Sam Stone ~ ~ ~ Gene Gamble Jr

Sam Stone ~ ~ ~ Gene Gamble Jr
Cover as recorded by: John Prine
Songwriter: John Prine
Gene Gamble Jr ~ Singer/Songwriter 1976-2024
Recorded in 2012 on SingSnap Gold Membership Studio Format
Audio & video produced by McCarty Ln Studio 2012/3-14-2024
in Rochester, IN.

Shure Beta 58 Microphone
Fostex Multi-Tracker Recorder (4)
Pioneer CT-W504R Stereo Cassette Player/Recorder
Windows Media Digital Conversion
Sony Sound Forge Audio Studio 10 (Editing & Mixing)
YouTube Movie Maker 13

In memory of Karl Robinson, 62 died 1-18-2016 * US Army Vietnam Vet * RIP Brother. He is pictured in this video, standing next to the Clay Township old fire truck. Carl heard this recording I did, he was a John Prine fan. He died this very way the song describes. We met at Millers Vets for homeless Vets in May 2015 in South Bend, IN.

Sam Stone" is a song written by John Prine about a drug-addicted veteran with a Purple Heart and his death by overdose. It appeared on Prine's eponymous 1971 debut album. The song was originally titled "Great Society Conflict Veteran's Blues".

The most familiar refrain in the song is "There's a hole in daddy's arm, where all the money goes." The song is usually interpreted as a reference to the phenomenon of heroin or morphine addiction among Vietnam war veterans. The song does not mention the Vietnam War, saying only that Sam returned from "serving in the conflict overseas." There is a single explicit reference to morphine but Prine alludes to heroin on several occasions including the use of the term "habit," slang commonly associated with heroin use, and the line "he popped his last balloon," very likely referring to one of the ways in which street heroin is commonly packaged – in small rubber balloons.

Johnny Cash covered the song in a live concert, changing the line "Jesus Christ died for nothing, I suppose" to "Daddy must have hurt a lot back then, I suppose", and later "Daddy must have suffered a lot back then, I suppose".