Three Nights Drunk- Skillet Lickers (GA) 1934 REC
[Gid Tanner first recorded this ballad as Three Nights Experience (W 142065) with Fate Norris (vcl duet w/vln & gtr) on 04-20-1926 in Atlanta, Ga. for Columbia- it was unissued. Tanner sang the woman's part falsetto and he also frequently added falsetto ad libs with the Skillet Lickers.
The second recording with Puckett singing lead, issued as by The Skillet Lickers (1934), has a lot of reverb and lacks the drive of the original Skillet Licker line-up with (Stokes or Lane and McMichen).
R. Matteson 2013]
Three Nights Drunk (BVE 82687- ) - Gid Tanner & Riley Puckett (vcl w/vln & gtr) - 03-29-1934. San Antonio, Tex. Bb85748 -025935
[Fiddle]
1. The first night when I came home
Drunk as I could be,
I found a horse in the stable
Where my horse ought to be.
Come my wife, my dear little wife,
Can you explain this to me?
There's a horse in the stable,
Where my horse ought to be?
Oh you fool, you blind fool, [1]
Can't you doggone see?
It's nothing but a milk cow
Your granny sent to me.
I've travelled this wide world over
Ten thousand miles or more
A saddle upon a milk cow's back,
I never saw before.
[brief fiddle break]
2. The second night when I came home
Drunk as I could be,
I found an overcoat on the rack,
Where my overcoat ought to be.
Come my wife, my dear little wife,
Can you explain this to me?
These's an overcoat on the rack,
Where my overcoat ought to be?
Oh you fool, you blind fool,
Can't you doggone see?
It's nothing but bed quilt
My granny sent to me.
I've rambled this world over
Ten thousand miles or more,
Pockets in a bed quilt
I never saw before.
[brief fiddle solo]
3. The third night when I came home
Drunk as I could be.
I found a head on the pillow
Where my head ought to be.
Now come my wife, my dear little wife,
Can you explain this to me
How come a head a-layin' on a pillow
Where my pants ought to be?
Oh you fool, you blind fool,
Can't you doggone see?
It's nothing but a cabbage head
My granny sent to me.
I've travelled this wide world over
Ten thousand miles or more
Eyes and nose on a cabbage head,
I never saw before.
[brief fiddle outro]
1. not sure of this line, Gordon Tanner, who learned this from Gid (his father) and Riley Puckett, sings: "Oh, you blind fool, you blind fool,"