Chords for Jimmy Ellis (Orion) - 100 Pounds Of Clay-Orion Story

_ _ This fellow we've got here coming out spent years behind a mask.
But he was not a bank robber, nor was he the Lone Ranger.
But it was a showbiz gimmick.
Today he is singing without the mask.
His name is Orion.
_ And he's a good-looking fellow.
It's a shame that he had to cover that face up all those years.
Would you welcome Orion. _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [Gm] _ _
_ _ [Bb] _ _ _ _ [Gm] _ _
He [Bb] took a hundred pounds [Gm] of clay _
And then [Cm] he said, hey [F] listen
[Bb] I'm gonna fix this old world [Gm] today _
Because [Cm] I know _ [F] what's missing
[Bb] Living on this [F] big street of love
Yes and a [Bb] brand new world [F] began
He [Bb] _ created, oh
[Gm] _ _
_ [Cm] _ _ _ [F] Lots of loving, [Bb] yeah for a man
Oh [Gm] yes he did, oh [Bb] yes he did
_ [Gm] He _ [Bb] took a hundred [Gm] pounds of clay _
[Cm] And made _ life [F] worth living
[Bb] And Lord thank him [Gm] every day _
[Cm] For every _ _ kiss [F] you're giving _
[Eb] And I [Bb] thank him [F] every night _
[Eb] For [Dm] the ones that hold [F] me tight
And [Bb] he _ [Gm] did it all with
[Cm] _ _ Just [F] a hundred [Bb] pounds of clay
Yes he did, oh [Eb] yes he did
Yes he did, oh [Bb] yes he did
Yes he did
[F] _ _
_ [Bb] _ _ _ _ [Gm] _ _ _
_ [Cm] _ _ _ _ [F] _ _ _
_ [Bb] _ _ _ _ [F] Orion Orion
[Gm] _
_ [C] _ _ _ _ [F] _ _ _
_ [Eb] _ _ _ _ [F] _ _ _
_ [Eb] _ _ _ _ [F] _ _ _
_ [Bb] _ _ _ _ [Gm] _ _
You [Bb] _ _ _ _ [Gm] _ _ _
_ [Bb] see him walking [Gm] around and round
[Eb] Picking the clay [F] that's above the ground
[Bb] Doing just [Gm] what he should do
[Eb] _ Make a living [F] or dream just like you
Well [Eb] he [Bb] rolled his big [F] sleeves up _
[Eb] And a [Bb] brand new world [F] began
He [Bb] _ created, [Gm] oh _ _
_ [Cm] _ _ Lots [F] of loving, yeah [Bb] for a man
Oh [Eb] yes he did, oh [Bb] yes he did
Yes he did
_ [F] _ _
_ [Eb] _ _ _ _ [F] _ _ _
_ [Eb] _ _ _ _ [F] _ _ _
_ [Bb] _ _ Orion
[F] Yes [Gm] he [Cm] did
_ Just [F] a hundred pounds [Bb] of clay
Yes he [Gm] did
Yes he [Cm] did
_ Just [F] a hundred pounds [Bb] of clay
Yes he [Eb] did _ _
_ [Bb] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [N] _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Over _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ What I call you for short, oh
_ _ I've been called everything once _
Called you Oreo
_ Orion
Well I'm sitting in good company
Now you are sitting, son, you are sitting in a place
That men would pay thousands
_ I ain't got thousands but I'd pay what I got Huh?
_ _ Your real name is Jimmy Ellis, isn't it?
That's correct
Where you from?
_ Little town called Orville, Alabama
_ Orville, Alabama
_ It's about 15 miles south of Selma, Alabama
I know you've heard of Selma, Alabama
Yes I certainly have
Why did you wear the mask and how long did you wear it? _
Well I wore it, _ well the reason I wore the mask was
When I was with Sun Records, you know
Let's see, in 1978 I started with Sun Records
And _ my producer at the time
The owner and producer of Sun Records _ _
Decided that I should wear the mask
So he suggested pretty strongly that I wear the mask
And so I wore the mask
A gimmick, a show business gimmick Right
And I wore it for about five years
Did it work?
It worked for a length of time
You know gimmicks only last a pretty short time
Did people get so they wanted you to come out from behind the mask
To see what you really looked like?
I've got, yeah all the time people wanted me to come out from the mask
And then when I took the mask off they wanted me to put it back on _
_ _ Then the name itself, Orion
Like a celestial group of stars
That's an interesting name
Did you select that?
The name came from
At the time that I signed with Sun Records _ _
I had met a lady in Atlanta, Georgia
Who had written a book
And the book was entitled Orion
_ _ And it was the story of a guy
Who became very big in the business
And then he became so big that he
He couldn't go anywhere or do anything
He didn't have any privacy
So he faked his own death
And attended his own funeral as a pallbearer
He had grown a beard
And changed his hair color
And that's the way he escaped _ his imprisonment
Anyway they did a lot of publicity on the book
And _ I gave the book to Shelby Singleton
Who was the president of Sun Records at the time
And he liked the idea so we put the both of them together
So that's the way we came out
So Jimmy Ellis with a handsome face
Became Orion behind a mask
That's it Okay
That's about it
We're going to take a little break here
It's nice to have you with us Jimmy _