ANOTHER MAN DONE GONE Chain gangs in the US were prevalent throughout the Southern states from 1880 – 1910 US and have a shameful historical connection to slavery. Following the Civil war, repression of the African American population continued in the south with blacks being arrested for minor infractions and then placed on the chain […]
ANGEL FROM MONTGOMERY “Angel from Montgomery” is a country song written by John Prine, originally appearing on his self- titled 1971 album John Prine. It has been covered notably by Bonnie Raitt, Tanya Tucker, Dave Matthews Band, Ben Harper, Susan Tedeschi and Jill Johnson in 2007. The song is performed in the film “Into […]
AMERICA America is based on an “Old English Air,” but I don’t have the name of the original tune. The tune is also, of course, God Save The Queen. The words to America were written by Samuel Francis Smith in Boston, July 4, 1832 for a children’s celebration. The tune was also sung in the […]
AMELIA EARHART’S LAST FLIGHT Amelia Earhart was the first woman to receive the Distinguished Flying Cross, which she was awarded as the first aviatrix to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She set many other records, wrote best-selling books about her flying experiences, and was instrumental in the formation of The Ninety-Nines, an organization for […]
AMAZING GRACE John Newton, the author of the lyrics to Amazing Grace, was born in 1725 in Wapping, England. Despite the powerful message of “Amazing Grace,” Newton’s religious beliefs initially lacked conviction; his youth was marked by religious confusion and a lack of moral self-control and discipline. After a brief time in the Royal Navy, […]
ALL MY TRIALS “All My Trials” was a folk song during the social protest movements of the 1950s and 1960s. It is based on a Bahamian lullaby that tells the story of a mother on her death bed, comforting her children, “Hush little baby, don’t you cry /You know your mama’s bound to die,” because, […]
AIN’T NOBODY’S BUSINESS “Ain’t Nobody’s Business” is a blues standard, an eight-bar blues written in the 1920s by pianist Peter Grainger , who had been Bessie Smith’s accompanist, and Everett Robbins. Alberta Hunter was the first to record the song in February of 1923, the theme of which is that what goes on between a […]
A PUB WITH NO BEER “A Pub with No Beer” is the title of a well-known humorous country song. Adapted by Gordon Parsons from the original poem “A Pub Without Beer” by Dan Sheahan of Ingham, North Queensland, originally from Newmarket, Ireland, “A Pub With No Beer” became in 1957 the first golden hit single […]
500 MILES Hedy West was an American Folksinger and Songwriter. She was of the same generation as Joan Baez, Judy Collins, and others of the American folk music revival. Musically she was the equal of any of her peers. Her stylistic range was far narrower, but arguably far deeper. She was described by the great […]
WRECK OF THE OLD NINTY SEVEN The “Old 97”, a Southern Railway train officially known as the Fast Mail, was en route from Monroe, Virginia to Spencer, North Carolina when it left the track at Stillhouse Trestle near Danville, Virginia on September 27, 1903. The wreck inspired the famous railroad ballad. The ballad first recorded […]