MeFi Projects

Well, it’s taken me over a year to do it, but I’ve now managed to persuade modern rock, folk and blues musicians to record all 16 of the genuine Victorian gallows ballads which I started researching back in 2011 (Projects previously). You’ll find a Soundcloud set compiling the whole "album" linked above, and details of the individual songs below. Each track is a collaboration across more than 100 years, as singers and bands from Britain, America and Australia add their own music to the original 19th century lyrics. Each track's Soundcloud entry has a link taking you to the true story behind that particular ballad. [more inside]
posted by Paul Slade on Jan 5, 2013 - 3 comments

I've just completed a year-long project selecting, researching and writing about some of my favourite gallows ballads from the British Library's collection. These were the printed broadsheets knocked out overnight by jobbing hacks in London's Seven Dials slum and sold at the foot of the scaffold whenever there was a popular public hanging. Each entry in the menu linked above has the ballad's full lyrics, plus my own research on the real-life murder that inspired it and a scan of the original sheet itself. [more inside]
posted by Paul Slade on Feb 13, 2011 - 4 comments