7 posts tagged “murder”
Another classic, sung in the first selection by the scariest damn banjoist that ever lived. Dock Boggs was a tough old Virginian who, when he wasn't performing music worked in a coal mine or made bootleg booze. If early pictures are any indication, he had a gaze that could hammer nails into a block of wood from 20 paces. Boggs took the supposedly happy-go-lucky banjo and wrung deep, dark melodies from it. His unearthly, keening voice helped too, screeching out bloodchillers like "Sugar Baby" and "Country Blues."
B.F. Shelton is less frightening than Dock, but nonetheless has that otherworldly American sound that's been lost since the highways and Internets pulled us all together. Shelton recorded this during Ralph Peer's Bristol Sessions, the first recording sessions for Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family, as well as a slew of lesser-known talents like Shelton.
While Dock Boggs is undoubtedly the superior talent, it seems unfair that while he recorded 21 sides before deciding to retire from music and work full-time in the coal mines, Shelton reportedly recorded only ten, and of these only four have survived. Boggs even enjoyed a comeback during the folk explosion of the 60s, playing out and recording with Mike Seeger and others until he died in 1971. Shelton assumedly had a nice life but died from an asthma-related incident in 1963 without ever recording again. A shame, really.
"Pretty Polly," like "Stagolee," is another frequently covered murder ballad, though its roots reach to the British Isles. Why Polly is killed is never made clear, but it's suspected that she was probably impregnated by the fellow singing the tune, and he now plans to do her in to hide his secret shame, the bastard.
Stack O'Lee/Staggerlee/Stagolee is a legendary figure in black myth and music. A real individual who lived in St. Louis in the 1800s, "Stack" Lee Sheldon shot William Lyons in a dispute. The reason most commonly given was that Lyons touched Sheldon's hat--an unforgivable affront to the short-tempered Lee--but we'll probably never know for sure. What we do know is that this minor bit of local murder history provided the raw material for a ballad played and sung by everyone from Mississippi John Hurt (shown above while his version is provided below) to Frank Hutchinson to James Brown to Nick Cave over the last century. Other versions portray Stagolee as a man so purely evil, when he dies he kills the devil and takes over Hell itself.
I like Hurt's version, his sweet voice and rolling sound providing a placid backdrop that makes the violence of the crime stand out. I don't have Frank Hutchinson's version here at work, but I'll add it tonight. Till then, our token white male version of "Stackolee" is provided by great blijnd guitarist Doc Watson. Our last selection, "Original Stack O' Lee Blues," comes from Long Cleve Reed and Little Harvey Hull who recorded for the Black Patti label. A black-owned recording company that opened and closed in 1927 after releasing only 55 sides. Only one copy of "Original Stack O' Lee Blues" exists, owned by long-time 78 collector Joe Bussard who says he intends to be buried with it.
Thorough but probably not comprehensive list of every variation of Stack O'Lee recorded.
Hurt's lyrics:
Police officer, how can it be?
You can arrest everybody but cruel Stagolee
That bad man, cruel Stagolee
Billy Lyons told Stagolee, "Please don't take my life
I got two baby children and a darling, loving wife"
That bad man, cruel Stagolee
"What'd I care about your two babes and darling, loving wife?
You done stole my Stetson hat, I'm bound to take your life."
That bad man, cruel Stagolee
Stagolee stood on the gallows, head way up high
Twelve o'clock, they killed him, we were all glad to see him die
That bad man, cruel Stagolee
A song about Ian Brady and Myra Hindley, better known as the Moors Murderers in England. Brady and Hindley committed five murders, and the least said about them the better (those who simply must known the details are directed here). This was supposedly the first song Morrissey and Johnny Marr wrote.
Fun Facts About Warren Zevon
1. He studied under Igor Stravinsky.
2. He was a piano player and band leader for the Everly Brothers.
3. Zevon's dad was a Russian Jew and his mother was a Mormon.
4. Zevon collaborated with George Clinton on the song "Leave My Monkey Alone," which has an accompanying video you'd never be able to tell was made in the 1980s in a million years.
Today's song is a lovely yet creepy ditty titled "Fatal Flower Garden." Found on Harry Smith's American Anthology of Folk Music, the tune is the work of Nelstone's Hawaiians, an Alabammy band about which little is known. Note that the band was reflecting the first fad for Hawaiian music back in the 20s (Martin Denny was a latecomer!) with its name and use of slide guitar--soon to become a standard instrument in "country" music. Andrew Bird fans will note that Mr. Bird also covered this tune (though, as we shall see, in a less offensive form).
Nice as the song may sound, its slanderous theme (the murderous gypsy woman killing a plump little white boy) was even more offensive in its original form as a delightful 13th Century ballad of the Jewish blood libel. Originally titled "Little Sir Hugh," and before that "The Jew's Daughter" (WARNING: The link leads to an annoyingly loud MIDI page) describing how a nefarious Jewess captured and crucified Little Sir Hugh in order to use his Christian blood to make matzoh. Horrifying what turns up when you scratch the surface of a jaunty little tune of Kindermort, isn't it?
Distasteful as the man himself was, Jack the Ripper has turned up in several songs. Regrettably, I don't have the equipment to transfer tapes to MP3 format, otherwise I'd shared Screaming Lord Sutch's "Jack the Ripper," as well as a rather rocking version of Wray's tune by Japan's Guitar Wolf. Such is life. I tried to post Morrissey's song of the same name, but it doesn't seem to be working. Vox seems to get fussy with certain files.
