Songs That Mention Hats

[Hagwood]

 

[Frunobulax]

Well, Matty did tell Hatty...

 

[Doctor Jones]

Love the pipes. I married into a family of 5 pipers.

So there would be plenty of bonnets about the house! And noise. (Just kidding, I'm a piper too.)

The Scottish bonnet-making firm of Robert Mackie would be the Stetson equivalent, having been around since the mid-19th century and pretty much being THE bonnet makers (for example they make all the bonnets used in the Scottish regiments, and have done so since Queen Victoria was on the throne).

But unlike Stetson, I don't think there's a single song that mentions Mackie by name, no lines in songs like "I'll put me bonny Mackie on me heid" or whatever.

The Irish bonnet is called the Caubeen, and here's a story and tune

 

[JWFoust]

My Grandfather, singing "My Old Beaver Hat" recorded in 1962 for an Ozark folk song recording project...

http://web.lyon.edu/wolfcollection/songs/foustbeaver1263.html

 

[BobHufford]

^^^^^ That's great @JWFoust ! Thanks for sharing such a family treasure.

 

[Hat and Rehat]

 

[Lean'n'mean]

Sock it to 'em Sacha............

 

[Hat and Rehat]

Stack A Lee -- Bob Dylan's version

Hawlin alley on a dark and drizzly night,
Billy lyons and stack-a-lee had one terrible fight.
All about that john b. stetson hat.
Stack-a-lee walked to the bar-room, and he called for a glass of beer,
Turned around to billy lyons, said, "what are you doin' here?"
"waitin' for a train, please bring my woman home.
"stack-a-lee, oh stack-a-lee. please don't take my life.
Got three little children and a-weepin', lovin' wife.
You're a bad man, bad man, stack-a-lee."
"god bless your children and I'll take care of your wife.
You stole my john b., now I'm bound to take your life."
All about that john b. stetson hat.
Stack-a-lee turned to billy lyons and he shot him right through the head,
Only taking one shot to kill billy lyons dead.
All about that john b. stetson hat.
Sent for the doctor, well the doctor he did come,
Just pointed out stack-a-lee, said, "now what have you done?"
You're a bad man, bad man, stack-a-lee."
Six big horses and a rubber-tired hack,
Taking him to the cemetery, buy they failed to bring him back.
All about that john b. stetson hat.
Hawlin alley, thought I heard the bulldogs bark.
It must have been old stack-a-lee stumbling in the dark.
He's a bad man, gonna land him right back in jail.
High police walked on to stack-a-lee, he was lying fast asleep.
High police walked on to stack-a-lee, and he jumped forty feet.
He's a bad man, gonna land him right back in jail.
Well they got old stack-a-lee and they laid him right back in jail.
Couldn't get a man around to go stack-a lee's bail
All about that john b. stetson hat.
Stack-a-lee turned to the jailer, he said, "jailer, I can't sleep.
'round my bedside billy lyons began to creep."
All about that john b. stetson hat.

Taj Mahal version

There are several spelling variations of Stack, Stag, etc. too. This blues standard goes way back.

 

[Hat and Rehat]

 

[Hat and Rehat]

Not a song with lyrics, but an instrumental tribute.

It also has lyrics.

 

[Hat and Rehat]

I'm figuring this version counts as a new song with the old name.

 

[BobHufford]

You walked into the party
Like you were walking onto a yacht
Your hat strategically dipped below one eye
Your scarf it was apricot

 

[Rmccamey]

The writer never expected this to be a hit song; it was 3 minutes long, it didn’t have a chorus…and it was played on a banjo!

The film Dr. Zhivago was the inspiration for the song and the scenes of the train traveling through the snow capped mountains led him to incorporate imagery of trains into the song.

While he loved music, his lifelong ambition was to be a riverboat captain and pilot the big paddle wheelers up and down the Mississippi river. During his lifetime, he was a success in this endeavor as well!

In my opinion, the greatest song every written was by a man “his beard a roughened coal pile and a dirty hat pulled low across his face” - the late, great John Hartford. The most popular recording was by the late, great Glen Campbell.

 

[Frunobulax]

The writer never expected this to be a hit song; it was 3 minutes long, it didn’t have a chorus…and it was played on a banjo!

The film Dr. Zhivago was the inspiration for the song and the scenes of the train traveling through the snow capped mountains led him to incorporate imagery of trains into the song.

While he loved music, his lifelong ambition was to be a riverboat captain and pilot the big paddle wheelers up and down the Mississippi river. During his lifetime, he was a success in this endeavor as well!

In my opinion, the greatest song every written was by a man “his beard a roughened coal pile and a dirty hat pulled low across his face” - the late, great John Hartford. The most popular recording was by the late, great Glen Campbell.

I had the rare pleasure to see Mr. Hartford several years ago in Cincinnati at a semi-recurring event called "Tall Stacks." Saw under a big tent right by the river with paddlewheelers making up the backdrop. He was an incredible musician and songwriter. I forget whether it was him or Campbell I saw in a variety show once in the 70s open up the song with,

"And it's knowing that your door is always open and your furniture is gone..."

 

[Rmccamey]

I never met John but of all the "celebrities" in life, I always wanted to.

I had the rare pleasure to see Mr. Hartford several years ago in Cincinnati at a semi-recurring event called "Tall Stacks." Saw under a big tent right by the river with paddlewheelers making up the backdrop. He was an incredible musician and songwriter. I forget whether it was him or Campbell I saw in a variety show once in the 70s open up the song with,

"And it's knowing that your door is always open and your furniture is gone..."

 

[Bamaboots]

I had the rare pleasure to see Mr. Hartford several years ago in Cincinnati at a semi-recurring event called "Tall Stacks." Saw under a big tent right by the river with paddlewheelers making up the backdrop. He was an incredible musician and songwriter. I forget whether it was him or Campbell I saw in a variety show once in the 70s open up the song with,

"And it's knowing that your door is always open and your furniture is gone..."

I saw Hartford around 77 or 78 in a little bar in Tullahoma, TN. Daddy Billy’s. He came in with his instruments and a thick piece of plywood, about 3x3. He dropped the plywood on the floor and that was his stage. He played non-stop for better than an hour to about 50 of us and his feet never stopped moving or stomping on his stage. Didn’t talk between songs, just transitioned to the next. A drunk chick rushed the stage for a hug but she got the stiff arm from his bow hand and never lost time. Packed up his instruments and stage and left without a word to anyone that I saw. Good show.

The bar is still there and hasn’t changed much.

This is how I remember him looking.

 

[BobHufford]

“Mind over matter (it don't matter) when you're as mad as a hatter“

 

[hatophile]

“Mind over matter (it don't matter) when you're as mad as a hatter“

I saw those girls years ago when they were the Lovell Sisters.

 

[BobHufford]

"Now I went to church, put my hat on the seat
A lady sat on it and said, "Now Daddy you sho' is sweet"

 

[Garrett]