NRR Project: ‘Suncook Town Tragedy’
Sung by Mabel Wilson
Tatro
Recorded July 1930
2:12
Oh, boy, a murder ballad! Ever since I was overexposed to “Tom Dooley” as a child, they have been a favorite of mine.
Murder ballads are exactly that – songs that outline a ghastly, true crime and its inevitable punishment.
These kinds of songs have been around for hundreds of years, most of them organic creations by amateurs that wind up as enduring folk songs. “Knoxville Girl,” “Pretty Polly,” “Ballad of Little Romy” -- they serve as the sensationalistic billboards of the time, drawing in listeners riveted by their horrifying details.
Such is the case with “Suncook Town Tragedy,” which is based on an actual murder in 1875 New Hampshire. It’s sung here by Mabel Wilson Tatro, who relates it acapella. It tells of the story of the killing of a 17-year-old girl and of the criminal’s comeuppance afterward.
This excellent example of the genre was collected by Helen Hartness Flanders, a Vermonter who for 30 years, from 1930 to 1960, traveled across New England collecting songs and stories that otherwise would have been lost to memory. This NRR selection serves as an example of her findings, and commemorates the more than 4,000 recordings she preserved for mankind.
The National Recording Registry Project tracks one writer’s expedition through all the recordings in the National Recording Registry in chronological order. Next up: Minnie the Moocher.
No comments:
Post a Comment