Lucy Ann Polk Sings "Chicken Road"

REPOST FROM 11/29/06
LISTEN HERE TO ONE OF MY FAVORITE LUCY ANN POLK TRACKS

From Jerry Fielding's Decca album "Fielding's Formula" Other musicians include: Buddy Collette, Joe Howard, and Pete Candoli. From Fielding's Liner Notes:

This is a blues ballad by Joe Greene---which is to me one of the most interesting things ever written anywhere at any time by anyone. The choice of words, almost all of them, is such that it becomes more of a conversation piece than a lyric. And the fact that, as is later revealed, it is supposed to be sung by a ghost, makes it even more interesting. The ghost in this case is a warm one, not the frightening, menacing kind. I felt that the words on this were so important that I invited Lucy Ann Polk to do this one with us. She does it as perfectly as could possibly be imagined. But sad though it may be, you do not get the feeling of despair you might expect, but rather a simple commentary on a series of seemingly trite, yet highly important and very personal occurences.

Chicken Road
By Joe Greene

Once I got a splinter in the joint of my little toe
And a garter snake bit my knee by the bend of the little St. Joe
Honey that's Missouri, the land of the dust and the toad
It's a wonderful town, Chicken Road

Once I had a scorpion on the lobe of my good right ear
And I lived with my great-great grandma
Who could hear what she wanted to hear
Honey that's Missouri, the land where the sky overflows
It's a wonderful town, Chicken Road

Beasts of burden, nip at their hay
And a poolroom banjo playin' to the close of every day
Night so quiet, you could hear a mouse
Tippin' through the parlor of a boarding house

Once I got a sunburn on the back of my itchin' neck
Went for a ride in a Model-T and I died in a beautiful wreck
Honey that's Missouri, the land that the Lord never knowed
Yes, it's a wonderful town, Chicken Road