I Wish I Left Him In Jail
I was listening to the murder ballad, Nobody Worries 'Bout Me, posted on Honey Where you Been so Long, and it occurred to me that I know quite a few murder ballads - Stagger Lee, Long Black Veil, Folsom Prison Blues, and the chilling, I'm Gonna Murder My Baby, recorded by Pat Hare in 1954. Eight years after recording that song, Hare committed a double murder, killing his girlfriend, then a policeman who came to arrest him. He spent the rest of his life in the big house, eventually dying of cancer. Hare played a grating, distorted guitar style in the early 50s, well before rock & roll.
2 comments:
That Sadie jackson song was great. Terrrific story about Pat Hare!
And why DO you know so many murder songs?
When I first heard Pat Hare play, I thought something was wrong with the recording. It had a kind of grungy distortion that was way, way ahead of his time. He and a few other guys like James Cotton and Ike Turner were making what I'm going to call tough rock & roll in like 51 or 52, but it never penetrated the colour barrier. Go back and listen to Ike Turner and the Kings of Rhythm and tell me that isn't rock & roll.....and listen to Rocket 88 - credited to Jackie Brenston, it was actually written by Ike Turner and James Cotton. Cotton did a killer version on one of his mid 70s albums.
Post a Comment