Murder Ballads!

[cemaphonic]

Been awhile since we had a good murder ballad thread, and it's one of my favorite song categories.

Gillian Welch - Caleb Meyer - You have to be a pretty damn good songwriter to write a song about murder and attempted rape and have it be this catchy and singable:

Lightning Hopkins - Bring Me My Shotgun - This one is neat because it's really menacing and spooky, but has a little twist at the end that totally re-contextualizes the song:

Fairport Convention - Matty Groves - Amazing electric folk version of a really old traditional ballad:

I've got loads more, but I don't want to hog all the good ones right out of the gate. So post some good old-fashioned wholesome violence and mayhem.

[Art_from_Ark]

1. This was one of my favorite songs of 1968

although admittedly I didn't quite fully understand what it was all about back then.

[pinboy3niner]

2. The Kingston Trio - Tom Dooley

Based on a true story.

Background:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Dooley_(song)

[countryjake]

3. Nice choices! Here's my favorite...

[pinboy3niner]

4. Marty Robbins - El Paso

[countryjake]

5. ...

minds on the same track

[Optical.Catalyst]

6. Lloy Price - Stagger Lee

[cemaphonic]

18. For me, the one true Stagger Lee will always be Mississippi John Hurt's version

I'm pretty fond of this (NSFW) one that recasts him as a sort of badass folk hero:

But yeah, an absolutely classic song with dozens of great versions.

[countryjake]

7. Dave Van Ronk's version of "Frankie and Johnny"

Last edited Tue Apr 28, 2015, 06:29 AM - Edit history (1)

And Leadbelly's:

[kentauros]

8. Nick Cave - Where The Wild Roses Grow

[murielm99]

24. His "Murder Ballads"

CD is one of my favorites.

I don't think my husband likes it much, but I find it compelling and unforgettable.

[kentauros]

9. The Shoulders - Trashman Shoes

A favorite of mine from way back on KPFT

[pinboy3niner]

10. Dixie Chicks - Goodbye Earl

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

26. ^^^ second this

[AwakeAtLast]

45. That was my choice

Great song!

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

11. Mac the Knife

Ok, not exactly a ballad, but there is a body.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

12. Not murder, exactly, but very brutal ...

[cemaphonic]

30. I'm not sure you can murder the anthropomorphic personification of alchohol,

but a great song nonetheless.

[Tom_Foolery]

13. Here are a few...

Cher's "Dark Lady":

Kenny Rogers and The First Edition's "Ruby, Don't Take Love to Town":

Vicky Lawrence's "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia":

Lefty Frizzell's "Long Black Veil":

[cemaphonic]

29. Long Black Veil has to be among the most covered murder ballads ever.

Especially for songs that have an identifiable composer, instead of anonymous folk music.

[Tom_Foolery]

35. Absolutely...

Here are some of my other favorite versions of "Long Black Veil":


Johnny Cash:

Daryle Singletary:

Emmylou Harris and Dave Matthews:

[Tom Ripley]

57. I had Cash sign his album that contained his version

I told him that I got hooked on it at age 5 and had held onto it for all of those years

[Tom_Foolery]

59. That's great...

I've always enjoyed his music.

[cyberswede]

14. Down By the River

[cyberswede]

15. The Ballad of Hollis Brown

[cyberswede]

16. Country Death Song

[cemaphonic]

19. Oh yeah, that's a dark one.

I can never figure out whether it's supposed to be taken straight, or as black humor though. That just makes it more interesting.

[cyberswede]

20. Yeah - depressing...

A woman I used to know (and her 4 children) were killed by a family annihilator, who then killed himself. I can't even imagine the place one's head needs to be to be able to do that.

[cyberswede]

17. Polly Von

...accidental, but I think it still counts.

[lame54]

21. It's only a matter of time...

[cemaphonic]

22. Heh

Sting did write this terrific one:

[LeftinOH]

23. "Copacabana" - Barry Manilow

[argyl]

25. "Billie and Bonnie" by Steve Earle. There's a murder plus much more.

The last line will chill your blood. So much in a little over three minutes.Brilliant.

[cemaphonic]

32. Ah yes, the subgenre of "famous spree killer" songs

Love it when Earle busts out his mandolin (and I hadn't heard that one, so thanks).

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

27. Two from Warren

[Dont call me Shirley]

28. Neil Young "Cortez The Killer"

https://m.

[Hoyt]

31. Long Black Veil. Bout time someone wrote one for Trayvon Martin, Freddie Gray, Michael Brown, etc

[pipi_k]

33. The Buoys...

[Cheese Sandwich]

34. Okkervil River - For Real

[hifiguy]

36. A couple of my faves

You have to jump to 36:22 for The Baron of Brackley. A traditional Scots ballad of infidelity, treachery and murder. Great stuff. Sung by the peerless Jacqui McShee and the late great Bert Jansch

[struggle4progress]

37. Lily, Rosemary, and the Jack of Hearts

[struggle4progress]

38. The Irish ballad

[struggle4progress]

39. White House Blues

[struggle4progress]

40. Ballad of Jesse James

[struggle4progress]

41. Ballad Of Bonnie & Clyde

[struggle4progress]

42. Famous Flower Of Serving Men

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

43. The Highwayman

[Mike Daniels]

44. My favorite five

Matty Groves - Fairport Convention

Noblewoman bangs serf/peasant while the lord of the manor is tending his land. Lord finds out, kills serf in a duel, gets told by his wife she'd rather kiss her dead lover than be with him and then kills wife.

Long Lankin - Steeleye Span -

Lord of the manor goes out of town warning his wife to beware of a mason he stiffed on a job. Mason (with an assist from a "nurse" ) invades family home, kills the lady and her child (drains blood of the child into a tub) and then is finally killed by the lord when he returns to the homestead

Murder of Maria Martin - Shirley Collins and the Albion Band

Based on actual mid 19th century murder (the Red Barn Murder) committed by William Corder in England.

O'Malley's Bar and Stagger Lee- Nick Cave

Egomaniacal sociopaths/psychopaths slaughter management and customers of the local watering holes.

[cemaphonic]

46. Tom Waits - Murder in the Red Barn

It's not a retelling of the actual Red Barn Murder story, but is clearly inspired by it.

[countryjake]

47. "Duncan and Brady" and "Ella Speed"

[countryjake]

48. The Holy Modal Rounders "Bully of the Town"

Other's versions of this one have the stalking of the Bully over and done. The Rounders loved to leave things hangin', so...

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

49. Used to Love Her - Guns and Roses

[olddots]

50. and who could forget Moby Grapes 2nd. album ?

( mostly everyone )

Murder in my heart for the judge...the bad old judge wouldn't budge ..........oy i am old .

[melman]

51. Two Gallants have some good ones

Steady Rollin'

Las Cruces Jail

[greendog]

52. Hurray For The Riff Raff - "The Body Electric"

[dinger130]

53. There has always been someone in my family

that has sung and picked this on the banjo for a hundred years........Pretty Polly.

[Tom Ripley]

58. It is a classic

Perhaps the ur-murder ballad?

[LiberalElite]

54. The Beatles - Maxwell's Silver Hammer

[greendog]

55. That Gillian Welch song, Caleb Meyer is pretty amazing!

She borrowed 'Nellie Kane' from a song by Tim O'Brian from 1979. It's pretty interesting how some of these songwriters can build on each other's work.

https://m.

#

[cemaphonic]

60. Welch's lyrics are loaded with little references and nods to older music

Old standards like Shady Grove and Soldier's Joy, but also 70s rock like Steve Miller and the Grateful Dead.

[greendog]

62. I've only recently started listening to her music.

I have a copy of "The Harrow and the Harvest". It was mentioned in an interview with Alynda Lee Segarra (Hurray For The Riff Raff), another artist who loads her lyrics with references to other songs.

[cemaphonic]

64. She's easily one of the top 3 songwriters of the last 20 years.

All her albums are great (The Harrow and the Harvest is the most recent one) Her longtime collaborator, Dave Rawlings also has an album as Dave Rawlings Machine which is him, Welch, and members of the Heartbreakers and Old Crow Medicine Show.

They put on a good live show in either incarnation as well.

And to bring the conversation full circle, here's Tim & Mollie O'Brien singing Welch's "Orphan Girl."

[greendog]

66. I got to see Tim & Mollie play live several times!

They were always very good.

[Tom Ripley]

56. "Cecil's got his new piece. He cocks and shoots between three and four..."

?list=RD53F5nY68cBM

[Tom_Foolery]

61. Carole King's "Smackwater Jack"...

[BronxBoy]

63. I'm Bad Like Jesse James

John Lee Hooker
There are several versions on YouTube but the absolute best is from the Live Soledad Album when he has a band backing him

Dey gonna tie your hands
Dey gonna tie your feet
Dey gonna gag your throat, where you can't holla
Gonna set you in the water.,,,,
See the bubbles comin up

Love that song

[Joe Shlabotnik]

65. Neko Case: Make your Bed

(down river, young girl)

This tune is a must listen for me every now and again. Love it.