Little Sadie
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Little Sadie is a 20th Century American folk ballad. It is also known variously as "Bad Lee Brown", "Cocaine Blues", "Transfusion Blues" and other titles. It tells the story of a man who is apprehended after shooting his wife/girlfriend. He is then sentenced by a judge.
The earliest written record of the song dates from 1922: the lyric fragment below, 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.
Some versions refer to the Sheriff of Thomasville, North Carolina apprehending the murderer in Jericho, South Carolina. Other versions transpose Juarez, Mexico for Jericho.
In the first sound recording (the 1930 recording by Clarence "Tom" Ashley, referenced below), Little Sadie seems to have been a prostitute:
I woke next morning 'bout half past nine,
The buggies and the hacks all (swarmed?) in line,
The pimps and the gamblers all standing around,
They're gonna take Sadie to the burying ground.
This verse does not appear in Ashley's 1963 recording with Doc Watson.
The most common version in country and rock styles is attributed to T. J. 'Red' Arnall's 1947 Western Swing recording with Nichols' Western Aces. This version was covered by Johnny Cash and George Thorogood, among others. The 1970 Bob Dylan versions are taken from either of Clarence Ashley's recordings. The song was recently featured on Greg Graffin's 2006 compilation of American folk and original songs, Cold As The Clay.
[edit] Selected list of recorded versions
- 1930 Little Sadie - Clarence Ashley (Columbia 15522-D)
- 1947 Cocaine Blues - Red Arnall with Slumber Nichols’ Western Aces
- 1947 Cocaine Blues - Billy Hughes
- 1948 Cocaine Blues - Roy Hogshed, US Country #15. Music/lyrics attributed to T. J. 'Red' Arnall
- 1940s Chain Gang Blues - Riley Puckett
- 1940s Bad Lee Brown - Woody Guthrie and Cisco Houston
- 1959 Badman Ballad - Cisco Houston The Cisco Special! album
- 1960 Transfusion Blues - Johnny Cash Now, There Was A Song album
- 1960 Bad Man's Blunder - The Kingston Trio String Along album
- 1960 Whiskey Blues - Slim Dusty
- 1963 Little Sadie - Clarence Ashley Old-Time Music at Clarence Ashley's, Part 2 (Folkways FA 2359)
- 1968 Cocaine Blues - Johnny Cash At Folsom Prison album
- 1970 In Search of Little Sadie - Bob Dylan Self Portrait album
- 1970 Little Sadie - Bob Dylan Self Portrait album
- 1970 Little Sadie - Doc Watson Doc Watson on Stage (Vanguard VSD 9/10)
- 1970 Little Sadie - Trees On the Shore album
- 1972 Ode to Bad Bill - Peg Leg Sam (spoken word version)
- 1978 Cocaine Blues - George Thorogood & The Destroyers
- 1979 Little Sadie - Tony Rice Unit Manzanita album
- 1993 Little Sadie - Jerry Garcia and David Grisman, The Pizza Tapes
- 1996 Little Sadie - Freight Hoppers Where'd You Come From, Where'd You Go? album
- 1999 Little Sadie - Mark Lanegan I'll Take Care of You album
- 1999 Cocaine Blues - Hank Williams III
- 2002 Little Sadie - The Sadies - on the Bloodshot Records Sampler -Making Singles, Drinking Doubles
- 2006 Little Sadie - Crooked Still Shaken by a Low Sound album
- 2006 Little Sadie - Greg Graffin Cold As The Clay album
