Tom Dooley (song)
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"Tom Dooley" is an old North Carolina folk song based on the 1866 murder of a girl named Laura Foster in Wilkes County. It is best known today because of a hit version recorded in 1958 by The Kingston Trio.
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[edit] History
Impoverished Confederate veteran Tom Dula, Foster's lover and probable fiancé, was convicted of her murder and hanged in 1868. The lyrics to the song were written by a local poet, Thomas C. Land, shortly after the hanging.
Dula's lover, Anne Foster Melton, whose comments led to the discovery of the body, was acquitted in a separate trial based on his word. Many believed she was the real killer and that Dula admitted guilt to protect her. Though Dula's trial was widely publicized for its time, and former governor Zebulon Vance represented him pro bono, fanciful legends soon sprang up based on interpretations of the song.
A man named "Grayson," mentioned in the song as pivotal in Dula's downfall, has sometimes been characterized as a romantic rival of Dula's or a vengeful sheriff who captured him and presided over his hanging. Some variant lyrics of the song portray Grayson in that light, and the spoken introduction to the Kingston Trio version did the same. Col. James Grayson was actually a Tennessee politician who had hired Dula on his farm when the young man fled North Carolina under suspicion and was using a false name. Grayson did help North Carolinians capture Dula and was personally involved in returning him to North Carolina, but otherwise played no role in the case.
Dula was tried in Statesville, because it was believed he could not get a fair trial in Wilkes County. He was given a new trial on appeal but he was again convicted, and hanged on May 1, 1868. His alleged accomplice, Jack Keaton, was set free. On the gallows, Dula reportedly stated, "Gentlemen, do you see this hand? I didn't harm a hair on the girl's head."
Dula's last name was pronounced "Dooley," leading to some confusion in spelling over the years. (The pronunciation of a final "a" like "y" is an old feature in Appalachian speech, as in the term "Grand Ole Opry").
The doleful ballad was probably first sung shortly after the execution and is still commonly sung in North Carolina. The song was selected as one of the Songs of the Century.
[edit] Recordings
Several notable recordings have been made:
- Grayson and Whitter, Victor, 1929. The first recorded version by a group well known at the time.
- Frank Warner, Elektra, 1952. Warner, a folklorist, unaware of the 1929 recording, in 1940 took down the song from Frank Proffitt and passed it to Alan Lomax who published it in Folk Song: USA.
- The Kingston Trio, Capitol, 1958. This recording sold in excess of six million copies and is often credited with starting the "folk boom" of the late 1950s and 1960s. It only had three verses (and the chorus four times).
- Lonnie Donegan, also 1958. This version charted in the United Kingdom simultaneously with the Kingston Trio's. Its uptempo skiffle style was a contrast to the U.S. version's slower arrangement.
- The Brewdogs recorded their own rendition of the classic in 2006. It was released on their Covers vinyl on Country Air Records.
- Doc Watson, Vanguard Records, 1964. This version considerably extended the scope of the song.
- Macabre Chicago based metal band recorded a song called Tom Dooley from the Morbid Campfire Songs cd.
[edit] Parodies
Tom Dooley prompted a number of parodies, either as part of other songs (Ella Fitzgerald drops an altered line from the song into a recording of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer or as entire songs, including one called Hang Down Your Head Tom Dooley, Your Tie's Caught In Your Zipper by the Incredible Bongo Band in 1972.
The song and legend were parodied by a one-record novelty act called Waldo, Dudley and Dora, whose 45-rpm Grayson Goofed was issued as Awful Records release #PU-1. The record is a direct parody of the 1958 Kingston Trio version. In it, verses sung to the Tom Dooley melody alternate with mini-skits (Dooley's fateful encounter with Laura Foster, Grayson alerting the sheriff of Dooley's deed, Dooley's trial), as "John" Grayson's public reputation erodes from "a fine man" to "a stoolie" (i.e., stool pigeon) to "a gink".
The song was also often parodied by the Smothers Brothers as Tom Crudely, and introduced as being written by Dick Smothers but stolen by that other crass,commercial group along with Dick's luggage.
[edit] Movie
The Kingston Trio hit inspired a quickie feature film, "The Legend of Tom Dooley." It starred rising TV actor Michael Landon in the title role and was released in 1959. It was essentially a Western set just after the Civil War. Despite the title, it was not about any traditional Tom Dula legends or the actual case. Instead, it was apparently a screenwriter's imagined version of what the song might have been about.
[edit] Lyrics
There are many variations on the lyrics. These are several of the main versions that have appeared.
1. These are the lyrics for “Tom Dula” as they appear in Alan Lomax’s Folk Song: U.S.A. (New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1947) and reprinted in Folk Songs of North America (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1960).
- Hand me down my banjo,
- I’ll pick hit on my knee
- This time tomorrow night
- It’ll be no use to me
- Chorus:
- Hang down your head, Tom Dooley
- Hang down your head and cry
- Hang down your head, Tom Dooley
- Poor boy you're bound to die.
- Met her on the mountain
- I swore she’d be my wife
- I met her on the mountain
- And I stabbed her with my knife
- (chorus)
- This time tomorrow
- Reckon where I’ll be
- Down in some lonesome valley
- A’hangin’ on a white-oak tree.
- I had my trial at Wilksboro’
- And what d’you reckon they done?
- They bound me over to Statesville
- And that’s where I’ll be hung
- (chorus)
- The limb a’bein’ oak, boys
- The rope a’bein’ strong
- Bow down your head, Tom Dooley,
- You know you’re gonna be hung.
- Mammy, oh Mammy,
- Don’t you weep or cry
- I’ve killed poor Laurie Foster
- And you know I’m bound to die
- (chorus)
- Pappy, oh Pappy,
- What shall I do?
- I lost all my money
- And killed poor Laurie too.
- Oh what my Mammy told me
- Is about to come to pass
- Red whiskey and pretty women
- Would be my ruin at last
- (chorus)
2. Grayson and Whittier, “Tom Dooley,” Victor, 1929 (Gillam Bannon Grayson, Col. Grayson's nephew, and Henry Whittier).
- Chorus:
- Hang your head, Tom Dooley
- Hang your head and cry
- Killed poor Laura Foster,
- You know you’re bound to die.
- You took her on the hillside
- As God almighty knows
- You took her on the hillside
- And there you hid her clothes
- You took her by the roadside
- Where you begged to be excused
- You took her by the roadside
- Where there you hid her shoes
- You took her on the hillside
- To make her your wife
- You took her on the hillside
- Where there you took her life
- (chorus)
- Take down my old violin
- And play it all you please
- This time tomorrow
- It’ll be no use to me
- (chorus)
- I dug the grave four feet long
- I dug it three feet deep;
- I rolled the cold clay o’er her
- And tromped it with my feet.
- (chorus)
- This world and one more
- Then where you reckon I'll be;
- If it hadn’t a’been for Grayson,
- I'd a been in Tennessee.
- (chorus)
3. Frank Proffitt, “Tom Dooley,” field recording by Frank Warner, 1940.
- Chorus:
- Hang down your head, Tom Dooley
- Hang down your head and cry
- Hang down your head, Tom Dooley
- Poor boy you're bound to die.
- Met her on the hillside
- There you took her life
- Met her on the hillside
- Stobbed her with your knife
- Hang down your head, Tom Dooley
- Hang down your head and cry
- You killed poor Laurie Foster
- And now you're bound to die.
- This time tomorrow
- Reckon where I’ll be
- Down in the lonesome valley
- Swingin’ on a white-oak tree
- Hang down your head, Tom Dooley
- Hang down your head and cry
- You killed poor Laurie Foster
- Poor boy you're bound to die.
4. The Kingston Trio, “Tom Dooley,” Capitol, 1958.
- Intro: Throughout history, there've been many songs written about the eternal triangle. This next one tells the story of a Mr. Grayson, a beautiful woman, and a condemned man named Tom Dooley... When the sun rises tomorrow, Tom Dooley must hang...
- Chorus:
- Hang down your head, Tom Dooley
- Hang down your head and cry
- Hang down your head, Tom Dooley
- Poor boy, you're bound to die
- I met her on the mountain
- There I took her life
- Met her on the mountain
- Stabbed her with my knife
- Chorus
- This time tomorrow
- Reckon where I'll be
- Hadn't a-been for Grayson
- I'd a-been in Tennessee
- Chorus
- Chorus
- This time tomorrow
- Reckon where I'll be
- Down in some lonesome valley
- Hangin' from a white oak tree
- Chorus
- Chorus
- Poor boy, you're bound to die
- Poor boy you're bound to die
- Poor boy, you're bound to die...
5. Doc Watson, “Tom Dooley,” Vanguard Records, 1964.
- Chorus:
- Hang your head, Tom Dooley
- Hang your head and cry
- You killed poor Laurie Foster
- And you know you're bound to die.
- You left her by the roadside
- Where you begged to be excused
- You left her by the roadside
- Then you hid her clothes and shoes
- (chorus)
- You took her on the hillside
- For to make her your wife
- You took her on the hillside
- And there you took her life
- You dug the grave four feet long
- And you dug it three feet deep;
- You rolled the cold clay over her
- And tromped it with your feet.
- (chorus)
- "Trouble, oh it's trouble
- A-rollin' through my breast;
- As long as I'm a-livin', boys,
- They ain't a-gonna let me rest.
- I know they're gonna hang me,
- Tomorrow I'll be dead,
- Though I never even harmed a hair
- On poor little Laurie's head."
- (chorus)
- "In this world and one more
- Then reckon where I'll be;
- If it wasn't for Sheriff Grayson,
- I'd be in Tennessee.
- You can take down my old violin
- And play it all you please.
- For at this time tomorrow, boys,
- It'll be of no use to me."
- (chorus)
- "At this time tomorrow
- Where do you reckon I'll be?
- Away down yonder in the holler
- Hangin' on a white oak tree.
- (chorus)
| Preceded by "It's Only Make Believe" by Conway Twitty |
Billboard Hot 100 number-one single Issue Date: November 17, 1958 |
Succeeded by "To Know Him is to Love Him" by The Teddy Bears |
[edit] References
- Lomax, Alan, Editor, (1947). Folk Song: U.S.A. New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce. (Also printed under the title Best Loved American Folk Songs).
- West, John Foster (1993). "Lift Up Your Head, Tom Dooley". Asheboro, N.C., Down Home Press.
