- Try Rock 'N' Roll4:22
- Hello L.A., Bye, Bye Birmingham4:24
- Goodbye Wheeling4:47
- Shake, Rattle & Roll4:50
Lyrics
Try Rock 'N' Roll
Yes, rock and roll has gotta be
Clap your hands, stomp your feet
Oh gee, what a thrill
You know you can’t sit still
Your blues will slowly fade away
When you hear that music play
Bluesy tunes of the day
You will surely swing and sway
If you don’t dance, you’ll tap your feet
You’ve got to roll right there in your seat
Old folks, and young
All come out to have some fun
Yes, rock and roll has gotta be
Clap your hands, stomp your feet
Oh gee, what a thrill
You know you can’t sit still
Your blues will slowly fade away
When you hear that music play
Bluesy tunes of the day
You will surely swing and sway
Hello L.A., Bye, Bye Birmingham
I packed everything I own and I put it in a knapsack
I’m leaving Birmingham, yes, I am, and I ain’t lookin’ back
I bought me a guitar and I wrote a song
I played it for the DJ on the telephone
Going out to Hollywood, feeling good, yes, I am
Hello L.A., bye, bye Birmingham
Alright
Riding on a Greyhound bus ‘cross the Tennessee borderline
Eating from a Po’ Boy sandwich, taking drinks from a quart of wine
I got to get off at the very last stop
My ticket’s only good to Little Rock
Going out to Hollywood, feeling good, yes, I am
Hello L.A., bye, bye Birmingham
I got mixed up with a big city woman in Little Rock
I had to spend a week one time in the county jail
I had to take a two-day job to get my guitar out of hock
That’s the way it goes when you got no dough to make bail
I ran out of transportation funds, I had to hitchhike
I caught me a ride with a tattooed dude on a motorbike
People gonna know when I’m in town
Heads are gonna turn when they hear my sound
Going out to Hollywood, feeling good, yes, I am
Hello L.A., bye, bye Birmingham
Ow, uh
You know that I’m tired of going down
I believe I’m gonna leave this town
I’m leaving Birmingham, yes, I am
Yes, I am, yes, I am
Hello L.A., bye, bye Birmingham
Hello L.A., bye, bye Birmingham
Hello L.A., bye, bye Birmingham
Hello L.A., bye, bye Birmingham
Bye, bye Birmingham
Bye, bye Birmingham
Bye, bye Birmingham
Bye, bye Birmingham
Bye, bye Birmingham
Goodbye Wheeling
Well I’ve been reeling around Wheeling West Virginia just a little too long
Well I gotta be leaving cause one deceiving free wheeling woman done me wrong
And it’s goodbye Wheeling West Virginia no I don’t guess I’ll settle down
Since she don’t need me Lord I can’t see me any longer hanging round this old town
Cause I’ve got a feeling that I’ve been concealing many thoughts about traveling on
Cause things ain’t grooving so I’d better be a moving
When you wake up in the morning big Wheeling I’m gonna be gone gone gone
Well it’s goodbye Wheeling West Virginia…
Goodbye Wheeling I said goodbye Wheeling bye bye so long oh goodbye Wheeling
Shake, Rattle & Roll
Get out of that bed, wash your face and hands
Get out of that bed, wash your face and hands
Get in that kitchen, make some noise with the pots and pans
Way you wear those dresses, the sun come shining through
Way you wear those dresses, the sun come shining through
I can’t believe my eyes all that mess belongs to you
I believe to my soul you’re the Devil in nylon hose
I believe to my soul you’re the Devil in nylon hose
Well the harder I work, the faster my money goes
I said shake, rattle and roll, shake, rattle and roll
Shake, rattle and roll, shake, rattle and roll
Well, you won’t do right to save your doggone soul
I’m like a one-eyed cat peepin’ in a seafood store
I’m like a one-eyed cat peepin’ in a seafood store
Well, I can look at you till you ain’t no child no more
Ah, shake, rattle and roll, shake, rattle and roll
Shake, rattle and roll, shake, rattle and roll
Well, you won’t do right to save your doggone soul
I get over the hill and way down underneath
I get over the hill and way down underneath
You make me roll my eyes, even make me grit my teeth
I said shake, rattle and roll, shake, rattle and roll
Shake, rattle and roll, shake, rattle and roll
Well, you won’t do nothin’ to save your doggone soul
Shake, rattle and roll
Try Rock N’ Roll EP
To celebrate Record Store Day this Black Friday — and just in time for their Friday night headlining gig at the El Rey — the Chris Robinson Brotherhood (CRB) are releasing a limited-edition vinyl EP, Try Rock ‘N’ Roll.
“‘Hello L.A., Bye Bye Birmingham’ hit me as a song to cover because of the classic ‘going to Hollywood to make it big’ mythology. That the singer in the song is southern makes it hit home even harder,” says Robinson, himself a southern transplant to the City of Angels. “It’s a Delaney Bramlett song, co-written by Mac Davis, so there’s that, too!”
Bramlett, a legendary Mississippi-born, L.A.-based session guitarist who toured and recorded George Harrison, Eric Clapton and Jerry Lee Lewis among others, wrote “Hello L.A.” with country singer Mac Davis in 1969. From ’69 through the early ’70s, it became a country-rock standard, recorded by everyone from Nancy Sinatra to Blue Cheer to Bobby Whitlock. It’s been part of CRB’s live show for a couple years, but Try Rock ‘N’ Roll marks the first time they’ve released a studio version of it.
– Alex Hermann LA Weekly
