Contact
If you noticed blunt omissions, mis-interpretations or even out-and-out errors, please let us know by contacting us:
Arnold Rypens
Rozenlaan 65
B-2840 Reet (Rumst)
Artist: Dykes Magic City Trio
Author: traditional
Label: Brunswick
Year: 1927
Magic City stands for Kingsport, TN.
Covers:
Texas Gladden [Lomax recording]
Estil C. Ball [Lomax recording; they first spotted him in the thirties]
Hobart Smith [Lomax recording, first appeared on Atlantic lp Blue Ridge Mountain Music, reissued on box set Sounds Of The South; Hobart was Texas Gladden's brother]
Vester Jones [lived near the murder site]
Murder ballad based on true facts: there was a Peter de Graff convicted for murdering an Ellen Smith in 1893. Melody set to the tune of Protestant hymn How Firm A Foundation. As the story is told in the first person, rumours circulated de Graff wrote his own song, smuggling the lyrics through the bars of his prison cell.
If you noticed blunt omissions, mis-interpretations or even out-and-out errors, please let us know by contacting us:
Arnold Rypens
Rozenlaan 65
B-2840 Reet (Rumst)