#songbysong

[attentionspoilers]

..everything about.. ESC

L’Eurovision Song Contest (in francese Concours Eurovision de la chanson), precedentemente noto in italiano come Gran Premio (o Concorso) Eurovisione della Canzone (informalmente come Eurofestival) è un festival musicale internazionale nato nel 1956 a Lugano e organizzato annualmente dai membri dell’Unione europea di radiodiffusione. Dalla prima edizione, il concorso è stato trasmesso ogni anno…

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[workoutprogramformen]

KB: A song-by-song run through of his 'Tomorrow We Live' album

KB: A song-by-song run through of his 'Tomorrow We Live' album

KB: A song-by-song run through of his 'Tomorrow We Live' album KB was barely a teenager when his parents divorced and seemingly overnight he was ripped from a structured safe family-first environment to a single parent household in a rundown community in Southside St Petersburg. Recalled … But for all his effort … Read more on Cross Rhythms

Physically active women at lesser risk of heart diseases

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[smithsonianfolkways]

Lead Belly: Song by Song - Governor OK Allen

GOVERNER OK ALLEN

Disc 1, Track 17

This is Lead Belly’s second “pardon” song. Governor Allen never visited Angola prison, so John Lomax hand-carried the disc to the governor’s office; on the back side Lead Belly recorded a version of “Irene.” It is unknown if Allen listened to it. Officially Lead Belly was released on August 1, 1934, by the governor after having his sentence commuted for “double good time.”

Original cover photo for Lead Belly’s Last Sessions, Folkways 240 (Courtesy of the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution)

Text credit to Jeff Place, author of the Lead Belly: The Smithsonian Folkways Collection liner notes.

[smithsonianfolkways]

Lead Belly: Song by Song - Boll Weevil

BOLL WEEVIL

Disc 1, Track 15

“The Boll Weevil Song” – Brook Benton, 1982

The boll weevil is a small insect pest that migrated north from Central America to the American South around 1892. It took a particular liking to the cotton crop and did devastating damage. Needless to say, with such a profound effect on farmers and farmworkers, the plague became an obvious subject for songs. There are a number of songs about the little bug: “Dixie Boll Weevil” (John Carson, 1924); “The Boll Weevil” (Jaybird Coleman, 1927); “Boll Weevil” (Lindsay and Connor, 1928); “Boll Weevil Rag” (Charles Griffin, 1934); “Boll Weevil Been Here” (Willie Williams, 1936); “Boll Weevil Blues” (Oscar Woods, 1940). Blues legend Charlie Patton recorded his “Mississippi Boweavil Blues” in 1929.

“Mississippi Boweavil Blues” – Charlie Patton, 1929

Many songs have been written about the weevil, but over the years a standard version has emerged where there is a dialog between the farmer and the weevil. It is now considered an American folk song. Carl Sandburg remembered first hearing John Lomax singing that version around 1920 (Sandburg 1927, 8). Lead Belly performs a version similar to the one Lomax sang to Sandburg, with some additional verses. It was recorded many times during the folk song revival, including in a popular version by Burl Ives in 1956. Brook Benton’s pop single “Boll Weevil” in 1961 went to #2 on the charts.

Lead Belly performing in a classroom (Courtesy of the John Reynolds Collection)

"Boll Weevil" - The Punch Brothers

“Boll Weevil” – Shirley Collins and Davy Graham, 1964

“Boll Weevil” – The White Stripes, 2002

“Boll Weevil” – Lead Belly

Text credit to Jeff Place, author of the Lead Belly: The Smithsonian Folkways Collection liner notes.

[smithsonianfolkways]

Lead Belly: Song by Song - Out On the Western Plains

OUT ON THE WESTERN PLAINS

Disc 2, Track 13

“Out on the Western Plain” – Rory Gallagher, 1982

OUT ON THE WESTERN PLAINS PICTURE HERE

Portrait (Courtesy of the John Reynolds Collection)

This is one of Lead Belly’s cowboy songs. “Out on the Western Plains” has been one of his popular songs since he composed it. In fall 1943, Moses Asch had Lead Belly record a group of medleys based on various themes for a 78 rpm set, Negro Folk Songs as Sung by Leadbelly (Disc 660). This song comes from that project.

“Western Plain” – Van Morrison

“Western Cowboy” – Hurray for the Riff Raff, 2013

“Out on the Western Plains” – Lead Belly

Text credit to Jeff Place, author of the Lead Belly: The Smithsonian Folkways Collection liner notes.

[smithsonianfolkways]

Lead Belly: Song by Song - Princess Elizabeth

PRINCESS ELIZABETH

Disc 5, Track 10

Lyrics to “Princess Elizabeth” in Lead Belly’s handwriting (Courtesy of the Lead Belly Estate)

Princess Elizabeth (since 1953 the Queen of England) is the subject of this little ditty Lead Belly composed on the occasion of her 1947 wedding to Prince Philip. It was not used on either of the Last Sessions releases and has remained unreleased until this time. Lead Belly told Ramsey, “I took the melody of Bessie Smith’s ‘Aggravating Papa’ and put new words to it” (Ramsey tape RA-468).

Read more about it, check out this Rolling Stone article from January 7th, 2015:

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/premieres/lost-lead-belly-song-princess-elizabeth-20150107

Princess Elizabeth - Lead Belly

Aggravating Papa - Bessie Smith

Text credit to Jeff Place, author of the Lead Belly: The Smithsonian Folkways Collection liner notes.

[smithsonianfolkways]

Lead Belly: Song by Song - Scottsboro Boys

SCOTTSBORO Boys

Disc 1, Track 16

Lead Belly portrait (Courtesy of the John Reynolds Collection)

This song concerns a celebrated case in American civil rights history. In 1931, nine black youths were arrested for allegedly raping two young white women while all of them were hoboing on a train in Alabama. The news story went national, with various organizations raising funds and rallying people to the defense of the boys. They were originally all convicted and sentenced to death; the furor rose, and a subsequent trial saw four of them freed but the others sentenced to prison. Others around Lead Belly were impressed with the song. In August 1937, Lead Belly premiered it publicly at a Federal Worker’s Project event. Two of the boys’ mothers were invited to the event to hear the new song (Wolfe and Lornell 1992, 208).

The Scottsboro arrests occurred 84 years ago today.

“The Scottsboro Boys” – Lead Belly, 1938

Text credit to Jeff Place, author of the Lead Belly: The Smithsonian Folkways Collection liner notes.

[smithsonianfolkways]

Lead Belly: Song by Song - Rock Island Line

ROCK ISLAND LINE

Disc 1, Track 11

“The Rock Island line. These boys cuttin’ with poleaxes. One man’s cutting right-handed. He’s standing on the opposite side of the other man. The other man cut left-handed. He’s standing the other side. And these boys gonna sing about the Rock Island line, which is a mighty good road to ride. And in that road the man gonna talk to the depot agent when he’s comin’ out of the cut with that Rock Island line train freight coming back from Mullaine (sic) this a way. That man blows his whistle down there different than people blow whistles here. He’s gonna talk to that depot agent and he’s gonna tell him something. When that switch falls over the line, means for that freight train to go into the hole. Man’s gonna talk to him.” – Lead Belly

Sheet music for Lonnie Donegan’s version of “Rock Island Line” (Courtesy of the John Reynolds Collection)

In October 1934, Lead Belly was traveling with John Lomax and his son Alan, acting as their driver. During a trip to record convicts at Cummins State Farm in Gould, Arkansas, Lead Belly first heard “Rock Island Line,” a song later closely associated with him. Kelly Pace and a group of prisoners performed it as a work song; that recording is in the Library of Congress. After Lead Belly learned the song, he added the narrative about depot agents and the train, turning it back into a railroad song, as it originally dealt with the railroad line running across Arkansas. It became a hit in 1955 for British musician Lonnie Donegan, kicking off the skiffle craze. Donegan had recorded it with the Chris Barber Band in 1954 after hearing the Library of Congress recording borrowed from the American Embassy in London. Comedian Stan Freberg also recorded a takeoff on the song in an effort to make fun of the whole folk singing phenomenon.

The Rock Island Line was opened to Rock Island 161 years ago today.

“Rock Island Line” – Johnny Cash, 1969

“Rock Island Line” was first recorded by Lead Belly in 1937. Lonnie Donegan another popular version in England in 1954; this recording led to start of “skiffle craze.” Other versions have been recorded by Odetta, Bobby Darin, Stan Freberg as a song parody, Brothers Four, Johnny Cash, The Weavers, Little Richard with Fishbone (“Folkways - A Vision Shared”), and Chris Thomas King.

“Rock Island Line” – Lead Belly

Text credit to Jeff Place, author of the Lead Belly: The Smithsonian Folkways Collection liner notes.