Wednesday, April 2, 2025

The Burgoo Boys - Road Kill Café

 We welcome to Big And Tall Records a new group - The Burgoo Boys! They are all Kentuckians, and for the most part play Bluegrass music, but they do branch out in other forms on occasion. Now you're probably wondering (unless you're from their part of the country) what burgoo is! We've got a feeling the boys probably got a song with all the details, but the short of it is that burgoo is a meat and vegetable stew that originated in the Louisville KY area. It usually has 3 kinds of meat in it, beans, and vegetables, and served with corn bread or corn muffins. There's many recipes, and a lot of times what's in it is what ya got! It's a dish that is always served at The Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs, Louisville, Kentucky every year.

It's related to Irish stew, and perhaps came about from all the Irish and Welsh immigrants that ended up in Kentucky. It's supposed to be along cooked dish that starts out with meat cooked first, then vegetables like corn, okra, lima beans, potatoes, tomatoes, etc. They say that it really isn't burgoo unless you can stick a spoon straight up in it and it stays when you let go! Be that as it may, it's not just a dish in Kentucky. Many places in southern Illinois and other areas enjoy it, and there are many burgoo festivals in the area.

Burgoo is probably on the menu at the Road Kill Café, the boys' break out song with us. A song with a definite story, as the imaginary café originated with a group of men who lost their jobs with the shutdown of local businesses. Of course there's no way a restaurant could serve up roadkill, despite the song! But it's a fun song, and we get to hear some good pickin' from the boys!

All of us workin’ this café 
Used to work in shops in town 
But it turned into a rust belt 
When all the shops shut down 
 
One of us owned this land 
Couple others knew how to grow 
We dug up a patch by hand 
And a big garden we sowed 
 
The road kill café 
We’re right off the high way 
Pull in when it's time to eat
 Sit yourself down and stay 
 
 This land was off a highway 
Sorted sellin’ stuff we growed 
Soon we was makin’ good money 
Not a single person we owed 
One of our cronies is a cook 
We started out sellin’ food to go 
We kept gittin’ more customers 
It was time that we grow! 
 
 The road kill café, 
 Huntin’ the highway for kills 
Check ‘em out scoop ‘em up 
And then slap ‘em on the grills 
 
 We cook up road kill 
Check to see if it’s good ‘
Specially like it in the winter 
Cuz the cold air keeps it good 
We had a lot of money 
Built us a small café 
Customers kept rollin’ in 
Makin' mighty good pay! 
 
Authorities tried to close us 
Many times we do declare! 
We showed ‘em all we done to be safe 
Shuttin’ us down wasn’t fair! 
 
We went afore a food commissioner 
He looked over all the facts 
Tol’ us we was a-ok 
And patted us on the backs! 
Tol’ us we were doin’ a service 
Removin’ dead off the road 
Said he’d visit us sometime 
Have some pie ala mode 
 
 We do ever thing ourself 
Grow food, cook up the kill 
Make our own pies and ice cream 
So good it’ll make ya squeal! 
 
Menu’s always different 
Accordin’ to what we got 
Possum stew, raccoon tacos 
An' squirrel chili in the pot! 
Police call us when a deer’s been hit 
We sell it right off, 
Roast venison on the spit 
Taters, green beans, corn bread and pie alamode, 
And I know too cheap it seems But ya git it all for 
nineteen ninety five YEEEEHAW


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