MetaFilter posts tagged with Ballads

Long Form Journalism on Secret London, Murder Ballads, and other topics of interest

filthy light thief — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 09:17:36 -0800

What do Cliff Edwards (1928), Lloyd Price (circa 1959), The Rulers (1967), R.L. Burnside (late 1980s/ early 1990s), Grateful Dead (live in 1993), and Nick Cave (live in 1996) have in common? If nothing else, they all sang some variation of the crime of Lee Shelton, also known as Stack O'Lee, Stagolee, Stack-a-Lee , Stackerlee, Stagger Lee and other names, with as many variations in the details of that fateful night. Join MeFite Paul Slade with his journalistic narrations of murder ballads, tales of Secret London (previously), and other works of long-form journalism (which may or may not be ideal for the web, previously). [via mefi projects; more clips and bits inside] Of the three murder ballads currently covered on PlanetSlade, Stagger Lee is the most commonly covered, with some counts tallying tributes by more than 400 different artists. The version of Stagger Lee by Lloyd Price (then and now) is apparently the most common version to start from, with covers by Ike and Tina, Isley Brothers, Wilson Picket, Bob Lumen, Tommy Quickly (wiki), and Huey Lewis And The News, P.J. Proby (wiki), amongst others. Burnside's version, from the 2001 compilation of of tunes and interviews, recorded between 1986 and 1993, called Well...Well...Well (perhaps named for his filler phrase), was covered by Samuel L. Jackson in Black Snake Moan. More fun with Stack-o-Lee: how to play a version by Mississippi John Hurt. Yet another version was performed by The Rulers, entitled Wrong Emboyo, from 1967 on a Jamaican single on the Sir JJ label, UK single (Rio R 132) with Why Don't You Change on the b-side, 1967, produced by JJ Johnson. This song was covered by The Clash on their 1979 album London Calling, with the song re-titled as "Wrong 'em Boyo." Versions of this song have also been titled "Wrong Embryo." For further deconstruction of the song, check The Stagger Lee Files (moving from geocities, which was covered previously). Frankie and Johnny may be behind Stack-o-Lee/ Stagger Lee in the count of covers (wikipedia states "at least 265 versions") but the tale that started before Allen Britt was dead lives on, from the movie of the same name featuring Elvis and Donna Douglas to Lindsay Lohan as Lola Johnson from A Prairie Home Companion (the movie), as well as Johnny Cash (once or twice), Chet Atkins, Dr. John, and more, with 10 versions of the lyrics at Bluegrass Messengers. Going way back, here is Frank Crumit's version from 1927. Knoxville Girl is the story that goes beyond the shores of the United States, and before there were states to unite, though it has found a home in relatively modern country music. Hear "a confession sung in the first person" from Arthur Tanner and His Corn Shuckers, recorded in 1927; The Louvin Brothers in years past, and recently performed by Charlie Louvin and friends (along with further write-up on the ballad and the performers). Also: Wilburn Brothers, Jim and Jesse in 1976, and Nick Cave.

Such is life.

Effigy2000 — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 14:39:24 -0800

On November 11, 1880, Ned Kelly, Australia's most famous bushranger, was hanged at the Melbourne Gaol with the last words "Such is life." And so today, on the anniversary of his death and as his gun is due to go under the hammer, now is an excellent time to look at the history of the man sometime referred to as Australia's answer to Robin Hood. Many more Ned Kelly resources are to be found inside. Ned Kelly is something of an Australian icon and the story of the Kelly Gang is firmly placed in the history of Australia, so much so that it inspired the world's first ever feature length film, as well as a less well received film starring Heath Ledger and Orlando Bloom). There are even many traditional ballads inspired by Kelly and his gang. There are many Ned Kelly resources online for those interested in learning more about Australia's most famous bushranger. For instance, Picture Australia also has many images of him while the State Library of Victoria has an online version of the Jerilderie Letter, a letter written (or perhaps dictated) by Kelly describing his view of his activities and the treatment of his family and, more generally, the treatment of Irish Catholics by the police. Kelly had had originally written the letter to a politician known only as 'Cameron', but that correspondence was suppressed from the public and was not made public until it was published by the Melbourne Herald in 1930. If you found the version I lined to earlier hard to read, here is another site dedicated to that letter, with the text of the letter in both HTML and flash formats. The letter has inspired much debate about whether Kelly was truly an outlaw or a hero. There is an excellent site dedicated to Kelly's famous last stand at Glenrowan, and another good site which has collected most of the research on the evolution of the Kelly gang. Here are some more sites you may find useful or interesting. Timeline of the Kelly gang. Another Ned Kelly biography. More photos. Ned Kelly's stay at Beechworth. And when you're done with all of that, why not take a small quiz to see how much you've remembered!

Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads

thomas j wise — Fri, 14 Apr 2006 14:28:08 -0800

Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads Digital images, plus the occasional sound file, for the Bodleian's massive collection. In addition, Samuel Pepys was an enormously important collector, and the Early Modern Center at UCSB has digitized his collection--again, with some sound files. See also the Francis J. Child Ballads, taken from Child's The English and Scottish Popular Ballads. (For previous MeFi sojourns in the wonderful world of ballads, see here, here, and here.)

In the pines, in the pines....

jokeefe — Tue, 07 Jun 2005 20:42:22 -0800

The John Quincy Wolf Folklore Collection from the University of Arkansas. "John Quincy Wolf began collecting Ozark ballads while an undergraduate at Arkansas (now Lyon) college. His first serious professional interest in Ozark folksongs dates from his attendance at the Old Settler's folk music festival at Blanchard Springs in 1941. He and his wife Bess began to seek out folksingers in the White River and surrounding areas, often placing advertisements in local newspapers for people who knew 'old songs'. Wolf recorded hundreds of Ozark folksingers between 1952 and 1963, including Almeda Riddle, Neal Morris, Oscar and Ollie Gilbert, and Jimmy Driftwood. [...] The Wolf Folksong Collection at Lyon College contains hundreds of recordings." Site contains the field recordings of Ozark Folksongs, as well as sections for Memphis Blues, Sacred Harp Singing, and more. The folk song recordings are indexed by song title and singer. Music files play in Windows Media or Real.

Oh you're absolutely fine ...

Peter H — Thu, 13 Jan 2005 11:29:23 -0800

I LOVE YOU I WANNA LOVE YOU TENDER . You could be my only sweet surrender. I would never bring you any kind of sorrow. (38 Mb QT)

Casey Jones, Stagolee, Frankie and Johnny - Murder and Death Ballad Back Stories

y2karl — Thu, 23 Sep 2004 14:56:34 -0800

My Back Pages--Interesting in his own right Eyolf Østrem still maintains the fan's fan tab, chords and music site, the standard by which all others are judged. I just revisited it the other night, while trying to recall how that little run in Dylan's version of Delia went, and dang, if it didn't have the back story of that ballad. I love this kind of stuff. The source of that account, John Garst, is the folklorist king of such research--he puts John Henry at a railroad tunnel near Leeds, Alabama, just east of Birmingham on September 20, 1887, for example. Murder and heroic death ballad back stories are of extreme interest to me, so I decided to post a few more here: Frankie and Albert, Frankie and Johnny, Casey Jones and Stagger Lee. Did I say I love this kind of stuff?

Bawdy ballads of saints, sinners, cutpurses and sundry other folk

madamjujujive — Sat, 04 Oct 2003 09:03:29 -0800

The Saint Turned Sinner, or the Dissenting Parson's Text Under the Quaker's Petticoats - the bawdy tale of "A Gospel Cushion thumper, who dearly loved a Bumper," from Blackletter Ballads, a small but fine collection of ballads with themes ranging from cutpurses to kings, all gleaned from 17th century broadsheets.