The warden led a prisoner down the hallway to his doom
I stood up to say goodbye like all the rest
And I heard him tell the warden just before he reached my cell
“Let my guitar playing friend do my request”
Merle Ronald Haggard (April 6, 1937 – April 6, 2016) was an American country singer, songwriter, guitarist, and fiddler.
“Sing Me Back Home” is a song written and recorded by American country music artist Merle Haggard and The Strangers. It was released in November 1967 as the first single and title track from the album Sing Me Back Home. In 2019, Rolling Stone ranked “Sing Me Back Home” No. 32 on its list of the 40 Saddest Country Songs of All Time.
Bob Dylan
Dylan covered this song in September 1985 – Farm Aid Rehearsals – with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers.
Tracks from this rehearsal first started circulating in June 2016.
This is a pretty good performance, even though he doesn’t remember a lot of the lyrics.
He then performed it once in 2004 & nine times in 2005.
Bonnaroo Music Festival
Manchester, Tennessee
11 June 2004
Let him sing me back home with a song I used to hear
Make my old memories come alive
Take me away and turn back the years
Sing me back home before I die
Paramount Theatre
Seattle, Washington
March 7, 2005
Keith Richards
Unreleased studio outtakes recorded in Toronto, Canada, March 1977
I recall last Sunday morning a choir from off the streets
Came to sing a few old gospel songs
And I heard him tell the singers, “There’s a song my mama sang
Could I hear it once before you move along?”
Marianne Faithfull with Keith Richards from the album “Easy Come, Easy Go” (2009)
Gram Parsons
The Flying Burrito Brothers – from the compilation album “Sleepless Nights” (1976)
Sing me back home, the the song I used to hear
Make my old memories come alive
Take me away and turn back the years
Sing me back home before I die
Joan Baez
Won’t you sing me back home, the the song I used to hear
Make my old memories come alive
Take me away and turn back the years
Sing me back home before I die
Sing me back home before I die
From the album “One Day at a Time” – reissue (bonus tracks).
Check out:
- Bob Dylan posts @ borntolisten.com
- —
- MusicThisDay.com
- Music lists @ MusicThisDay.com
- –
- Karl Erik’s expectingrain.com
- Olof’s “Still On The Road“
Love hearing some of that stuff from the ’85 rehearsal; Bob was totally into this version of Across the Borderline. Also a very nice version of I’ll Remember You. Thanks for posting stuff like this to give the rest of us a glimpse of otherwise hidden gems!