OF MIDDLETOWN
(Tom T. Hall)
« © '72 Hallnote Music, BMI / Acuff-Rose Music, BMI »

The rolling mills of Middletown roll on roll on roll on

I knew him well old friend of mine from down Kentucky way
We had some high good times my friend back in our younger days
I knew he shouldn't marry any woman quite that wild
Then later on I learned that she had been expectin' a child
He got his job at making steel and bought himself a home
Where the rolling mills of Middletown roll on roll on roll on

Well there's money in those steel mills boys and he made quite a bit
He worked all night she shopped all day bought everything that fit
A helper on the BOF three thousand degrees at a round
His wife was just about that hot in the bars in old Middletown
Of course he was the last to know oh but listen to my song
While the rolling mills of Middletown roll on roll on roll on

One night the foreman on his turn said cool down No 2
And he told my friend to go on home as soon as he was through
He stopped into a little bar to have a good cold beer
His woman and some dayturn guy were dancing closely there
Oh I knew him well and in his mind there must have been a storm
While the rolling mills of Middletown roll on roll on roll on

They say he never spoke a word he just turned and walked away
And no one knows exactly what took place that fateful day
Some say they saw him near the tracks at furnace No 1
With heat so hot the hubs of hell would seem just barely warm
Well they never saw my friend again did he do something wrong
While the rolling mills of Middletown Ohio roll on roll on roll on
**********

From Tom T. Hall: The Storyteller (Mercury SR-61368) 1972
-----------------
Petr
http://www.lpdiscography.com/

Scott Hay · Post by **Scott Hay** » 24 Jun 2007 12:03 am

Great thread. Lem - the First Mrs. Jones is a great one.

"it's nothin' to me" - I don't know who wrote it but I have a version by Harry Johnson that's great and I've heard a few others. Excuse me if someone's already mentioned that.

how come from the mid 60's to early 70's killing your wife was just par for the course in country lyrics?

Petr Vitous · Post by **Petr Vitous** » 24 Jun 2007 12:13 am

FIRST MRS JONES
(Bill Anderson)

« © '66 Johnny Bienstock Music, BMI »

Her real first name was Betty but I'd rather just forget it
So I'll call her the first Mrs Jones
We were married in September and it lasted till November
When one day she just took out on her own

I followed her to Savannah then Mobile and then Atlanta
Every day I begged her please come home
Pretty soon I started drinking tryin' hard to keep from thinking
Just how much I loved the first Mrs Jones

It was cold and dark one morning just before the day was dawning
When I staggered from a tavern to a phone
When she picked up her receiver I said you're gonna come back or either
They're gonna be calling you the late Mrs Jones

I put a pistol in my jacket stumbled out and hailed a taxi
Told taxidriver to take me to her home
I remember walkin' proudly and everybody said that I yelled out loudly
Come on out or I'm gonna come in Mrs Jones

Then next thing I recall was walking through the forest
Lookin' for a place to hide her bones
I dug and dug for hours and then I planted flowers
Right on top of the first Mrs Jones

Did my little story scare you I can see cause I'm so near you
Little beads of persperation dot your clothes
Aren't you sorry now that you left me
Ha really now don't you wanna come go with me
After all you are the second Mrs Jones
**********

------------------------
Petr
http://www.lpdiscography.com/

Petr Vitous · Post by **Petr Vitous** » 24 Jun 2007 12:33 am

Bill Anderson wrote this great one.
The version is from his LP Get While The Gettin's Good (Decca DL-74855) recorded at Bradley's Barn with Hal Rugg excellent.

------------------------
Petr
http://www.lpdiscography.com/

Leroy Riggs · Post by **Leroy Riggs** » 24 Jun 2007 12:18 pm

"The Prisoner" -- Lefty Frizzell

Alan Rudd · Post by **Alan Rudd** » 24 Jun 2007 1:25 pm

"Miller' Cave". Especially the part about shooting them and draggin' their cheatin' skin & bones to Miller's Cave! Roger Miller's "One dyin', and a buryin'"

Cal Sharp · Post by **Cal Sharp** » 25 Jun 2007 5:28 pm

Here's a pretty sad and creepy one by Whisperin' Bill:
http://calsharp.com/three-a-m.mp3

C#

www.calsharp.com

admin · Post by **b0b** » 25 Jun 2007 6:38 pm

I heard one the other day by Johnny Paycheck. I don't know the title, but the hook at the end of each verse was, "I've got some one to kill."

Creepy!!

scott murray · Post by **scott murray** » 25 Jun 2007 9:34 pm

some great ones listed in here. Paycheck definitley wins!

"Long Black Limousine" has that morbid twist you don't see at first.

"White Satin Bed" by Buck Owens is another.

"Mendy Never Sleeps" is pretty classic too. Dolly Parton wrote it, and sang it with Porter Wagoner.

Mendy is sixteen and uncontrollable
Mendy is only a child
Mendy is in with the in-crowd
Mendy is ever so wild
Mendy's hair hangs straight and long
Mendy feels this is a must
Mini skirts and many friends and many horrors for us
Mendy finds a plenty to do but Mendy never sleeps
Mendy slips out of the house in the evening
when the sun is sinkin'
Mendy is out with the in-crowd
Mendy is smokin' and drinkin'
There's a different shine in Mendy's eyes and the color is gone from her cheeks
Mendy is a swinger but Mendy never sleeps
Mendy never sleeps and Mendy is growing weak
Mendy lies lifeless and limpid
are her eyes now, oh--
Mendy please don't go to sleep

Scott Hay · Post by **Scott Hay** » 26 Jun 2007 7:52 am

Bob - creep yes, but he was polite about it... Pardon me I've got someone to kill. Here's a Johnny Paycheck CD is a great collection of the Little Darlin Records stuff that's a must for any steel player - the same label a lot of the Lloyd Green instrumental records are on.

Click here

Alvin Blaine · Post by **Alvin Blaine** » 27 Jun 2007 11:23 am

Has anyone heard/seen Porter Wagoner's latest release?

Check out "Committed To Parkview".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNuRC7F30J8

admin · Post by **b0b** » 28 Jun 2007 6:16 am

Alvin Blaine wrote:Has anyone heard/seen Porter Wagoner's latest release?

Check out "Committed To Parkview".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNuRC7F30J8

That's great! Thanks.

I used to play in a band that did Porter's "Cold, Hard Facts of Life" - another creepy song.

Gary C. Dygert · Post by **Gary C. Dygert** » 28 Jun 2007 10:44 am

"Jeanie's Afraid of the Dark" by Dolly Parton.

Stephen Gregory · Post by **Stephen Gregory** » 28 Jun 2007 1:06 pm

Click on track 2, here: http://www.fye.com/viewproduct.htm?prod ... id=df00033

Stephen Gregory · Post by **Stephen Gregory** » 28 Jun 2007 1:14 pm

Better yet, ck. out track 15 here: http://www.juno.co.uk/products/211317-01.htm Kittel's matter of fact vocal delivery on this "creepy classic" has made it the definitive version of this classic, most versions other than Eddie Noack's are based on this arrangement.

Alvin Blaine · Post by **Alvin Blaine** » 28 Jun 2007 2:06 pm

Stephen Gregory wrote:Better yet, ck. out track 15 here: http://www.juno.co.uk/products/211317-01.htm Kittel's matter of fact vocal delivery on this "creepy classic" has made it the definitive version of this classic, most versions other than Eddie Noack's are based on this arrangement.

You need to listen to the Elvis Costello version of it.
He recorded it in '81 during the sessions that Billy Sherrill produced for him in Nashville. The LP was called "Almost Blue", but "Psycho" wasn't on the LP, it was on the flip side of the "Sweet Dreams" 45rpm. What a combination, Don Gibson's "Sweet Dreams" ballad backed with Leon Payne's murder ballad "Psycho"!

It's really hard to find that 45 anymore, but in the mid '90s they did release the Almost Blue album on CD with lots of great added live tracks from that tour. One of the tracks is an incredible live version of Elvis doing "Psycho", the CD is worth the price just for that cut.
The CD is out of print but you can still find used ones.
Almost Blue used on Amazon

Stephen Gregory · Post by **Stephen Gregory** » 28 Jun 2007 3:11 pm

I've heard Costello's, in fact he mistakenly credits Kittel as being the writer on his live version. So, obviously that is the version that influenced him including his use of the key changes on Kittel's version.

Alvin Blaine · Post by **Alvin Blaine** » 28 Jun 2007 3:49 pm

I've heard the song without the key change and it just doesn't build the tension like it does with the key change.
I do like the Live Costello version the best with all the steel work on it, and the rhythm section keeps pushing and building tension.

I don't think I've heard Eddie Noack's version.

Herbie Meeks · Post by **Herbie Meeks** » 2 Jul 2007 7:58 am

Not sure, I think the title was
" Cocane Blues "
Like,,,Early one mornin while makin my rounds
I took a shot of Cocane,and shot my woman down

HM

Gerald Ross · Post by **Gerald Ross** » 2 Jul 2007 10:56 am

Bill Monroe's creepy song:

"The Little Girl And The Dreadful Snake"

Freud anyone?

Mitch Drumm · Post by **Mitch Drumm** » 2 Jul 2007 11:13 am

Re: Jack Kittel's "Psycho"

That's forumite Frank Rogers playing steel, piano, acoustic guitar, bass, and electric guitar. The violin sounds are also done on steel. Frank was the A & R guy and producer for the local Michigan studio.

Kittel had been doing the song in his bar band in Michigan, circa 1973. At that time, the only other recorded version would have been Eddie Noack's, from the 1960s. So Jack probably either heard Noack's cut or saw someone do it live.

Jack got the studio time in trade for his work for Frank and the studio owner as a vocalist on locally-produced "soundalike" covers of then current C and W hits, sold on 8 track at convenience stores.

The original release was on Belt, but the track became known after it was leased to GRC and put out in 1974. GRC was making a little noise then with Moe Bandy.

I remember it well--I was driving through the middle of Wyoming in July 1974 and it came over the radio. The jock did not back-announce the artist or title, so I pulled off the road immediately and called the station to get the artist and title info. Ordered the record the next day and still have it, but it was never a hit. I don't think I ever heard it again on radio.

Kittel was killed in an automobile accident in September 1996, unaware that his recording was used in the Bill Murray film, "Larger Than Life".

Noack's version is good, but not as creepy. What's peculiar is that there is no indication that Leon Payne ever cut it. He did record Lost Highway, I Love You Because, and most of his other better known songs. I am wondering if perhaps he didn't write it until very late in his life, after he had quit recording?

Alvin Blaine · Post by **Alvin Blaine** » 2 Jul 2007 3:07 pm

Mitch Drumm wrote:
Noack's version is good, but not as creepy. What's peculiar is that there is no indication that Leon Payne ever cut it. He did record Lost Highway, I Love You Because, and most of his other better known songs. I am wondering if perhaps he didn't write it until very late in his life, after he had quit recording?

The song was written after Leon heard about the Charles Whitman murders. The massacre was in '66, so the song was probably written shortly after, but no one seams to know when it was written for sure. The copyright date on it is after Leon Payne died in '69. I'm guessing his daughter copyrighted it afterwards.

Noack recorded it, for K-ARK records, in '68.(before the song was copyrighted?)
Leon and Noack were label mates at Starday Records for a while. Noack was trying to make a comeback around '68 and probably asked Leon if he had any new songs that he could record.

I still haven't found the Noack version of this song. That's about the only version of the song I don't have, and it was the first recorded version of it.

Mitch Drumm · Post by **Mitch Drumm** » 2 Jul 2007 4:17 pm

Alvin:

Just as well Leon and Eddie didn't live to see this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ybHiu2FmY8

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Creepy country songs

It's nothin' to me!

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