The first (double) album of the HMR and "Alleged in Their Own Time" are to my mind the best, and most likely to appeal to folkies. However "Last Round" contains several good tracks, eg "Romping Through the Swamp", "Sweet Willima", "Oriental Lady", "August 1967". The only other one I have is "Indian War Whoop" which I bought in London in 1997 but am not fussed about.

In the 1st album, the references to glue sniffing and strutting their stuff (ie "I can't abide no woman, who goes round sniffing glue" and "The baby chickens don't take nothing, they just strut their stuff", both from the song "Blues in the Bottle") show that these expressions are not particularly modern. Does anyone know who wrote the original song "Blues in the Bottle" (and when) and if these expressions are contained in the original lyrics?

I think the lyrics of "She's More To Be Pitied" from "Alleged in Their Own Time" are a little different from those posted above, ie:


She's there at the bar every day
Her lips and her cheeks painted red
Her beauty has faded too early
Brought on by the fast life she's led

She's more to be pitied than scolded
She wants to be loved, not despised
But too much beer and wine, too many good times
The lure of the honky tonk wrecked her young life

She once was the belle of the ball
She'll make some man a sweet wife
But too many parties, the wrong kind of pals
Has ruined her happy young life

She's more to be pitied than scolded
She wants to be loved not despised
But too much beer and wine, too many good times
The lure of the honky tonk wrecked her young life

I thought also that it might be "Life on the honky tonk" but am not sure. I am surprised some country and western artist has not recorded it as it has a nice tune and appropriate lyrics for this genre.