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I Washed My Hands in Muddy Water

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(Babcock)

Information:
Stonewall Jackson and a # 8 country hit with I Washed My Hands in Muddy Water (Columbia 43197) in 1965. The song had been written a year earlier by Joe Babock. Other hit versions have included those by Charlie Rich (Smash 1993) in 1965 and Johnny Rivers (Imperial 66175) in 1966.

Elvis recorded I Washed My Hands in Muddy Water on June 7, 1970, at RCA’s Nashville studios. RCA released a shortened version on record. An alternate mix appeared on the RCA Record Club LP Country Memories.

Lyrics:

I was born in Macon Georgia
They kept my daddy over in Macon jail
He told me if you keep your hands clean, yeah
You won't hear them bloodhounds on your trail

Well, I fell in with bad companions
Robbed a man, oh, up in Tennessee
They caught me way up in Nashville, yeah
They locked me up and threw away the key (what you do, son?)

1. I washed my hands in muddy water
Washed my hands, but they didn't come clean
Tried to do like my daddy told me
But I must have washed my hands in a muddy stream

Well, I asked the judge now when's my time up
He said son, oh, you know we won't forget
If you try just to keep your hands clean, yeah
We might just make a good man of you yet

But I couldn't wait to get my time up
I broke out, broke out of Nashville jail
I just crossed the state-line of Georgia, yeah
Well I can hear those bloodhounds on my trail (what you do, son?)

1. 1. 1. 1. 1. (repeat)

Where it was released:

Released for the fist time on Elvis Country »

LPs/CDs:

- Elvis Country (1971) »

- Country Memories (1978) »

– Elvis Country (1981) »

- Walk a Mile in My Shoes – The Essential 70’s Masters (1995)

- Essential Elvis, Volume 4 – A Hundred Years From Now (1996)

- Platinum – A Life in Music (1997)

- A Touch of Platinum, Volume 2 (1998)

- That’s The Way It Is – Special Edition (2000)

- Elvis Country (2008) - FTD »

– That's The Way It Is - 50th Anniversary Collector's Edition (2020) - FTD

Bootleg Releaes:

- Behind Closed Doors (1979) – Audifon Records

- Unfinished Business (1980) – Reel to Reel Record Company

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