Going to Vietnam
1967 · M.O.C. 45-665 · West Memphis, Arkansas
- Artist
- Big Amos
- Title
- Going to Vietnam
- Release
- I'm Gone / Going to Vietnam
- Year
- 1967
- Label
- M.O.C. # 45-665
- Format
- 7" · Single
- Language
- English
- Country
- West Memphis, Arkansas, USA
- Songwriter
- Amos Patton
- Genre
- Blues · Soul Blues
- Primary theme
- Home Front Perspective / Soldier's Perspective
Annotation
The blues track "Going to Vietnam" (M.O.C. Records # M.O.C.) by Big Amos Patton, from Sardis, Mississippi, and nephew of the famous 1920s-1930s delta bluesman Charley Patton, it was recorded in Memphis Tennessee, but is very much set to the style of the electric, Chicago blues (like Muddy Waters & Junior Wells). The lyrics told a straight forward narrative of a man being drafted to Vietnam, expressing fears about his lover staying true to him. There is no question of draft dodging, opposition to war, or patriotism, just the simple point that "Uncle Sam called me...And I've got to go".
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English: Get up in the morning, straight to Vietnam / I hate to leave you darling... / Uncle Sam called me and I've got to go... / I know you're going to miss me... / Please write and tell me how you're getting along... / I'm going to Vietnam / Uncle Sam gonna send you a paycheck
Notes
M.O.C. 45-665 (HI 2493), "Promotional Copy", sunburst label; "Going to Vietnam" (Amos Patton), 2:49, Pub: JEC Publishing Corp., BMI; produced by Willie Mitchell; "Recorded in Memphis"; distributed by London Records, Inc., made in U.S.A. [From the record sleeve and labels]
About the artist
Big Amos is Memphis-area blues singer/harmonica player Big Amos Patton, born 1921 in Sardis, Mississippi, a nephew of Charley Patton; after WWII service he settled in West Memphis, Arkansas, and in the 1960s recorded for the Hi Records family - 'Going to Vietnam' (M.O.C. 45-665, 1967) carries his own writer credit. [Source: AllMusic; Discogs]