Musicians Wanted: The Gallows Ballads Project

Subject: RE: Musicians Wanted: The Gallows Ballads Project
From: GUEST,Paul Slade
Date: 09 Apr 12 - 01:20 PM

That's just gorgeous, KB - definitely one of my favourite Gallows Ballads Project tracks so far. I'll get all the relevant links up on PlanetSlade next week and give it a plug on the other message boards too.

If you should feel like letting me have a few comments for the project's Sleevenotes page, please do and I'll post them up there with the others. My feeling is that people might quite enjoy reading why everyone chose their particular track and how they settled on the treatment used.

Elsewhere in the forest, Irene Shettle tells me her setting of The Sister & The Serpent went down well when she tried it out at a Guildford folk club recently, and promises a recording soon. The Jetsonics were planning to have their first bash at Cruel Lizzie Vickers over the holiday weekend, so things are happening there too.

CS? Big Al? Anything to report?

Subject: RE: Musicians Wanted: The Gallows Ballads Project
From: GUEST, Paul Slade
Date: 09 Apr 12 - 01:33 PM

Oh, and one other thing, KingBrilliant. Would you object to adding a "Download" button to the song on your Soundcloud page as Tim and Suibhne have above?

I ask for selfish reasons as much as any, because I've been collecting all the tracks into a single album on my own computer's iTunes file. Other people might like to do the same.

Subject: RE: Musicians Wanted: The Gallows Ballads Project
From: KingBrilliant
Date: 09 Apr 12 - 02:05 PM

Cheers for the kind comments Paul.
I am new to Soundcloud so didnt know about adding button - will hie me off & do it now.

Oh no! I am such twattage!!! I saw that download option thing & thought the big "x" meant it was selected, eeek - I sometimes wonder about my choice of career - don't think I should be let near computers....

Anyway - download option is there now.

Also - am loving RTim's Baby Farmer recording. I live a couple of streets away, and most days I cycle past Mrs Dyer's house & over "the clappers" (the local name for the weir from which she is said to have thrown the babies). Amelia Dyer is definitely still part of the local conciousness.

Looking forward to hearing all the songs when they are all up on the site.

Subject: RE: Musicians Wanted: The Gallows Ballads Project
From: KingBrilliant
Date: 09 Apr 12 - 05:05 PM

Sleeve-note thing:

The Foreigner's Downfall is a murder ballad, but it is also a love song, a song of regret, and a song of exile. I like the fact that the song is written from Dedie's perspective, and that rather than focus exclusively on the harsh facts of the murder it dwells on his love for Caroline and the comfort he got from the drawings he made of the girls during his incarceration. It seems that he is resigned to swing on the gallows, and is more sorry for himself than remorseful for his crime. He draws comfort from the pictures, as if he feels that the girls are supporting him through his trials. It fascinates and chills me that he has love but no empathy. But a point in his favour: he has such a wonderfully singable name..
I chose to set the lyrics to the traditional tune of The Nightingale (ish) because that is also a love song involving a soldier, and because it is likely that the broadsides were sung to familiar trad tunes.

Subject: RE: Musicians Wanted: The Gallows Ballads Project
From: GUEST, Paul Slade
Date: 09 Apr 12 - 05:41 PM

Thanks for that, KingBrilliant, and thanks for adding the download button too.

Subject: RE: Musicians Wanted: The Gallows Ballads Project
From: GUEST,Paul Slade
Date: 12 Apr 12 - 04:35 AM

PlanetSlade's Tracklist page and Sleevenotes pages are both now up to date. You'll find links to seven GBP performances there so far, with (I hope) plenty more to come.

Subject: RE: Musicians Wanted: The Gallows Ballads Project
From: GUEST,Paul Slade
Date: 28 Apr 12 - 11:14 AM

Pete Morton dropped round with his guitar this morning to record Jealous Annie at my kitchen table.

His performance uses the original 1848 lyrics, set to Pete's own music, and I'll have the audio up on-line next week. I've been listening to the minidisc all afternoon, and I can confirm it's another good 'un.

Subject: RE: Musicians Wanted: The Gallows Ballads Project
From: GUEST,Paul Slade
Date: 30 Apr 12 - 10:27 AM

More fresh audio:

Jealous Annie, by Pete Morton.
Audio (Soundcloud).
Background (PlanetSlade).

Many thanks to Pete for doing this.

Subject: RE: Musicians Wanted: The Gallows Ballads Project
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 17 May 12 - 10:30 AM

I've just finished doing a version of the William Palmer Song. I can't see an e-mail on your website to send it to you Paul.

al

Subject: RE: Musicians Wanted: The Gallows Ballads Project
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 17 May 12 - 11:13 AM

I've put it on myspace - if anyone's interested.

http://www.myspace.com/566916480

Subject: RE: Musicians Wanted: The Gallows Ballads Project
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 17 May 12 - 12:51 PM

Paul, I'd like to take a crack at Murder at Westmill (no pun intended).
Ernie

Subject: RE: Musicians Wanted: The Gallows Ballads Project
From: GUEST,Paul Slade
Date: 17 May 12 - 03:55 PM

Woo hoo! Things is moving again!

Dear Al - I'm DEFINITELY interested! You can reach me here: paul(at)planetslade.com. There's an e-mail link on this page too.

I'm going to try your myspace link now, but I'm not a member, so I'm not sure if it'll let me in or not.

Dear Lonesome EJ - Murder at Westmill is completely unclaimed so far, so it's all yours. Please drop me a line at the same address if I can be any help.

Subject: RE: Musicians Wanted: The Gallows Ballads Project
From: GUEST,Paul Slade
Date: 17 May 12 - 04:49 PM

Actually, that Myspace link seems to work fine whether you're a member or not, so I'd encourage everyone to nip over there and have a listen to Big Al now. It's very nice work indeed, Al, with some lovely little guitar flourishes. Thanks so much for doing it.

I've tweeted this new addition with the appropriate links to my modest collection of Twitter followers and plugged it on the usual handful of message boards. I'll get the link up on PlanetSlade itself in the next few days. If there's anything you'd like to tell people about why you chose this particular song or the approach you took to covering it, please just let me know, and I'll add your comments to the project's Sleevenotes page forthwith.

Finally, would it be possible to add a download button to this song on your Myspace page, as others here have done with their Soundcloud contributions above? I've been building up a personal GBP compilation in my iTunes file, and I imagine quite a lot of other people would like to have that option too.

Don't want a lot, do I? Seriously though, Al, thanks again for doing this - I really am chuffed with the result.

Subject: RE: Musicians Wanted: The Gallows Ballads Project
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 17 May 12 - 07:53 PM

I'll do my best - although I don't find Myspace terribly easy to use.

NaturallY I will cooperate anyway I can

al

Subject: RE: Musicians Wanted: The Gallows Ballads Project
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 17 May 12 - 08:58 PM

The Westmill Murder on Soundcloud

Subject: RE: Musicians Wanted: The Gallows Ballads Project
From: GUEST, Paul Slade
Date: 18 May 12 - 06:11 AM

Thanks very much for that - it's another good 'un. I particularly like the harmonica break, which I would call Dylanesque if it weren't for the fact that you play the thing so much better than he does.

I'll get the links up on PlanetSlade in the next few days. Would you prefer to be credited there as "Lonesome EJ" or "Ernest Johnson"? Whichever option you prefer is fine with me, so please just let me know.

Also, would it be possible to enable the download option on that Soundcloud page? They have a really confusing tick-box on the upload form which makes it look like that option's switched on when it isn't. I'd sooner rely on the Soundcloud link, as I think people are more accustomed to using that site, and it's that bit better designed than most of its rivals.

I ask about the download option because I'd like to give people the chance to collect all the Gallows Ballads Project tracks on their own iTunes file and keep them together as one tidy package. That's what I've been doing - with the help of your Mediafire link - and I imagine others might like to do it too.

Thanks so much for doing this. I'll set about plugging your track on the three other message boards I've been using now - that's fRoots, Mojo and No Depression.

Subject: RE: Musicians Wanted: The Gallows Ballads Project
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 18 May 12 - 02:33 PM

Updated and downloadable new Soundcloud link

Murder at Westmill

Subject: RE: Musicians Wanted: The Gallows Ballads Project
From: GUEST,Paul Slade
Date: 18 May 12 - 06:21 PM

We've also created a Soundcloud page for Big Al's Death of William Palmer recording, which allowed us to add a free download option there too.

Death of William Palmer
(Soundcloud version)

Subject: RE: Musicians Wanted: The Gallows Ballads Project
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 18 May 12 - 06:49 PM

View the Youtube video at

Murder at Westmill

Subject: RE: Musicians Wanted: The Gallows Ballads Project
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 20 May 12 - 10:48 PM

Please disregard the previous Youtube link. I realized the vocal was way too high in the mix, and the new version can be heard at The Murder at Westmill

Thanks!

Subject: RE: Musicians Wanted: The Gallows Ballads Project
From: GUEST,Paul Slade
Date: 21 May 12 - 04:59 AM

Gallows Ballads Project.

The PlanetSlade page above is now updated with links to all ten of our free, downloadable recordings so far.

The current state of play is this:

Now On-line
Elsa Lanchester: Mrs Dyer.
Hammond School: Gallows Child.
Tim Radford: The Old Baby Farmer.
Sean Breadin (Sedayne): The Silent Grove.
Rob Wahl: Streams of Crimson Blood.
Foxen: The Unnatural Murder.
KingBrilliant: The Foreigner's Downfall.
Pete Morton: Jealous Annie.
Big Al Whittle: Life & Trial of Palmer.
Ernest Johnson: Murder at Westmill.

Promised Soon
Simeon Peebler: Mary Arnold.
The Jetsonics: Cruel Lizzy Vickers.
Irene Shettle: The Sister & The Serpent.
Elisa Flynn. The Murdered Maid.
Cowboy Slim: Jealous Annie.

Unclaimed So Far
The Execution of Nataniel Mobbs.
The Liverpool Lodger.
Jones & Harwood.

Subject: RE: Musicians Wanted: The Gallows Ballads Project
From: GUEST,Paul Slade
Date: 25 May 12 - 08:56 AM

I've just run Andy's message through Google's Spanish to English translator, which produces this:

"yes yes, the 'golden earrings' are the most espuetndos! Dutch beat gods agree, its better days were in the 60 and did not taste at all radar love, of course. but they made some very real things in the evenings year 60 (and, like the 45 in the year 1970 as well) I can not mention all these years the songs I like, because they are so many! my favorite hurry hurry hurry now this, from my awful spanish 1968.please excuse, it've Been A Long Time since i had to write or say something in That language (and sorry For all those years, my keyboard does Have the n with with swung the little dash above it). thanks for commenting!"

(I think he may have the wrong forum.)

Subject: RE: Musicians Wanted: The Gallows Ballads Project
From: Richard from Liverpool
Date: 27 May 12 - 12:41 PM

Paul, I'm still tempted to take you up on your suggestion that I cover The Liverpool Lodger. Only reason I haven't said yes absolutely is because I'm massively busy with work until July and I need to make sure I have time to work out a tune, do a proper recording (rather than my usual slapdash efforts) etc. But if it's still not taken then, I might stick my hand up, I just don't want to stand in the way of someone who can do it better and in a more timely fashion.

Will be interested to see what Irene Shettle makes of The Sister and the Serpent. I live in Cambridge at the moment, and I think if I was going to try any other song, it would likely be that one! Did you ever track down the tune The Waggon Train? Or has Irene Shettle managed to track it down?

Subject: RE: Musicians Wanted: The Gallows Ballads Project
From: GUEST,Paul Slade
Date: 27 May 12 - 01:10 PM

Hi, Richard. I do have someone else working on The Liverpool Lodger at the moment - another Liverpudlian as a matter of fact - but please don't let that put you off.

We've already got two versions of The Old Baby Farmer up on the site, and it's possible that we'll get another Jealous Annie too. Personally, I've got no problem with that at all, as I think it's often quite interesting to compare and contrast the way two different artists treat the same set of lyrics and the same story. Let a thousand flowers bloom, that's what I say.

The Sister & The Serpent's original 1850 sheet, for them as don't know, suggests its lyrics be sung to an air called The Waggon Train, which I've never been able to track down. I don't know if Irene ever tried to trace it or not, but she did tell me she was using a tune of her own for the recording.

I'd still be very interested to know more about The Waggon Train if any Mudcatters can shed light on it. The tune intended must have already been popular by 1850, and suitable for the lyrics here: http://www.planetslade.com/broadside-ballads-sister-and-serpent.html

Subject: RE: Musicians Wanted: The Gallows Ballads Project
From: GUEST,Paul Slade
Date: 19 Jun 12 - 07:00 AM

Just to be clear, any of the 16 songs is available to anyone who wants to tackle it, whether or not someone else has already nominated it or even done a recording.

With the best will in the world, I'm sure some of the people who've already offered to do songs won't get a chance to tackle them in the end. It's been well over three months in some cases now, and I don't want anyone to feel those songs have been taken off the table for good.

Personally, I think it's quite fun when we get two "rival" versions of the same song, as that offers a chance to compare and contrast different approaches.

I've yet to receive recordings of any song on the list below, so please consider them all still up for grabs. And I'm still very much hoping all the offers already in will materialise, of course. I hope no-one will think I'm being ungrateful or impatient here, but I want to be be sure we keep the project moving.

Mary Arnold
Cruel Lizzy Vickers
The Sister & the Serpent
The Murdered Maid
Nataniel Mobbs
The Liverpool Lodger
Jones & Harwood

Full lyrics and background stories here: http://www.planetslade.com/broadside-ballads-songs.html

Subject: RE: Musicians Wanted: The Gallows Ballads Project
From: Mary Humphreys
Date: 19 Jun 12 - 01:14 PM

As I live in Cambridgeshire I should like to have a go at the Sister &the Serpent, even though I see someone else has claimed it.

Subject: RE: Musicians Wanted: The Gallows Ballads Project
From: GUEST,Paul Slade
Date: 19 Jun 12 - 02:28 PM

Please do, Mary. I hope we'll get the other version in due course too, but that just adds to the fun as far as I'm concerned.

You''l find the full lyrics for The Sister & The Serpent, plus my own research on the true story that inspired it here: http://www.planetslade.com/broadside-ballads-sister-and-serpent.html

If I can be any help, you can always reach me here: paul (at) planetslade (dot) com.

Subject: RE: Musicians Wanted: The Gallows Ballads Project
From: GUEST,Paul Slade
Date: 24 Jun 12 - 12:40 PM

More fresh audio.

The Sister & The Serpent, by Mary Humphreys
Audio. (SoundCloud)
Background. (PlanetSlade)

The 1850 sheet containing these lyrics specified they should be sung to an air called "The Waggon Train", which I'd never been able to find - but Mary did.

"I found the Wagon Train tune on the EFDSS Take Six website - The Sergeant in the Wagon Train, collected from Mrs Baker, Maidstone July 1944 by Francis Collinson," she says. "It fits like a glove - perfectly suited to the doggerel verse of a goodnight ballad. We know Castle Camps very well - we go to a regular tune session there at the local pub - The Cock."

Many thanks, Mary - and an excellent piece of detective work on your part too.

Subject: RE: Musicians Wanted: The Gallows Ballads Project
From: Surreysinger
Date: 25 Jun 12 - 08:11 AM

Hiya Paul and Mary ... as the person who "claimed" the Sister and the Serpent, and thanks to health problems hasn't managed to get it recorded yet, I'm glad somebody has come up with the "proper" tune. I'll still have a bash at the tune I've come up with... but in the meantime won't listen to the real deal for fear of influencing myself (although I shall look forward to it). Sorry about the time taken Paul - lots of doctors' and hospital visits, and ensuing throat problems knocked a quick resolution on the head :-(

Subject: RE: Musicians Wanted: The Gallows Ballads Project
From: GUEST,Paul Slade
Date: 25 Jun 12 - 09:29 AM

Thanks, Surreysinger. I'd certainly still love to hear your version, and as you can see from Richard's note above, I'm not the only one. Thanks for taking this in the spirit it was intended, and I hope you get well soon.

Subject: RE: Musicians Wanted: The Gallows Ballads Project
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 25 Jun 12 - 12:01 PM

Its difficult Paul. Most halfway competent folksingers could knock the lot off in an afternooon. But is that what you want?

To be honest I think some of the famous versions - Elsa Lanchester for example are pretty shit.

What you need is a proper artist to re-imagine them in the same way that Bowie did Brecht's songs. They were written quickly - so what is likely to work is someone understanding them and not giving too much thought to them - just doing them. Maybe getting one out of ten right. Looking for that happy accident.

Subject: RE: Musicians Wanted: The Gallows Ballads Project
From: GUEST,Paul Slade
Date: 25 Jun 12 - 03:24 PM

I take your point, Al, but I think it's a tricky balance to strike. I certainly don't want to rush anyone unreasonably, but I do want to try and keep the project moving along a bit. in particular, I wanted to remind people that no one should think a song's been taken off the table just because someone else has already expressed an interest in it.

I have invited contributions on the Mojo and No Depression message boards, and had some people promise to contribute there. There've been no actual recordings from those sources yet, but I hope they will eventually add the odd full-band rock recording or bluegrass treatment to broaden out the mix a bit.

Ultimately, I'd love to find a record label interested enough to arrange a CD compilation of professional musicians adding their own music to the ballads and putting them out as a commercial release. With a bit of luck, that could produce just the sort of happy accident you mention, but it would need a label (or a club or a magazine) to get involved first. I've found a few people who like that idea in principle, but no-one's got any money right now, so it's hard nut to crack.

I could even see this idea eventually producing an album/event along the lines of that Rogue's Gallery compilation Hal Wilmer produced a while ago or the Cecil Sharp Project gigs we saw earlier this year. Without any contacts in the music biz, though, all I can do is put the lyrics out there and try to stir up whatever interest I can on forums like this one. I'm very grateful for all the contributions we get, and some of them have been very good indeed.

There will come a point when I let this go and just hope people will stumble across the lyrics on PlanetSlade from time to time and maybe do something with them if they feel like it. For the moment, though, I want to try and keep the project in people's minds and maintain whatever momentum I can.

Subject: RE: Sister and the Serpent: Waggon Train tune
From: Artful Codger
Date: 26 Jun 12 - 07:37 PM

The Roud number for "The Sergeant in the Wagon Train" is 1354. Searching on that at the EFDSS site turns up quite a few other versions of that song, most titled "William of the Wagon Train". I haven't checked other sources, and I'm surprised this song has heretofore passed under the Mudcat radar. I quite like the tune Mary found.

Kudos to Mary for her rendition, and for the lead.

Subject: RE: Sister & Serpent/William of the Waggon Train
From: Artful Codger
Date: 27 Jun 12 - 01:49 AM

Actually, Roud 1354 maps to two essentially different songs. Both are titled "William of the Waggon Train" in broadsides and feature the ubiquitous William and Nancy in the general situation of Nancy going to war with her lover. But they're different in meter and have no overlap in text or events. The apparently earlier one typically begins "Attend awhile, and do not smile young men and maids around", and jumps right into the pair going off to war, where they're both wounded and die, though not before Nancy can dash off a letter to a friend and seal it with her gore--nice touch. Most broadsides give the tune as "Bushes and Briers", but metrically this ballad doesn't fit the "Sister and the Serpent" pattern, so it's doubtful "Bushes and Briers" would be the "Waggon Train" tune of Paul's reference. For what it's worth, Sabine Baring-Gould collected another tune for this song (SBG/1/3/425), noting that it's a variant of "The Country Farmer's Son".

The other text typically begins "One lovely morning as I was walking, In the merry month of May," and deals only with their preparing to go to war together. It has the same metrical pattern as "The Sister and the Serpent". Here, most of the tunes collected are variants of "Rosetta and Her Gay Ploughboy", which (despite its jauntiness) was also used for the murder ballad "Eli Sykes". I posit that this is the actual tune meant.

The Baker/Collinson tune belongs to the "One lovely morning" text family, but is not of the Rosetta tune family. I hear a strong resemblance in the second half to Peter Bellamy's setting for "Andrew Rose & the Cruel Ship's Captain" in his Maritime England Suite. Any idea whether that was a traditional "Andrew Rose" tune, a borrowed tune from another song or a Bellamy original? It may furnish a clue as to the Baker tune origin.

Subject: RE: Musicians Wanted: The Gallows Ballads Project
From: Mary Humphreys
Date: 27 Jun 12 - 08:07 AM

John Kirkpatrick also sings Andrew Rose to the Wagon Train tune, so I am reliably informed by Anahata.
The song is based on events that took place in 1856-7. It is quite likely that the broadside for Andrew Rose stipulated a named tune, but I don't have the evidence.( A bit of research there for somebody.)The tune is definitely older than Peter Bellamy, but there is no knowing whether he put the song together first or John K. or whether he got it from Roy Palmer's researches.
Andrew Rose is printed with the tune ( very similar to that ) which I used for Sister & Serpent in Roy Palmer's Boxing the Compass book but there is no information about the source of the tune.
A similar tune is used for Horkstow Grange, recorded by Percy Grainger in about 1905-7 from George Goldthorpe - I stand to be corrected there.

Subject: RE: Musicians Wanted: The Gallows Ballads Project
From: Surreysinger
Date: 28 Jun 12 - 07:38 AM

Re Horkstow Grange and Percy Grainger - no correction needed Mary!
Herewith notes on George in which Grainger describes him

"Mr. George Gouldthorpe, the singer of Harkstow Grange (born at Barrow-on-the-Humber, North Lincolnshire, and aged 66 when he first sang to me, in 1905) was a very different personality. Though his face and figure were gaunt and sharp-corn ered (closely akin to those seen on certain types of Norwegian upland peasants) and his singing voice somewhat grating, he yet contrived to breathe a spirit of almost caressing tenderness into all he sang, said and did--though a hint of the tragic was ever-present also. A life of drudgery, ending, in old age, in want and hardship, had not shorn his manners of a degree of humble nobility and dignity exceptional even amongst English peasants; nor could any situation rob him of his refreshing, but quite u nconscious, Lincolnshire independence. "

Thanks by the way for prompting me to hunt something out ... Grainger's piece is beautifully florid as ever. He describes his particular singers as "kings and queens of song", and deems them superior to classical singers with their "monotonous mooing and bellowing" ... lovely stuff.

No luck with the Andrew Rose tune as yet :-) (I have been trying)

Subject: RE: Musicians Wanted: The Gallows Ballads Project
From: GUEST,Paul Slade
Date: 15 Sep 12 - 05:47 AM

Now that the Summer break's over, we're back with some more new audio.

The Liverpool Lodger on Soundcloud. Music and performance by Gerry Jones.

You'll find the true murder story which inspired this particular ballad here. Many thanks to Gerry for his singing, accordion playing and composition. He was also kind enough to send me the sheet music for his setting of the song and a few thoughts on his approach to tackling it, and all that will be up on PlanetSlade soon.

Elsewhere in the forest, The Jetsonics report that they've now completed work on Cruel Lizzie Vickers, and plan to add it to their live set in October. "We've been through about 4 versions of Lizzie and now we're very happy with it," the band's Adam Donovan tells me. "We're trying to sort out a way to record it a bit better than the 'plonk a digital recorder in the middle of the rehearsal room' way without going the full (expensive) studio route for you soon."

Meanwhile, Rick Marsland, an old mate of mine, has sent me the trial mix for his punk-folk performance of Jones & Harwood, which he's polishing up at the moment. We'll have audio for that soon, too.

And there's news from across the Atlantic. Simeon Peebler is currently in a Chicago studio working on an album, and contacted me recently to say he'll try and find some time to record Mary Arnold at the same sessions. South County, a rockabilly/country/blues band based in Westchester, is cracking on with The Execution of Nathaniel Mobbs. The band's George Gierer tweeted me this morning to say: "I think I had a breakthrough tonite", and I've no doubt more news will follow.

To sum up, then, that's 11 of the 16 songs already up on-line as free audio (one of them in two different versions), four in various stages of work-in-progress and two still waiting for someone to adopt them. You'll find links to all the audio so far, a full menu to access the original ballad sheets and details of how to join the project at the many links I've already given in this thread.

Audio on-line
Mrs Dyer - Elsa Lanchester
Gallows Child - The Hammond School
The Silent Grove - Sedayne
The Old Baby Farmer - Tim Radford
Streams of Crimson Blood - Rob Wahl
The Unnatural Murder - Foxen
The Foreigner's Downfall - KingBrilliant
Jealous Annie - Pete Morton
Death of William Palmer - Big Al Whittle
The Westmill Murder - Ernest Johnson
The Sister & The Serpent - Mary Humphreys
The Liverpool Lodger - Gerry Jones

Work in progress
Cruel Lizzie Vickers - The Jetsonics
Jones & Harwood - Rick Marsland
Mary Arnold - Simeon Peebler
The Execution of Nathaniel Mobbs - South County

Awaiting adoption
The Unnatural Murder
The Murdered Maid.

Any more for any more?

Subject: RE: Musicians Wanted: The Gallows Ballads Project
From: GUEST,Big Al Whittle
Date: 15 Sep 12 - 10:30 PM

I have set down my thoughts and feelings about William Palmer, the Rugely poisoner here on this web page.

http://www.bigalwhittle.co.uk/lifehistoryandsongsof/id64.html

Subject: RE: Musicians Wanted: The Gallows Ballads Project
From: GUEST, Paul Slade
Date: 16 Sep 12 - 05:24 AM

I've just had this update from George Gierer: "After being stuck in the mud for a while, I believe I finally have the Nat Mobbs progression worked out...stay tuned."

And here's some more info on South County, George's band: http://www.southcountytheband.com/

Subject: RE: Musicians Wanted: The Gallows Ballads Project
From: Richard from Liverpool
Date: 16 Sep 12 - 07:32 AM

Congratulations to Mary Humphreys for another excellent piece of detective work!

Subject: RE: Musicians Wanted: The Gallows Ballads Project
From: GUEST, Paul Slade
Date: 26 Sep 12 - 05:07 AM

More fresh audio - and it's some of the best yet.

Cruel Lizzie Vickers, by The Jetsonics (Soundcloud page).

This is not only our first full-on rock treatment for a Gallows Ballads Project song, but also the first where the contributors have used the original sheet as a jumping-off point for their own original lyrics telling its tale. I think it sounds great: tight, powerful and with a very catchy chorus. If that's not bringing one of the old ballads back to vibrant life, I don't know what is!

Read the true story of Lizzie's crime here: Cruel Lizzie Vickers (1853)

Subject: RE: Musicians Wanted: The Gallows Ballads Project
From: Kim C
Date: 26 Sep 12 - 03:59 PM

Ooooh!!! Oooooh!!!!! Let me have a go at The Murdered Maid.

I'm sorry I missed this before - these are my FAVORITE KIND OF SONGS!!!!!! When do you want it? I'm busy the next couple weeks but will have time after that.

Subject: RE: Musicians Wanted: The Gallows Ballads Project
From: GUEST, Paul Slade
Date: 26 Sep 12 - 06:21 PM

Dear Kim - I'd love to hear your version of The Murdered Maid, and to do so as soon as you have a recording you're happy with. Please drop me a line at the address below if I can help in any way.

paul (at) planetslade (dot) com

Subject: RE: Musicians Wanted: The Gallows Ballads Project
From: Kim C
Date: 28 Sep 12 - 03:45 PM

Cool!!!!!! :-)

Subject: RE: Musicians Wanted: The Gallows Ballads Project
From: GUEST, Paul Slade
Date: 29 Sep 12 - 04:39 AM

Kim C. just dropped me a line at PlanetSlade, which I thought I'd pass on.

"My husband (who is also named Paul) and I are historical re-enactor musicians," she says. "We put on funny clothes and do musical presentations at 18th & 19th century historic sites, mostly in the Southeast US. […] Over the years I've become quite fond of murder ballads, and I even made a Master's thesis out of the subject. It was just a tiny chip of ice off the berg, though. There's still so much more to learn and I'm always looking for new ballads to study."

You and me both, Kim, and as you say neither of us is likely to exhaust the subject anytime soon.

I've also heard from George Gierer of South County, who's been enjoying The Jetsonics track linked above. "I dig it. It's catchy," he says.

"I finished our song, and now need to bring it to the band," George adds of South County's Nathaniel Mobbs. "I'll send you a solo version soon. It's a mix of the Decemberists, Led Zeppelin and Louis Armstrong - I think. That's who I stole from anyway."

Subject: RE: Musicians Wanted: The Gallows Ballads Project
From: GUEST, Paul Slade
Date: 01 Oct 12 - 05:28 AM

There's much love for The Jetsonics track over on Mojo's message board, where verdicts include "fabtastick", "excellent stuff", "just what the doctor ordered" and; "I can't stop listening to this. Just can't stop it".

Geoff Wallis on the fRoots board is ranking it with The Jam circa David Watts ("by no means a bad thing," he adds), and Retro Man's reviewer calls it "an excellent brand new track".

Subject: RE: Musicians Wanted: The Gallows Ballads Project
From: GUEST, Paul Slade
Date: 04 Oct 12 - 05:49 AM

More fresh audio.

This track's from Rick Marsland, who's tackled Jones & Harwood, the true story of an 1850 murder in Frimley, Sussex, which cost the local vicar his life.

Jones & Harwood, by Rick Marsland
Soundcloud audio
Background essay.

"A bluesy riff on a plinky 'guitalele' and plaintive echo-y backing vocals seemed to fit the mood," Rick says. "Hope you agree."

Subject: RE: Musicians Wanted: The Gallows Ballads Project
From: GUEST, Paul Slade
Date: 11 Oct 12 - 05:57 PM

I've just up-dated the tracklist and sleevenotes pages again. Find free links all 14 of our Gallows Ballad Project recordings so far here.

Subject: RE: Musicians Wanted: The Gallows Ballads Project
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 12 Oct 12 - 03:00 PM

Love the Jetsonics' Lizzie Vickers. A cautionary tale of brutal murder that you can slamdance to...what a combination!

Subject: RE: Musicians Wanted: The Gallows Ballads Project
From: GUEST, Paul Slade
Date: 15 Oct 12 - 04:48 PM

The Jetsonics played Cruel Lizzie Vickers live at The Scream Lounge in Croydon, Oct 6. Watch it on YouTube here.