Celebrated Criminals and the Folk Process

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Produced by: 
KBOO
Air date: 
Fri, 05/04/2018 - 5:30am to 7:00am
Folk Music

The bad man, the thief, the rake, the murderess... all these have captured the attention of the public through the centuries and been immortalized in folk songs.  Today we explore some of these songs, especially those versions sung on the American continent.  You’ll hear about Black Bart the Poet, who robbed Wells Fargo stages 28 times in California and Oregon in the 1870’s and 1880's, the DeAutremont brothers who robbed and killed a railroad crew in southern Oregon, Belle Gunness who lured love-lorn young men of the plains to her homestead before killing them and planting them in her tater patch, the reckless highwayman Cole Younger, and many more.

Episode Playlist

  • Time
    5:30
    Artist
    Frank Hutchison
    Song
    Stackalee
    Album
    Good for What Ails You
    Label
    Old Hat Records
  • Time
    5:33
    Artist
    The Carter Family
    Song
    John Hardy Was a Desparate Little Man
    Album
    Anthology of American Folk Music
    Label
    Smithsonian Folkways
  • Time
    5:36
    Artist
    Tom Rush
    Song
    Duncan and Brady
    Album
    Blues, Songs and Ballads
    Label
    Fantasy Records
  • Time
    5:39
    Artist
    Woody Guthrie
    Song
    Jesse James
    Album
    Cowboy Songs on Folkways
    Label
    Smithsonian Folkways
  • Time
    5:42
    Artist
    Travis Edmonson and Katie Lee
    Song
    El Corrido de Bartolo Negro
    Album
    Ten Thousand Goddam Cattle
    Label
    Katydid Records
  • Time
    5:44
    Artist
    Glenn Ohrlin
    Song
    Cole Younger
    Album
    Cowboy Songs
    Label
    Philo Records
  • Time
    5:47
    Artist
    Alan Lomax
    Song
    Sam Bass
    Album
    Texas Folk Songs
    Label
    Tradition Records
  • Time
    5:50
    Artist
    Ed McCurdy
    Song
    Quantrell
    Album
    Badmen, Heroes, Pirate Songs and Ballads
    Label
    Elektra Records
  • Time
    5:53
    Artist
    Rosalie Sorrels
    Song
    The Female Highwayman
    Album
    Rosalie's Songbag
    Label
    Prestige International Records
  • Time
    5:56
    Artist
    Glen Ohrlin
    Song
    Belle Gunness
    Album
    The Wild Buckaroo
    Label
    Rounder Records
  • Time
    6:04
    Artist
    Norman Blake
    Song
    Black Bart
    Album
    Wood, Wire & Words
    Label
    Plectrafone Records
  • Time
    6:08
    Artist
    Jinx Davis
    Song
    The DeAutremont Brothers
    Album
    Oregon Country
    Label
    Jinx Davis
  • Time
    6:13
    Artist
    Art Thieme
    Song
    The Hanging of Charlie Birger
    Album
    Songs of the Heartland
    Label
    Kicking Mule
  • Time
    6:15
    Artist
    Hickory Wind
    Song
    Otto Wood
    Album
    Live at the Wednesday Night Waltz
    Label
    Adelphi
  • Time
    6:18
    Artist
    Joan Baez
    Song
    Pretty Boy Floyd
    Album
    Joan Baez in Concert
    Label
    Vanguard
  • Time
    6:22
    Artist
    Tony and Irene Saletan
    Song
    Rake and Rambling Boy
    Album
    Tony and Irene Saletan
    Label
    Folk-Legacy Records
  • Time
    6:25
    Artist
    Orville Johnson and Mark Graham
    Song
    Billy Gray
    Album
    The Kings of Mongrel Folk™
    Label
    Mark Graham and Orville Johnson
  • Time
    6:28
    Artist
    Norman Blake
    Song
    Chattanooga Rag
    Album
    Wood, Wire, and Words
    Label
    Plectrafone Records
  • Time
    6:31
    Artist
    Chuck Brodsky
    Song
    The Ballad of D.B. Cooper
    Album
    Tulips for Lunch
    Label
    Waterbug Records
  • Time
    6:36
    Artist
    Danny Schmidt
    Song
    The Two-Timing Bank Robber's Lament
    Album
    Instead the Forest Rose to Sing
    Label
    Red House
  • Time
    6:40
    Artist
    Charlie King
    Song
    Kugelsburg Bank
    Album
    Vaguely Reminiscent of the 60's
    Label
    Rainbow Snake Records

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