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13 Apr 97 - 12:51 PM (#4567) Subject: Knoxville Girl From: kavant3345@aol.com Would like the words to Knoxville Girl; I met a little girl from Knoxville; A town we all know well And every Sunday evening down in her home I'd dwell.... Message transferred from another thread. |
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13 Apr 97 - 01:17 PM (#4571) Subject: Lyr/Chords Add: KNOXVILLE GIRL (from Louvin Bros.) From: Gene Graham Note. REMEMBER! To first check the Digital Tradition Data Base! The keyword KNOXVILLE GIRL would have found 2 versions of the song; The Last Day Of November and The Oxford Tragedy. THE KNOXVILLE GIRL - Recorded by The Louvin Brothers - Traditional I [D] met a little [*DF#] girl in [D] Knox-[*DF#] ville A [G] town we all know [D] well And every [*DF#] Sunday [D] eve-[*DF#] ning Out [E] in her home I'd [A7] dwell We [D] went to [*DF#] take an [D] evening [*DF#] walk A [G] bout a mile from [D] town I picked a [*DF#] stick up [D] off the [*DF#] ground And [A7] knocked that fair girl [D] down; She fell down on her bended knees For mercy she did cry Oh, Willie dear, don't kill me here I'm unprepared to die She never spoke another word I only beat her more Until the ground around me Within her blood did flow. I took her by her golden curls And I drug her 'round and 'round Throwing her into the river That flows through Knoxville town Go down, go down, you Knoxville girl With the dark and roving eyes Go down, go down, you Knoxville girl You can never be my bride. I started back to Knoxville Got there about midnight My mother she was worried And woke up in a fright Saying, "Dear son, what have you done To bloody your clothes so?" I told my anxious mother I was bleeding at my nose. I called for me a candle To light myself to bed I called for me a handkerchief To bind my aching head Rolled and tumbled the whole night through As troubles was for me Like flames of hell around my bed And in my eyes could see. They carried me down to Knoxville And put me in a cell My friends all tried to get me out But none could go my bail I'm here to waste my life away Down in this dirty old jail Because I murdered that Knoxville girl The girl I loved so well. Note. Based on the old English Ballad of the Wexford Girl Note. *DF# (Optional) E A D G B E o o 4 2 3 2 Visit the COWPIE at: http:www.roughstock.comCOWPIE Message transferred from another thread. |
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07 Jun 97 - 10:36 PM (#6405) Subject: Knoxville Girl ??? From: Jimmie Who sang it, where can I get the rest of the words, and where might I find the song, or a remake of it, on CD? I met a little girl in Knoxville, a town we all know well. And every Sunday evening, down at her (place) I'd dwell.... The song goes on to tell a sad story of how He killed the girl...Knoxville Girl... Any help will be appreciated... E-Mail jmires@vallnet.com Messages from multiple threads combined. |
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07 Jun 97 - 11:40 PM (#6407) Subject: RE: Knoxville Girl ??? From: This is been done many times~~I heard it performed live at the Ozark Folk Center on Wednesday. What I consider to be the best recorded version is by The Louvin Brothers on their Tragic Songs Of Life CD on Capitol 37380. It is a recent release, and should be readily available in most good music stores or from mail order services. As far as the words are concerned, I would have to dig out my old 45 EP album, since I have not yet purchased the CD. If no one else comes up with the words, I will find it and post the words in a few days. I may be able to find a few variants as well, if you are interested, the next time I go to work at the Resource Center. |
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07 Jun 97 - 11:44 PM (#6408) Subject: RE: Knoxville Girl ??? From: Dale Rose Sorry about leaving off my name on the above. Maybe we need an addition to the program which won't allow the message to go through without the FROM: filled in! |
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08 Jun 97 - 01:10 AM (#6411) Subject: RE: Knoxville Girl ??? From: Gene Graham go to: http://www.roughstock.com/cowpie and you will find the LOUVIN BROTHERS VERSION there!
also set the AGE to 90 days and you can find THE WEXFORD GIRL. |
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08 Jun 97 - 06:23 AM (#6417) Subject: Lyr Add: THE KNOXVILLE GIRL (from Vance Randolph) From: Cathub@bellsouth.net Check out Vance Randolph's collection of Ozark folksongs. In volume II, Songs of the South and West you'll find "The Noel Girl" plus several variations "The Expert Girl" or "The Rexford Girl" or "The Oxford Girl."
Away down in Knoxville town I used to live and dwell,
I fell in love with a Knoxville girl with pink and rosy eyes.
We walked along and talked along till we come to a level ground,
She fell upon her bending knees. "Oh, Willie, have mercy!" she cried.
I laughed at every word she said. I beat her more and more.
I took her by her lily-white hair. I drug her round and round.
A dreadful trick we played her. This Knoxville girl was found
Her sister swore my life away. She swore without a doubt.
And now they're going to hang me, a dreadful death to die. |
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24 Nov 00 - 07:05 PM (#346253) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Knoxville Girl From: GUEST needs words |
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24 Nov 00 - 07:08 PM (#346257) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Knoxville Girl From: guinnesschik It is in the Digitrad song list. But here it is anyway. |
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24 Nov 00 - 07:12 PM (#346260) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Knoxville Girl From: GUEST,Bruce O. Just put 'P35' in the Digitrad Lyrics Search box for DT's version. It all started with Francis Cooper murdering Anne Nicols on Feb. 20, 1684. See "The Bloody Miller" in the Scarce Songs 2 file on my website. www.erols.com/olsonw |
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24 Nov 00 - 10:45 PM (#346368) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Knoxville Girl From: tar_heel the louvin brother had one of the best versions of the knoxville girl....using the lyrics posted by guinnesschik!it was on an album called...tragic sings of life....its the version i sing today......their recording was from the early fifties(capitol records) |
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25 Nov 00 - 07:27 AM (#346456) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Knoxville Girl From: Mike Byers The last verse I have (and I can't recall where I learned it) is:
I rolled and tumbled the whole night long; my life was living in hell; An aside here: did you ever notice how many of the guys in murder ballads are named "Jimmy"? If I were a woman, I'd sure do my best to avoid guys named Jimmy. |
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25 Nov 00 - 05:07 PM (#346703) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Knoxville Girl From: tar_heel Hey mike. It's WILLIE, not JIMMY...WILLIE! Its WILLIE, in THE KNOXVILLE GIRL, song.... Also in DOWN IN THE WILLOW GARDEN (or, ROSE CONNELLY) and in ON THE BANKS OF THE OHIO! All of the murderers are named, WILLIE! (Oh Willie dear, don't kill me here, I'm not prepared to die) Knoxville girl, (I drew my knife, across her breast.... as into my arms she pressed.... she cried, oh Willie, don't you murder me.... I'm not prepared, for eternity!) Banks of the Ohio! (And now he waits at his cabin door...wiping his tear dimmed eyes, waiting for, Willie his son, upon the scaffold high) willow garden! |
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17 Mar 01 - 01:16 PM (#419984) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Knoxville Girl From: GUEST,marybeth712@home.com Both my mother and grandmother sang this song and the words they used were nearly the same as those quoted by guinnesschik above. There were some small variances in the fourth verse. Beginning with "Dear Son" my mother and grandmother sang, "My son, my son what have you done to bloody your hands and clothes? The only answer that I gave was a bleeding of the nose." Mother and grandmother also sang a last verse that is not included in the version quoted by guinnesschik. In this last verse the young man is waiting to be hanged and he laments, "Gather 'round me ye young men, all ye young men of Knoxville town" and I can't remember the rest of the verse. Please, if anyone knows this verse, post the words. Thank you...MaryBeth |
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17 Mar 01 - 02:22 PM (#420009) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Knoxville Girl From: GUEST,Bruce O. The bleeding nose is in the original version of 1684 noted above. |
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17 Mar 01 - 03:07 PM (#420029) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Knoxville Girl From: Malcolm Douglas I put a series of links to rather a lot of variants of this song from Britain, Ireland and America, plus a number of broadside texts, in this recent thread: Hanged I Shall Be Malcolm |
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18 Mar 01 - 01:57 PM (#420487) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Knoxville Girl From: Mary in Kentucky Hi MaryBeth, I see you found the Mudcat, refreshed the thread and all, nice going for a newbie! I'm refreshing this again so maybe we'll get a few more bites. (looks like the heavyweights have checked in, though...) Mary (aka Mary in Kentucky) |
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18 Mar 01 - 07:49 PM (#420621) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Knoxville Girl From: Willie-O Ahem...I'm sorry about that girl now. I've learned some anger management techniques that help me express myself without resorting to violence. My brother Johnny-O, though, he's a different story. No Jimmy was ever in the running. However it has been noted that young women in ballads do not usually fare well when they meet with Scots or sailors, let alone that worst of possible combinations, the Scottish sailor named Willie. Or Johnny. Willie-O |
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19 Mar 01 - 03:14 PM (#421059) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Knoxville Girl From: Kim C Is there a recording of say, The Wexford Girl or some of the earlier tunes? I mean, if I were going to learn one of the early versions, what tune would I use? |
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19 Mar 01 - 04:08 PM (#421095) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Knoxville Girl From: GUEST,Bruce O. Follow ZN1624 to ZN1998 (Wm. Grismond, model for bloody miller, and source of its tune) in the broadside ballad index on my website for directions to a Scots traditional tune. |
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19 Mar 01 - 04:28 PM (#421102) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Knoxville Girl From: Kim C Bruce, I looked on your very excellent website but I am completely ignorant as to how to navigate it and arrive at the point you suggested. (sheepish grin) |
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19 Mar 01 - 05:04 PM (#421117) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Knoxville Girl From: GUEST,Roll&Go-C Willie-o, have you checked out Steve Sellor's fine parody FOR THE LOVE OF WILLY (WILLY-O) in the DT. Clears the air in splendid fashion, and there's no reference to Jimmy or other folks. |
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19 Mar 01 - 05:15 PM (#421123) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Knoxville Girl From: Malcolm Douglas I have to confess that I, too, got lost at Bruce's site looking for Grismond (though I did find some very interesting stuff about The Beggars of Coudingham Fair); the text isn't hard to find, but I couldn't locate a tune -not to worry, though. The DT entry for William Grismond has midis of the two tunes that Stephen Sedley printed in The Seeds of Love (1967); the file doesn't name sources for them, but the first is a traditional one (collected early 20th century) from Gavin Greig's MSS, and the second is from the appendix to Kinloch's Ancient Scottish Ballads (1827). Malcolm |
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19 Mar 01 - 07:16 PM (#421194) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Knoxville Girl From: GUEST,Bruce O. Broadside index is first blue clicky on my homepage. Use your browser's Edit/Find command on ZN1624 to get to Bloody Miller, and ZN1998 to get to Wm. Grismond. |
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20 Mar 01 - 10:48 AM (#421564) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Knoxville Girl From: Kim C Okay. But what would be the tune for The Wexford Girl? |
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20 Mar 01 - 11:41 AM (#421611) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Knoxville Girl From: Malcolm Douglas Wexford Girl is a later form of the song, commonly found in America but rarely in England; it would, I suspect, be an Irish localisation of the earlier Oxford Girl. You can find several American tune variants through my first link above; meanwhile, I'll have a look around here; I certainly have one, The Wexford Murder, which Fred Hamer got from Walter Church of Bedfordshire; Church had in his youth (turn of the 19th/20th century) briefly emigrated to Canada, and learnt it from Irish friends there. Malcolm |
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20 Mar 01 - 12:22 PM (#421641) Subject: Tune Add: WEXFORD GIRL From: GUEST,Bruce O. Texts of "The Wexford Girl" are much easier to find than a tune. Here's one which ABC2WIN won't display properly. Grace notes should be slured to following note.
X:1
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20 Mar 01 - 12:25 PM (#421644) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Knoxville Girl From: Kim C Thanks Malcolm, I will check it out. I am afeared the Grismond words are just a leeeeeetle too much... I'm not sure I would be personally comfortable singing them, and leaving some of the parts out would wreck the story. :) |
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20 Mar 01 - 12:29 PM (#421649) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Knoxville Girl From: Kim C Thanks Bruce! I'll see if I can remember how to decipher ABC... |
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20 Mar 01 - 01:18 PM (#421697) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Knoxville Girl From: Giac KimC -
Here's a link to the Max Hunter Collection's Waxweed Girl, which has music and recording. At the bottom of the lyrics is a list of similar tunes, some words are just a little different, while some are really different. Giac (who is from the Max Hunter region, but lives in spittin' distance of the Knoxville Girl's hometown) |
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20 Mar 01 - 01:35 PM (#421715) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Knoxville Girl From: Malcolm Douglas Links to all the variants available at the Max Hunter Collection are in the earlier thread I linked to above. I have now added to that thread the version I referred to in my previous post, together with links to midis of the tune for it, and "Shepherd" Hayden's Norfolk version, of which the Albion Country Band recorded an arrangement. The Wexford Murder Malcolm |
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20 Mar 01 - 11:19 PM (#422138) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Knoxville Girl From: CRANKY YANKEE You know what? The Louvin Bros. made a mistake in the last couple of lines of the song and everybody since is singing it the mistaken way without bothering to examine the rhyming. They (and everyone else) sang:
They carried me down to Knoxville and locked me in A CELL. It should go, (and it rhymes):
They carried me down to Knoxville and put me in THE JAIL See, it rhymes like this. HTML line breaks added, typos corrected. --JoeClone, 12-Jun-02. |
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01 Mar 02 - 08:45 PM (#661049) Subject: RE: knoxville girl From: raredance Is this free association or is there a query? rich r |
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01 Mar 02 - 09:01 PM (#661054) Subject: RE: knoxville girl From: masato sakurai The lyrics are in the DT. 'Knoxville Girl' (recording by The Wilburn Brothers) is HERE (The Record Lady's Real Country Archives). ~Masato |
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01 Mar 02 - 09:51 PM (#661079) Subject: RE: knoxville girl From: GUEST The original version, about a real murder in 1684, is "The Bloody Miller" in Scarce Songs 2 at www.erols.com/olsonw |
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01 Mar 02 - 10:00 PM (#661087) Subject: RE: knoxville girl From: GUEST There are two copies of a late revised version under the same title, "The Bloody Miller" on the Bodleian Ballads website. |
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01 Mar 02 - 10:08 PM (#661092) Subject: RE: knoxville girl From: Giac Not to mention the Wexford, Waxweed, Waxwell girls. A bunch of those are in the Max Hunter collection. |
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01 Mar 02 - 10:26 PM (#661113) Subject: RE: knoxville girl From: GUEST There are lots more titles for other versions. It is P35 in G. M. Laws' 'American Balladry from British Broadsides', where Laws cites many traditional texts and gives some of the broadside texts. However, he didn't know about the original 17th century version. |
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02 Mar 02 - 09:36 AM (#661262) Subject: RE: knoxville girl From: Charcloth I'm suprised no one ever came out with "Brentwood Girl" |
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02 Mar 02 - 11:26 AM (#661327) Subject: RE: knoxville girl From: Malcolm Douglas A widespread song in many forms; I put a longish list of references here and elsewhere on the net in this earlier discussion: Hanged I shall be |
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13 May 02 - 09:32 PM (#710625) Subject: RE: knoxville girl From: GUEST my fave var is "gnostic girl". |
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14 Jul 02 - 07:27 PM (#748002) Subject: knoxville girl From: GUEST,carolyn I just looked at the song "Knoxville Girl" and that is not the one I remember at all. The one I learned as a child went something like this: He grabbed her by her golden curls and dragged her round and round. He threw her in the river that runs through Knoxville town. Go there, go there you Knoxville girl, with hard and knowing eyes. Go there, go there, you Knoxville girl, you will never be my bride Am I too old or are these to "hills of Kentucky" for anyone to have heard of them...lol Would love to know if you have ever heard this before.. Thanks Carolyn hillhouse@webound.com |
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14 Jul 02 - 09:20 PM (#748052) Subject: RE: Tune Add: knoxville girl From: masato sakurai That seems to be the version the Louvin Brothers sang. Go to this thread (DTStudy Murder Ballads with bloody noses), which has the version and many links. ~Masato
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14 Jul 02 - 09:49 PM (#748070) Subject: RE: Tune Add: knoxville girl From: masato sakurai There're RealPlayer recordings of the song by:
The Louvin Brothers (Click here, from Honkytonk's Country Classics
The Wilburn Brothers (Click here, from The Record Lady's All-Time Country Favorites: "Real Country Archives Page 7").
Both has similar stanzas. ~Masato |
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15 Jul 02 - 09:37 AM (#748260) Subject: Lyr Add: KNOXVILLE GIRL (from Blue Sky Boys) From: masato sakurai The Blue Sky Boys version (in The New Lost City Ramblers Song Book, Oak, p. 167) has this stanza:
I taken her by her golden curls, ~Masato
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05 Feb 03 - 03:51 PM (#883393) Subject: Origins: Knoxville Girl(Louvin Bros.) From: GUEST,ballpienhammer this song is a bit on the dreary side, dealing with murder. Comments? I moved this message here from another thread on the same topic. |
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15 May 03 - 10:49 AM (#953106) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Knoxville Girl From: GUEST,ruthanne I am doing workshop production of a play....and wnat to include the the the Knoxville girl...though I want to get more background on thhis ong...I am new to Appalacian Ballads....so please be kind...I have fallen in lov them as well..... Where did the song originate and was it sung in certain areas...where? Kentucky....Tennesse ....which concentrated parts of appalachia would that be? any ides at all would help me out... Are there any female recordings of this song...that really stand out.... thanks very much |
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06 Apr 08 - 11:09 PM (#2308716) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Knoxville Girl From: GUEST,Margaret Webster How many renditions of this song (THE KNOXVILLE GIRL) are there? I would like to have a CD with all versions ever recorded. Is this possible? How could I do a compilation of this one song? |
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06 Apr 08 - 11:28 PM (#2308731) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Knoxville Girl From: Goose Gander There are 315 variants listed in the Roud Index #263 |
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06 Apr 08 - 11:31 PM (#2308733) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Knoxville Girl From: Janie Hi Margaret, Start with reading the threads referenced at the beginning of this thread to "Knoxville Girl," other related songs and versions. Then you can decide your own definition of "this one song." Once you have done that, you will need to decide if a compilation is feasible, begin to research songs that you want to include, seek out recordings, and seek permissions as needed for any copyrighted recordings, etc. Good luck with it. |
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07 Apr 08 - 10:02 AM (#2309044) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Knoxville Girl From: Mark Ross Anyone ou there in Mudcatland remember Pat Skiy's take on this? It was called YONKERS GIRL, I think, and it was on he album SONGS THAT MADE AMERICA FAMOUS(subtitled, "Something to offend everybody.") After cutting off her head , the head floating down the river says, "Our love has changed, you are deranged, Now you and I must part." Mark Ross |
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07 Apr 08 - 10:15 AM (#2309053) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Knoxville Girl From: Midchuck Damn it, Mark, you beat me again. "We went to take a little walk, to a dark and lonely place; I grabbed a rail from off the fence, and smashed her in the face." Peter. |
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07 Apr 08 - 06:58 PM (#2309542) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Knoxville Girl From: Bill D I discovered 'classic' versions by: The Pine Valley Cosmonauts w. Brett Sparks The Louvin Brothers The Wilburn Brothers Jimmy Martin and a very NOT so classic version by Mark Jungers..(sounds like Bluegrass-Rock) |
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08 Apr 08 - 12:40 PM (#2310192) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Knoxville Girl From: Bill D Margaret Webster...it is possible to collect versions and make a CD, but it would be hard to know when you had 'all' of them, especially since most traditional versions are very close. |
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23 Jul 09 - 06:10 AM (#2685826) Subject: Knoxville Girl's UK roots From: GUEST Knoxville Girl I've just added a new essay about Knoxville Girl to my Murder BaIlads website. It traces the song's origins as a 17th Century English ballad, follows its journey across the Atlantic and tracks down the original 1683 parish records naming the killer and his victim. If that sounds interesting to you, please click the link above. The same (non-profit) site contains my Stagger Lee and Frankie & Johnny essays, which people here were kind enough to say they enjoyed back in May. |
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23 Jul 09 - 09:12 AM (#2685942) Subject: RE: Knoxville Girl's UK roots From: GUEST This was a big hit for the Louvin Brothers who said it was originally an Irish song called ' The Wexford Girl ' Dave H |
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23 Jul 09 - 01:58 PM (#2686137) Subject: RE: Knoxville Girl's UK roots From: Ruth Archer "The Berkshire Tragedy verse above has him holding this conversation with a servant, but that would hardly have been a credible circumstance for the early Scottish and Irish settlers who first brought this song across the Atlantic. Knoxville Girl sets the conversation in simple family surroundings, having the killer confronted by his worried mother: "Saying 'Son, what have you done, To bloody your clothes so?' I told my anxious mother, I was bleeding at my nose." I don't think this verse can simply be explained by Irish and Scottish settlers who, not being familiar with keeping servants, transformed the servant into a mother. It bears too much resemblance to the floating verses found in Edward, also known as Son, Come Tell it Unto Me or Who Put the Blood (Child 13); Lucy Wan (Child 51); and The Twa Brothers (Child 49). Interesting to possibly trace the song back to an historically verifiable incident. Thanks. |
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23 Jul 09 - 04:49 PM (#2686308) Subject: RE: Knoxville Girl's UK roots From: GUEST,Paul Slade I must admit, I'd never come across any of those songs until you mentioned them. I've now had a chance to look up Lucy Wan and What Put the Blood elsewhere on Mudcat, however, and I see the crucial verses have a killer, confronted by his mother, who explains away the blood on his clothes by telling her it's an animal's blood. In fact, as his mother quickly guesses, it belongs to either his brother or his sister, who the man's just killed. Mudcat dates Lucy Wan back to 1827. Knoxville Girl's American predecessor, The Lexington Miller, was still using the miller's servant rather than his mother at around that time, so it's perfectly possible that whoever rewrote it to introduce the mother already knew the floating verses you mention. Even so, part of his motivation could still have been to make the song more identifiable for his American listeners. There's no mention of a nosebleed in any of the songs you mention – or, at least, not in any version I've seen – and that element of Knoxville Girl can be traced directly back to The Bloody Miller in 1683 or so. I'm glad you enjoyed my piece, and thanks very much for raising this interesting point about it. |
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19 May 10 - 03:54 PM (#2910088) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Knoxville Girl From: GUEST,Lono Patrick Sky....Yonkers Girl |
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19 May 10 - 05:38 PM (#2910155) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Knoxville Girl From: RWilhelm Check out PlanetSlade.com's excellent history of this song: Unprepared to Die: Knoxvile Girl |
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02 Jun 10 - 12:51 PM (#2919093) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Knoxville Girl From: GUEST,Zant I was rocked to sleep as a baby with Knoxville Girl..only it was "In a town of Expert" in the version my Grandmother and Mother sang. I know my grandmother sang it to my Mother in the year 1910...and to me in the 1930's My lullaby's were all cowboy songs...and lots of murders...lol I always wondered why he killed her.. www.erols.com/olsonw is a good explanation. |