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Barefoot Nellie
Composer: Jim Davis / Don Reno

Barefoot Nellie was played by the played by the Black Mountain Boys on the 6th March 1964. The Black Mountain Boys included Jerry Garcia, Robert Hunter, Eric Thompson, Sandy Rothman and David Nelson.

The song is often listed as traditional on recordings but appears to have been written by Don Reno and Jim Davis.



Jerry Garcia recordings

info Before The Dead, Jerry Garcia, 2018

Other recordings

no info Single (Barefoot Nellie / Reno Ride), Don Reno, Red Smiley & the Tennessee Cutups, 1955
info Good Old Country Ballads, Reno and Smiley, 1959
no info Single (Barefoot Nellie"/"I'll Never Hold You In My Arms Again), Hamilton County Bluegrass Band, 1968
info The Carroll County Accident, Porter Wagoner & The Wagonmasters, 1969
info I Know You're Married But I Love You Still, Don Reno, Red Smiley & the Tennessee Cutups, 1969
no info The Bluegrass Sound Of The Miller Brothers, The Miller Brothers, 1974
info Livin' In The Past, The Kentucky Colonels, 1975
info Pistol Packin' Mama, Good Old Boys, 1976
no info Collectors Edition, Vol. 4, Reno and Smiley, 1983?
no info Firm Foundation, Creek Bend, 1984
no info Sweet Sunny South, The Goins Brothers, 1985
info Frank Wakefield & Good Old Boys, Frank Wakefield & Good Old Boys, 1992
no info Don Reno And Red Smiley And The Tennessee Cutups 1951-1959, Don Reno And Red Smiley And The Tennessee Cutups, 1993
info Early Years 1951-59, Reno and Smiley, 1994
no info Tonight I Feel Like Texas, Barbara Lamb, 1996
no info Talk of Town: Classic Bluegrass 1952-1960, Don Reno/Red Smiley/The Tennessee Cut-Ups, 1999
no info Beans & Bullshit, Dixie Gunworks, 1999
info Old & In The Gray, Old & In The Gray, 2002
no info Full Skiffle and Steamy Hillbilly, Ivor & The Engines, 2002
no info Sailing Home: Bluegrass is Timeless, Don Reno, Red Smiley & the Tennessee Cutups, 2003
no info Down on the Farm, Whistle Pig, 2003
no info Snappy Lunch, The VW Boys, 2003
no info I Want U 2 Want Me, The Billys, 2004
no info New Harmony, Home Remedy, 2005
no info Flatpick, Clarence White, 2006
no info Greenwood, Cooper's Uncle, 2006
no info Live!, The Billys, 2006
info Little Mo' McCoury, Ronnie McCoury, 2007
info The Cold Hard Facts of Life (Box), Porter Wagoner, 2008

Lyrics

The lyrics used by the Black Mountain Boys are hard to decipher for some of the verses but they are something like;

Red headed woodpecker sitting on a tree
Ma said (chicken but Nellie got him?)
Wrung his neck and picked him clean
Funniest chicken I ever seen.

(Chorus)
Ah Barefoot Nellie
Oh Barefoot Nellie
Eh Barefoot Nellie
You're the one for me.

( Inaudible verse)

Chorus....

Nellie went to town one day
Riding on a load of hay
Sold a man a trip to Mars
(Now she's behind the bars?)

Chorus....

Nellie put on her Sunday dress
Thought that it would look the best
Made out of an old pea sack
Hog feed wrote right on the back.

Chorus....

Nellie's got a pair of shoes
She can wear them if she choose
What is she got the blues?
Who wants to wear size twenty-two.

Chorus....

 
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