The Momma 'n' Daddy Collection 35

Tonight, I'm sending you out something special here, in the latest instalment of the Momma 'n' Daddy series. This time it's not just a Momma 'n' Daddy song, but it's sung by an actual mom and an actual dad, and I don't just mean any old mom and dad; no, I mean Hobert and Dorothy Skaggs, the only progenitors of Ricky of that ilk. On Ricky's album Family And Friends, Hobert and Dorothy sing 'River Of Memory'. Unable to find the lyrics anywhere online, I have transcribed them for you. You can hear a snatch of the song here:

There's an old ramshackle shack
Where in dreams I wander back
And we listen to those Southern melodies
Was the place where I was born
On a bright October morn
And it's nestled at the end of my river of memory

Chorus
Did you ever go sailin' down a river of memory
To a little log cabin
That's nestled among the sycamore trees
Where the sunshine is cheery
And nothing in the world goes weary
That's my cabin at the end of my river of memory

There's a mother old and grey
At the end of memory's way
And I'll meet her there tonight among the trees
And with her welcome she
So sweetly beckons me
To my cabin at the end of my river of memory.

Repeat chorus

When twilight's shadows fall
Many childhood voices call
Calling back to the good old days that used to be
And in answer to their prayers
I'll soon be sailing there
To my cabin at the end of my river of memory.

Repeat chorus

Here's an item I found about Ricky, in which his mom and dad feature (scroll down to 'Volume II Issue 92'):

He was born July 18, 1954. His dad enjoyed playing the guitar and singing with his mother to their favorite gospel tunes. It must've seemed natural when their three year old joined them to sing in church. Two years later his father gave him a mandolin. Within two weeks the five year old had taught himself to play it. He began singing and playing in churches, socials, and fairs all around their hometown in Eastern Kentucky. Maybe that wasn't so natural, but it was a fitting sign for the phenomenal music career their son would one day enjoy.

Around that time bluegrass giant Bill M[o]nroe came to perform nearby. During his routine the audience began to call out for him to let "Hobert and Dorothy's boy" play. Bill M[o]nroe obliged, saying "Get up here, wherever you are, Ricky. The folks want to hear you play." Jumping from his daddy's lap, six year old Ricky Skaggs ran to the Opry star and reached up to be pulled onstage. The crowd responded to his rendition of "Ruby", picked on Bill Munroe's own mandolin with his first standing ovation.

I think this series has achieved a new standard of excellence, if I may say so, with the richness of the Momma 'n' Daddy content of this post.

[The Momma 'n' Daddy Archive, containing all the details of the series, is here.]