It’s all about a little holly bush…
Note: This is Part 2 of a 4 part series – see also Part 1, Part 3, and Part 4 We saw in the introductory post for the week that in the murder ballad “Edward“, or Child 13, at least … Continue reading →
Patrick Blackman
daddy, teacher, blogger, amateur picker, singer, poet; co-founder of Murder Ballad Monday with roots in the upper south, happily transplanted to Vermont.
Edward / What Put the Blood? / The Blood on His Shirt Sleeve
Cain Leadeth Abel to Death – Chromolithograph book plate, James Tissot, 1904 Note: This is Part 1 of a 4 part series – see also Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4 This week we’re back in to the Child Ballads. It’s been … Continue reading →
Murder at the Dead Show – Encore
Big Brother and the Holding Company and the Grateful Dead – by Irving Penn, 1967 Janis Joplin – James Gurley – Ron McKernan – Jerry Garcia (This week’s first set.) (This week’s second set.) When I look at portraits from the … Continue reading →
Murder at the Dead Show – Second Set
Concert Poster, Oakland Coliseum – Peter Barsotti, 12/31/91 I recently wrote about “Jack Straw” as the Grateful Dead’s only true murder ballad. That effort spurred me to begin this week with a broader look at the act of murder in the Dead’s … Continue reading →
Murder at the Dead Show – First Set
“Listening for the secret, searching for the sound…” I am one of those people who early in life, somewhere around age four, started grappling with the existential ‘problem’ of death. I don’t know why. Maybe it was because my grandmother … Continue reading →
Cut down a man in cold blood…
“None recover, they are just replaced.” – Robert Hunter, 1995 Note: This is Part 3 of a three part series. See also Part 1 and Part 2. Introduction At the free concert at Altamont Speedway on December 6, 1969, an eighteen … Continue reading →
There ain’t a winner in this game…
The last 10 minutes of the 1939 version of Of Mice and Men Note: this is Part 2 of a three part series. See also Part 1 and Part 3. Introduction Bob Weir’s revelation that John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and … Continue reading →
Jack Straw
Note: this is Part 1 of a three part series. See also Part 2, and Part 3. Introduction “We can share the women, we can share the wine. We can share what we got of yours, ‘cos we done shared … Continue reading →
God Make You Safe and Free
Romeo and Juliet – Sir Frank Dicksee, 1884 Note: This is Part 3 of a three part series. See also Part 1 and Part 2. Introduction What is it about this week’s song, “Matty Groves”, that attracts us so? (If you’re … Continue reading →
A Bower in Bucklesfordbury
Barnard Castle – William Turner, 1825 Note: This is Part 2 of a three part series. See also Part 1 and Part 3. Introduction It is clear that psychological themes in this week’s subject, “Matty Groves”, strike the most resonant chords for … Continue reading →