*It Ain’t Always About Politics- The Topical Song in American Folklore-Man Versus Machine, Man Versus Nature, Man Versus Man (And Woman, Too)

Click On Title To Link To YouTube's Film Clip Of William And Versy Smith Performing "When That Great Ship Went Down".

CD Review

People Take Warning!: Murder Ballads& Disaster Songs, 1913-1938, Three CD Set, Tompkins Square, 2007

Yes, for the umpth time, I am deep in research of the roots, the many roots of American folk music. As part of this search I have spilled plenty of ink over the folk revival of the 1960’s, and its links to today’s folk scene, that I have the most intimate knowledge about. But that is hardly the end of the story. In fact the 1960’s folk revival is something of the tail end of a vast exploration done by a few musicologists, most famously the father and son team of John and Alan Lomax. While the revival itself explored many kinds of music from the mountains of Appalachia to the plains of Texas and beyond the “rage” for roots then, exploited most effectively by the likes of Bob Dylan, centered on the topical songs of the day done by in the age old manner of the traveling troubadours of yore.

While the subject matter of the 1960’s scene, naturally, tendered toward the overtly political around the issues of conventional war, nuclear disarmament, the fierce civil rights struggle in the American South that dominated all serious talk, social isolation, the rebellion against social conformity and the like historically the “singing” newspaper tradition was far from those “deep” concerns. The tendency was to be more personal either with songs of love. longing for love or of thwarted love or on a more mundane level disaster, man made or natural, murders and other sensational crimes and whatever other local gossip could be turned into a ballad. But beyond that, as this compilation bears witness to every song seemingly had to provide a cautionary note.

Whether that note was to beware of getting to dependent on the emerging whirlwind of the newest technologies like the airplane or “unsinkable” ships, the mysteries of natural disasters like floods and fire or the hazards of pre-martial sex, being a vexing wife or coveting another man’s the hand of “God” was written all over these things. People take warning was not only, or merely, a convenient metaphor to set the parameters of the song. That is what this three CD set is all about. So if you want to know about train wrecks ship wrecks, grizzly murders, the sorrows of the Great Depression and other obscure tales from the early 20th century then here is your chance to those subjects all in one place. And, incidentally, with a very nice and informative booklet of liner notes included, a grand piece of the puzzle of roots musical history and a small capsule of American everyday history.

Disc One: Man Versus Machine. If your thing is plane wrecks, train wrecks and ship sinkings then this disc will provide you will all you need to know about the hazards involved in the early stages of the modern transportation revolution, especially if you need to know about 57 versions of the sinking of the “unsinkable” Titanic. The best of that lot is the William and Versy Smith cover of “When That Great Ship Went Down” that I remember Cambridge resident folkie Eric Von Schmidt covering in the early 1960’s. As for trains there is nothing better than the legendary country blues guitar impresario Furry Lewis, an artist whose work I have reviewed individually in this space, performing his two part of “Kassie Jones”. The Skillet Lickers “Wreck of The Old 97” also deserves a listen. Finally Blind Alfred Reed, another artist covered individually here, has a couple of things, most prominently “The Wreck Of The Old Virginian” you must listen to.



Disc Two: Man Versus Nature. Although the marvels of modern technology have provided an increasing share of stories about the vagaries of the machine age old “Mother Nature”, especially when observed up close as is the case down on the farm or out on the prairies still confounds us with her fury. We need only go back a few years to Hurricane Katrina to get very quickly reminded of our sometimes precarious position in the scheme of things. Floods and fires are center stage in this disc and no such compilation on this subject can be complete without the work of the “pre-blues” man Charlie Patton here on several tracks, most importantly those two parts of “High Water Everywhere”. Uncle Dave Mason deserves a nod for “Tennessee Tornado” as does a young Son House for “Dry Spell Blues”. Also of note is Charlie Poole’s “Baltimore Fire” that Kate and Anna McGarrigle covered several years ago.


Disc Three: Man Versus Man (And Woman, Too). If you think man-made machine disasters or the handiwork of old “Mother Nature” have gotten a serious workout in the topical selections here, and in life, you ain’t seen nothing yet until you get to this third disc about the short tempers, ill-advised motives and general ne’r -do- well happenings when men and women, their loves, hatred, sorrows and misadventures get a musical rendering. Watch out, murder and mayhem are the least of it. Someone is going to jail, or the gallows. No question about it. Tops here are the old saga about poor old Dupree and his life of crime trying to please his lady in “Dupree Blues”. Needless to say the male of the species is not the only one subject to temptation and revenge as “Frankie” a much covered song with many variations is done here by the Dykes Magic City Trio. Of course the better known murder and outlaw tales of the ill-fated “Railroad Bill” and the likewise cursed “Tom Dooley” get a play here. Listen on.