Jump to content
 







Main menu
   


Navigation  



Main page
Contents
Current events
Random article
About Wikipedia
Contact us
Donate
 




Contribute  



Help
Learn to edit
Community portal
Recent changes
Upload file
 








Search  

































Create account

Log in
 









Create account
 Log in
 




Pages for logged out editors learn more  



Contributions
Talk
 



















Contents

   



(Top)
 


1 Earliest transcription  





2 Carolina to Mexico  





3 Clarence Ashley's recording  





4 Selected list of recorded versions  





5 References  





6 Other sources  














Little Sadie






Svenska
 

Edit links
 









Article
Talk
 

















Read
Edit
View history
 








Tools
   


Actions  



Read
Edit
View history
 




General  



What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Cite this page
Get shortened URL
Download QR code
Wikidata item
 




Print/export  



Download as PDF
Printable version
 
















Appearance
   

 






From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 


"Little Sadie" is a 20th-century American folk ballad written in Dorian mode. It is also known variously as "Bad Lee Brown", "Cocaine Blues", "Transfusion Blues", "East St. Louis Blues", "Late One Night", "Penitentiary Blues" and other titles. It tells the story of a man who is apprehended after shooting a woman, in some versions his wife or girlfriend. He is then sentenced by a judge.

Earliest transcription[edit]

The earliest written record of the song dates from 1922.[1] This lyric fragment, transcribed in Joplin, Missouri, is noted in the 1948 book Ozark Folksongs, Vol. II.

"Bad Lee Brown"

Last night I was a-makin' my rounds,
Met my old woman an' I blowed her down,
I went on home to go to bed,
Put my old cannon right under my head.

Jury says murder in the first degree,
I says oh Lord, have mercy on me!
Old Judge White picks up his pen,
Says you'll never kill no woman ag'in.

Carolina to Mexico[edit]

Some versions refer to the SheriffofThomasville, North Carolina apprehending the murderer "down in" Jericho, South Carolina[2] (a large rice plantation in the lowlands).[3] Other versions transpose Mexico (orJuarez, Mexico) for Jericho.[4]

Clarence Ashley's recording[edit]

In the first sound recording (the 1929 recording by Clarence Ashley), Little Sadie may have been a prostitute:[according to whom?]

I woke next morning 'bout half past nine,
The buggies and the hacks all formed in line,
The gents and the gamblers all standing around,
They're gonna take Sadie to the burying ground.

The most common version in country and rock is attributed to T. J. 'Red' Arnall's 1947 Western Swing recording with W. A. Nichol's Western Aces. This version was covered by Johnny Cash, Grateful Dead, Crooked Still, Doc Watson, and George Thorogood, among others. The 1970 Bob Dylan versions are taken from either of Clarence Ashley's recordings.

"Little Sadie" may have been an influence on the 1960s song "Hey Joe".[5]

Selected list of recorded versions[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle "Bad Lee Brown (Little Sadie) [Laws I8]]" Traditional Ballad Index
  • ^ "lyrics: LITTLE SADIE". Mudcat.org. Archived from the original on 2016-04-23. Retrieved 2016-04-07.
  • ^ "Lowcountry Digital History Initiative | Jericho Plantation · Forgotten Fields: Inland Rice Plantations in the South Carolina Lowcountry". Ldhi.library.cofc.edu. Archived from the original on 2016-04-21. Retrieved 2016-04-07.
  • ^ Manfred Helfert (February 1996). "Creative ideosyncrasy - In Search of 'Little Sadie'". Bobdylanroots.com. Retrieved 2014-08-30.
  • ^ Kim Beissel. Liner notes to Original Seeds Vol. 2: Songs that inspired Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Rubber Records Australia, 2004.
  • Other sources[edit]


    Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Little_Sadie&oldid=1227475625"

    Categories: 
    1930 songs
    Bob Dylan songs
    Woody Guthrie songs
    Murder ballads
    Hidden categories: 
    Articles with short description
    Short description matches Wikidata
    Articles lacking in-text citations from August 2014
    All articles lacking in-text citations
    All articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases
    Articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases from May 2020
    Articles with MusicBrainz work identifiers
     



    This page was last edited on 5 June 2024, at 23:19 (UTC).

    Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 4.0; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.



    Privacy policy

    About Wikipedia

    Disclaimers

    Contact Wikipedia

    Code of Conduct

    Developers

    Statistics

    Cookie statement

    Mobile view



    Wikimedia Foundation
    Powered by MediaWiki