Fall Songs: Falling Leaves (#6)
By Four Walls
@FourWalls (68084)
United States
December 7, 2020 11:07am CST
The temperature sure fell overnight! Brr! They said some fl*rries were going to fall, too, but I didn’t see them, so I won’t strangle the next weatherman I see. But i will give you another song with “fall” in the title!
#6: Falling Leaves - Grandpa Jones
Bad news: country music.
Good news: at least you know who Grandpa Jones was.
Louis M. Jones got the nickname “Grandpa” when he was a 20-something on the radio in that hotbed for country music.....BOSTON. (Yes, Massachusetts [in best Charles Emerson Winchester voice].) Bradley Kincaid gave him the nickname when they worked together, and it stuck.
The Kentucky native bounced around radio stations until after his World War II service, when he landed in Cincinnati. Things got a lot better there, as he was quite popular on WLW (where Rosemary Clooney also performed [hopefully they weren’t together ]). He also had the distinction of making the very first record for a regional record label that has become legendary in country and bluegrass (and even R&B) circles: King Records.
From there, it was the Opry, Hee Haw, and the Hall of Fame.
Amid the claw hammer banjo and humor he was also quite a songwriter. He wrote this, a very beautiful piece of philosophy (“when you leave this world for a better home someday the only thing you take is what you gave away”) that is one of those songs that was never a hit but remained quite well-known in Grandpa’s repertoire.
Enjoy this tune from the serious side of Grandpa Jones.
Falling Leaves
Written by Louis M. Jones
Recorded by Grandpa Jones
From Everybody’s Grandpa, 1967
They are ready to lie down:
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