A MUSICAL ODYSSEY
Presents
BILL & SUE-ON HILLMAN
RECORD ALBUM Volume 6
THE HILLMAN EXPRESS
TRACK 15
Maple Grove Records
MGS-1006


Click here to go to Album No. 6
Performance and Recording Anecdotes
CONTENTS
All songs written by Bill Hillman
A click on the title will transport you to the song lyric
PART I
PRAIRIE TO SOHO
1. CAJUN STOMP
2. SHELTER
3. OLD JED CLARK
4. FARTHER AWAY
5. DOWN DOWN DOWN
6. STRANGER PLEASE
7. WALKIN' WRECK
8. SATISFIED
PART II
PRAIRIE SAGA
1. MASSACRE
2. JOHN CAMPBELL - PIONEER
3. MEMORY TAKE ME BACK
4. HARVEST
5. CHINA LADY
6. HIGHWAY 354
7. HILLMAN EXPRESS


PART I: PRAIRIE TO SOHO
CAJUN STOMP

I'm an alligator hunter, a moonshine runner,... 
A hard-lovin' Cajun man
Born out on the bayou 
With a fishin' pole in my hand
Come Saturday I'm pushin', 
My pirou through the bush 'n'... 
Alligators and Spanish Moss
Get to town 'bout the time 
The dancers start kickin' off

CHORUS:
Where the band's playing fiddles and... 
Guitars in the middle of the floor
Where the flirty flirty girlies... 
Whirl and twirl around till way past four
Where losers and boozers 
Can toss their troubles to a friend
And young folks, old folks, 
Stomp and fly like the wind

When the Louisiana sun comes peepin' into town... 
I'll be creepin' back across the bay
Back into the shack 
Where I reckon I was born to stay
But after six days of swamp, I'm getting ready to stomp
And get back to all my bayou belles
Thinkin' 'bout the good times 
I whoop, stomp, holler and yell

SHELTER
(Recorded on tour in England)

Your loving brings me comfort 
Like shelter to a runaway child 
(Repeat)
Come to me 
And fill this longing inside

Your loving soothes my troubles 
Like water to a fevered brow 
(Repeat)
Come to me 
And fill this longing inside

And when you touch me 
With soft hands so lightly
I can't help but want you 
And hold you so tightly

Your loving flows like music 
It keeps running through my mind
(Repeat)
Come to me 
And fill this longing inside










 


 
OLD JED CLARK

Hey Jed, I love your daughter
Eyes as blue as Tennessee water
Hey Jed, I think ya otter
Find a way to hide your daughter

Moonshine flows like water
Brewed by Jed and brung by daughter
Feel fine till her father
Shot a hole in the bucket I bought her

Chorus
Well he comes on run with an old squirrel gun
Jed ain't one to poke it in fun
Found us by the Sycamore tree
Bessie Sue, a bottle and me

Lead whines o'er my shoulder
Run and hide if I wanna get older
Girl cryin' cause I ain't bolder
Man gotta be half daft to hold her

* * *  THE CHASE * * *

FARTHER AWAY
(Recorded on tour in England)

Pride holds a million tears inside
They drown the love I try to hide
While every passing moment 
Leads you farther away

Love only promised can not last
Time only fades away the past
And every passing moment 
Leads you farther away

Away from love 
Which could have been
Away from life 
We could have seen
Away from hopes, 
Tomorrows and dreams










 

(Got Me Going) 
DOWN DOWN DOWN
(Recorded on tour in England)

Cruisin' rundown bars
Driving worn out cars
Fightin' dancehall brawls
Smokin' cheap cigars
Livin' in the gloom
Of shoddy hotel rooms
Painted barroom dolls
Gonna be my doom
It's got me goin' down, down, down

Chorus
Well, I lost my watch and I lost my chain
Traded my bed for a bench in the rain
Lost my money and I lost my Hon
Never shoulda done it
Never shoulda run
Goin' down, down, down

Bottled rot gut booze
Nothin' but bad news
In the school of hard knocks
I really paid my dues
Beggin' hand-out meals
Runnin' runaround deals
Ragged holes in my socks
Showing through my heels

WALKING WRECK
(Recorded on tour in England)

My baby rubs my back, she cuddles and she coos
I shiver and I shake and I go kooka kooka choo
But then it's walkin' -- Walkin' time for me
All this walkin' and a talkin'
Gonna make a walkin' wreck outa me

My baby takes my hand and she sets me all aglow
But every time I grab her she says No! No! No!
And then it's walkin  -- Walkin' time for me
All this walkin' and a talkin'
Gonna make a walkin' wreck outa me

Every time I start to get those deep romantic notions
My baby got a way to cool these pantin' emotions
And though we're past the point of formal introduction
This model came without the operating instructions
(This walking alone's a gonna be my destruction)

When the weekend rolls around we go struttin' on the town
But standin' on her front porch she says put put put me down
And then it's walkin' -- Walkin' time for me
All this walkin' and a talkin'
Make a man wanna go get stoned









 

STRANGER PLEASE

Stranger please wander home to me
Your wandrin' shoes have brought blues and misery
I cry alone every night you're away
Come share this bed where we used to lay

Stranger won't you call one more time
Call 'cause I'll fall for any line
O what a fool I must be 
I even talk to you in my sleep
(Please talk to me stranger please)

Stranger once we loved and laughed in fun
Once we played, sang and lay in the sun
Did you forget all the words to our song
Please won't you come take me along

SATISFIED

Well I'm satisfied... when I'm walking with my Jesus
Satisfied, walking with my Lord
Satisfied, when I''m walking with God's children
Lead me on, to the other side

Take me by the hand, my sweet Jesus
Take me by the hand, my sweet Lord
Take me by the hand, I'm one of God's children
Lead me on, to the Promise Land

Well I feel alright, when I'm talking with my Jesus
I feel alright, talking with my Lord
I feel alright, talking with God's children
Lead me on, through the night


PART II: PRAIRIE SAGA


MASSACRE

Granddaddy told of times 
He saw men dying
Old women weeping, 
Naked children crying
Blankets, trinkets 
For land and gold
Ain't nothing left 
But memories to hold... 
For the...

CHORUS:
Chickasaw Waccamaw Iroquois Sioux
Susquehanna Missisauga and the Kickapoo
Choctaw Chippewa Yakima Cree
Sissipahaw Wichita and brave Pawnee

Then we chopped down the trees 
And poisoned the breeze
Killed all the beasts and 
Brought nature to her knees
Now rivers are dying 
Too heavy to flow
Proud people crying, 
Nowhere to go... 
For the...

Cherokee Apache Mohave Mandan
Shawnee Comanche Miami Cheyenne
Apalache Muskogee Tutchone Navajo
Missouri Shoshone and proud Arapaho

 

JOHN CAMPBELL - PIONEER

Westward bound the year was '78
John Campbell - Pioneer
Steamin' by train and rolling by wagon
To Manitoba's wild frontier
His daddy built a house of sod just for the winter
Come summer built a house of stone
Cleared the virgin land and they did it by hand
Workin' aching fingers to the bone

He met my Nanny in a country school house
Where they danced the night away
Bought a gold band and asked for the hand
Of pretty little Katy McKay
Green Bluff girl then moved into Maple Grove
Just a little south of town
Helping in the fields and cooking all the meals
And watching little babies run around

CHORUS:
Now I walk the same fields and the forests
But it's not as it once used to be
And I realize with tears in my eyes
Time fades their memory

'20s brought good times, '30s took them back
'40s called the second son away
Winter '55 took and old man's life
And a woman's will to live another day
But the house still stands to the memory of a man
Who settled on this prairie land
Trees a-blowing in the wind are still growing
Planted by a woman's loving hand


 
MEMORY TAKE ME BACK

Mother's mother on the porch where she's makin butter
Grandfather's out in the yard where he loves to putter
Screen door slams -- sister runs in crying
Skinned a knee out where the collie dog's lying
Memory take me back just one more time

Daddy's in the field where he keeps the prairie dust flying
Rain don't come but the clouds keep on trying
Though drought and hail made times a lot tougher
A mother's love saw that we didn't suffer
Memory take me back just one more time

Saturday night Daddy takes us into town for a movie
Late night shopping and farm talk swapping on Main Street
Old men standing by the pool hall talking
Young folks out on the sidewalk walking
Memory take me back just one more time













 

HARVEST

Sun shinin' brightly
Cold wind blowin' free
Old mallard's winging 
His way from the north
Smoky air sweeping
Through tired leaves weeping
Prairie life singing
A song to the north

When the brown city air and 
Cold sidewalk stares get me down
I reach for the days and 
Old time ways of the farm
Memories so warm, 
Of the place I was born, I recall
Harvest time
And dandelion wine in the fall

Stubblefields burning
Old windmills turning
Silhouettes framed by
The sun's fall to earth
Dew crystallizing
Harvest moon rising
October night singing
A song to the north

CHINA LADY

O China Lady
Though you are far away
You're haunting me night and day
With your laughing eyes

O China Lady
In every dream I see
A vision of you and me
Under China skies

When the moon shines 
Through the prairie sky
And the cold wind wails 
And calls your name
I'm on some foreign shore 
By the ocean's roar
Long ago - Far away

O China Lady
I'm living in misery
Surrounded by memories
Of our last goodbye








 

HIGHWAY 354

Slam the car door
Highway 354
Gonna take me from a week of 9 to 5
Love that highway sound
Lonely Manitoba towns
Lights and truckers, weekend lovers flying by

O I can take it, think I'll make it
Even though it takes a mighty long time
O I'll keep shakin' and fakin'
And rakin' in the dollars and dimes

Gimli Carman Dauphin
Brandon Shilo Austin
Then on the road and home to Maple Grove
McCreary Minnedosa
Portage Wawanese
 I'll keep makin' records - Looking for gold

Nine to five a day job
Only in the way job
Longing for the weekend show
Nine to five a day job
Just a slavin' pay job
Dreaming 'bout another life I know


HILLMAN EXPRESS

Get on board
We'll make you more
Than satisfied
Whistle blowing
Wheels a-rolling
Come on and ride

Don't need no ticket
There ain't no wicket
There ain't no fee
Our magic potion
Is locomotion
And ridin's free

Chorus
Ride Ride Ride on through the night
Rolling on outa sight
Rockin' Express
Speedin' through the west
Ride Ride Ride
On the Hillman Express

From prairie sidings
To those exciting
Bright city lights
The music's hummin'
As we keep runnin'
On through the night

Don't need no baggage
We're gonna manage
To get it on
To every station
'Cross the nation
Come ride along


PERSONNEL
All lead and back-up vocals by Bill and Sue-On Hillman
Bill Hillman ~ All guitars
Sue-On Hillman ~ Drums and all percussion instruments
Kevin Pahl ~ Piano, electric piano, clavinet
Barry Forman ~ Bass and fiddle

A special thanks to the following contributors:
Al Jones, Mark LaFrance, Gord Osland, Joe Fagin, Lloyd Ryan
Engineers: John Smith, Mark Lusardi, John Hildebrand
Studios: Century 21, Winnipeg, Canada
             Gooseberry Sound Studios, London England

THE ENTIRE ALBUM WAS CONCEIVED, WRITTEN, 
ARRANGED AND PRODUCED BY BILL HILLMAN

Photography: Bill and Sue-On Hillman, Terence Fowler
Art Direction and Design: Bill and Sue-On Hillman

For information regarding personal appearances 
and other albums, contact:
BILL & SUE-ON HILLMAN
BOX 280
STRATHCLAIR, MANITOBA, CANADA
ROJ 2CO

Gooseberry Recording Studios - London, England
Kevin ~ Sue-On ~ Bill
Kevin ~ Sue-On ~ Bill
Moving in the Yamaha Grand Piano: Kelvin and Kerry Morris with BillKevin Pahl and Barry Forman in Recording Studio


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Performance and Recording Anecdotes

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