| |||||
Words and Music by :
Arranged and adapted by: Harry Belafonte and Robert DeCormier |
|||||
Recording #1 by Harry
Belafonte: Recording date: 1959 ? Playing time: 3:57 LP : LPM2194, CL42956, VPS-6024, PJL1-8122, Tape: FTP-1025 CD: ND89195, RGMCD071 |
|||||
Recording #2 by Harry Belafonte: Recording date: 1959 ?(Alternate take of #1) Playing time: 4:17 LP: Reference recording on a single sided acetate. Not released |
|||||
Also recorded by:
|
|||||
|
|||||
Lyrics: I gotta hammer, hammer, hammer Here rattler here Oh yes goin' hammer on that mountain Here rattler here Until that mountain is a mole hill Here rattler here Oh yes been servin' here since thirty-nine Here rattler here Oh God my woman couldn't pay my fine Here rattler here Oh well ole rattler is a hound dog Here rattler here I say ole rattler is a hound dog Here rattler here Oh well I tol my captain my hands was cold Here rattler here He said oh damn your hands, let the wheelin' roll Here rattler here Oh well ole rattler is a hound dog Here rattler here I say ole rattler is a hound dog Here rattler here Oh well, ole rattler is the captain's friend Here rattler here Oh Lord-y nine got away and he brought back ten Here rattler here Oh well ole rattler is a hound dog Here rattler here I say ole rattler is a hound dog Here rattler here Oh well John Henry had a woman, Her name was Polly Ann Oh when John Henry took sick Well Polly drove steel like a man Oh yes my captain down in Georgia Took a shot at me And by the time he took that second shot I passed through Tennessee Oh well both Rufus Akes and Rastas Payne Got married down in Gaines And now they say that all them Georgia woods Is filled with Akes and Payne's Oh well ole rattler is a hound dog Here rattler here I say ole rattler is a hound dog Here rattler here Well if today the same as yesterday Here rattler here Oh God tomorrow be my judgment day Here rattler here Oh well ole rattler is a hound dog Here rattler here I say ole rattler is a hound dog Here rattler here |
|||||
|