As we’ve noted all along, our “mission” at Murder Ballad Monday is to explore both the interior and the periphery of the murder ballad. We discuss how music helps interpret intense, often violent and/or deadly experience. Having started out the … Continue reading →
Canadian Soldiers (date unknown) In the song, “Harris and the Mare,” our protagonist reminds Harris that he was a “conshie in the War.” In all the years I have listened to the song, I took that mention merely to be … Continue reading →
With Pancho having met his match in the deserts down in Mexico, this week we turn to the north country, and an Ontario mill town, and a song inspired by a story overheard in a bar. Stan Rogers, penned “Harris … Continue reading →
Pancho’s Stepchildren“Pancho and Lefty” has been a foray into a more Western genre of murder ballad, building on Pat’s discussion of “Jack Straw,” I suppose. The Wikipedia entry on murder ballads cites Olive Burt’s 1958 article, “The Minstrelsy of Murder,” which … Continue reading →
The English Folk Dance and Song Society (EFDSS) received £585,400 in funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) to archive, conserve, and digitize material from six different archives containing some of the country’s most important folk music collections. The project … Continue reading →
Steve Earle and Townes Van Zandt After such a long post last time, I plan for this one to be long on music and short on text. If there’s a narrative to capture here, it’s that I think “Pancho and … Continue reading →
Walking Man, by Alberto Giacometti A Work of Betrayal I’m about to spill a good bit of ink, figuratively speaking, on a song that is only around 270 words long (including repeated words). I want to (re)introduce you to “Pancho … Continue reading →
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 →
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 →
The Union Grove Old Time Fiddler’s Convention was started by H.P. VanHoy as a way to help raise funds to support North Carolina’s Union Grove School in 1924. This charity fiddle contest grew exponentially, attracting some of the top bluegrass … Continue reading →
