"I Had a Good Father and Mother" is a 1929 gospel blues song by Washington Phillips (1880–1954, 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.

[citation needed] 78 rpm records