Now, Amos Moses was a Cajun. He lived by hisself in the swamp. He hunted alligator for a livin’. He just knock them in the head with a stump.
What was his father’s name? One lyrics site says ‘Dr. Mills South’. A couple of others say ‘Doc Milsap’. With various misspellings that have been copied from one site to another, it seems futile to do much searching. I thought someone here may have the straight dope.
CMT’s bio page for Jerry Reed gives it as Duck Bill Sam.
Sounds to me like Doc Mill South.
There’s a number of sites that sell the sheet music. None that give a preview that lets you see all the sheets though.
Jerry Reed sounds like he says Doc Milsap.
If you had done a poll I’d have voted for Milsap without any further thought on the matter.
Ronnie Milsap would have been my basis. http://www.ronniemilsap.com/
I would vote for these lyrics: Amos Moses lyrics by Jerry Reed, 1 meaning. Amos Moses explained, official 2023 song lyrics | LyricsMode.com
While we’re at it, does anybody else find fault with the “man of the cloth” terminology? To me a “man of the cloth” is a clergyman, not just somebody in the Bible.
Be that as it may, Jerry Reed is/was God!
Not fault, but rather a bit of poetic license. I see it as an extension of the proper meaning (clergyman) to include a man of religion or religious leader. I don’t see it being as broad as just anyone in the Bible.
Perhaps I just never drew any connection to the “man of the cloth” being referred to. Amos and Moses were important biblical figures, but I’m not aware of a person known as “Amos Moses” before the song. I’d love to be educated on this issue since it has always bugged me that Jerry just made this up.
I actually always heard something closer to “Duck Bill Sam”
Here’s a YouTube version of Reed doing a live comedy skit with the song. Good audio quality.
It sounds like “Doc Milsap.”
I don’t have good ears, but before today the name sounded like, “Doc Bill South” which I never believed was actually right.
As for “Man of the Cloth,” I never thought deeply about it, but assumed it was the name of a local backwood holy roller.
FWIW, Ronnie Milsap’s wife wasn’t named Hannah. That would have been solid confirmation, but the name seems to just be a convenient rhyme.
Okay, more poetic license, because he named him after a man of the cloth [significant religious figure] twice – first name, then middle name – or alternatively named him after two men of the cloth.
Methinks it’s time to step back and take a much less literal approach to this line of the song. It never occurred to me to think he had been named after a specific individual who was named “Amos Moses.” Rather, I took it as saying his name was drawn from that of a notable religious figure (or two). “After a man of the cloth” was a fanciful and humorous way of stating this, not unlike several other parts of the song that are fanciful and/or humorous. The song would fall apart under a rigorous expectation that everything in it was literally true and correct.
The CMT lyrics depart from the familiar Jerry Reed arrangement in 8 or 10 places. Which doesn’t mean it’s not Duck Bill Sam (I’d like it to be), but does complicate the issue.
I hear it very clearly to be “Doc Milsap,” which makes sense because “Milsap” is an actual surname. Doc Mill South? Duck Bill Sam? C’mon.
CMT’s lyrics are rather a joke in several places, not the least of which is “Tibidow.” It’s not hard to find that the town is Thibodaux. Thibodeaux can be forgiven because it’s an actual surname, but Tibidow? Nah.
Here’s Primus’ cover of “Amos Moses” for comparison. It sounds like “Doc Milsap” to me but you could get “Duck Bill South”.
I doubt that because when the song came out in 1970, Milsap was living in Memphis and mostly singing pop songs. (That is, if my copy of “Billboard’s Number One Country Hits” is correct.) He wouldn’t switch to country music until he moved to Nashville in 1972.
Good point on Tibidow. But “Duck Bill Sam” doesn’s warrant a “C’mon.” Funny names (and nicknames) are SOP for the genre.
Duckbill might be a more likely nickname than “Doc” for someone who would use his son as alligator bait. I don’t know about LA, but I think of Doc as being used for someone educated or who pontificates or who wears glasses or is exceptionally skilled at something.
Maybe he couldn’t get away with ‘Coonass Jim’. 
Off topic, since this has nothing to do with the father’s name, but a friend, who was actually from around Thibodeaux, LA, claimed to have met Reed in Las Vegas. The friend stated he asked Reed about the song and Reed stated the “man of the cloth” bit was referring to a tailor, not a preacher. Which doesn’t resolve anything. Maybe Reed was joking?
I like it! Jerry was a clown if nothing else.
Yeah, that absolutely sounds like a joke.
And Johnny L.A. (OP), have you personally been persuaded by any of the evidence presented? I’m now about 80% convinced it’s Doc Milsap.
What keeps me from feeling good about “Milsap” is an instinctive issue, rather than an intellectual one: Reed puts the accent on the wrong syllable. The song’s meter makes him say Doc-mil SAP, rather than the conventional Doc MIL-sap.
To my ears, the clearest enunciation of the final “P” is during the 2:00 -2:12 segment of the previously linked live comedyversion.
Or maybe it’s Milsatt… that’s accented on the second syllable.
An argument (altho piddling) against the father’s last name being “South” is that preceding line includes the word Southeast. I’m guessing Reed is smart enough to avoid repeating words if there’s not a strong reason to do so.
Yes.
Perhaps ‘Duck Bill Sam’ was used at one time, but it does sound like ‘Doc Milsap’ is the probable name. (Though I agree that ‘Doc’ doesn’t sound like a Cajun alligator hunter’s name/nickname.)
Now about that ‘Slapped on concrete up to the elbow…’ 