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Duncan and Brady

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"Duncan and Brady"
Song
LanguageEnglish
Published1925[1]
Songwriter(s)Traditional

"Duncan and Brady", also known as "Been on the Job Too Long" or simply "Brady", is a traditional murder ballad about the shooting of a policeman, Duncan, by a bartender, Brady. The song's lyrics stemmed from actual events, involving the shooting of James Brady in the Charles Starkes Saloon in St. Louis, Missouri. Harry Duncan was convicted of the murder, and later executed.[2] Originally recorded by Wilmer Watts & Lonely Eagles in 1929, it has been recorded numerous times, most famously by Lead Belly, also by Dave Van Ronk, The Johnson Mountain Boys, and New Riders of the Purple Sage, and Bob Dylan.

Origins

Lyrics to the song, including the main characters Duncan and Brady, originated from a barroom shooting in St. Louis, Missouri. On October 6, 1880, several police officers, including James Brady, arrived at the Charles Starkes Saloon in downtown St. Louis, where a bar fight was taking place. The officers tried to arrest patrons of the bar suspected of staring the fight, which prompted a gunfight. Brady was shot by an unknown man, supposedly by the bar's owner, Charles Starkes.[2] Harry Duncan claimed as such when he was arrested for Brady's murder; Starkes denied the claim.[2] Duncan was convicted and was sentenced to hang, but through several appeals, the case made its way to the Supreme Court.[2] However, this appeal was denied, and Duncan was hanged on July 27, 1894. It was rumored that Charles Starkes later confessed to the murder on his deathbed.[2]

Lyrics

The song begins with Brady riding around in an electric car, with a "mean look in his eye", looking to "shoot somebody just to see him die".[1] He walks into a bar, which Duncan is tending, and arrests him.[1] However, Duncan then shoots Brady:

Brady, Brady carried a .45,
Said it would shoot half a mile,
Duncan had a .44
That what laid Mr. Brady so low.
Brady fell down on the barroom floor,
"Please Mr. Duncan don' shoot me no more."
Women all cryin, ain't it a shame,
Shot King Brady, goin' shoot him again.[1]

Brady then dies. However, in the next verse, Brady is told that he "knew he done wrong", because he was,

Walkin' in the room when the game was goin' on
Knockin down windows, breakin' down the door[1]

Women hear of the death of Brady, not Duncan, and all dress in red.[1]

Recordings

Performer Album Year Variant Notes
Wilmer Watts & Lonely Eagles Paramount Old Time Recordings 1929 "Been on the Job Too Long"
Blind Jesse Harris Field Recordings, Vol. 4: Mississippi & Alabama (1934-1942) 1937 "Brady" Recorded by John Lomax.
Lead Belly Where Did You Sleep Last Night 1947 "Duncan and Brady" Recorded both a-capella and with guitar.
Dave Van Ronk Ballads, Blues, and a Spiritual 1959
Tom Rush Got a Mind to Ramble 1963
Koerner, Ray & Glover Lots More Blues, Rags, and Hollers 1964
Whiskeyhill Singers Dave Guard & Whiskeyhill Singers 1962

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b c d e f Lead Belly, Duncan and Brady. mudcat.org. Retrieved 12-28-10
  2. ^ a b c d e The Delta Blues, The Truth: Duncan and Brady. tdblues.com. Retrieved 12-31-10

Lyrics of Bob Dylan's and Lead Belly's versions

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