People Take Warning! Murder Ballads & Disaster Songs 1913-1938
List Price:
Our Price: $39.19
You Save: $12.79 (25%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $35.00 (click here)
Category: Music CD
See more CD details
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
CD Details
Edition: Music CDFormat: Box set
CD Release Date: 2007-09-25
Music Label: Tompkins Square
Soundtracks:
Music CD 1
- Titanic Blues Hi Henry Brown & Charlie Jordan
- Wreck Of the Old 97 Skillet Lickers
- Bill Wilson Birmingham Jug Band
- The Crash Of the Akron Bob Miller
- The Fate of Talmadge Osborne Ernest Stoneman
- El Mole Rachmim (F?r Titanik) Cantor Joseph Rosenblatt
- The Wreck Of the Virginian Alfred Reed
- Fate of Will Rogers & Wiley Post Bill Cox
- Down With The Old Canoe Dixon Brothers
- Wreck Of Number 52 Cliff Carlisle
- Kassie Jones Part 1 Furry Lewis
- Kassie Jones Part 2 Furry Lewis
- The Brave Engineer Carver Boys
- The Sinking Of The Titanic Richard "Rabbit" Brown
- Fate Of Chris Lively And Wife Blind Alfred Reed
- Wreck On The Mountain Road Red Fox Chasers
- The Unfortunate Brakeman Kentucky Ramblers
- Altoona Freight Wreck Riley Puckett
- The Fatal Wreck Of The Bus Mainer's Mountaineers
- Last Scene Of the Titanic Frank Hutchison
- Casey Jones Skillet Lickers
- The Wreck Of The Westbound Airliner Fred Pendleton
- The Titanic Ernest Stoneman
- When That Great Ship Went Down William & Versey Smith
- The Story of the Mighty Mississippi Ernest Stoneman
- Mississippi Heavy Water Blues Robert Hicks
- Dixie Boll Weevil Fiddlin' John Carson
- Mississippi Boweavil Charlie Patton
- Ohio Prison Fire Bob Miller
- Memphis Flu Elder Curry
- Explosion in the Fairmount Mine Blind Alfred Reed
- Storm That Struck Miami Fiddlin' John Carson
- When the Levee Breaks Kansas Joe & Memphis Minnie
- Alabama Flood Andrew Jenkins
- Burning of the Cleveland School J. H. Howell's Carolina Hillbillies
- High Water Everywhere, Part 1 Charlie Patton
- High Water Everywhere, Part 2 Charlie Patton
- Ryecove Cyclone Martin & Roberts
- McBeth Mine Explosion Cap, Andy & Flip
- Dry Well Blues Charlie Patton
- Baltimore Fire Charlie Poole
- Tennessee Tornado Uncle Dave Macon
- Dry Spell Blues, Part 2 Son House
- The Santa Barbara Earthquake Green Bailey
- The Death of Floyd Collins Vernon Dalhart
- The Porto Rico Storm Carson Robison Trio
- Boll Weavil W. A. Lindsey & Alvin Condor
- The Flood of 1927 Elders McIntorsh & Edwards
- Peddler And His Wife Hayes Shepherd
- The Little Grave in Georgia Earl Johnson
- Kenney Wagner's Surrender Ernest Stoneman
- Henry Clay Beattie Kelly Harrell
- The Murder Of the Lawson Family Carolina Buddies
- Naomi Wise Clarence Ashley
- Railroad Bill Will Bennett
- Frankie Dykes Magic City Trio
- Trial of Richard Bruno Hauptmann, Part 1 Bill Cox
- Trial of Richard Bruno Hauptmann, Part 2 Bill Cox
- Lanse Des Belaires Dennis McGee & Ernest Fruge
- Darling Cora B.F. Shelton
- Billy Lyons and Stack O' Lee Furry Lewis
- Tom Dooley Grayson and Whitter
- The Story of Freda Bolt Floyd County Ramblers
- Pretty Polly John Hammond
- Fingerprints Upon the Windowpane Bob Miller
- The Bluefield Murder Roy Harvey & The North Carolina Ramblers
- Frankie Silvers Ashley & Foster
- Fate of Rhoda Sweeten Wilmer Watts
- Dupree Blues Willie Walker
- Poor Ellen Smith Dykes Magic City Trio
Music reviews of People Take Warning! Murder Ballads & Disaster Songs 1913-1938
Music Review: It Ain't Always About Politics- The Topical Song in American Folklore
Rating: 5 Stars
Yes, for the umpth time, I am deep in research of the roots, the many roots of American folk music. As part of this search I have spilled plenty of ink over the folk revival of the 1960's, and its links to today's folk scene, that I have the most intimate knowledge about. But that is hardly the end of the story. In fact the 1960's folk revival is something of the tail end of a vast exploration done by a few musicologists, most famously the father and son team of John and Alan Lomax. While the revival itself explored many kinds of music from the mountains of Appalachia to the plains of Texas and beyond the "rage" for roots then, exploited most effectively by the likes of Bob Dylan, centered on the topical songs of the day done by in the age old manner of the traveling troubadours of yore.
While the subject matter of the 1960's scene, naturally, tendered toward the overtly political around the issues of conventional war, nuclear disarmament, the fierce civil rights struggle in the American South that dominated all serious talk, social isolation, the rebellion against social conformity and the like historically the "singing" newspaper tradition was far from those "deep" concerns. The tendency was to be more personal either with songs of love. longing for love or of thwarted love or on a more mundane level disaster, manmade or natural, murders and other sensational crimes and whatever other local gossip could be turned into a ballad. But beyond that, as this compilation bears witness to every song seemingly had to provide a cautionary note.
Whether that note was to beware of getting to dependent on the emerging whirlwind of the newest technologies like the airplane or "unsinkable" ships, the mysteries of natural disasters like floods and fire or the hazards of pre-martial sex, being a vexing wife or coveting another man's the hand of "God" was written all over these things. People take warning was not only, or merely, a convenient metaphor to set the parameters of the song. That is what this three CD set is all about. So if you want to know about train wrecks ship wrecks, grizzly murders, the sorrows of the Great Depression and other obscure tales from the early 20th century then here is your chance to those subjects all in one place. And, incidentally, with a very nice and informative booklet of liner notes included, a grand piece of the puzzle of roots musical history and a small capsule of American everyday history.
Disc One: Man Versus Machine. If your thing is plane wrecks, train wrecks and ship sinkings then this disc will provide you will all you need to know about the hazards involved in the early stages of the modern transportation revolution, especially if you need to know about 57 versions of the sinking of the "unsinkable" Titanic. The best of that lot is the William and Versy Smith cover of "When That Great Ship Went Down" that I remember Cambridge resident folkie Eric Von Schmidt covering in the early 1960's. As for trains there is nothing better than the legendary country blues guitar impresario Furry Lewis, an artist whose work I have reviewed individually in this space, performing his two part of "Kassie Jones". The Skillet Lickers "Wreck of The Old 97" also deserves a listen. Finally Blind Alfred Reed, another artist covered individually here, has a couple of things, most prominently "The Wreck Of The Old Virginian" you must listen to.
Disc Two: Man Versus Nature. Although the marvels of modern technology have provided an increasing share of stories about the vagaries of the machine age old "Mother Nature", especially when observed up close as is the case down on the farm or out on the prairies still confounds us with her fury. We need only go back a few years to Hurricane Katrina to get very quickly reminded of our sometimes precarious position in the scheme of things. Floods and fires are center stage in this disc and no such compilation on this subject can be complete without the work of the "pre-blues" man Charlie Patton here on several tracks, most importantly those two parts of "High Water Everywhere". Uncle Dave Mason deserves a nod for "Tennessee Tornado" as does a young Son House for "Dry Spell Blues". Also of note is Charlie Poole's "Baltimore Fire" that Kate and Anna McGarrigle covered several years ago.
Disc Three: Man Versus Man (And Woman, Too). If you think man-made machine disasters or the handiwork of old "Mother Nature" have gotten a serious workout in the topical selections here, and in life, you ain't seen nothing yet until you get to this third disc about the short tempers, ill-advised motives and general ne'r -do- well happenings when men and women, their loves, hatred, sorrows and misadventures get a musical rendering. Watch out, murder and mayhem are the least of it. Someone is going to jail, or the gallows. No question about it. Tops here are the old saga about poor old Dupree and his life of crime trying to please his lady in "Dupree Blues". Needless to say the male of the species is not the only one subject to temptation and revenge as "Frankie" a much covered song with many variations is done here by the Dykes Magic City Trio. Of course the better known murder and outlaw tales of the ill-fated "Railroad Bill" and the likewise cursed "Tom Dooley" get a play here. Listen on.
Description of People Take Warning! Murder Ballads & Disaster Songs 1913-1938
"In the late 1920's and early 1930's, the Depression gripped the Nation. It was a time when songs were tools for living. A whole community would turn out to mourn the loss of a member and to sow their songs like seeds. This collection is a wild garden grown from those seeds."- Tom Waits, from the Introduction
Songs of death, destruction and disaster, recorded by black and white performers from the dawn of American roots recording are here, assembled together for the first time. Whether they document world-shattering events like the sinking of the Titanic or memorialize long forgotten local murders or catastrophes, these 70 recordings - over 30 never before reissued - are audio messages in a bottle reflecting a lost world where age old ballads rubbed up against songs inspired by the day's headlines.
Produced and annotated by the Grammy winning team of Christopher King and Henry "Hank" Sapoznik with an introduction by Tom Waits, the accompanying 48-page three-CD anthology designed by Grammy award winning Susan Archie brims with many eye-popping historic images never before reproduced.
General CDs
- Styles > Blues
- Compilations > General
- Delta Blues
- Regional Blues > Texas Blues
- East Coast Blues
- Traditional Blues
- Acoustic Blues
- Classical > Instruments > Strings > General
- Country > General
- Classic Country > Old-Time Country
- Folk > General
- Traditional Folk
- World Music > North America > Appalachian
- Pop > General
- Country - Traditional Country - General
Music Genres
Bestsellers in General CDs
Various - Cadillac Records (Deluxe)(Music From the Motion Picture)Sony; Release date: 2008-12-02; Music CD
Best price: $14.48
Price in other shops:
Chris Smither - Time Stands StillRelease date: 2009-09-29; Music CD
Best price: $9.78
Price in other shops:
Ray Charles - The Spirit of ChristmasRelease date: 2009-10-06; Music CD
Best price: $7.07
Price in other shops:
Joe Bonamassa - The Ballad of John HenryRelease date: 2009-02-24; Music CD
Best price: $12.55
Price in other shops:
Delbert McClinton & Dick50 - Acquired TasteDig; Release date: 2009-08-18; Music CD
Best price: $12.42
Price in other shops:
Live from Madison Square GardenWEA-DES MOINES VIDEO; Release date: 2009-05-19; DVD
Best price: $16.55
Price in other shops:
Rodrigo y Gabriela - Rodrigo y Gabriela (with Bonus DVD)Release date: 2006-10-03; Music CD
Best price: $9.53
Price in other shops:
Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood - Live from Madison Square GardenRelease date: 2009-05-19; Music CD
Best price: $13.87
Price in other shops:
O Brother, Where Art Thou?Release date: 2000-12-05; Music CD
Best price: $6.68
Price in other shops:
Rodrigo y Gabriela - 11:11Dig; Release date: 2009-09-08; Music CD
Best price: $10.45
Price in other shops:
Similar CDs
Desperate Man Blues: Discovering the Roots of American MusicRelease date: 2006-12-05; Music CD
Best price: $10.90
Price in other shops:
Polk Miller - Polk Miller and His Old South QuartetteMiller; Release date: 2008-09-23; Music CD
Best price: $10.99
Price in other shops:
Richer Tradition: Country Blues and String Band Music 1923-1942Release date: 2007-11-06; Music CD
Best price: $21.26
Price in other shops:
Victrola Favorites: Artifacts from Bygone DaysRelease date: 2008-01-22; Music CD
Best price: $34.19
Price in other shops:
Anthology Of American Folk Music (Edited By Harry Smith)Unknown; Release date: 1997-08-19; Music CD
Best price: $70.31
Price in other shops:
Goodbye, BabylonRelease date: 2003-10-27; Music CD
Best price: $87.90
Price in other shops:
Art of Field Recording, Vol. 1Release date: 2007-11-06; Music CD
Best price: $54.41
Price in other shops:
Down In The Basement: Joe Bussard's Treasure Trove of Vintage 78s 1926-1937 (Jewel Case with 28-page booklet)Release date: 2003-06-17; Music CD
Best price: $11.99
Price in other shops:
Actionable Offenses: Indecent Phonograph Recordings from the 1890sRelease date: 2007-05-16; Music CD
Best price: $14.93
Price in other shops:
Good For What Ails You: Music of the Medicine Shows 1926-1937 (Digipak with 72-page booklet)Release date: 2005-10-04; Music CD
Best price: $18.45
Price in other shops: