James Sheeley (My Grandpa) Kelsey Street Loraine

Grandpa Sheeley/James Sheeley, Barry Sheeley (Bigger kid) & Myself (the 2-3 year old) Jason Sheeley. 1981

This is a re-post of a song I did over a year ago. I have included pictures of Grandpa, and one more song from the tape, “Amazing Grace.”

My Grandpa died when I was 3, so I don’t remember him. All I have to go by are the stories my dad tells me most of which are unbelievable. In my mind he has kind of a mythical existence. Some people loved him, some people hated him. My Mom says he had a great sense of humor and was “as nice as could be” but when he was drinking people stayed away from him as he battled the bottle most of his life. I always pictured him as a Hank WIlliams kind of guy. His nickname was “Jeep” because he was said to “go anywhere and do anything.” I have in my possession 2 items that once belonged to him. A necklace medallion that says “Rambler” across it, and a Supro Lexington electric guitar. I assume he is playing the Supro on this recording.

This song came from a tape my Dad, Larry, has and I transfered it to digital. There is about 8 or 9 songs on the tape, this one being my favorite. He calls it “Kelsey Street Loraine” and is a dedication to a woman he said he loved (pictured below). He mentions in the recording to have gotten the song from a Jimmie Rodgers “oldie… I mean OLDIE” which I’ve tried to find. The best I can do is piece it together from a few different songs. The first verse: “She’s long, she’s tall. She’s 6 feet from the ground…” can be found in “Blue Yodel No. 4″ but by Bill Monroe, and not “Blue Yodel No. 4 (California Blues)”. The second and third verses can be heard in “T for Texas” By Jimmie Rodgers.

This was recorded with a handheld recorder/tape player. It sounds to me like he is playing it on one tape player and recording it with another. He adds comments about the song throughout and has some technical difficulties with the tape player. I think there’s even a few dog barks here and there.

This one’s for you Grandpa! I don’t know if you wanted a bunch of people on a computer hearing your music, but they are now.

Note: Loraine was not my Grandma.

Kelsey Street Loraine:

Amazing Grace:

Grandpa & The mean mean mamma herself, Loraine. Probably on Kelsey Street

Hillbilly