Lyr Req: Pills of White Mercury

Subject: Pills of White Mercury
From: Priscilla Wintermute
Date: 27 Feb 97 - 02:53 PM

On Old Blind Dogs' "Tall Tails" album is a great song called "Pills of White Mercury". It is supposed to be the original version of "Streets of Laredo", and it's about some poor guy with syphillis (definitely not "a poor cowboy" who's been shot!)

The liner notes give lyrics to all but the second verse, which, unfortunately, is the only one I can't completely decipher anyway. Can anyone help?

Subject: RE: Pills of White Mercury
From: Susan of DT
Date: 27 Feb 97 - 04:13 PM

There is a whole family of songs generically known as "The Unfortunate Rake" We call the song family DT #350, so if you search for "#350" you will get 8 versions of this song.

Subject: RE: Pills of White Mercury
From: Priscilla Wintermute
Date: 27 Feb 97 - 11:26 PM

Thanks for the tip. I checked through those, but none is the same version, nor do any of them contain the verse in question.

By the way, my favorite parody was the one the Smothers Brothers used to do:

"I see by your outfit that you are a cowboy. You see by my outfit that I'm a cowboy, too. You see by our outfits that we are both cowboys. If you had an outfit, you'd be a cowboy, too."

Subject: RE: Pills of White Mercury
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 28 Feb 97 - 08:54 PM

THat parody was originally done by Bud and Travis; a fine pair of singers (pre-Smothers by a decade or so).

I THINK the version of Unfortunate Rake you're looking for is usually called Locke Hospital. Folkways had an entire record of variations of this song.

Subject: RE: Pills of White Mercury
From:
Date: 03 Mar 97 - 02:04 AM

Frankie Armstrong recorded an interesting variation on the song from the woman's point of view. It's a young woman, not an unfortunate rake, that lies dying of syphillis.