I'M JUST HERE TO GET MY BABY OUT OF JAIL
(Karl Davis / Harty Taylor)


Dixon Brothers - 1936
Hank Snow - 1958
Claude King - 1962
Red Allen, Frank Wakefield & The Kentuckians - 1964
Porter Wagoner - 1967
Stonewall Jackson - 1968
Carl Butler - 1969
Leona Williams - 1976

Asso recorded by:
Red Smiley & The Bluegrass Cut-Ups; Jerry Garcia;
Blue Sky Boys; Tommy Collins; The Everly Brothers;
Michele Garner; The Rooftop Singers; Marty Robbins;
Bill Dudley; Johnny Cash; Sandy Posey; Mac Wiseman;
J.E. Mainer's Mountaineers ............ and others.


I'M JUST HERE TO GET MY BABY OUT OF JAIL
(Karl Davis / Harty Taylor)

Dixon Brothers - 1936
Hank Snow - 1958
Claude King - 1962
Red Allen, Frank Wakefield & The Kentuckians - 1964
Porter Wagoner - 1967
Stonewall Jackson - 1968
Carl Butler - 1969
Leona Williams - 1976

Asso recorded by:
Red Smiley & The Bluegrass Cut-Ups; Jerry Garcia;
Blue Sky Boys; Tommy Collins; The Everly Brothers;
Michele Garner; The Rooftop Singers; Marty Robbins;
Bill Dudley; Johnny Cash; Sandy Posey; Mac Wiseman;
J.E. Mainer's Mountaineers ............ and others.



I'm not in your town to stay
Said a lady old and grey
To the warden of a penitentiary
I'm not in your town to stay
And I'll soon be on my way
I'm just here to get my baby out of jail
Yes, warden, I'm just here to get my baby out of jail

I  tried to raise my baby right
I have prayed both day and night
That he'd never follow the footsteps of his Dad
I have searched both far and wide
I had feared that he had died
And at last I found my baby here in jail
Yes, Warden, but it's good to find my baby here in jail

It was just five years today
When his Daddy passed away
He was found beneath the snow so cold and white
'Twas then I vowed to take his ring
And his gold watch and his chain
When the county laid his Daddy in the grave
Yes, Warden, the county laid his Daddy in the grave

I will pawn you his watch
I will pawn you his chain
I will pawn you my diamond wedding ring
I will wash all your clothes
I will scrub all your floors
If that will get my baby out of jail
Yes, Warden, if that will get my baby out of jail

Then I heard the Warden say
To the lady old and grey
I'll go bring your darling baby to your side
Two iron gates swung wide apart
She held her darling to her heart
She kissed her baby boy and there she died
But smiling, she kissed her baby boy and there she died

I'm not in your town to stay
Said a lady old and grey
I'm just here to get my baby out of jail
Yes, Warden, I'm just here to get my baby out of jail






(Transcribed by Mel Priddle - December 2012)