November | 2017 | Deeper Roots

Songs that highlight the states below the ‘line’ of intransigence. Portions are better known as Dixie, others (like Florida and Texas) appear as appendages or after-market expanses. The music this evening will explore songs of Louisiana from Doug Kershaw, Texas from Asleep at the Wheel, Alabama from Mance Lipscomb, and West Virginia featuring Louis Jordan. There’s a whole lot more including Taj Mahal, Bill Kirchen, The Louvin Brothers and Pokey LaFarge; all on a journey through a collection of states that two surveyors by the name of Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, in an attempt to resolve a dispute, attached their names to in the late 18th century.

No.	Artist	Title	Album
1	Jimmie Rodgers	Somewhere Down Below The Mason Dixon Line	Recordings 1927 – 1933 [Disc 5]
2	Tom Darby & Jimmie Tarlton	Down In Florida On A Hog	Darby & Tarlton – Disc A (Atlanta 1927-29)
3	Muddy Waters	Deep Down In Florida #2	King Bee
4	Claire Lynch	My Florida Sunshine	Bill Monroe Centennial Celebration: A Classic Bluegrass Tribute Disc 1
5	The Swe-Danes	Georgia Camp Meeting	New Discgems From Warner Brothers
6	Dave Van Ronk	Georgia Camp Meeting	Dave Van Ronk And The Ragtime Jug Stompers
7	Alex Campbell, Ola Belle Reed, Burl Kilby	Bringing in the Georgia Mail	Ola Belle Reed and Southern Mountain Music on the Mason-Dixon Line
8	Curley Williams & His Georgia Peach Pickers	Georgia Boogie	Travellin' Boogie
9	Guy Clark	Virginia's Real	Texas Cookin'
10	The Carter Family	Mid The Green Fields Of Virginia	The Carter Family 1927 – 1934 [Disc 3]
11	Al Bowlly	My Sweet Virginia	Just A Bowl Of Cherries
12	Ethel Waters	I'm Coming Virginia	On Stage And Screen 1925 – 1940
13	Hazel Dickens	West Virginia, My Home	Hand-Picked: 25 Years Of Bluegrass On Rounder Records [Disc 1]
14	Louis Jordan	Salt Pork, West Virginia	The Chronological Louis Jordan 1945-1946
15	Dr. Horse	South Poke West Virginia	Harlem Rock N' Blues
16	Mance Lipscomb	Alabama Bound	Ash Grove 12/6/1964
17	Evan Marshall	The Alabama Jubilee	Mandolin Magic
18	The Louvin Brothers	Alabama	Hand-Picked
19	Neil Young/Stray Gators	Alabama	Harvest
20	Jimmie Driftwood	Arkansas Traveler	Americana, Vol. 1
21	Carolina Cotton	Three Miles South Of Cash (In Arkansas)	Oxford American 11th Edition Southern Music CD [Disc 2, "Arkansas Masters"]
22	Bill Kirchen	Arkansas Diamond (Album)	Word To The Wise
23	Taj Mahal	Texas Woman Blues	The Essential [Disc 1]
24	Asleep at the Wheel	Miles and Miles of Texas	The Very Best of Asleep at the Wheel Since 1970
25	Tommy Duncan	Texas Moon	Texas Moon
26	Tony Rice	He Rode All the Way to Texas	Night Flyer: The Singer Songwriter Collection
27	Waylon Jennings	Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love)	The Essential Waylon Jennings [2007] Disc 2
28	Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown	Going Back To Louisiana	Doctors Professors Kings & Queens: Box New Orleans
29	Doug Kershaw	Louisiana Man	Diggy Diggy Lo
30	Pokey LaFarge & the South City Three	Mississippi Girl	Middle of Everywhere
31	Nina Simone	Mississippi Goddam	Anthology Disc 1
32	Paul Whiteman & His Orchestra	Mississippi Mud	Paper Moon
33	The Andrew Sisters	When the Midnight Choo Choo Leaves for Alabama	Double Goldies [CD1]

Songs about one of the most controversial of mankind’s attempt to balance the scales: the death penalty. Studies point to the fact that at least one in 25 people sentenced to the death penalty in the U.S. are innocent and yet the death penalty is legal in 32 states. In China, corporate fraud can be punishable by death…if it were the case here, our government would probably be on the straight and narrow. But I digress. The music this week will explore the long walk to eternity through the eyes of the condemned; the knowledge of the eventuality of the executioner’s song is clarity. And we’ve got country from a whole host of obscure characters, some blues and boogie, along with just a little bit of folk and bluegrass. A hundred years of the hangman’s rope in reflection.

No.	Artist	Title	Album
1	Johnny Cash	I Hung My Head	American IV: Man Comes Around
2	Gurf Morlix	Theyre Hangin Me Tonight	The Executioner's Last Songs, Volume 3
3	Johnny Bond	At Dawn I Die	The Hangman's Blues: Prison Songs In Country Music (1956-1972)
4	Marty Robbins	The Hanging Tree	All-Time Greatest Hits
5	Peter, Paul & Mary	Hangman	See What Tomorrow Brings
6	Marty Stuart	Hangman	Ghost Train: The Studio B Sessions
7	Ralston Bowles and May Erlewine-Bernard	Hangman	Dear Jean: Artists Celebrate Jean Ritchie
8	Cowboy Copas	Hangman Boogie	Hillbilly Boogie Box [Disc 4]
9	The Pine Valley Cosmonauts & Puerto Muerto	The Hangman's Song	The Executioner's Last Songs, Vol. 1
10	Al Dean	Hangman	The Hangman's Blues: Prison Songs In Country Music (1956-1972)
11	Leadbelly	Gallows Pole	Too Late, Too Late – Vol. 12 – 1917-48
12	Furry Lewis	Judge Harsh Blues	Furry Lewis 1927 – 1929
13	Brownie McGhee	Hangman's Blues	The Folkways Years (1945-1959)
14	Blind Lemon Jefferson	Hangman's Blues	Complete Recordings Vol. 3
15	Blind Lemon Jefferson	Electric Chair	Blues Images Presents 1920's Blues Classics, Vol. 13
16	Lonesome Johnny	Death Row	The Hangman's Blues: Prison Songs In Country Music (1956-1972)
17	Jimmy Minor	Death Row	The Hangman's Blues: Prison Songs In Country Music (1956-1972)
18	Porter Wagoner	(I Heard That) Lonesome Whistle	The Hangman's Blues: Prison Songs In Country Music (1956-1972)
19	Dave Alvin	Sonora's Death Row	West of the West
20	Lee Hazelwood	The Girl On Death Row	Twisted Tales From The Vinyl Wastelands Volume 2
21	Johnny Cash	The Mercy Seat	American III: Solitary Man
22	Bessie Smith	Send Me To The Lectric Chair	Empress Of The Blues Volume 2: 1926-1933 (CD A, 1926-1928)
23	Booker T. & the MG's	Hang 'Em High	The Very Best of Booker T. & the MG's
24	Hoyle Miller	Twelve Years On Death Row	The Hangman's Blues: Prison Songs In Country Music (1956-1972)
25	Steve Earle	Walking Down Death Row	If I Had A Song: The Songs Of Pete Seeger, Vol. 2
26	The Blue Sky Boys	Story Of The Knoxville Girl	Absolutely Bluegrass
27	Bob Dylan	Seven Curses	The Bootleg Series, Vols. 1-3 : Rare And Unreleased, 1961-1991 [Disc 2]
28	Joan Baez	Geordie	The First 10 Years
29	The Pine Valley Cosmonauts & Dean Schlabowske	Gary Gilmore's Eyes	The Executioner's Last Songs, Vol. 1

Deeper Roots

Monthly Archives: November 2017

Below the Mason-Dixon Line

The Hangman’s Rope

A Century of America's Music