But we did anyway . ..!! Took the T out for a drive today. Since Clifton Clower's home place is just a couple miles from our house (as the crow flies) I thought my Mom would like to go there for a short trip. It is about 10 miles by road. Took a few photos of the old Home place, yard trees, and the storm cellar. The pear trees were full and ripe, so we each had a "Clowers" fresh picked pear, for our rest stop snack. The hunting club is still owned by the Clowers family. The old house had burned down several years ago. The trip up the mountain went OK. Its gravel road all the way. I had to go to low pedal twice, but mostly because of the "wash board" road. No overheating. It stayed well below the window of the Moto meter. Just another nice day out with my Mom, my Wife, and the T ....
Woolverton Road on top of the mountain.
Clowers Drive is the first road after you reach the top of the mountain.
The hunting club is just after the old home place.
Sitting in the front yard and under the old trees of the home place..
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The old storm cellar, The only remaining structure, other than the foundation remains of the house.
Picking pears .....
Donnie,
One of my favorite "real country" songs, with a little background:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QpmztcX_BtI
Thanks for the pics and sharing your drive up Wolverton Mountain.
The writer tells the story of the song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TehoxDrN9Tw
The song was very popular, and rightly so, here in Oz. I had no idea that it was about real people and a real place. Thanks Donnie for the 'tour' and thanks to Rob and Steve for the links.
Back in the 40s 50s and 60s era, there was very little to do in this part of the world. Most all the local families played music. They would all get together and play music. My wife's family knew the Clowers family and would get together with them from time to time. During the 60s the Clowers family would have a 4th of July get together. Mrs Clowers had made up a flyer to mail out to various country stars and friends, in hopes some of the stars would show up. She used the old hand crank Xerox machine from the old school at Formosa Ark. I have heard from people who went to all the get togethers, that Grandpa Jones, Loretta Lynn, Jimmy Driftwood, Merl Kilgore, Claude King, and a few others came and played. We have one of the flyers somewhere. I never met Clifton, but have met his daughter, the "daughter" of the song. I also have met a lot of the kids, grandkids and great grandkids. They are all my neighbors. All of them refer to Clifton Clowers as "CC" or "grandpa CC" and everyone agrees he was the nicest person you could ever know. Part of the field where the "sorgum" was grown that Merl Kilgore was talking about in the link above,is now a natural gas well pad. The pads take up about 3 to 5 acres, but other than that the original 119 acres of the original farm is pretty much as it was.
CC lived to be 102, 1891-1994 according to Wiki:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolverton_Mountain#Clifton_Clowers
I found my flyer for the get togethers. I have always wondered why they spelled Woolverton with one O instead of two on the records and flyers. It is supposed to have two Os.
Donnie, Is Wooverton mountain shown on any Arkansas road map?
Interesting things appear on this Forum, don't they?
Not quite "the rest of the story". but another tidbit for this story...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lE3hPdkzMA
Someone did a parody of this song-Maybe Homer and Jethro - but I can't find a link to it.
I only remember part of the chorus that went "Her tender lips are hotter than chili"
Terry, As far as I know it is not shown on anything new. Maybe some of the old maps from the 60s have it. Merl Kilgore was wrong with the location on the you tube link. He said it is on US hwy 65 between Clinton and Morriliton Ark.. It is actually on State hwy 9 between Clinton and Morriliton Ark. It is almost at the southern county line of Van Buren county and the northern side of Conway county. The county line is between my place and the homestead, and is in Conway county. Almost all of Woolverton Mountain is in Conway county. I would think a google search would show where it is located. Dave, Thanks for the link, I had never heard that version of the song before. I do not believe "the girl from Wolverton Mountain" singer,is "the real Clowers girl" I found four different singers for the same song. I think it is the "female" answer to the original... I really liked it, so now Im looking for an original "Girl from Wolverton Mountain" record to ad to my collection.
Thank you Donnie! I have been looking forward to this update.
I am not sure why the song appeals to me so much. However, it seems to appeal to a lot of other people here as well. It is not a particularly catchy tune. I don't think that many people would try to dance to it. But every time it comes along on my audio tape or CD, I turn up the volume and listen.
Thank you Donnie, and all.
Drive carefully, and enjoy, W2
I know the song too. Cant remember when or where I first heard it.
But I have always wondered, who did the beautiful daughter marry [was there only one daughter]?
Did someone climb up or did she marry the boy next door :-)
Manuel in Oz