John, I think I found it at Amazon.com.  Go here:

http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Tom-Hall-Anniversary-Collection/dp/B00000613G/ref=pd_sim_m_2/105-3659822-7489255

Scroll down a ways to Product Information.  It appears the CD is titled
Mercury Nashville.

Then the next heading is Listen to Samples, and there is a short clip 
of the song, It sure can get cold in Des Moines, along with 19 other songs.

I hope this helps.

Helen

Earlier you wrote:

>Helen, yep, that is the one, but I can't find it.
>
>earlier, Helen Wolf, wrote:
>
>>John, is the the song you're looking for?
>>
>>Tom T. Hall - It Sure Can Get Cold in Des Moines
>>
>>The iowa weather was 13 below
>>I had come to des moines for a radio show
>>I awoke in the evening from a travelers sleep
>>With notions of something to eat
>>
>>The old elevator slid down past the floors
>>My head and my eyes said you should have slept more.
>>The man at the desk said the restaurant was closed
>>Outside it was 14 below
>>
>>The lounge was still open and so I walked in
>>In place of my food I had two double gins
>>I looked round the room, as a tourist would do
>>Thats when I saw the girl in the booth
>>
>>She sat there and cried in the smoky half-dark
>>The silent type crying that tears out your heart
>>Her clothes were not cut in the new modern way
>>And her suitcase had seen better days
>>
>>Nobody asked her what caused her such pain
>>Nobody spoke up, yet no one complained
>>Without even asking, I knew why she cried
>>Life is just like that sometimes
>>
>>The man at the desk said, its 15 below.
>>The bellhop said yeah man, thats cold...thats cold.
>>I went back to my room and I wrote down this song
>>Oh it sure can get cold in des moines
>>
>>Helen

"Humility is a silent language."