TOMMY THOMPSON (not the governor of Wisconsin with the same name) recorded his "Hot Buttered Rum" twice that I know of with the Red Clay Ramblers----the early group and the later incarnation too. It is a wonderful song. Possibly, Tommy wrote the second version of the second verse to let up on a perceived lack of positive feeling for Christmas in the first version. Personally, I like the original version:

When dreary Christmas decorations line the streets and filling stations,
And dime store Santas can't disguise their empty hands and their empty eyes,
In the dead of winter when the tinsel angels come...

Tommy and the Ramblers did several wonderful LPs on the Flying Fish label. I first heard 'em in Winnipeg and then in Winfield, Kansas. Later opened a how for tham in Illinois. Someone once said that if Charlie Poole were working today he and the North Carolina Ramblers would be doing music with the inventiveness of the RED CLAY RAMBLERS. Tommy is ill with Alzheimers Disease now and is in a North Carolina nursing facility. I'm sure he could use some of our prayers.

Listen to Tommy Thompson's song "TWISTED LAUREL" and try to keep a dry eye when thinking of his present situation. It can't be done !

Art Thieme