Vietnam Blues
1966 · Helton 102 · USA
- Artist
- Grady Owen
- Title
- Vietnam Blues
- Release
- 36 From Dallas / Vietnam Blues
- Year
- 1966
- Label
- Helton # 102
- Format
- 7" · Single
- Language
- English
- Country
- USA
- Songwriter
- I. Russ
- Genre
- Country · Country
- Primary theme
- Home Front Perspective / Soldier's Perspective
Annotation
In the song "Vietnam Blues" (Helton Records # 102) the narrating soldier traveled back to the US after a tour of duty in Vietnam. He started to miss his army platoon: "I got a case of the so long Vietnam blues". Grady Lynn Owen (1936-1999), a Dallas, Texas based country singer, joined up with Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps in 1958 as a guitarist before going on to record several 7inch records.12Sources1Rockabilly Hall of Fame: Grady Owen↩2Gene Vincent: A Companion (Derek Henderson, 2005)↩
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English: I'm packing my bags now for my last trip / I'm homeward bound on big long ship / Thought I'll be so happy just to see this day / But surely something is wrong for it's not that way / Yes I got a case of the so long Vietnam blues / I'm going to miss my first Sarg and his big mouth / Gonna miss my buddy here, he's from the South / They all shook my hand and said they're glad to see me go / But something in their eyes tells me it ain't so / I guess I got a case of the so long Vietnam blues / Well they just called my name so it's time to go / The guys ain't laughing and joking anymore
Notes
Helton Records 102 (SoN 30222), pink and black label; "Vietnam Blues" (I. Russ), 2:25, Proctor Music BMI; produced by Russ Johnston; "Dist. by Sound of Nashville, Inc., 160 2nd Ave. S., Nashville, Tennessee". [From the record sleeve and labels]