Bill Jones General store was recorded by Jud at least two times, on the album of the same title, MGM 4790, 1971, and again on Daisy A Day, MGM 4898, 1973. I have the first album, and was able to find the listing for the second, and I found a wav sound file on this page, Lost Island Music. The versions are different, but only slightly. As always, I will post the Real Audio of the 1971 version upon request.

MGM 4790 I'd Prefer To Do It All Again, Bill Jones General Store, Farethewell, Victry Chime, What Will You Leave, My Conscience Says Is Me, If I Could Be A Boy Again, One More Mountain, Corporation Blues, Treasured Memories

MGM 4898 Daisy A Day, Bill Jones General Store, The Runaway, The Searchers, The Long Ride Home, Next Door Neighbor's Kid, This House, Jacob Brown, If I Could Have My Way, Farethewell


Bill Jones General Store
Jud Strunk, 1971, Copyright Seven High Music,Inc., ASCAP

Spoken Intro: There's an old wood sign just outside of Stratton, Maine, and it says, "If we ain't got it, you don't need it . . . Bill Jones General Store"

I can hear the creaking of the rusty old screen door
Smell the penny candy in Bill Jones General Store
The pipe smoke and tobacco, wet boots on the floor
Campbells Soup and shotgun shells in Bill Jones General Store

The cold and snow would blow against the plastic window pane
The old wood stove wood would kindle and try to dry the rain
I know that times are changing, but it won't be the same

For now the doors are boarded, Bill and Ruth are gone from town
The rooms are cold and empty, they'll probably tear it down
But Herky Wright and Whitey still sit outside the door
Waitin' for that quart of beer in Bill Jones General Store

I can hear the creaking of the rusty old screen door
Smell the penny candy in Bill Jones General Store
The pipe smoke and tobacco, wet boots on the floor
Campbells Soup and shotgun shells in Bill Jones General Store


The reference that George made you'll find at Tommy Hunter's answers to 15 of your questions!

Q: I see you have recorded at least two songs by Judd Strunk, "Daisy a Day" and "Bill Jones General Store". Did you know Judd before he passed away? I am from the town where he is buried.

A: Yes, Judd Strunk was a very good friend of mine. Shirley and I and the children visited him and his wife Marnie on a number of occasions when he lived in Farmington Maine. Judd called me from Los Angeles one time when he was working with Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In. He told me that he had just written a song for me to record. He sang a few lines, and I loved it. I told him to send it up, as I was recording another album in two weeks. Before he could get the song to me, his own producer insisted that he record it himself. I was really pleased that he had so much success with the song. I finally got a chance to record it, and it is one that I never get tired of singing. That song is "Daisy a Day".

Another song of Judd's that was a big hit for me was "Bill Jones' General Store". The story behind that song was absolutely true, and I actually met some of the characters that he wrote about in the song, like Herky Wright and Whitey.