alimony alimony work till my fingers are bloody and boney
me oh my oh goodness sake i’m paying for my mistake
ali-money i call it ali-money you married men may think it’s funny
till one fine day you’ll wake and find you’re paying for your mistake
every friday when i get my pay i put it in an envelope and mail it away
same old song with a little more blues in it
i’m paying for it while someone else’s usin’ it
alimony alimony i thought i bought steak and it was all baloney
me oh my oh goodness sake i’m paying for my mistake
[ guitar ]
alimony alimony…
every payday paying for my mistake yes i am friends

gather ’round cats and i’ll tell you a story
’bout how to become an all-american boy.
just buy you a guitar and put it in tune
and you’ll be a rockin and a rollin soon.
impressin the girls, hittin hot licks, and all that jazz.
i bought me a guitar about a year ago and i
learned how to play it in a day or so.
and all around town it was well understood
that i was knocking ‘em out like johnny b. goode.
hot licks, showing off, ah, number one.
well i practiced all day and up into the night,
my papa’s hair was a gettin kinda white.
he didn’t dig that,ah, rock and roll.
he said, "you can stay boy, but that’s gotta go."
he’s a square; just didn’t dig me at all.
so i packed my guitar, picks and all, and i said farewll to my poor old pa.
i split for memphis where they say ‘you all’
and them swinging cats are a havin a ball.
yeah, they love me down there, guitar picks and all.
i was rocking and bopping and getting all the breaks,
and the girls all said that i had what it takes,
when up steps a man with a big cigar. he said. "come here, kid.
i’m gonna make you a star."
put you on "bandstand’, buy you a cadillac. sign here, kid."
so i signed my name and became a star, having a ball with my guitar.
driving a big, long cadillac. and fighting the girls off’n my back.
but they just keep a comin, screaming, they love it.
so i picked my guitar with a great big grin
and the money just kept on rollin in.
and then one day my uncle sam said (thump, thump, thump) "here i am!
uncle sam needs you, boy. gimme that guitar. take this rifle. yeahhhh - gonna cut your hair off… .

—————

a letter from don powell

most of your lyrics are on the money - i merely cleared up a few that you
apparently couldn’t distinguish from the record. i backed bobby with guitar on the original cut for all american boy. i was playing in r&r band in dayton, ohio when one night bobby and his manager showed up. they had a few beers, introduced themselves on a break and asked if we would be interested in backing bobby on a novelty song about elvis being drafted into the army. we practiced the song the next day, a sunday, drove to cincinatti on monday, and cut the record in king studios there. the third try was a take and became the song which became a hit. the band was given the option of taking a percentage of record sales, assuming it could be marketed and did well; or we could receive ’session fee’, which was about $35.00/person. without exception the band members (all five of us) took the $35.00. you can imagine our surprise (and delight) to hear the song being played on the radio all over ohio and the whole midwest.

the reason for the confusion re bobby’s name not appearing on the fraternity label, who bought pressing and distribution rights, was that two weeks prior to the recording, bobby, ironically, had been drafted and knew that he would not be able to promote the song by touring or personal appearances. his best friend, bill parsons, was allowed to assume bobby’s role, and bill actually did record the flip side of aab with a jazzed up version of rubber dolly. when the record hit, bobby was in boot camp in the army, and i and the band (now called the "all american boys") went on tour of the midwest with bill parsons, playing at small to medium venues in clubs and auditoriums from detroit to st. louis. but it could not be pulled off. bill parsons was no bobby bare and the we soon faded back into obscurity, playing at neighborhood bars in dayton, ohio. bobby was a true-born, gifted singer and songwriter with the magic ability to be at one with an audience. he was truly one of a kind.

don powell (919) 280-6878 e-mail artvark@visionet.net
i will be happy to share any experiences and anecdotes re bobby with you should you desire. dgp

all the good times are past and gone all the good times are past and gone
all the good times are past and gone what’s left for a poor boy to do

i can still see my mama bend over that ol’ washpot
and it’s so doggone cold you could nearly freeze on the spot
my pa eatin’ them flapjacks and yellin’ for more
and the kids makin’ tracks across mama’s clean floor
but all them good times are past and gone now all the good times are gone

well you could look for miles down a winding railroad track
and see train a leavin’ and hear one comin’ back
and with a cloud of blue up over your head
it’s like something from a storybook that you once read
but all them good times are past and gone now all the good times are gone
all the good times are past and gone what’s left for a poor boy to do

and go down on that river when the big boats make their run
and the canepoles grow so thick they block up the sun
just smell that coffee boilin’ in an old tin can
and that hot grease poppin’ in the fryin’ pan
but all them good times are past and gone now all them good times are gone
all the good times are past and gone what’s left for a poor boy to do

another love has ended (another love has ended)
like so many in the past (a million loves in the past)
and people now are saying ( everybody’s saying)
i just knew it couldn’t last (it just couldn’t last)

another fool is suffering (another fool, another fool)
in a world of despair ( and it’s so lonely there)
trying not to show (don’t let people know)
how much he really cared (he really, really cares)
another promise spoken (an empty promise spoken)
to love forever more (i’ll love you forevermore)
and then my heart was broken (another heart was broken)
like so many hearts before (a million hearts before)
the hand of fate descended
another love has ended
when a new love started for you

another promise spoken (an empty promise spoken)
to love forever more (i’ll love you forever)
and then my heart was broken (another heart was broken)
like so many hearts before (a million hearts before)
the hand of fate descended
another love has ended
when a new love started for you
when a new love started for you (another love is ended)

in the spring of my life she came to me
she brought sunshine where winter winds had blown
then i took her for my wife in the spring of my life
and she brought me a joy i never known
and the years they went by in the spring of my life
and in summer she blessed me with a child
love continued to grow in the summer of my life
and in every morning sun i saw her smile
in the autumn of my years i noticed the tears
and i knew that our lives was in the past
though i’ve tried to pretend i knew it was the end
for the autumn of my life had come at last
now just what do you say to a child only ten
how do you tell him that his daddy’s goin’ away
i wonder do i tell him that i reached the autumn of my life
and that perhaps he’ll understand some cold winter’s day
now the rose can’t be found on the snow covered ground
and the sun cannot shine through cloudy skies
but i’m richer you see for the years she gave to me
and i am content in the autumn of my life