Uploaded November 2020 | Updated September 2026, 6 days ago
Day 241 of the American Songbag Stay-at-Home Series
I've had a few sound problems but hope they're fixed. I took the opportunity to recalibrate the equipment, so I have replaced my 1920 Vernon Parlor guitar with the guitar I got in high school, my 1968 Gibson Dove.
March 7, 1897 - Death of Morris Slater, known as "Railroad Bill"
Sandburg writes: "Whereas John Henry was strong at driving steel and was a kindly family man, Railroad Bill is fierce and deep in sin and cussedness,”a mighty bad man." He carries mean hardware, steals the wives of men, and is a man-killer with the police after him.
"There was an actual Railroad Bill who shot to kill and was feared and hunted. Southern black workgangs have fixed him in a ballad of hundreds of lines. . . .
"The verses couple onto each other like fast mail coaches. Singers hesitate nowhere and stride through this with the clip of a non-stop train. "
Day 241 of the American Songbag Stay-at-Home Series
I've had a few sound problems but hope they're fixed. I took the opportunity to recalibrate the equipment, so I have replaced my 1920 Vernon Parlor guitar with the guitar I got in high school, my 1968 Gibson Dove.
March 7, 1897 - Death of Morris Slater, known as "Railroad Bill"
Sandburg writes: "Whereas John Henry was strong at driving steel and was a kindly family man, Railroad Bill is fierce and deep in sin and cussedness,”a mighty bad man." He carries mean hardware, steals the wives of men, and is a man-killer with the police after him.
"There was an actual Railroad Bill who shot to kill and was feared and hunted. Southern black workgangs have fixed him in a ballad of hundreds of lines. . . .
"The verses couple onto each other like fast mail coaches. Singers hesitate nowhere and stride through this with the clip of a non-stop train. "
