The Story behind the Knoxville Girl performed by EC March 10

[Wizard]

Greetings from East Tennessee! You have a wonderful forum here w/ lots of info about The Beloved Entertainer.

After proclaiming to the crowd, “Some wicked things have happened in this city”, Elvis performed a brilliant rendition of “Knoxville Girl” at his Knoxville, TN concert on March 10. I know there is a thread about his Knoxville performance (we had 8th row center seats & loved every second of it), but I thought others besides us “local yokels” might be curious about this song, & some research I did after the concert. This eerie, bizarre traditional murder ballad has a common thread on both sides of the pond …

It originated in 1684 as “The Bloody Miller” in England, & was based on a true story. It’s also been referred to as “The Cruel Miller”, “The Oxford Girl”, “The Oxford Tragedy”, etc.. An Irish version was known as “The Wexford Girl” (maybe some of the English/ Irish/Scottish board members can enlighten us about these versions).

Immigrants who made their way to the Appalachian mountains continued to sing this traditional English/ Irish ballad. The US versions date back to 1889. Around 1924, The Carter family did their version of this song “Never let the devil get the upper hand on you” (They toned down the line “I took her by her golden curls, & dragged her round and round”, to “I run my fingers through her coal black hair to cover up my sin”).

The first reference to Knoxville came from The Blue Sky Boys (the Bolick brothers out of East Hickory, NC), who did “The Story of the Knoxville Girl” in 1937.

The Louvin Brothers (Charlie & Ira Loudermilk from Section, Alabama) cut “Knoxville Girl” in 1956, & it reached #19 on the country charts in 1959 (My great aunt has a 78 record of this spooky version). Elvis Presley once said the Louvin Brothers were his favorite Gospel duo. As many of you know, EC also performed the Louvin Brothers song “My Baby’s Gone” w/ Emmylou the night before at the Ryman. (fyi, I have a Best of the Louvin Brothers CD which includes Knoxville Girl & My Baby’s Gone if anyone is interested in trading an Elvis live performance. Drop me a line).

This link provides details & lyrics to 14 versions of this traditional murder ballad (just replace the 7 at the end of the link w/ 1-14 to get other versions):

http://www.bluegrassmessengers.com/mast ... girl7.html

The link “From Wexford to Knoxville” has excerpts of Colin Escott’s book “Roadkill on the Three-chord Highway”:

“Dig around some more and you'll find that the song came over from England as 'The Wexford Girl,' but what's really interesting is that 'The Wexford Girl' isn't really 'The Knoxville Girl.' Something happened in the darkness and isolation of Appalachia, something indefinable. It happened before the recording machine, and it happened in the little hollers [sic] and valleys. The American experience warped and transformed the immigrants, changing their music as it changed them.”

http://www.sci.edu/classes/ellertsen/dulcimer2.html

And some excerpts from an interesting interview w/ Jim White relating to Southern roots & his movie “Searching for the Wrong-eyed Jesus” (2003 documentary):

"The people who landed in the South [to settle it] were the disenfranchised Scotch-Irish mostly, and they were a rough, clannish, fighting, feuding, murderous bunch of people who came and always lived on the edge, the farthest frontier from real civilization. Those were the people who really populated the South -- the backwaters and strange places like where the film goes."

"I think if you take people who were genetically bred to live in Scotland where it's cold and rainy all the time and you put them in this crucible of Southern heat and humidity and poverty, I think there's a kind of madness that comes over people…”.

“…The ladies in the restaurant [who sing "Knoxville Girl" in the movie] -- they've been singing those songs since they were little girls sitting on their front porch”.

http://popmatters.com/music/interviews/ ... 0304.shtml

Knoxville Girl has also been covered by BR5-49, The Lemonheads, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, & many bluegrass/country artists such as Jimmie Martin, The Wilborn Brothers, etc..

[mimimartini]

WOW thanks! I'm from ktown too and this is very interesting.

Do you know if there is a book about the early recordings that were done in the hotel on Gay St? Jack Neeley wrote about it in the Metropulse a few weeks back and I just couldn't put it down.

I had 5th row at the show. I think I probably sat near several of you.

[Wizard]

WOW thanks! I'm from ktown too and this is very interesting.

Do you know if there is a book about the early recordings that were done in the hotel on Gay St? Jack Neeley wrote about it in the Metropulse a few weeks back and I just couldn't put it down.

I had 5th row at the show. I think I probably sat near several of you.

Thanks minimartini.

Neely's Secret History section in the Metropulse is always a good read. I'm thinking of contacting him about researching the history of Knoxville Girl. Did the Blue Sky Boys in 1937 modify the ballad to Knoxville Girl? If so, why? Did some event at the time warrant it, or is it because Knoxville is a nearby city where a river (the Tennessee River for those not aware) flows through ? If it was changed before them, who did & why?

Elvis really got my gears to turning, haha.

[mimimartini]

Awesome! Let us know what you find out!

[LittleFoole]

Hey, wizard...thanks for the info on Knoxville Girl .....pretty interesting (although I must admit my mrs. was a lil creeped out by the performance...LOL...we'd never heard the song before.....we moved down this way about 2 years ago from the Motor City ) We don't technically qualify as Knoxvillians (live down 129 a ways in Maryville ...), but my Mrs. works in K-town, and we go to church in K-town, so, we definitely have the Knox connection going on 6 days a week, anyways....our "main transport vehicle" should know it's way to Kingston Pike without driver input, by now...LOL.

[Wizard]

You're welcome LittleFoole. You are at the foothills of the Appalachian mountains, so that counts in my book.

Lots of good music has come from the Motor City. The White Stripes are a fave of mine in fact (as was Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels from wayyy back).

[martinfoyle]

Thanks to J in Knoxville, here's an mp3 of this fine performance.

[mood swung]

thanks, you fabulous foyle, you!

[LittleFoole]

Thanks to J in Knoxville, here's an mp3 of this fine performance.

Thanks, martinfoyle, and thanks to J in Knoxville....that was a fun show !!!

[MistakenForLilies]

Thank you so so much. This made my day.
It's the next best thing to having the whole show.

[Wizard]

Many thanks to martinfoyle & J in Knoxville. It was terrific to relive the moment. Anyone else who went to the show struck by how evident Elvis cold affected his voice? I honestly didn't notice any of the breaking up or hoarseness until the the last few songs.

Thanks again...

[MistakenForLilies]

I don't think I noticed his cold at all during the show. But when I played back this song I noticed it instantly, for some reason.

[Miss Macbeth]

Thanks to J in Knoxville for the MP3. That was my first EC show and it was better than I ever imagined. I could tell he had a cold. I told my friend early on, but that's what I love about his voice. Even if he's sick he still sounds great. Not many performers can still sound good when they're sick. And nobody else could have done Scarlet Tide like that without a mic and with a cold.

Also, thanks to Wizard. I had no idea where he got the song, but I listened to the words and watched his facial expressions, and in a morbid way, I thought it was great.

I'm new to this site and I think it's so nice to have other fans to talk to. Nobody here in Western NC knows anything about him. I love this site.

[mood swung]

welcome, Miss Macbeth - it was a great show in a great venue.

[LittleFoole]

I don't think I noticed his cold at all during the show. But when I played back this song I noticed it instantly, for some reason.

LOL....I thought exactly the same thing - he sounded fine while at the "Theatre", sounded a lil under the weather on the mp3. Go figure (although in all fairness, even at his best, he always sounds a lil rough around the edges...one of his endearing traits

[MistakenForLilies]

Nobody here in Western NC knows anything about him.

I do, but we're probably the only ones in this part of the state who do...

And LittleFoole, it's true that it's one of his endearing qualities. I don't understand people who are annoyed by his voice.

[Monkey Girl]

Nobody here in Western NC knows anything about him.

I do, but we're probably the only ones in this part of the state who do...

I do! One of the few in my group of friends here in NC that knows who he is. I go to concerts with my girlfriend in California!

But I like the fact that EC is not for everyone. That's what makes us special.

[Miss Macbeth]

It takes a very open-minded person to enjoy his entire catalogue. Everybody around where I live knows "Veronica", and "Every Day I Write The Book", but you get into the really good stuff and they're like, "what's that, is he a weirdo?" I just take it all in and rest assured that I'm a unique and special person just like all you crazy Costello fans out there. One day everyone will see what they've been missing.

[Monkey Girl]

But he came to North Carolina this year! First time ever?

I love him for that. Played in a gymnasium, nonetheless.

Awesome.

Anyway...if everyone liked him...he'd be playing at huge venues...and we would hate that.

So we are very fortunate.

[MistakenForLilies]

But he came to North Carolina this year! First time ever?

I love him for that. Played in a gymnasium, nonetheless.

I keep wondering what Elvis thought of that-- a tiny gym with no chairs and mediocre sound!

I still loved it, though.

I do remember him saying many times, in a rather amused way, "I don't think we've ever played in Charlotte before...."

[Monkey Girl]

Yes. It was very sweet.

Funny...we drove by the "center" the day before to check out the place and actually drove by thinking..."that can't be it!" But it was! And really, it was a great venue for him. Up close and personal. ...no fuss, just music. Sound could have been better, but it was still superior to San Diego, and that was a made for music venue.

I'm not a good critic, though. He sounds good anywhere for me.

[johnfoyle]

Another 'return to Knoxville' bump!