Lyr Add: Kansas Legend (Dan McCrimmon)

Subject: Lyr Add: KANSAS LEGEND (Dan McCrimmon)
From: Tiger
Date: 21 Dec 02 - 08:49 AM

Someone recently asked for this. From the great "Frummox" album (Fromholz and McCrimmon).

Kansas Legend — Steven Fromholz
Written by Dan McCrimmon

Billy was a lad about ten when the horse thieves caught his daddy out,
Cut him down and they rode the stock away.
Billy made a cross of cottonwood and he laid his daddy down,
Swore that he'd keep that land 'til his dyin' day.

Billy had a sister Nell she was twelve that summer.
Bill and his brother tried to set the farm to rights.
She took sick next year and the fever caught her,
She passed away on a bitter February night.

        Billy laid her down beneath a tree upon the hill,
        Swore that soon she'd see the wavin' wheat from land he tilled.

Billy set to work with the burnin' will of a man possessed,
Spent his years and he worked his land and he done his best.
He had an old dog named Jake to keep him company,
Jake and the boy were watched by the people on the North Smoky.

        And soon Bill Orr's name traveled hand to hand,
        As the youngest, toughest dirt farmer on the Kansas borderland.

The bankers asked for money down and all he had was pride,
Sweat and tears don't mean much to the law.
Soon one day, the sheriff came to put Bill off his land,
And make him break the promise to his pa.

        When the lines were drawn, Bill watched the sheriff die.
        As the days dragged on you could hear young Billy cry.

They laid Billy down by his daddy's side and they took old Jake to town.
The wild flowers grew and the windows fell.
But once in a while if the night is warm you can see old Billy there,
Keepin' watch on the land that he loved so well.

        And still Bill Orr's name travels hand to hand,
        As the youngest, toughest dirt farmer on the Kansas borderland.

        And still Bill Orr's name travels hand to hand,
        As the youngest, toughest dirt farmer on the Kansas borderland.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Kansas Legend (Dan McCrimmon)
From: GUEST,AJRamsay
Date: 02 Sep 15 - 10:01 PM

Thanks for these lyrics. I loved this song and it came to mind on my ride home this evening.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Kansas Legend (Dan McCrimmon)
From: GUEST
Date: 03 Aug 17 - 09:20 AM

I'm so glad to see these lyrics here. Robin and Linda Williams covered this song on PHC back in the 80's, and I had it on a long-lost cassette. They added a crazy high harmony to the song. This tune has a lot of dying and yearning--I just love it.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Kansas Legend (Dan McCrimmon)
From: GUEST,DJ
Date: 25 Sep 19 - 03:11 AM

Have been looking for Man in the Big Hat for years. Texas Triology is one of my favorites. Thank you for many years of enjoyment. First listened to Alan Damron play Triology in a small bar in El Paso.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Kansas Legend (Dan McCrimmon)
From: Tiger
Date: 25 Sep 19 - 09:05 AM

Got that one, too....

The Man With The Big Hat — Steve Fromholz

Narrator:
In a bar in Arizona, on a sultry summer day,
A cowboy came in off the road just to pass the time away.
He pulled a stool up to the bar and pushed his hat back on his head.
I listened to the stories told to the words that cowboy said. He said...

Cowboy:
I could tell you stories ’bout the Indians on the plain,
Talk about Wells Fargo and the comin’ of the trains,
Talk of the slaughter of the buffalo that roamed,
Sing a song of settlers, come out looking for a home.

CHORUS (both)
Now the man with the big hat is buying,
Drink up while the drinking is free.
Drink up to the cowboys a-dead or a-dying,
Drink to my compadres and me.
Drink to my compadres and me.

Narrator:
Well, his shirt was brown and faded and his hat was wide and black,
And the pants that once were blue were gray and had a pocket gone in back.
He had a finger missin’ from the hand that rolled the smoke,
He laughed and talked of cowboy life but you knew it weren’t no joke. He said....

Cowboy:
I seen the day so hot your pony could not stand,
And if your water bag was dry, don’t count upon the land,
And winters, I’ve seen winters when your boots froze in the snow,
And your only thought was leavin’, but you had nowhere to go.

CHORUS

Narrator:
Well he rested easy at the bar, his foot upon the rail,
And laughed and talked of times he’d had out living on the trail.
The silence was never broken as the words poured from his lips,
Quiet as the ’45 he carried on his hip. He said ...

Cowboy:
I rode the cattle drive from here to San Antone,
Ten days in the saddle, you know, and weary to the bone.
I rode from here to Wichita without a woman’s smile,
The campfire where I cooked my beans was the only light for miles.

CHORUS

Narrator:
Well, he rolled another cigarette as he turned toward the door.
I heard his spurs a-jingling as his boot heels hit the floor.
He loosened up his belt a notch, pulled his hat down on his head,
As he turned to say goodbye to me, this is what he said....

Cowboy:
Now the high-lines chase the highways, and the fences close the range,
And to see a working cowboy, that’s a sight that’s mighty strange,
But a cowboy’s life was lonely, and his lot was not the best,
But if it hadn’t been for men like me, there wouldn’t be no west.

CHORUS

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Kansas Legend (Dan McCrimmon)
From: GUEST,Rüdiger Dempfle
Date: 19 Apr 22 - 11:14 AM

Hi, Folks,
there's a mistake in Kansas Legend Lyrics
2. Verse, Line 2:
Bill and his brother tried to set the farm to rights

this makes no sense.

the correct verse is:

Nell and her brother tried ..

and, I checked both recorded versions,

City Limits Blue Grass Band Version
and
Frommox Version

both exactly say: Nell and her brother ..

best regards

Rüdiger Dempfle, Germany