DBT Track #113: Daddy's Little Pumpkin.

[Smitty]

(may possibly be out of town tomorrow thru wednesday, so posting this a lil early)



Continuing with the cover's theme that's been going on the past few weeks, this week we're bringing you "Daddy's Little Pumpkin" off the tribute album Broken Hearts and Dirty Windows: Songs of John Prine. As a huuuuge Prine fan from about the time I was five, I was really excited when I found out DBT was going to be on the tribute, and they didn't disappoint - they turned a lil acoustic folk ditty into a rollicking barnburner ala "Get Downtown"/"Three Dimes Down". I didn't know that much about the specifics of why they chose this certain song or when it was recorded etc etc etc, so I reached out to Patterson, Jay & Neff who were all gracious enough to fill in some of the details:

John Neff

We did that one while in the midst of recording the last 2 studio records. It was either the same day or the day before or after we did the Squidbillies show. We were learning the arrangement, and Cooley started playing it Rockabilly style, and everybody kind of fell in.

Jay Gonzalez

i don't really know much about it other than it was recorded during the big to do/go go boots sessions with that band line-up.... was recorded pretty quickly from what i can remember! we cut it live except for vocals, i believe...

Patterson Hood

We recorded the Prine song as part of the sessions that produced The Big To-Do / Go-Go Boots albums
as well the Eddie Hinton 45, (which of course ended up on GGB) Your Woman is a Living Thing, Strutter, and a song for the Squidbillies TV show.
A very productive period for the band.
It was fun. Can't remember the specifics of why we did it, except we all love Prine.
Picked that song because Cooley and I both really loved that song when we were living in Memphis after Adam's House Cat broke up.
The Missing Years had just come out and we played it all the time in our dumpy garage we lived in.
It's a great song.
I didn't want to do any of his signature songs, as he has already done them as well as they can be done and if we can't add something or make it our own, why do it.
That song is a treasure that folks don't usually notice.
It was fun to record. Very quick, an hour tops.
Cooley and I each sang a version and in the end it seems like we kept both and let them harmonize.
(Not sure if that is correct, as I haven't heard it in some time).
We never do it live because we never felt compelled to.
Don't really play many covers and when we do its for a specific reason (like how People Who Died feels at end of a long show or some song that just speaks to me at the time).
Maybe someday we'll do a comp of all the tracks from BTD/GGB Sessions in chronological order or something.
Doubt it, but you never know.
Best to you,
Patterson

You must be daddy's little pumpkin
I can tell by the way you roll
You must be daddy's little pumpkin
I can tell by the way you roll
Why it's quarter past eleven
And you're sleeping on the bedroom floor

I can see the fire burning
Burning right behind your eyes
I can see the fire burning
Burning right behind your eyes
You must of swallowed a candle
Or some other kind of surprise

I'm going down to Memphis
I got three hundred dollars in cash
I'm going down to Memphis
I got three hundred dollars in cash
All the women in Memphis
Want to see how long my money will last

I'm going downtown
I'm gonna to rattle somebody's cage

I'm going downtown
I'm gonna rattle somebody's cage
I'm gonna beat on my guitar
And strut all around the stage

If you see my baby coming
Don't tell her that her daddy's in jail
If you see my baby coming
Don't you tell her that her daddy's in jail
She'd sell her little pumpkin just to raise
Her sweet daddy's bail

You must be daddy's little pumpkin
I can tell by the way you roll
You must be daddy's little pumpkin
I can tell by the way you roll
You never do nothing
To save your doggone soul.

"Daddy's Little Pumpkin" as written by Pat Mclaughlin, John E. Prine
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, BUG MUSIC

grab it

[CooleyGirl]

I've always loved the DBT version of this song. It really rocks, and I wish they would play it live someday. It seems to be it would be lots of fun, and as Smitty mentioned, has a "Get Downtown" vibe to it, makes you just want to shake your shit when you hear it.

[jr29]

I like several of the Prine covers on the "Broken Hearts and Dirty Windows" album. I love the barroom, rock-a-billy kind of vibe DBT approached the song with.
And, I kinda feel like I wrote the "Memphis" verse.....wrote or lived, not sure.

[Gang Green]

Thanks, Smitty for the great post. I never listened to Prine until I learned DBT was included in this tribute album with Daddy's Little Pumpkin. I got the tribute album along with many of this other albums. Trouble is, I grew all these years in the 70's and 80's a punk rock snob, and I missed out on John Prine one of the great American artists of all time. Now I'm catching up big time.

[dime in the gutter]

never heard it.

[Swamp]

Thanks, Smitty for the great post. I never listened to Prine until I learned DBT was included in this tribute album with Daddy's Little Pumpkin. I got the tribute album along with many of this other albums. Trouble is, I grew all these years in the 70's and 80's a punk rock snob, and I missed out on John Prine one of the great American artists of all time. Now I'm catching up big time.

For some reason I had never heard of Prine until about the time "lost dogs and mixed blessings" album came out.
We had gone to see Victoria Williams (I really wanted to hear her version of "summer of drugs") She was opening for JP.
I was totally blown away. How in the world had I missed out on this guy. I haven't missed one of his (local) shows since.

[Bill in CT]

I like this cover a lot. I've only seen Prine once. It was at the 1997 Guinness Fleadh on Randall's Island. He was superb.
In case anyone is wondering...the tribute that this track appeared on is still in print and available for a reasonable price.