SOS #38
Release is 3/17/2017

Lyrics:

Poor Little Darlin’
by Jimmy Dickens / Lennie Aleshire / Dale Parker / Unichappell Music INC / BMI

Don’t you hear the wolves a howlin'
Howlin' around my poor little darlin'
Don’t you hear the wolves a prowlin'
Prowlin' around you poor little darlin'

Better watch out or the wolves will get you
But you know I’ll never forget you
Don’t you hear the wolves a howlin'
Howlin' around you poor little darlin'
Howlin' around you poor little darlin'

Poor little darlin', poor little darlin', poor little darlin'

Don’t you see the snow a fallin'
Fallin around you poor little darlin'
Trappin' time and huntin’s callin'
Callin' to me my poor little darlin'

Gotta set my traps and make some money
Then I’ll buy a ring for you my honey
Don’t you see the snow a fallin'
Fallin' around you poor little darlin'
Fallin' around you poor little darlin'

Poor little darlin', poor little darlin', poor little darlin'

Can’t you hear the square dance caller
Fiddle’s a playin' and the banjo strumming
Hoot and dance and shout and holler
Winter is here and the good times are comin'

In the spring we’ll build a little cabin
Then a little family we’ll be a havin'
Can’t you hear the square dance caller
Fiddle’s a playin' and the banjo strumming
Fiddle’s a playin' and the banjo strumming

Poor little darlin', poor little darlin', poor little darlin'

Credits:

Recorded February 12, 2016 at the Butcher Shoppe
David Ferguson and Sean Sullivan engineers
Larry Atamanuik – drums, Mike Bub – bass and vocal, Shad Cobb – fiddle, Donny Herron – banjo and steel, Kathy Mattea – vocal, Tim O’Brien – guitar and lead vocal

Song notes:

This is a track from the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame release The Rhinestone Hillbilly, a tribute the late great Little Jimmy Dickens, which is out now and features performances by Bill Withers, Mollie O’Brien, Kathy Mattea, Mayf Nutter, Connie Smith, the Carpenter Ants, Charlie McCoy and many more and will soon be available at www.wvmusichalloffame.com/shophome.html.

Shad Cobb recreates bluegrass fiddle legend Red Taylor’s part from Tater’s original recording, and the rest of the band lays down a square dance friendly groove. Kathy Mattea was in the studio waiting to record her song for the tribute (A-Sleepin’ at the Foot of the Bed), so I roped her into singing along with Mike Bub and I on the refrain.

Jimmy Dickens was a born entertainer, and a fine singer adept at both novelty songs and tender ballads. I love seeing evidence of him and his humor on the backstage walls of old southern theaters. Dickens may have stood only four feet and eleven inches tall, but his autograph is always written much higher on the wall than anyone else’s. I’m sorry I never got to ask him if he used a ladder or stood on someone’s shoulders. It was my honor to work with him while recording the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame’s tribute to Blind Alfred Reed. He came to Wayne Moss’s studio one day and, between smoke breaks, nailed the vocal on Reeds Woman’s Been After Man Ever Since.

The first three Short Order Sessions releases of 2017 feature songs from West Virginia, and I’m about to release a CD with twelve more new recordings of songs from the Mountain State. Watch for the release of my new recording "Where the River Meets the Road" on March 31.