Chords for James "Big Chief" Wetherington Remembered

I was in Nashville. _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [C] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[N] _ When was that?
We were at a CSAC meeting or something.
It seemed like somebody _ _ _ was_
Yeah, yeah, I was there.
You were there. _
And I was _ in a meeting with you and I was talking with Jimmy Jones
and somebody said that Chief had had a heart attack and I saw them carrying him out. _ _
_ _ [Fm] Well, I walked into the motel and you were the first person that I saw and [Eb] you said,
Chief just passed away.
[Cm] _ _ And it was a [Eb] tremendous shock.
_ _ [Bbm] _ I don't know if I [Ab] even said anything to you, but _ [Fm] it's [Ab] _
true.
Tell me [Eb] about Chief.
What [Ab] was your [Eb] experience residency and all those years with Chief? _ _ _
[Ab] We used to sit at that table and talk and pray and [G] sometimes [Db] see the sun coming [A] up.
_ [Bbm] I don't think we ever got [B] tired of talking.
[Ab] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ We'd go out there and work on that old book, get your reading read up.
[F] _
_ _ _ [A] _ And carrying [Bbm] those great big old _ _ A7's [Ab] in.
_ _ _ That was [Eb] mine and his job. _
We [E] all don't have Ernie's.
[D] _ _ _ [Ab] _ _ You know, Rosie, he left a healthy young [Eb] single.
He took good care of it.
_ [C] _ [Eb] _ [Ab] Take up time with people.
Yeah, he always had time with people.
_ The hunting business was not a fictitious thing.
I mean, [Db] he was a serious hunter, right?
[G] And every year, _ _ at a certain time of the year, we took off a week and he went to his home in South Georgia where he was born and raised. _
Tyti, Georgia.
_ T [N]-Y-T-Y.
A little town out from _ Tifton, [Ab] Georgia.
_ [Eb] And quailed hunting for a week _ _ _ with a bunch of his old _ _ cronies that he went to school with. _
I think the reason a lot of people like him, a lot of guys [Abm] like him, is the fact that he seemed like an outdoors character and _ [Ab] rough. _
And _ just [Eb] enjoyed the outdoors. _
_ _ _ Let me play this clip.
You were all there when it was done.
[B] But I think it [N] shows _ _ his tenderness and his sensitivity.
_ _ _ And it's kind of a male thing.
We got a guy in our hometown, Johnny Carroll, who _ _ likes guys like this.
And I want to play this little clip for you.
_ _ [Eb] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ Home, _ _ sweet _ _ _ home. _ _ _
[Ab] _ Home, _ _ _ _ [Eb]
sweet _ _ home.
_ _ [Cm] _
_ _ _ _ _ [F] Back in South Georgia, _ _ [A] when I was just [Bb] a lad, _ _ near [F] the [Bb] Okefenokee Swamp, _ _ possum and coon hunting [Eb] was really the fad.
_ _ _ We boys would all gather with [Ab] all of our hounds _ and head for [Eb] the swamp _ to hear a beautiful sound.
[A] _ _ _
We'd get to the swamp and [Bb] find a _ sitting down place _ [Eb] and all settle back and listen to the chase. _
_ _ _ _ _ One dark night, _ _ for some reason or another, [Bbm] _
_ [Eb] I wandered [Ab] off _ _ and got lost [Eb] from the others. _ _
Well, I floundered [Cm] around for four nights and three [F] days, thinking maybe _ I could find [Bb] my own way. _
_ [Eb] But I can tell [Bb] you now, on that fourth [D] day, _ _ [Gm] there was one little nine [Eb]-year-old boy _ that learned how to pray.
[Ab] _ _ _
I fell on my knees [Eb] beside a great big log.
_ _ [A] Too exhausted to think, _ [Bb] I began to sob.
_ _ _ _ [Eb] _ _ If you'll help me, Lord, to get out of this place, _ _ _ _ I'll wash my hands.
_ _ I'll even wash my face.
_ [B] _ _ [Ab] _ I'll mind my grandma when she tells me what to do. _
_ _ She [Eb] understands boys, Lord.
_ _ _ She even told me about you.
_ _ [Bb] I guess you understand boys too, Lord, _ because you've got [D] one of your own.
_ _ [Eb] I heard what happened to him and I'm real sorry.
_ _ But I sure wish you'd help [Ab] me _ find my way home.
_ _ [Eb] I'm hungry, Lord.
Tired and [Cm] thirsty, too. _ _
I've gone in [Bb] circles for four long days and I don't [Eb] know, Lord, just what else to _ do. _ _ _ _ _
Down at the church, _ just the other day, when our little preacher started in to pray, he said,
You help people that get themselves [Ab] lost. _
He said you'd help them get found _ if they'd just pay the cost.
[Eb] _ _ _ Now, I don't know, Lord, just what it is you charge, _ _ but I'll pay [Bb] you, Lord. _
But you [Eb] may have to [Bb] wait till I grow up and get to be big and [Eb] large. _ _
But I still may not know what it is you want me to do, but all you've got to do [Ab] is just holler, Lord. _
And I'll drop what I'm doing and [Eb] come a-running, _ cause I'll know [Cm] I owe this to you.
_ _ _ [Bb] _ _ When I finished my prayer and opened my [Eb] eyes, _ _ there stood old Blue. _ _
Was I ever [Bb] surprised?
[Eb] _ _ He began to whine and lick my chin as if to say, Boy, where in the world have you been?
[Ab] _ _ _
Then I heard my grandpa's whistle shrill, the most beautiful sound.
[Gm] I can hear it [Eb] still.
_ Now, he'd whistle many times to call me in [Bb] from play, _ _ but that one long whistle, _ I can hear it today.
_ _ [Eb] I closed my eyes and said, _ _ Thank you, Lord.
_ I know that I'll get [Ab] found _ _ if you would just _ [Eb] say the word.
_ _ _ _ _ [Cm] _ _
Lord, _ _ _ _ [Bb] I'm coming _ _ _ _ _ [Ab] home.
_ [Eb] _ _ _ _ [F] _ _