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{{short description|Song performed by Outlaws}}
{{Short description|Song performed by Outlaws}}
{{for|the punk band|Knoxville Girls}}
{{For|the punk band|Knoxville Girls}}
{{Infobox song
| name = The Knoxville Girl
| cover = <!--just the file name-->
| alt =
| type = Song
| artist =
| album =
| B-side =
| released = <!--{{Start date|YYYY|MM|DD}}-->
| recorded =
| studio =
| genre = [[Murder ballad]]
| length =
| label =
| writer = <!--for both music and lyrics-->
| producer =
| prev_title = <!--for a singles chronology-->
| prev_year =
| next_title =
| next_year =
}}
"'''The Knoxville Girl'''" is an [[Appalachia]]n [[murder ballad]].
"'''The Knoxville Girl'''" is an [[Appalachia]]n [[murder ballad]].


==Origins==
==Origins==
It is derived from the 19th-century Irish ballad "The Wexford Girl", itself derived from the earlier English ballad "The Bloody Miller or Hanged I Shall Be" about a murder in 1683 at Hogstow Mill, 12 miles south of [[Shrewsbury]]. This ballad was collected by [[Samuel Pepys]], who wrote about the murder of Anne Nichols by the Mill's apprentice Francis Cooper. Other versions are known as the "Waxweed Girl", "The Wexford Murder". These are in turn derived from an [[Elizabethan era]] poem or [[broadside ballad]], "The Cruel Miller".<ref>{{cite book|last=Thomson|first=Graeme|title=I Shot a Man in Reno: A History of Death by Murder, Suicide, Fire, Flood, Drugs, Disease, and General|publisher=A&C Black|date=2008|location=New York/London|pages=59
It is derived from the 19th-century Irish ballad "The Wexford Girl", itself derived from the earlier English ballad "The Bloody Miller or Hanged I Shall Be" ([[List of folk songs by Roud number|Roud 263]], [[George Malcolm Laws|Laws P35]]) about a murder, in 1683, at Hogstow Mill, {{convert|12|mi}} south of [[Shrewsbury]]. This ballad was collected by [[Samuel Pepys]], who wrote about the murder of Anne Nichols by the Mill's apprentice Francis Cooper. Other versions are known as the "Waxweed Girl", "The Wexford Murder". These are in turn derived from an [[Elizabethan era]] poem or [[broadside ballad]], "The Cruel Miller".<ref>{{cite book|last=Thomson|first=Graeme|title=I Shot a Man in Reno: A History of Death by Murder, Suicide, Fire, Flood, Drugs, Disease, and General|publisher=A&C Black|date=2008|location=New York/London|pages=59
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sjPUAwAAQBAJ&pg=PR4&lpg=PR4&dq=I+Shot+a+Man+in+Reno:+A+History+of+Death+by+Murder,+Suicide,+Fire,+Flood#v=onepage&q=I%20Shot%20a%20Man%20in%20Reno%3A%20A%20History%20of%20Death%20by%20Murder%2C%20Suicide%2C%20Fire%2C%20Flood&f=false|
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sjPUAwAAQBAJ&q=I+Shot+a+Man+in+Reno%3A+A+History+of+Death+by+Murder%2C+Suicide%2C+Fire%2C+Flood&pg=PR4
|isbn=978-0826428578}}</ref>
|isbn=978-0826428578}}</ref>


Possibly modelled on the 17th century broadside ''William Grismond's Downfall'', ''or A Lamentable Murther by him Committed at Lainterdine in the county of Hereford on March 12, 1650: Together with his lamentation.'', sometimes known as ''The Bloody Miller''.{{citation needed|date=March 2017}}
Possibly modelled on the 17th-century broadside ''William Grismond's Downfall, or A Lamentable Murther by him Committed at Lainterdine in the county of Hereford on March 12, 1650: Together with his lamentation.'', sometimes known as ''The Bloody Miller''.{{citation needed|date=March 2017}}


==Lyrics==
==Lyrics==
Line 56: Line 77:
| 1924 || [[Riley Puckett]] & [[Gid Tanner]] || "Knoxville Girl" || Earliest recording<ref name="GT1924ucsb">{{cite web |title = ''Gid Tanner'' – "Knoxville Girl"
| 1924 || [[Riley Puckett]] & [[Gid Tanner]] || "Knoxville Girl" || Earliest recording<ref name="GT1924ucsb">{{cite web |title = ''Gid Tanner'' – "Knoxville Girl"
|quote= Personnel from Brooks/Rust. Russell lists Riley Puckett as the vocalist and notes that Puckett played guitar and Gid Tanner may be playing fiddle.
|quote= Personnel from Brooks/Rust. Russell lists Riley Puckett as the vocalist and notes that Puckett played guitar and Gid Tanner may be playing fiddle.
|url = http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/matrix/detail/2000029368/81601-Knoxville_girl |publisher= Discography of American Historical Recordings |website = ucsb.edu |date= 1924 |accessdate= March 1, 2017}}</ref>
|url = http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/matrix/detail/2000029368/81601-Knoxville_girl |publisher= Discography of American Historical Recordings |website = ucsb.edu |date= 1924 |access-date= March 1, 2017}}</ref>
|-
|-
| 1937 || The [[Carter Family]] || "Never Let the Devil Get the Upper Hand of You" || <ref name="CarterFam1937PDF">{{cite web
| 1937 || The [[Carter Family]] || "Never Let the Devil Get the Upper Hand of You" || <ref name="CarterFam1937PDF">{{cite web
Line 63: Line 84:
|date= 1977 | access-date = March 1, 2017}}</ref>{{rp|4}}
|date= 1977 | access-date = March 1, 2017}}</ref>{{rp|4}}
|-
|-
| 1938 || The [[Blue Sky Boys]] || "In My Little Home In Tennessee/The Knoxville Girl" || <ref name="BSB1938discogs">{{cite web |title = ''The Blue Sky Boys'' – "In My Little Home In Tennessee/The Knoxville Girl" |url = https://www.discogs.com/Blue-Sky-Boys-In-My-Little-Home-In-Tennessee-Story-Of-The-Knoxville-Girl/release/7131788 |website = discogs.com |date= 1938 |accessdate= March 1, 2017}}</ref><ref name="NLCRSBOak1964">{{cite book |editor1-last= Cohen |editor1-first= John |editor2-last= Seeger |editor2-first= Mike |title= The New Lost City Ramblers Song Book |year=1964 |edition= 1st |publisher= Oak Publications |location= New York|isbn= 0-825600464}}</ref>{{rp|167}}
| 1938 || [[The Blue Sky Boys]] || "In My Little Home In Tennessee/The Knoxville Girl" || <ref name="BSB1938discogs">{{cite web |title = ''The Blue Sky Boys'' – "In My Little Home In Tennessee/The Knoxville Girl" |url = https://www.discogs.com/Blue-Sky-Boys-In-My-Little-Home-In-Tennessee-Story-Of-The-Knoxville-Girl/release/7131788 |website = discogs.com |date= 1938 |access-date= March 1, 2017}}</ref><ref name="NLCRSBOak1964">{{cite book |editor1-last= Cohen |editor1-first= John |editor2-last= Seeger |editor2-first= Mike |title= The New Lost City Ramblers Song Book |year=1964 |edition= 1st |publisher= Oak Publications |location= New York|isbn= 0-825600464}}</ref>{{rp|167}}
|-
|-
|1947
|1947
|Cope Brothers
|[[Cope Brothers]]
|Knoxville Girl / She Sleeps Beneath The Norris Dam
|Knoxville Girl / She Sleeps Beneath The Norris Dam
|KING 589
|KING 589
|-
|-
| 1956 || The [[Louvin Brothers]] || ''[[Tragic Songs of Life (Louvin Brothers)|Tragic Songs of Life]]'' || <ref name="LB1956discogs">{{cite web |title = ''The Louvin Brothers – Tragic Songs of Life'' |url = https://www.discogs.com/Louvin-Brothers-Tragic-Songs-Of-Life/release/1955967 |website = discogs.com |date= 1956 |accessdate= March 1, 2017}}</ref> (US Country #19)
| 1956 || [[The Louvin Brothers]] || ''[[Tragic Songs of Life (Louvin Brothers)|Tragic Songs of Life]]'' || <ref name="LB1956discogs">{{cite web |title = ''The Louvin Brothers – Tragic Songs of Life'' |url = https://www.discogs.com/Louvin-Brothers-Tragic-Songs-Of-Life/release/1955967 |website = discogs.com |date= 1956 |access-date= March 1, 2017}}</ref> (US Country #19)
|-
|-
| 1959 || [[The Wilburn Brothers]] || "The Knoxville Girl/Which One Is To Blame" || <ref name="WB1959discogs">{{cite web |title = ''The Wilburn Brothers'' – "The Knoxville Girl/Which One Is To Blame" |url = https://www.discogs.com/Wilburn-Brothers-Doyle-Teddy-The-Knoxville-Girl-Which-One-Is-To-Blame/master/733139 |website = discogs.com |date= 1959 |accessdate= March 1, 2017}}</ref> (US Country #18)
| 1959 || [[The Wilburn Brothers]] || "The Knoxville Girl/Which One Is To Blame" || <ref name="WB1959discogs">{{cite web |title = ''The Wilburn Brothers'' – "The Knoxville Girl/Which One Is To Blame" |url = https://www.discogs.com/Wilburn-Brothers-Doyle-Teddy-The-Knoxville-Girl-Which-One-Is-To-Blame/master/733139 |website = discogs.com |date= 1959 |access-date= March 1, 2017}}</ref> (US Country #18)
|-
|-
| 1961 || [[Kevin Shegog]] || ? ||
| 1961 || [[Kevin Shegog]] || ? ||
|-
|-
| 1963 || [[John Duffey]] and the [[The Country Gentlemen|Country Gentlemen]] || ''Hootenanny – A Bluegrass Special'' || <ref name="JDCG1963discogs">{{cite web |title = ''John Duffey and The Country Gentlemen – Hootenanny: A Bluegrass Special'' |url = https://www.discogs.com/John-Duffy-And-Country-Gentlemen-Hootenanny-A-Blue-Grass-Special/master/767948 |website = discogs.com |date= 1963 |accessdate= March 1, 2017}}</ref>
| 1963 || [[John Duffey]] and the [[The Country Gentlemen|Country Gentlemen]] || ''Hootenanny – A Bluegrass Special'' || <ref name="JDCG1963discogs">{{cite web |title = ''John Duffey and The Country Gentlemen – Hootenanny: A Bluegrass Special'' |url = https://www.discogs.com/John-Duffy-And-Country-Gentlemen-Hootenanny-A-Blue-Grass-Special/master/767948 |website = discogs.com |date= 1963 |access-date= March 1, 2017}}</ref>
|-
|-
| 1969 || [[Jim and Jesse]] || ''Saluting The Louvin Brothers'' || <ref name="JaJ1969discogs">{{cite web |title = ''Jim and Jesse – Saluting The Louvin Brothers'' |url = https://www.discogs.com/Jim-Jesse-Saluting-The-Louvin-Brothers/master/728957 |website = discogs.com |date= 1969 |accessdate= March 1, 2017}}</ref>
| 1969 || [[Jim & Jesse]] || ''Saluting The Louvin Brothers'' || <ref name="JaJ1969discogs">{{cite web |title = ''Jim and Jesse – Saluting The Louvin Brothers'' |url = https://www.discogs.com/Jim-Jesse-Saluting-The-Louvin-Brothers/master/728957 |website = discogs.com |date= 1969 |access-date= March 1, 2017}}</ref>
|-
|-
| 1972 || [[Osborne Brothers]] || ''Bobby and Sonny'' || <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.discogs.com/The-Osborne-Bros-Bobby-Sonny/release/4028935}}</ref>
| 1972 || [[Osborne Brothers]] || ''Bobby and Sonny'' || <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.discogs.com/The-Osborne-Bros-Bobby-Sonny/release/4028935|website=[[Discogs]]|title=The Osborne Bros - Bobby & Sonny |date=1972 }}</ref>
|-
|-
| 1974 || [[Dave Loggins]] || ''Apprentice (In A Musical Workshop)'' || <ref name="DL1974discogs">{{cite web |title = ''Dave Loggins – Apprentice (In A Musical Workshop)'' |url = https://www.discogs.com/Dave-Loggins-Apprentice-In-A-Musical-Workshop/master/327645 |website = discogs.com |date= 1974 |accessdate= March 1, 2017}}</ref>
| 1974 || [[Dave Loggins]] || ''Apprentice (In A Musical Workshop)'' || <ref name="DL1974discogs">{{cite web |title = ''Dave Loggins – Apprentice (In A Musical Workshop)'' |url = https://www.discogs.com/Dave-Loggins-Apprentice-In-A-Musical-Workshop/master/327645 |website = discogs.com |date= 1974 |access-date= March 1, 2017}}</ref>
|-
|-
| 1975 || [[Outlaws (band)|Outlaws]] || ''Outlaws'' ||
| 1975 || [[Outlaws (band)|Outlaws]] || ''Outlaws'' ||
|-
|-
| 1982 || [[Jimmy Martin]] || ? ||
| 1978 || [[Jimmy Martin]] || ''Me 'N Ole Pete'' ||
|-
|-
| 1996 || [[BR5-49]] || ''Live From Robert's'' ||
| 1996 || [[BR5-49]] || ''Live From Robert's'' ||
|-
|-
| 1996 || [[The Lemonheads]] || ''[[Car Button Cloth]]'' || <ref name="LH1996discogs">{{cite web |title = ''The Lemonheads Car – Button Cloth'' |url = https://www.discogs.com/Lemonheads-Car-Button-Cloth/release/1947855 |website = discogs.com |date= 1996 |accessdate= March 1, 2017}}</ref>
| 1996 || [[The Lemonheads]] || ''[[Car Button Cloth]]'' || <ref name="LH1996discogs">{{cite web |title = ''The Lemonheads Car – Button Cloth'' |url = https://www.discogs.com/Lemonheads-Car-Button-Cloth/release/1947855 |website = discogs.com |date= 1996 |access-date= March 1, 2017}}</ref>
|-
|-
| 1996 || [[DQE]] || ''Move into the villa villakula'' ||
| 1996 || [[DQE]] || ''Move into the villa villakula'' ||
|-
|-
| 1996 || [[Nick Cave]] || "Henry Lee/Knoxville Girl" || <ref name="NCBS1996discogs">{{cite web |title = ''Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds & PJ Harvey'' – "Henry Lee/Knoxville Girl" |url = https://www.discogs.com/Nick-Cave-And-The-Bad-Seeds-PJ-Harvey-Henry-Lee/release/1704239 |website = discogs.com |date= 1996 |accessdate= March 1, 2017}}</ref>
| 1996 || [[Nick Cave]] || "Henry Lee/Knoxville Girl" || <ref name="NCBS1996discogs">{{cite web |title = ''Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds & PJ Harvey'' – "Henry Lee/Knoxville Girl" |url = https://www.discogs.com/Nick-Cave-And-The-Bad-Seeds-PJ-Harvey-Henry-Lee/release/1704239 |website = discogs.com |date= 1996 |access-date= March 1, 2017}}</ref>
|-
|-
| 2002 || [[Pine Valley Cosmonauts]] w/[[Brett Sparks]] || ''The Executioner's Last Songs'' || <ref name="PVC2002discogs">{{cite web |title = ''Pine Valley Cosmonauts w/Brett Sparks – The Executioner's Last Songs'' |url = https://www.discogs.com/Jon-Langford-2-And-The-Pine-Valley-Cosmonauts-The-Executioners-Last-Songs-Volume-1/release/4303467 |website = discogs.com |date= 1996 |accessdate= March 1, 2017}}</ref>
| 2002 || [[Pine Valley Cosmonauts]] w/[[Brett Sparks]] || ''The Executioner's Last Songs'' || <ref name="PVC2002discogs">{{cite web |title = ''Pine Valley Cosmonauts w/Brett Sparks – The Executioner's Last Songs'' |url = https://www.discogs.com/Jon-Langford-2-And-The-Pine-Valley-Cosmonauts-The-Executioners-Last-Songs-Volume-1/release/4303467 |website = discogs.com |date= 1996 |access-date= March 1, 2017}}</ref>
|-
|-
| 2003 || [[The Handsome Family]] || ''[[Smothered and Covered]]'' ||
| 2003 || [[The Handsome Family]] || ''[[Smothered and Covered]]'' ||
|-
|-
| 2005 || [[Okkervil River]] || ''[[Black Sheep Boy]]'' || <ref name="OR2005discogs">{{cite web |title = ''Okkervil River – Black Sheep Boy'' |url = https://www.discogs.com/Okkervil-River-Black-Sheep-Boy/release/7819946 |website = discogs.com |date= 2005 |accessdate= March 1, 2017}}</ref>
| 2005 || [[Okkervil River]] || ''[[Black Sheep Boy]]'' || <ref name="OR2005discogs">{{cite web |title = ''Okkervil River – Black Sheep Boy'' |url = https://www.discogs.com/Okkervil-River-Black-Sheep-Boy/release/7819946 |website = discogs.com |date= 2005 |access-date= March 1, 2017}}</ref>
|-
|-
| 2005 || Sweetwater || ''The Ballads'' || <ref name="SW2005allmusic">{{cite web |title = ''Sweetwater – The Ballads'' |url = http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-ballads-mw0001579985 |website = discogs.com |date= 2005 |accessdate= March 1, 2017}}</ref>
| 2005 || [[Sweetwater (band)|Sweetwater]] || ''The Ballads'' || <ref name="SW2005allmusic">{{cite web |title = ''Sweetwater – The Ballads'' |url = http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-ballads-mw0001579985 |website = discogs.com |date= 2005 |access-date= March 1, 2017}}</ref>
|-
|-
| 2005 || [[Roger Alan Wade]] || ''All Likkered Up'' || <ref name="RAW2005discogs">{{cite web |title = ''Roger Alan Wade – All Likkered Up'' |url = https://www.discogs.com/Roger-Alan-Wade-All-Likkered-Up/release/5424076 |website = discogs.com |date= 2005 |accessdate= March 1, 2017}}</ref>
| 2005 || [[Roger Alan Wade]] || ''All Likkered Up'' || <ref name="RAW2005discogs">{{cite web |title = ''Roger Alan Wade – All Likkered Up'' |url = https://www.discogs.com/Roger-Alan-Wade-All-Likkered-Up/release/5424076 |website = discogs.com |date= 2005 |access-date= March 1, 2017}}</ref>


|-
|-
| 2006 || The Singing Hall Sisters || ''[[Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus]]'' || <ref name="SHS2006discogs">{{cite web |title = ''The Singing Hall Sisters'' – "The Knoxville Girl"
| 2006 || [[The Singing Hall Sisters]] || ''[[Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus]]'' || <ref name="SHS2006discogs">{{cite web |title = ''The Singing Hall Sisters'' – "The Knoxville Girl"
|url = https://www.discogs.com/artist/4637055-The-Singing-Hall-Sisters |website = discogs.com |date= 2006 |accessdate= March 1, 2017}}</ref>
|url = https://www.discogs.com/artist/4637055-The-Singing-Hall-Sisters |website = discogs.com |date= 2006 |access-date= March 1, 2017}}</ref>
|-
|-
| 2008 || Rachel Brooke || ''Rachel Brooke'' || <ref name="RB2008discogs">{{cite web |title = ''Rachel Brooke – Rachel Brooke'' |url = https://www.discogs.com/Rachel-Brooke-Rachel-Brooke/release/3796243 |website = discogs.com |date= 2008 |accessdate= March 1, 2017}}</ref>
| 2008 || [[Rachel Brooke]] || ''Rachel Brooke'' || <ref name="RB2008discogs">{{cite web |title = ''Rachel Brooke – Rachel Brooke'' |url = https://www.discogs.com/Rachel-Brooke-Rachel-Brooke/release/3796243 |website = discogs.com |date= 2008 |access-date= March 1, 2017}}</ref>
|-
|-
| 2009 || The Fox Hunt || ''America's Working So We Don't Have To'' || <ref name="TFH2009spotify">{{cite web |title = ''The Fox Hunt – America's Working So We Don't Have To'' |url = https://open.spotify.com/track/0OMhgoRRiSu4szNVbMQb7p?si=bmEz1JDNTTGyjfGFSsestw |website = Spotify |date= 2009 |accessdate= Aug 30, 2019}}</ref>
| 2009 || The Fox Hunt || ''America's Working So We Don't Have To'' || <ref name="TFH2009spotify">{{cite web |title = ''The Fox Hunt – America's Working So We Don't Have To'' |url = https://open.spotify.com/track/0OMhgoRRiSu4szNVbMQb7p?si=bmEz1JDNTTGyjfGFSsestw |website = Spotify |date= 2009 |access-date= Aug 30, 2019}}</ref>
|-
|-
| 2008 || [[The Boxmasters]] || ''The Boxmasters'' || <ref name="BM2008discogs">{{cite web |title = ''The Boxmasters – The Boxmasters'' |url = https://www.discogs.com/Boxmasters-The-Boxmasters/master/363917 |website = discogs.com |date= 2008 |accessdate= March 1, 2017}}</ref>
| 2008 || [[The Boxmasters]] || ''The Boxmasters'' || <ref name="BM2008discogs">{{cite web |title = ''The Boxmasters – The Boxmasters'' |url = https://www.discogs.com/Boxmasters-The-Boxmasters/master/363917 |website = discogs.com |date= 2008 |access-date= March 1, 2017}}</ref>
|-
|-
| 2013 || [[Vandaveer]] || ''Oh, Willie, Please...'' || <ref name="Vdv2013discogs">{{cite web |title = ''Vandaveer – Oh, Willie, Please...'' |url = https://www.discogs.com/Vandaveer-Oh-Willie-Please/master/705853 |website = discogs.com |date= 2013 |accessdate= March 1, 2017}}</ref>
| 2013 || [[Vandaveer]] || ''Oh, Willie, Please...'' || <ref name="Vdv2013discogs">{{cite web |title = ''Vandaveer – Oh, Willie, Please...'' |url = https://www.discogs.com/Vandaveer-Oh-Willie-Please/master/705853 |website = discogs.com |date= 2013 |access-date= March 1, 2017}}</ref>
|-
|-
| 2014 || Beaches In Boise || ''Autocantata'' || <ref name="BiB2014discogs">{{cite web |title = ''Beaches In Boise – Autocantata'' |url = https://www.discogs.com/Beaches-In-Boise-Autocantata-/release/7279079 |website = discogs.com |date= March 2014 |accessdate= March 1, 2017}}</ref>
| 2014 || [[Beaches In Boise]] || ''Autocantata'' || <ref name="BiB2014discogs">{{cite web |title = ''Beaches In Boise – Autocantata'' |url = https://www.discogs.com/Beaches-In-Boise-Autocantata-/release/7279079 |website = discogs.com |date= March 2014 |access-date= March 1, 2017}}</ref>
|-
|-
| 2015 || The Ghosts Of Johnson City || ''Am I Born To Die?'' ||
| 2015 || [[The Ghosts Of Johnson City]] || ''Am I Born To Die?'' ||
|}
|}


Line 140: Line 161:


==External links==
==External links==
* [http://www.planetslade.com/knoxville-girl1.html Essay on the historical roots of "knoxville Girl."]
* {{cite web |title = The Knoxville Girl |website = discogs.com
* {{cite web |title = The Knoxville Girl |website = discogs.com
|url = https://www.discogs.com/search/?q=The+Knoxville+Girl&type=allhttps://www.discogs.com/search/?q=The+Knoxville+Girl&type=all}}
|url = https://www.discogs.com/search/?type=all&track=The+Knoxville+Girl}}


{{Francis James Child}}
{{Francis James Child}}
{{Authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Knoxville Girl, The}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Knoxville Girl, The}}

[[Category:Murder ballads]]
[[Category:Murder ballads]]
[[Category:Child Ballads]]
[[Category:Child Ballads]]
Line 154: Line 176:
[[Category:19th-century songs]]
[[Category:19th-century songs]]
[[Category:Year of song unknown]]
[[Category:Year of song unknown]]
[[Category:Songwriter unknown]]
[[Category:Songs with unknown songwriters]]

Latest revision as of 01:13, 30 November 2024

For the punk band, see Knoxville Girls.
"The Knoxville Girl"
Song
GenreMurder ballad

"The Knoxville Girl" is an Appalachian murder ballad.

Origins

[edit]

It is derived from the 19th-century Irish ballad "The Wexford Girl", itself derived from the earlier English ballad "The Bloody Miller or Hanged I Shall Be" (Roud 263, Laws P35) about a murder, in 1683, at Hogstow Mill, 12 miles (19 km) south of Shrewsbury. This ballad was collected by Samuel Pepys, who wrote about the murder of Anne Nichols by the Mill's apprentice Francis Cooper. Other versions are known as the "Waxweed Girl", "The Wexford Murder". These are in turn derived from an Elizabethan era poem or broadside ballad, "The Cruel Miller".[1]

Possibly modelled on the 17th-century broadside William Grismond's Downfall, or A Lamentable Murther by him Committed at Lainterdine in the county of Hereford on March 12, 1650: Together with his lamentation., sometimes known as The Bloody Miller.[citation needed]

Lyrics

[edit]

I met a little girl in Knoxville, a town we all know well
And every Sunday evening, out in her home, I'd dwell
We went to take an evening walk about a mile from town
I picked a stick up off the ground and knocked that fair girl down

She fell down on her bended knees, for mercy she did cry
"Oh Willy dear, don't kill me here, I'm unprepared to die"
She never spoke another word, I only beat her more
Until the ground around me within her blood did flow

I took her by her golden curls and I drug her round and around
Throwing her into the river that flows through Knoxville town
Go down, go down, you Knoxville girl with the dark and rolling eyes
Go down, go down, you Knoxville girl, you can never be my bride

I started back to Knoxville, got there about midnight
My mother, she was worried and woke up in a fright
Saying "dear son, what have you done to bloody your clothes so?"
I told my anxious mother I was bleeding at my nose

I called for me a candle to light myself to bed
I called for me a handkerchief to bind my aching head
Rolled and tumbled the whole night through, as troubles was for me
Like flames of hell around my bed and in my eyes could see

They carried me down to Knoxville and put me in a cell
My friends all tried to get me out but none could go my bail
I'm here to waste my life away down in this dirty old jail
Because I murdered that Knoxville girl, the girl I loved so well

Recordings

[edit]
Year Artist Release Notes
1924 Riley Puckett & Gid Tanner "Knoxville Girl" Earliest recording[2]
1937 The Carter Family "Never Let the Devil Get the Upper Hand of You" [3]: 4 
1938 The Blue Sky Boys "In My Little Home In Tennessee/The Knoxville Girl" [4][5]: 167 
1947 Cope Brothers Knoxville Girl / She Sleeps Beneath The Norris Dam KING 589
1956 The Louvin Brothers Tragic Songs of Life [6] (US Country #19)
1959 The Wilburn Brothers "The Knoxville Girl/Which One Is To Blame" [7] (US Country #18)
1961 Kevin Shegog ?
1963 John Duffey and the Country Gentlemen Hootenanny – A Bluegrass Special [8]
1969 Jim & Jesse Saluting The Louvin Brothers [9]
1972 Osborne Brothers Bobby and Sonny [10]
1974 Dave Loggins Apprentice (In A Musical Workshop) [11]
1975 Outlaws Outlaws
1978 Jimmy Martin Me 'N Ole Pete
1996 BR5-49 Live From Robert's
1996 The Lemonheads Car Button Cloth [12]
1996 DQE Move into the villa villakula
1996 Nick Cave "Henry Lee/Knoxville Girl" [13]
2002 Pine Valley Cosmonauts w/Brett Sparks The Executioner's Last Songs [14]
2003 The Handsome Family Smothered and Covered
2005 Okkervil River Black Sheep Boy [15]
2005 Sweetwater The Ballads [16]
2005 Roger Alan Wade All Likkered Up [17]
2006 The Singing Hall Sisters Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus [18]
2008 Rachel Brooke Rachel Brooke [19]
2009 The Fox Hunt America's Working So We Don't Have To [20]
2008 The Boxmasters The Boxmasters [21]
2013 Vandaveer Oh, Willie, Please... [22]
2014 Beaches In Boise Autocantata [23]
2015 The Ghosts Of Johnson City Am I Born To Die?

Samples

[edit]
  • Plan B in the bootleg mash-up "Paint It Blacker" (2007) as a reference to violent music existing before modern rap.

Parodies

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Uses in other media

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The song features prominently in If Ever I Return, Pretty Peggy-O, the first book in the Ballad mystery series by Sharyn McCrumb.

Bibliography

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  • Collin Escott. Roadkill on the Three-chord Highway: Art and Trash in American Popular Music. New York: Routledge, 2002.

References

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  1. ^ Thomson, Graeme (2008). I Shot a Man in Reno: A History of Death by Murder, Suicide, Fire, Flood, Drugs, Disease, and General. New York/London: A&C Black. p. 59. ISBN 978-0826428578.
  2. ^ "Gid Tanner – "Knoxville Girl"". ucsb.edu. Discography of American Historical Recordings. 1924. Retrieved March 1, 2017. Personnel from Brooks/Rust. Russell lists Riley Puckett as the vocalist and notes that Puckett played guitar and Gid Tanner may be playing fiddle.
  3. ^ "The Virginia Mountain Boys" (PDF). smithsonianfolkways.org. Smithsonian Folkways. 1977. Retrieved March 1, 2017. The song [Knoxville Girl] appears in many American folksong collections in widely variant forms. Some other recordings: Carter Family, "Never Let the Devil Get the Upper Hand of You", recorded June 17, 1937, in New York, releases, DECCA 5479, Montgomery Ward M-8027, Melotone 45250 and other reissues.
  4. ^ "The Blue Sky Boys – "In My Little Home In Tennessee/The Knoxville Girl"". discogs.com. 1938. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  5. ^ Cohen, John; Seeger, Mike, eds. (1964). The New Lost City Ramblers Song Book (1st ed.). New York: Oak Publications. ISBN 0-825600464.
  6. ^ "The Louvin Brothers – Tragic Songs of Life". discogs.com. 1956. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  7. ^ "The Wilburn Brothers – "The Knoxville Girl/Which One Is To Blame"". discogs.com. 1959. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  8. ^ "John Duffey and The Country Gentlemen – Hootenanny: A Bluegrass Special". discogs.com. 1963. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  9. ^ "Jim and Jesse – Saluting The Louvin Brothers". discogs.com. 1969. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  10. ^ "The Osborne Bros - Bobby & Sonny". Discogs. 1972.
  11. ^ "Dave Loggins – Apprentice (In A Musical Workshop)". discogs.com. 1974. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  12. ^ "The Lemonheads Car – Button Cloth". discogs.com. 1996. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  13. ^ "Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds & PJ Harvey – "Henry Lee/Knoxville Girl"". discogs.com. 1996. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  14. ^ "Pine Valley Cosmonauts w/Brett Sparks – The Executioner's Last Songs". discogs.com. 1996. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  15. ^ "Okkervil River – Black Sheep Boy". discogs.com. 2005. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  16. ^ "Sweetwater – The Ballads". discogs.com. 2005. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  17. ^ "Roger Alan Wade – All Likkered Up". discogs.com. 2005. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  18. ^ "The Singing Hall Sisters – "The Knoxville Girl"". discogs.com. 2006. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  19. ^ "Rachel Brooke – Rachel Brooke". discogs.com. 2008. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  20. ^ "The Fox Hunt – America's Working So We Don't Have To". Spotify. 2009. Retrieved Aug 30, 2019.
  21. ^ "The Boxmasters – The Boxmasters". discogs.com. 2008. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  22. ^ "Vandaveer – Oh, Willie, Please...". discogs.com. 2013. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  23. ^ "Beaches In Boise – Autocantata". discogs.com. March 2014. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
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