The Knoxville Girl

"The Knoxville Girl" is an Appalachian murder ballad.

Origins

It is derived from the 19th-century Irish ballad "The Wexford Girl", itself derived from the earlier English ballad "The Oxford Girl". Other versions are known as the "Waxweed Girl", "The Wexford Murder". These are in turn derived from Elizabethan era poem or broadside ballad, "The Cruel Miller".

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.

Lyrics

First lines:

I met a little girl in Knoxville,
A town we all know well,
And every Sunday evening,
Out in her home I’d dwell.

Variants

Related or derived broadsides include:

Recordings

Year Artist Release Notes
1924 Riley Puckett & Gid Tanner "Knoxville Girl" Earliest recording[6]
1937 The Carter Family "Never Let the Devil Get the Upper Hand of You" [7]:4
1938 The Blue Sky Boys "In My Little Home In Tennessee/The Knoxville Girl" [8][9]:167
1956 The Louvin Brothers Tragic Songs of Life [10] (US Country #19)
1959 The Wilburn Brothers "The Knoxville Girl/Which One Is To Blame" [11] (US Country #18)
1961 Kevin Shegog ?
1963 John Duffey and the Country Gentlemen Hootenanny - A Bluegrass Special [12]
1969 Jim and Jesse Saluting The Louvin Brothers [13]
1974 Dave Loggins Apprentice (In A Musical Workshop) [14]
1980 Flatt And Scruggs Bluegrass Banjo [15]
1982 Jimmy Martin ?
1996 BR5-49 Live From Robert's
1996 The Lemonheads Car Button Cloth [16]
1996 DQE Move into the villa villakula
1996 Nick Cave "Henry Lee/Knoxville Girl" [17]
2002 Pine Valley Cosmonauts w/Brett Sparks The Executioner's Last Songs [18]
2003 The Handsome Family Smothered and Covered
2005 Okkervil River Black Sheep Boy [19]
2005 Sweetwater The Ballads [20]
2005 Roger Alan Wade All Likkered Up [21]
2006 The Singing Hall Sisters Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus [22]
2008 Rachel Brooke Rachel Brooke [23]
2008 The Boxmasters The Boxmasters [24]
2013 Vandaveer Oh, Willie, Please... [25]
2014 Beaches In Boise Autocantata [26]
2015 The Ghosts Of Johnson City Am I Born To Die?

Samples

Parodies

Bibliography

Notes

  1. ↑ The Outlaws recorded a related version on their 1975 debut album, Outlaws; this version has different lyrics but the same basic melody

References

  1. ↑ "The Wexford Girl". mudcat.org. The Mudcat Café.
  2. ↑ "Hanged I Shall Be". mudcat.org. The Mudcat Café.
  3. ↑ "Rose Connelley". mudcat.org. The Mudcat Café.
  4. ↑ "Knoxville Girl". mudcat.org. The Mudcat Café.
  5. ↑ "William Grismond". mudcat.org. The Mudcat Café.
  6. ↑ "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.
  7. ↑ "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.
  8. ↑ "The Blue Sky Boys – "In My Little Home In Tennessee/The Knoxville Girl"". discogs.com. 1938. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  9. ↑ Cohen, John; Seeger, Mike, eds. (1964). The New Lost City Ramblers Song Book (1st edition ed.). New York: Oak Publications. ISBN 0-825600464.
  10. ↑ "The Louvin Brothers – Tragic Songs of Life". discogs.com. 1956. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  11. ↑ "The Wilburn Brothers – "The Knoxville Girl/Which One Is To Blame"". discogs.com. 1959. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  12. ↑ "John Duffey and The Country Gentlemen – Hootenanny: A Bluegrass Special". discogs.com. 1963. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  13. ↑ "Jim and Jesse – Saluting The Louvin Brothers". discogs.com. 1969. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  14. ↑ "Dave Loggins – Apprentice (In A Musical Workshop)". discogs.com. 1974. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  15. ↑ "Flatt And Scruggs – Bluegrass Banjo". discogs.com. 1980. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  16. ↑ "The Lemonheads Car – Button Cloth". discogs.com. 1996. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  17. ↑ "Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds & PJ Harvey – "Henry Lee/Knoxville Girl"". discogs.com. 1996. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  18. ↑ "Pine Valley Cosmonauts w/Brett Sparks – The Executioner's Last Songs". discogs.com. 1996. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  19. ↑ "Okkervil River – Black Sheep Boy". discogs.com. 2005. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  20. ↑ "Sweetwater – The Ballads". discogs.com. 2005. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  21. ↑ "Roger Alan Wade – All Likkered Up". discogs.com. 2005. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  22. ↑ "The Singing Hall Sisters – "The Knoxville Girl"". discogs.com. 2006. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  23. ↑ "Rachel Brooke – Rachel Brooke". discogs.com. 2008. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  24. ↑ "The Boxmasters – The Boxmasters". discogs.com. 2008. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  25. ↑ "Vandaveer – Oh, Willie, Please...". discogs.com. 2013. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  26. ↑ "Beaches In Boise – Autocantata". discogs.com. March 2014. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
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