| I Had a Good Father and Mother | |
| Cover: | Phillips-GoodFatherAndMother.jpg |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Washington Phillips |
| Recorded: | Dallas, Texas, December 2, 1929 |
| Genre: | Gospel blues |
| Label: | Columbia |
| Producer: | Frank B. Walker[1] |
"I Had a Good Father and Mother" is a 1929 gospel blues song by Washington Phillips (18801954, vocals and zither).[2] The song has sometimes been covered as "I Had a Good Mother and Father"; or with, in both cases, "Real" inserted before "Good".
Unusually, the song does not have a conventional refrain; instead, the verses are separated by a wordless vocalise.
The final verse reflects a concept mentioned several times in the Gospel of John:
The recording history suggests that the song was composed by Phillips himself: there seems to be no earlier or contemporary version, nor any cover version until 64 years after his recording of the song.