Pye Nixa NJE 1017
Nixa Jazz Today Series
7” EP
Recorded 11/1/56 & 4/4/56
TRACKS
Railroad Bill (Trad)
(recorded 11/1/56)
Stackalee (Trad)
(recorded 4/4/56)
The Ballad of Jesse James (Trad)
(recorded 11/1/56)
Ol’ Riley (Trad)
(recorded 11/1/56)
SLEEVE NOTES
Something about the Songs
by Lonnie Donegan
Railroad Bill
The subject of this song is one of the major figures in the saga of the American railroad – a widely known and infamous railroad bum. Larceny, both grand and petty, wholesale seduction and riding the rods were his chief occupations till, in the end, like all bad men, “the Butcher cut him down”. The phrase “I’m gonna ride old Railroad Bill” really means “I’m gonna ride him down”.
Stackalee
Another bad-man ballad. Colleague Dick “Cisco” Bishop pays tribute to that fine American balladeer, Woody Guthrie, in singing the Guthrie version of a song which is widely known in dozens of variants. Dickie’s singing of this song echoes his deep admiration for the great Woody.
The Ballad Of Jesse James
Thanks to Hollywood that notorious bad man, Jesse James, has become an internationally known figure and his many exploits, lurid enough in real life, have been both exaggerated and romanticised. This ballad could equally well be called “The Death Of Jesse James” since that is the central theme of the story. Don’t be confused by the reference to Jesse James as “Mr. Howard”. This was the name under which he was living at the time of his assassination.
Ol’ Riley
“The over-seer in them times had a Negro named Riley, and Ol’ Riley was one of the best they had an’ he tried to make his way to freedom an’ when they couldn’t catch up with him they put the bloodhound on his track”. These are the very words the mighty “Leadbelly” used to preface his own version of this Negro chain-gang song about an escaping convict’s bid for freedom “in dem long hot summer days”. “Here Rattler, here Rattler!” are the shouts of the posse to the keen-nosed bloodhound with which they hope to track down the elusive Riley, gone “like a turkey through the corn”.
PERSONNEL
Lonnie Donegan (vocal and guitar)
Dick Bishop (vocal and guitar)
Chris Barber (bass)
Ron Bowden (drums)
Sleeve:
Ian Bradbery (design)
John Chown (photography)
Recording:
Eric Tomlinson (balance)
Denis Preston (supervision)
Nixa Jazz Today 