The tune is so much like POLK SALAD ANNIE that, if he hadn't written both songs himself, he'd 'a' been sued for plagiarism!


OLD MAN WILLIS
As sung by Tony Joe White on "The Best of Tony Joe White" (1993)

Down in West Carroll Parish,
About twenty miles from Arkansas,
Lived a man and his wife and four-five chilluns,
The weirdest people I ever saw.

Old man Willis, where do y'all come from?
He used to chase his young'uns and his wife
With his Jim Bowie huntin' knife.

He had four coons, a cat, and a hound-dog
That stayed in the same house with him.
They ate from his dinner table, drank from his water bucket,
Slept in the same bed with him.

Old man Willis, where do y'all come from?
He used to chase his young'uns an' his wife
With his double-bladed sharp knife.

Lord, my mama said she thought the man was crazy.
Daddy said he's just a drunk.
Lord, an' some people said that he made his livin'
Makin whiskey in the Boeuf River swamps.

Ol' man Willis, where do ya get your bread?
He used to chase his young'uns and his wife
With his double-bladed huntin' knife.

Lord, ya'd see him a-comin' down a big road
In his forty-nine Pontiac,
And mama would holler, "Y'all get under the house
For Mister Willis drive like a maniac."

Ol' man Willis, why do ya drive so bad?
He fin'lly caught his young'uns and his wife
An' slayed 'em with his huntin' knife.

Lord, ha' mercy!

Willis!