All About Pocket Knives

Will The Circle Be Unbroken-Ada R. Habershon and Charles H. Gabriel, 1907 (not the 1935 A.P Carter revision)

1 There are loved ones in the glory
Whose dear forms you often miss,
When you close your earthly story
Will you join them in their bliss?

Refrain:
Will the circle be unbroken
by and by, yes, by and by?
In a better home awaiting
in the sky, in the sky?

2 In the joyous days of childhood,
Oft they told of wondrous love,
Pointed to the dying Savior,
Now they dwell with Him above. [Refrain]

3 You remember songs of heaven
Which you sang with childish voice,
Do you love the hymns they taught you,
Or are songs of earth your choice? [Refrain]

4 You can picture happy gath’rings
Round the fireside long ago,
And you think of tearful partings,
When they left you here below. [Refrain]

5 One by one their seats were empty,
One by one they went away,
Now the fam'ly is parted,
Will it be complete one day? [Refrain]

Might as well post another reworked song, this one a popular hymn that is seldom, if ever performed as written.

Amazing Grace - John Newton

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found;
Was blind, but now I see.

’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils, and snares,
I have already come;
’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promised good to me,
His Word my hope secures;
He will my Shield and Portion be,
As long as life endures.

Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess, within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who called me here below,
Will be forever mine.

Ken, Crystal Gayle did a monster version of "Till I can Gain Control Again". But, She could sing the phone book! Rodney is a Hoss! O'.

"She Put The Bottle To Her Head And Pulled The Trigger" from WHISKEY LULLABYE" by Bill Anderson and Jon Randall. Powerful stuff. Bill Anderson is a lyrical genius emeritus with lines like "There's So Much More Between Us Than This Table". He has over 100 country charted songs by all the greats of Nashville: Ray Price, Vince Gill, Connie Smith, George Strait, Brad Paisley, Allison Krause, and on and on, including many of his own recordings. He's a true, national treasure in the music world. J.O'.

Reverend, reverend please come quick
'Cause I've got something to admit
I met a man out in the sticks
Of Good Ole Miss
He drove a series 10 Cadillac and wore a cigar on his lip

Don't you know the devil wears a suit and tie
Saw him driving down the 61' in early July
White as a cotton field and sharp as a knife
I heard him howling as he passed me by

And he said
I know you, I know you young man
I know you by the state of your hands
You're a six-string picker
Just as I am
Let me learn you something
I know a few turns to make all the girls dance

Don't you know the devil wears a suit and tie
Saw him driving down the 61' in early July
White as a cotton field and sharp as a knife
I heard him howling as he passed me by

Oh
Foolish, foolish was I
Damn my foolish eyes
'Cause that man's lessons
Had a price, a sweet price
My sweet soul, everlasting
My very own eternal light

Don't you know that the devil wears a suit and tie
Saw him driving down the 61' in early July
White as a cotton field and sharp as a knife
I heard him howling as he passed me by

Well, the devil wears a suit and tie
I saw him driving down the 61' in early July
White as a cotton field and sharp as a knife
I heard him howling as he passed me by



Colter Wall, The Devil Wears a Suit and Tie


Ken

“Hiram Williams was in the back seat
Of a Cadillac on New Year's Day
He closed his eyes and sang his last song
Mister Leon Payne's "The Lost Highway"

That same old song with the sad sweet ending
Is playing somewhere south of town
By a band of hard young rockers
Who never think they'll see the sun go down

It is such a sweet temptation
It gives such a brief relief
It is such a false sensation
How come that's so hard to believe?

A young angel sings in sorrow
For the broken-hearted and betrayed
A last waltz for the wild young cowboy
Who never came back from the lost highway”

- Ray Wylie Hubbard - Loco Gringo’s Lament


Ken

One for the old guitar players. If you know, you know.

Black Diamond Strings by Guy Clark

Chorus:
Black Diamond Strings
These Black Diamond Strings
Drinkin1 W. Harper
Playin'Black Diamond Strings
Black Diamond Strings
Are like white flour and grits
You play Black Diamond Strings
'Cause it's all you can get

Black Diamond Strings on a Catalog Guitar
That's pretty high cotton whoever you are
You break one you change one, that's as good as it gets
You can play all year long on two or three sets

J.W. Crowell was a hell of a man
He played two nights a week in a hillbilly band
He played at the Ice House on Telephone Road
He played in the yard just to lighten his load

Chorus

Hey J.W play that frogline
Let Rodney sit in, hell, he's goin'on nine
His fingers are bleedin' but he's keepin'good time
Playin'Black Diamond Strings, and he'll never quit tryin'

Causette told 'em both
You boys pack t up, it's time to go home
We got church in the mornin' and it's comin'up dawn
Don't make me say it again or I'm gone
You can stay here forever, but you're gonna walk home

Chorus 3X
[youtubehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGQOtV_yGL4][/youtube]

Good one Bill. (In fact anything by Guy Clark is a good one). The song and chorus refers to J.W. Crowell and his son Rodney. J.W. spent years singing in honky-tonks like the Ice House in Houston, but never made it big. Rodney on the other hand is a songwriting genius and a darn good picker too!

If you’ve never read Rodney’s memoir Chinaberry Sidewalks, it’s a good read!

Ken

Mumbleypeg wrote: ↑Mon Jun 29, 2026 7:06 pm Good one Bill. (In fact anything by Guy Clark is a good one). The song and chorus refers to J.W. Crowell and his son Rodney. J.W. spent years singing in honky-tonks like the Ice House in Houston, but never made it big. Rodney on the other hand is a songwriting genius and a darn good picker too!

If you’ve never read Rodney’s memoir Chinaberry Sidewalks, it’s a good read!

Ken

So, JW was not only real, but was Rodney Crowel's Dad. I did not know that.

There's another "BLACK DIAMOND STRINGS" by the great Larry Cordle ("Highway 40 Blues", "Murder On Music Row"") and his band, Lonesome Standard Time.

"My first guitar was a loaner, an old off-brand my cousin let me keep,
Back when I was learnin' to play, like them boys in Tennessee.
I'd sit up every night and I'd pick it, till my fingers turned green
And I'd try just to make her talk, on them Black Diamond strings.

Now Daddy showed me three chords, but Jimmy Steel he taught me how to play.
He showed me the G run, I'm still usin' today.
I thought it surely must be magic, Lord, the way he made 'em ring,
But he said it ain't no secret son, it's these Black Diamond strings
Chorus
Well I don't know if they still make 'em, back then they were the best.
And a good time didn't cost much, just two ninety-five a set
It was back before I left Faye Ellen, to chase my Hillbilly dream,
All it took to make me happy was an old guitar and, Black Diamond strings.

Now I've been to the mountain top, had my share of troubles too,
But if I could do it all again, Lord I knows what I'd do.
And if I could have my one wish, well I'd take a trip back in a time machine,
To the night I learned to play the Wildwood Flower, on Black Diamond strings.

Chorus.

Funny the first lead lick I ever learn was Maybelle Carter's "Wildwood Flower". I think most of my buddies did the same, and on Black Diamond strings, which, when I started in '62 were a dollar a set. Yikes !! J.O'.