The following message from Levon Helmâs official web page: âLevon Helm passed peacefully this afternoon. He was surrounded by family, friends and band mates and will be remembered by all he touched as a brilliant musician and a beautiful soul.â … Continue reading →
Note: This is Part 3 of a 4 part series â see also Part 1, Part 2, and Part 4 This weekâs first post introduced us to the ballad âEdwardâ in Ireland and America. Â My second post this week introduced … Continue reading →
Sad news. Long-time Woodstock resident and Grammy-winning musician Levon Helm is dying of cancer, according to a message posted on www.levonhelm.com. The message reads: âDear Friends, Levon is in the final stages of his battle with cancer. Please send your … Continue reading →
Note: This is Part 2 of a 4 part series â see also Part 1, Part 3, and Part 4 We saw in the introductory post for the week that in the murder ballad âEdwardâ, or Child 13, at least … Continue reading →
 Cain Leadeth Abel to Death â Chromolithograph book plate, James Tissot, 1904 Note: This is Part 1 of a 4 part series â see also Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4 This week weâre back in to the Child Ballads.  Itâs been … Continue reading →
Singer and songwriter Larry Long has partnered up with Robert Robinson (Long wrote the lyrics and Robinson doing vocals) to create musical Motherâs Day cards in memory of Longâs recently passed mother. All of the lyrics were inspired by Longâs … Continue reading →
As weâve noted all along, our âmissionâ 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, âHarris and the Mare,â our protagonist reminds Harris that he was a âconshie in the War.â Â 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. Â Stan Rogers, penned âHarris … Continue reading →
Panchoâs StepchildrenâPancho and Leftyâ has been a foray into a more Western genre of murder ballad, building on Patâs discussion of âJack Straw,â I suppose.  The Wikipedia entry on murder ballads cites Olive Burtâs 1958 article, âThe Minstrelsy of Murder,â which … Continue reading →
