lonnie donegan tom dooley - Music Videos at MuViBee

Description:
This ballad was based on the true story of an impoverished Confederate veteran, Tom Dula (pronounced Dooley), who was hanged for the brutal stabbing to death of his fiance, Laura Foster, in 1868. Many believed that the actual murderer was Anne Melton, Dula's second lover, whose comments led to the discovery of Laura's body, and that Dula admitted guilt to protect her. Colonel James Grayson was a Tennessee politician who had hired Dula on his farm when the young man fled North Carolina under suspicion, using a false name. Grayson did help in Dula's capture and returning him to North Carolina, but this was the extent of his involvement. Some versions of the song portray him as a romantic rival of Dula's or a vengeful sheriff involved in his capture and execution. The song was probably first sung shortly after the execution. The earliest known recording was by Grayson and Whitter in 1929. Frank Warner, a folklorist, made a recording in 1952, having collected the song from Frank Proffitt in 1940, and passed it to Alan Lomax, who published it in "Folk Song: USA". Neither seemed to be aware of the earlier (1929) recording. The Kingston Trio recorded the song in 1958, basing their version on Frank Proffitt's, but only singing three verses, and the chorus four times. It sold over six million copies and is often said to have begun the folk revival of the late 1950s and 1960s. Other notable recordings are by Lonnie Donegan (1958) who did a faster skiffle arrangement, Johnny Rivers, pretty much a copy of The Kingston Trio's version, and Doc Watson (1964), with a longer version.

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