In today’s episode, we finish our coverage of the dark, passionate world of Appalachian Murder Ballads. We discuss classic woman killin’ tunes such as Pretty Polly, Omie Wise, then move on to the tale of a murderous woman with The Ballad of Frankie Silver. We finish with some words about In The Pines and thoughts on the cultural significance and meaning of murder ballads.
Sources:
Pretty Polly
- “Pretty Polly” by Paul Slade. http://www.planetslade.com. 2013.
- “Pretty Polly” by Wayne Erbsen. From Rural Roots of Bluegrass. nativeground.com. 2016.
- “The GOSPORT Tragedy: Or, The Perjured Ship-Carpenter” Image courtesy of The Lewis Walpole Library.
- “A Resisting Performance of an Appalachian Traditional Murder Ballad: Giving Voice to ‘Pretty Polly’” by Lydia Hamessley. Women and Music: A Journal of Gender and Culture 9 (2005) 13-36.
- Pretty Polly via Wikipedia
Omie Wise
- “A true account of Nayomy Wise” by Mary Woody. en.wikisource.org. Last updated: 14 April 2012.
- Omie Wise via Wikipedia
Frankie Silver
- “Frances Stewart SILVER” via Murderpedia.
- “The Ballad of Frankie Silver (As printed in the Lenoir Topic, March 24 1886.” Image courtesy Learn NC. http://www.learnnc.org.
In the Pines (Black Girl)
- “IN THE PINES” via International Lyrics Playground. lyricsplayground.com.
General Sources
‘This Murder Done’: Misogyny, Femicide, and Modernity in 19th-Century Appalachian Murder Ballads” by Christina Ruth Hastie. University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Trace: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. August 2011.
“The Rose & the Briar: Death, Love and Liberty in the American Ballad” by Sean Wilentz and Greil Marcus. W. W. Norton & Company. 2005.
“Why Is The ‘Murdered Girl’ So Popular” by Arthur Field. Midwest Folklore. Indiana University Press. Vol. 1, No. 2 (Summer, 1951), pp. 113-119.
“‘Whackety Whack, Don’t Talk Back’: The Glorification of Violence Against Females and the Subjugation of Women in Nineteenth-Century Southern Folk Music” by C. Kirk Hutson. Journal of Women’s History. Vol. 8, No. 3 (Fall, 1996), pp. 114-142.
“99 Years is Almost for Life: Punishment for Violent Crime in Bluegrass Music” by Kenneth D. Tunnel. The Journal of Popular Culture. Vol. 26, Issue 3. 5 March 2004.
“Classic American Ballads: from Smithsonian Folkways” compiled and annotated by Jeff Place, Katie Ortiz, and Max Smith. Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. 2015.
“Searching for silenced voices in Appalachian music” by Deborah J. Thompson. GeoJournal. Vol. 65, No. 1/2, Geography & Music (2006), pp. 67-78
“Cecil Sharp (1859-1924)” via Vaughn Williams Memorial Library. Includes links to his diaries and more primary sources.
Additional Resources:
“Pretty Polly” by Jonas Tarestad. http://www.youtube.com. 19 December 2006.
Music used in this podcast:
“Pretty Polly” by Roger McGuinn
“In The Pines” by John Badger & the Mustache Riders of Doom.
“Drum Solo For Hospital Ghost” by Lucas Perný
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