The Pro… Read Full Bio ↴No, silly... not Jimi Hendrix. This man is a bit different.
The Professional music career of Jim Hendricks began in Omaha, Nebraska in the early 1960's. As the story goes, one evening while singing in a local folk music club Jim met and became friends with Cass Elliot. Cass wanted to form a folk music trio and had already enlisted the talents of Tim Rose. After hearing Jim sing and play the guitar Cass knew that he would be the perfect third member! The group was formed and the called themselves The Big Three…
The trio headed east (as all good folk singers do) and landed a job at the The Bitter End, a well known night club in New York City's Greenwich Village. The group continued to perform at The Bitter End and as their reputation grew, so did the offers. They soon "hit the road" for a college tour with comedian Bill Cosby. From there came performances on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, The Danny Kaye Show and other television variety shows of the era.
In 1964, as the "electric" sound became more prominent and "Pop Music" was slowly replacing folk music, Jim and Cass decided to expand the group. They added Denny Doherty a successful Canadian singer, and guitarist Zol Yanovsky. They called themselves The Mugwumps…
Although The Mugwumps, were short lived , their place in Rock 'n Roll history is firmly established. They were the forerunner to the legendary group, The Mama's and Papa's. The pop music sound of the sixties had arrived!
After The Mugwumps, Jim moved to Los Angeles to start a successful solo career. He began writing for Johnny River's publishing company, and in 1967 he penned his first million seller… "Summer Rain". This started a long friendship between Jim and Johnny and brought continued success with other hit songs like "Muddy River" and "Look To Your Soul".
In 1970 Jim met actor Michael Parks who was beginning a new TV series called "Then Came Bronson". Jim wrote the series theme song "Long Lonesome Highway" and shortly after the song was released it became a crossover hit on the pop, country and adult contemporary charts. Jim went on to produce three records for Michael Parks with two of them reaching"gold record" status.
Tiring of the L.A. life style and seeking a more pastoral setting, Jim moved to Nashville, Tennessee. During the 1970's and into the 1980's Jim toured with his family band and wrote several hits in the Contemporary Christian music field. They included "The Mighty One Of Israel", "New Wine" and "From Glory to Glory".
Jim was soon approached by Ken Pennell, an A&R director from Benson Music Group, to record a series of instrumental folk and mountain music entitled "Appalachian Memories". This series would also include recordings of old-time gospel hymns and down-home Christmas music. The series quickly became a Benson best-seller! Also, as a Benson Artist, Jim recorded an instrumental western series entitled "Under The Western Sky". The Series included 6 western titles and like the"Appalachian Memories" series, it too became an instant success!
But in the winter of 1996, changes began to unfold at Benson Music and Jim felt his business and creative goals would soon require a new direction. He met with Steve Swann, who had experience in the instrumental music market, and together they decided to start their own independent record label. Maple Street Music was formed.
Most recently Jim has renewed his friendship with Johnny Rivers and has a cut on Johnny's new project. The song is called "Blue Suede Blues" and was written as a tribute to the late, great Carl Perkins. Jim co-wrote this song with his wife, Vicki.
Music keeps getting better and better for Jim, and as the classic song states… "the best is yet to come!"……so stay tuned!
Cool Water
Jim Hendricks Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Without the taste of water, cool water
Old Dan and I with throats burned dry
And souls that cry for water
Cool, clear, water
The nights are cool and I'm a fool
Each star's a pool of water
And with the dawn I'll wake and yawn
And carry on to water, cool clear water
Keep a-movin, Dan, dontcha listen to him, Dan
He's a devil, not a man
And he spreads the burning sand with water
Dan, can ya see that big, green tree?
Where the water's runnin' free
And it's waitin' there for you and me?
Water, cool clear water
The shadows sway and seem to say
Tonight we pray for water
Cool water
And way up there he'll hear our prayer
And show us where
There's water, cool clear water
Keep a-movin, Dan, don't you listen to him, Dan
He's a devil, not a man
And he spreads the burning sand with water
Dan, can ya see that big, green tree?
Where the water's runnin' free
And it's waitin' there for you and me?
Water, cool, clear, water
Cool, clear, water
The song "Cool Water" by Jim Hendricks is a traditional Western ballad about a man and his horse, Dan, who are traveling through a barren desert in search of water. The singer and Dan have been wandering for a long time without water, and their throats burn with thirst. They seek solace in the thought of cool, clear water and the prospect of finding it on their journey. The song describes their journey and the hope they maintain to find water, along with the devilish temptations they face along the way.
The song captures the desperation and the human need for a basic necessity like water. The lyrics describe the agony of a parched throat, the relief of finding a water source, and the joy it brings to the traveler's life. Though "Cool Water" has religious overtones, it is essentially a song that extols the resiliency of the human spirit, the indomitable will to survive the harshness of nature, and the power of hope and faith.
This song has been covered by many artists, including Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, and Marty Robbins. It has also been featured in several films and television shows, including The Searchers, The Waltons, and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Interesting facts about the song include its origins as a traditional folk song, its significant popularity in the Western genre, and its incorporation into various forms of media. The song has also been associated with the cowboy culture, and its enduring appeal lies in its depiction of the classic cowboy archetype as a lone wanderer, seeking to survive the challenges posed by a hostile environment.
Chords (key of C):
Verse: C-Am-F-G7
Chorus: C-G7-C-G7-C-G7-Am-F-C-G7
Line by Line Meaning
All day I've faced a barren waste
I have spent the entire day in a dry, unproductive place
Without the taste of water, cool water
I have not quenched my thirst with refreshing, cool water
Old Dan and I with throats burned dry
My companion and I are suffering from severe dehydration
And souls that cry for water
Our bodies are craving the life-giving liquid
Cool, clear, water
We desperately need refreshing and pure water
The nights are cool and I'm a fool
In the cool evenings, I feel foolish for not having found water yet
Each star's a pool of water
I am imagining that the stars in the sky might be shining over pools of cool water
And with the dawn I'll wake and yawn
I will wake up exhausted and thirsty in the morning
And carry on to water, cool clear water
I must continue searching for the precious resource of cool, clear water
Keep a-movin, Dan, dontcha listen to him, Dan
I advise my companion named Dan to keep moving forward and ignore negative thoughts
He's a devil, not a man
Our difficult situation is not caused by a human, but rather by the hellish environment we are in
And he spreads the burning sand with water
The devilish force in the desert only makes conditions worse, not better
Dan, can ya see that big, green tree?
I ask my companion if he can see the hope of a big, green tree in the distance
Where the water's runnin' free
There is a source of water that is not controlled or rationed by anyone
And it's waitin' there for you and me?
Can we reach that water and quench our thirst?
The shadows sway and seem to say
As night falls, the shadows seem to communicate to us
Tonight we pray for water
Our prayers are focused on the need for life-sustaining water
And way up there he'll hear our prayer
Our prayers will reach up to a higher divine power
And show us where there's water, cool clear water
We hope that God will lead us to a place where we can find cool, pure water
Cool, clear, water
The coveted drink we need to survive in the desert
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA/AMCOS
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