Railroad Bill
Channel: Stephen Griffith
Date: 2020-11-14

Day 241 of the American Songbag Stay-at-Home Series

I've had a few sound problems but hope they're fixed. I took the opportunity to recalibrate the equipment, so I have replaced my 1920 Vernon Parlor guitar with the guitar I got in high school, my 1968 Gibson Dove.

March 7, 1897 - Death of Morris Slater, known as "Railroad Bill"

Sandburg writes: "Whereas John Henry was strong at driving steel and was a kindly family man, Railroad Bill is fierce and deep in sin and cussedness,”a mighty bad man." He carries mean hardware, steals the wives of men, and is a man-killer with the police after him.

"There was an actual Railroad Bill who shot to kill and was feared and hunted. Southern black workgangs have fixed him in a ballad of hundreds of lines. . . .

"The verses couple onto each other like fast mail coaches. Singers hesitate nowhere and stride through this with the clip of a non-stop train. "