Murder Ballads

Murder Ballads were a popular genre in traditional country and folk music. It was brought to the US by European settlers, and became especially popular in the Southern states. While its popularity has waned over the past decades, several contemporary artists covered some of the best ones. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds actually recorded an entire album full of popular Murder Ballads. 

My favorite is Banks of the Ohio, a 19th century murder ballad by an uknown author. Many recordings have been made of this song, by such greats as Johnny Cash, Joan Baez, and The Carter Family.  I especially love the rendition below, performed by Doc Watson, and accompanied by the amazing Earl Scruggs, Ricky Skaggs and Alison Krauss. 

Take a minute to read the lyrics before watching the video, it will make you shiver....

Banks of the Ohio 

I asked my love to take a walk
Just a little ways with me
And as we walked and we would talk
All about our weddingday

Darling say that you'll be mine
In our home we'll happy be
Down beside where the waters flow
On the banks of the Ohio
I took her by her pretty white hand
I let her down that bank of sand
I pushed her in where she would drown
Lord, I saw her as she floated down

Returning home about twelve or one
Thinking "Lord, what a deed I've done?"
I killed the girl I love, you see
Because she would not marry me

The very next day at half past four
The sherrif walked right to my door
And he says "Young man, don't you try to run
You must pay for this awful crime you've done"

  

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- Best Bob Dylan Covers

- Folk Song Collectors

- Where Did You Sleep Last Night

The Sound of America

There is not a single instrument in the United States that is as quintessentially American as the banjo is. This guitar like instrument has a round frame and either four, five or six strings. It originated in Africa, and was brought to the American Colonies with the arrival of African slaves from 1620 onwards. Soon the instrument could be heard during slave gatherings at plantations all along the Southern states of the US. 

Banjos were introduced to a wider non-black audience through Minstrel Shows. Minstrel Shows started in the 1830's. They were a ridiculous attempt to depict the lives of African American slaves who lived on plantations in the South. White actors painted their faces black and acted like dumb-witted slaves that did nothing all day but steel food, do silly things and play music on their banjo. One of the most popular songs that came from one of these Minstrel Show's was Stephen Foster's 1847 hit "Oh Susannah". The song was later covered by such greats as Neil Young, the Byrds, and James Taylor. 

Minstrel Shows were very popular from the 1830's until the late 1890's, and the banjo's popularity grew with it. Soon not only African slaves played the instrument, but many white Americans did too. The banjo could be heard in several musical styles from blues, to country and folk music, as it was played all throughout the US.

Earl Scruggs was born in 1924 in Carolina, and started started playing the banjo at a young age. He developed his own three finger picking style and in 1945 was discovered by the founder of Bluegrass music, Bill Monroe. Ever since Bill Monroe added Earl Scrugss to his band, the banjo became an indispensable part of Bluegrass music. Only three years later, Earl Scruggs and Lester Flatt left Monroe's Bluegrass Boys, to start their own band. The duo soon became quite popular and even landed a spot on the Grand Ole Opry. Below you can hear them at the Opry, performing one of their classics "Foggy Mountain Breakdown". 

In the 1950's the banjo again became an important part of folk music. It was reintroduced by Pete Seeger, the father of folk, who himself was an avid banjo player and wrote a popular book on "How to Play the 5-String Banjo". The book thought many young musicians at the time how to play this instrument, and the banjo soon found itself in another revival. Pete Seeger is 93 today, and he can still be heard playing his instrument in folk festivals all throughout the US. Below you can watch Seeger give a short history lesson on this beautiful instrument.  

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A History of Bluegrass (Part 1)
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One of Woodstock's Stars: Melanie Safka

I was introduced to Melanie when I was about 15 years old. I bought a cd of Gospel classics, and "Lay Down" was the first song on it. I immediately fell in love with it.

Melanie and the Edwin Hawkins Singers - Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)

While I listened to this cd a lot during my teens, I kind of forgot about Melanie in the years since. That was until yesterday. I was watching Dutch television (De Wereld Draait Door Recordings) and saw Racoon, one of Holland's best artists, covering one of Melanie's old time favorites "Brand New Key". This song was her first (and only) number one hit in the US, and it sold millions of copies worldwide. In 1971 when "Brand New Key" was released it was actually censored by some radio stations as they thought she made sexual references in the song's lyrics. Melanie herself, however, claimed it was just about "freedom and roller-skates".

Racoon - Brand New Key 

Melanie - Brand New Key 

While Melanie was just an up and coming star in 1969, she was able to play at the legendary Woodstock Festival of 1969, with such great names as Janis Joplin, Joan Baez, Jimi Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane, CCR and the Grateful Dead. The festival helped launch her career and in the years after she managed to sell some 80 million records worldwide, and is still performing today. "Beautiful People" and "Birthday of the Sun" were among the songs she sang at Woodstock. Unfortunately I couldn't find the Woodstock version of "Beautiful People", but below is her version of "Birthday of the Sun", sung at Woodstock. 

You may also like:

Best Bob Dylan Covers

If I Had a Hammer

Folk Song Collectors

Melanie - Birthday of the Sun

"The Greatest Backporch Shows Ever"

If you like traditional "backporch music" you may really like the Transatlantic Sessions series. It's a BBC production in which American, Irish and British musicians get together and sing the most beautiful folk and country songs. In the mid 1990's the first season aired and included such great names as Emmylou Harris, Iris Dement and John Martyn. Unfortunately I didn't get to watch it until I discovered the series many years later on Youtube.  In the meantime several series had followed the first one. 

In 2007 they decided to record another series and once again were able to get some of the finest musicians to join them (Ricky Scaggs, Roseanne Cash and James Taylor among others).  Last year they recorded the 5th series, and once again were able to produce something magnificent. The great part of the series are the many duets by musicians that have never sung together before, but are able to make your heart melt. Below are some of my favorite songs from different series.  

John Martyn & Kathy Matea - May You Never

Iris Dement & Emmylou Harris - Our Town

Amos Lee, Sarah Jarosz & Alison Krauss - Clear Blue Eyes

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A Few Very Surprising Duets 

A History of Bluegrass (Part 1)

My Love Letter to Alison Krauss 

Folk Song Collectors

As a little girl my aunt taught me a beautiful German folk song. The song "Es waren zwei Koningskinder"  tells the tale of a prince and princess who wanted to be together, but both tragically died as they tried to swim towards each other on a large river.  It must have been about 25 years ago when my aunt taught me this song, but it stuck with me ever since.  

German Folk Song - "Es waren zwei Koningskinder" 

Despite its beauty, folk music seems to be something of the past and many folk songs have disappeared with time. Thankfully, John Lomax shared my love and appreciation for traditional folk music. During the 1930's and 40's he traveled extensively throughout the United States and recorded thousands of these hidden treasures. Lomax visited small towns in the Apalachian mountains to hear old British and Irish folk songs, and went to prisons in the South to discover black folk music. 

It was in one these prisons in the early 1930's that Lomax discovered Leadbelly, a black outlaw who had been in prison before and who was now charged with attempted homicide. It was said that thanks to Lomax, Leadbelly was able to leave prison earlier. Right after he was released from prison, the two of them traveled throughout the US to let Americans hear "negro music". In the video below you can see the real Lomax and Leadbelly and hear part of Leadbelly's most famous song "Goodnight Irene"  

John Lomax: Leadbelly - "Goodnight Irene" 

John's son Alan Lomax accompanied his father during many of his travels and decided at a young age that he would follow in his fathers footsteps. Alan Lomax not only traveled the US to find folk songs, but he also visited several European countries. He continued to collect folk songs until the 1980's, and eventually recorded many songs for the US Library of Congress. This year Alan Lomax's entire collection was made open to the public. On the website Cultural Equity  17,000 recordings collected by Alan and his father can be heard.  Let's hope that through this website, traditional folk music will never completely disappear.

Alan Lomax

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A History of Bluegrass (Part 1)
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If I Had A Hammer

Some of Today's Best New Musicians (According To Me)

I have had little inspiration to write lately, but did listen to some great music. In this blog post I will present some of today's best musicians (according to me).  All of them use old music styles in a very modern way. Most of them have started performing only recently. I hope you like them as much as I do.  

Alabama Shakes - "Hold On" (USA)

Folka Dots - "Black Crow" (USA)

Caro Emerald - "That Man" (The Netherlands)

C.W. Stoneking - Jungle Lullaby (Australia)

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If I Had a Hammer

My favorite folk group is Peter, Paul and Mary. They were part of the Folk Revival in the 1960's and are still making music today. "If I Had a Hammer" was the second song they released and became a worldwide hit. It was written by Pete Seeger (the father of American Folk music) who had already recorded it with his band The Weavers a few years earlier. The Weavers' version, however, wasn't nearly as popular as Peter, Paul and Mary's version was. This may have been because Seeger wrote it to support the Communist Movement in the US, and as you may know, Communism wasn't very popular at that time.

While the song wasn't at all popular in 1949 when it was first released by the Weavers, it did become a top ten hit when Peter, Paul and Mary brought their version of the song to the public. The song became the Civil Rights Anthem of the Civil Rights Movement and won two Grammy's. Watch the video below to listen to the song. You will see Peter Seeger's at the beginning of the video giving his opinion on Peter, Paul, and Mary's version. I completely agree with him when he says that their version of the song was much better than his. 

Peter, Paul and Mary - "If I Had a Hammer"

Listen to the original version here: 

The Weavers - "If I Had a Hammer"

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Johnny Cash's Inspiration

I won't have to tell anyone how great a musician Johnny Cash was. He was the King of Rock and Roll, of Country, Folk and of Rock. What many people don't know, is that his wife June Carter Cash was also a very talented musician. She grew up in the famous Carter Family, pioneers of American Country music. Her mother Maybelle Carter recorded one of the first very popular country recordings with her brother in law A.P. Carter and his wife Sara. 

A.P. Carter travelled the US to find old folk songs, and recorded them with Sarah and Maybelle. They eventually recorded some 300 songs together between 1927 and 1941. He usually "forgot" to tell that these were not his own songs and was lucky to not be sued by anyone for plagiarism. Together they recorded several country traditionals: "Can the Circle be Unbroken", "Wildwood Flower", "Keep on the Sunny Side", and my favorite "Foggy Mountain Top". Maybelle Carter became known for her own guitar playing style. As she grew up not being able to play music with anyone, she decided to play both the rhythm and the melody on her guitar; it became widely known as "the Carter scratch".

 Maybelle Carter on Guitar, sitting next to Sarah and A.P. Carter

Mother Maybelle Carter gave birth to three daughters and thought them much of her musical knowledge. Soon June, Anita, and Helen were playing at the Grand Ole Opry, when a young Johnny Cash listened to them on the radio. June, while not the best singer of the three, was a great entertainer and a very good musician. She played several instruments and wrote some great hit records. "Ring of Fire" was actually written by June and made famous by Johnny Cash. Originally, however, "Ring of Fire" was written for her sister Anita. June also recorded several songs with her husband. "Jackson" was probably their most famous hit together.

Another one of my favorite recordings is the one below with Johnny Cash, the Carter sisters and Maybelle Carter. Here they are singing the Gospel song "Were You There". It was recorded during Johnny Cash's drug use period in 1960. From left to right you will see Helen, Anita, June and Maybelle Carter. Notice Anita Carter's beautiful voice. She actually did a real good duet with Hank Williams when she was still very young.

The Johnny Cash Show aired from 1969 to 1971. In it Johnny Cash sang with some of the greatest stars of the time (Linda Rondstadt, Joni Mitchell, Roy Orbinson) and of course with his own wife June. The following song was also recorded at the Johnny Cash Show. It really shows June's enormous musical talent and it's my favorite song by June Carter: "Tall Lover Man". 

June Carter - "Tall Lover Man"

 

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A History of Bluegrass (part 2)

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Where Did You Sleep Last Night?

I like listening to different versions of the same song. Especially when it is done in a completely different genre. "In The Pines", also known as "Black Girl" and "Where Did You Sleep Last Night" is one of those songs. Originally a traditional American folk song, it was widely known among the African American population as "Black Girl". That was probably how Lead Belly learned about the song and decided to record it in 1944. 

Although he wasn't the one who wrote the song, nor the one who recorded it first, he is often mentioned as the original author. Lead Belly actually recorded several versions of this song. In the one below, you can hear his "Black  Girl" version, in other versions he changes "Black Girl" into "My Girl", perhaps to make it appeal to a wider (non black) audience. In fact, Lead Belly was the first African American singer who was popular among the white population. After spending a few years in prison, he toured several American Universities  with John Lomax, who had written a book on American folk music. Because the US was quite racist at the time,  Lead Belly was hired as Lomax's driver, to be able to travel together.

Lead Belly - "In the Pines"

Bill Monroe, the pioneer of Bluegrass music, also recorded a version of  "In the Pines" in the early 1940's. As many other Country and Bluegrass artists at the time he used old folk songs, and added some traditional country music instruments (banjo, fiddle, etc.) to it. Later, several other country artists covered Bill Monroe's version of the song; Dolly Parton, the Louvin Brothers, and Ralph Stanley. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a better YouTube version of the song, but I hope you'll enjoy it nevertheless.

Bill Monroe - "In the Pines"

Perhaps the best known version of the song was recorded by Nirvana on their 1994 unplugged album. They changed the title of the song into "Where Did You Sleep Last Night", but you can definitely hear that it is the same  song as "In the Pines". Lead Belly is actualy wrongully mentioned as the song's author during this  performance.

Nirvana - "Where Did You Sleep Last Night"

Best Bob Dylan Covers (and why I believe Dylan is a great musician, but not a great singer)

There are some great musicians whose music I love, but who aren't necessarily great singers. To me, Bob Dylan is one of them. He wrote many great songs, but I usually like other people's versions of his songs better. You can definitely sense that he's really feeling the song, but somehow I just don't like his voice very much (I hope I haven't offended anyone here).

The Indigo Girls are quite popular in the US, but are unfortuntately not widely known outside of the US. It's a shame, because these two singers are great in harmony singing and have produced several very good cd's. On one of these cd's, they sing their own version of Bob Dylan's "Don't Think Twice It's Alright" together with Joan Baez.  Joan Baez is Bob Dylan's ex-girlfriend and the one who helped Bob Dylan to achieve national fame. This song was written by Bob Dylan in 1962, and has since been covered by many musicians. This is my favorite cover of the song .

Indigo Girls and Joan Baez - "Don't Think Twice It's Alright"

Another great singer who actually did an entire album of Bob Dylan covers is Odetta. Odetta was another big name in the early 1960's. At the time African Americans were fighting for equal opportunities in the US, Odetta was considered to be "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement". She had already  been singing since 1944, and was an inspiration for Bob Dylan and many other artists at the time. Her cd "Odetta Sings Dylan" includes several of Dylan's best songs. My favorite cover on this cd is "With God on Our Side". (Take some time to listen to the lyrics, they're really good).

Odetta - "With God On Our Side"

Thank god, Bob Dylan didn't just influence people in the 1960's. To show that his music is still considered to be great today, I'll include Adele's version of "Make You Feel My Love". Once again, I believe that her rendition of the song is much better Dylan's version. But I'm sure many of the Bob Dylan fans will disagree with me on that.

Adele - "Make You Feel My Love"

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If I Had a Hammer

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Johnny Cash's Inspiration

A Few Very Suprising Duets

I like to hear duets by singers who are known in completely different genres. This blog post is about those duets. I discovered them by spending endless hours on You Tube. The first one was recorded at Tom Jones' own tv show "This Is Tom Jones". The show ran from 1969 to 1971 and included many big names in music history (Dusty Springfield, Jerry Lee Lewis, Tony Benett and Ray Charles, to name but a few). In the third and final season of the show Ella Fitzgerald sang a great (and quite surprising) duet with Tom Jones. Here is "Sunny".

Tom Jones & Ella Fitzgerald - "Sunny"

The following song was recorded at the Transatlantic Sessions. This is a BBC music special in which Irish, British and American (usually folk) singers get together and make great music. The first session was recorded in the early 1990's and there have been 5 sessions since. It is really worth watching, especially if you like folk music. In this song you will see Iris DeMent, Michelle Wright, and the Irish singer Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh sing the traditional country song "Will the Circle Be Unbroken".

Iris DeMent, Michelle Wright & Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh - "Will the Circle Be Unbroken"

I have already expressed my love for Alison Krauss in this blog. To show her diversity and to show that she is not just a real good country and bluegrass singer, I will show this duet with Led Zeppelin's lead singer Robert Plant. They actually recorded an entire CD together in 2007 called "Raising Sands". This song is the first one on this CD, and I personally think it is also the best one. Here they are at Jools Holland singing "Rich Woman". 

Robert Plant & Alison Krauss - "Rich Woman"

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The First Lady of Song

Guess who??

This musical sensation was not only influenced by Blues legends such as Muddy Water, John Lee Hooker and Robert Johnson but also got a lot of inspiration from the 1960's folk music scene in which she gew up. 

She is the daughter of a famous musical star (Oklahoma!) and an accomplished pianist and singer. She grew up in Los Angeles, and studied Social Relations and African Studies at Harvard and Radcliff. 

She has sung with numerous famous singers: Pete Seegers, B.B. King, Willie Nelson, Alison Krauss, Norah Jones, Brian Adams and many many others. 

Her musical talent won her 9 grammy awards and commercial success from the 1970's onwards. She is now inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 

While she never had a number 1 position in the American music charts, she did sing a few very popular songs: "Thing Called Love", "I Can't Make You Love Me", "You", and my favorite version of John Prine's song "Angel From Montgomery". 

Here she is, in 1974, singing the song that touches my heart everytime I hear it. 

"Angel From Montgommery"