another one I found on My old computer.... Cowrite with David Williams who developed the character of Alligator Jackson and wrote several more songs about the hero and also wrote some stories.
There is also a different version with my old Buddy Kip Marchetti and slightly different lyrics
Ballad of Alligator Jackson © David Williams /John Westwood APRA & Music Dave Scarboro East Craft Studios NC
Intro
No one knows from where he came
he sounds like an urban myth
But the stories linger on and on
like the smell from an empty fifth
Maybe a figment of a deranged mind
Maybe a touch of the truth
He's as real as the whiskey that he drinks
Lotsa bad guys found the proof
v1
Rusty Shade was a no good
Robbed a store and killed a man
The lawman found him lying nearby
Broken neck and gun in his hand.
v2
The only clues the sheriff found
was the small gator tattooed on his skin
an empty bottle and one spent round
and the smell of whiskey on the wind
Ch
Alligator Jackson
Mean as Gators teeth
Minds his own business
Unless you're a no good thief...
or worse
He stands for right and fears no wrong
He’s a cut above the rest
Wears justice strapped below his wrist
And a tattoo on his chest
v3
From New York to California
The stories were all the same
bad guys were turning up cold and dead
With broken necks and a hole in the head
v4
If you're thinking about breaking the law
Think long and hard before you do
Last thing you want is to wind up dead
wearing a Gator tatoo
Ch
Alligator Jackson
Means as Gators teeth
Minds his own business
Unless you're a no good thief...or worse
He stands for right and fears no wrong
He’s a cut above the rest
Wears justice strapped below his wrist
And a tattoo on his chest