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| Tom Darby & Jimmie Tarlton, 1920's |
Darby & Tarlton-Birmingham Jail - YouTube 1927
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A post from Mudcat /Digital Tradition on Birmingham Jail:
Subject: Lyr Add: BIRMINGHAM JAIL (from Darby & Tarlton)
From: Dale Rose
Date: 15 Jan 00 - 05:23 PM
Here are the notes (by Ed Kahn) and lyrics for Birmingham Jail from Darby & Tarlton, Complete Recordings, Bear Family 15764, 1995 ~~ three-CD set. While I don't think they settle the matter of authorship, they do make for interesting reading. They also give insight as to how the recording artists were treated by the companies, and how really "rich" they became as a result of their recordings.
I also think this is one of the best of the old time reissues, with every surviving recording by Tom Darby and Jimmie Tarlton, both together and separately. Highly recommended.
This is a traditional lyric that has been collected throughout the South from Missouri, Kentucky, and Arkansas before Tom and Jimmie ever committed it to wax. But the popularity of their recording was so great that in subsequent years their version turned up with increasing frequency. The problem of traditional material finding its way onto wax and the ensuing copyright problems are illustrated clearly in the details of this song's history.
Tom insists that he wrote the song, although folksong scholarship traces this song back long before Darby & Tarlton. Tom remembers: "I sung Birmingham Jail in World War I and there's some buddies that's living yet that know that I did." Despite exaggerated claims, their recording of this song sold about 200,000 copies, which brought them a total of $37.50, which they split. Shortly before the beginning of the Second World War, Tom visited Lennie Davis, a young attorney in Columbus and claimed that he owned Birmingham Jail, and that his copyright had been violated. Tom had copyrighted the song in his name on June 11, 1930. Columbia replied to Davis' inquiry that this song was a folksong in the public domain and produced a copy of the original contract with Darby & Tarlton in which they promised to sing only folk songs and furthermore agreed that if they did use any original material the rights would go to Columbia.
Davis advised Tom that he should try to break the original contract, contending that, in his opinion, this was a yellow dog contract and that such contracts were illegal. Before Davis was able to proceed, he entered the army. He turned the file over to Tom with the advice to find another attorney. Tom turned the matter over to a collection agency that he read about in an ad in the back of a magazine. Tom says he eventually made some kind of settlement with Columbia, but the details are not known.
What is interesting is that both Tom and Jimmie claim the song. In 1937, Jimmie appeared at a reunion of ex-inmates of the Birmingham Jail and sang 'his' song. The event was covered in the old 'Birmingham Post.' What is interesting is that Jimmie contended that in 1925 he was serving an 85-day sentence for moonshining and that at that time his girlfriend, Bessie, was sick and he wanted to be by her side. The story is that he sang his sad song about Bessie and the prison guards told the warden, who went to the City Fathers who pardoned him. The story goes on to say that Bessie died shortly after Jimmie was released from Birmingham Jail.
What we know is that this is, indeed, a traditional song and that it is possible that either or both men put their personal stamp on it.
BIRMINGHAM JAIL
As sung by Darby & Tarlton, November 10, 1927
Authorship claimed by both, but mostly traditional
Down in the levee, levee so low
Late in the evenin' hear the train blow
Here the train blow love, hear the train blow
Late in the evenin' hear the train blow
Roses love sunshine, violets love dew
Angels in heaven know I love you
Write me a letter, send it by mail
Send it in care of Birmingham Jail
Birmingham Jail love, Birmingham Jail
Send it in care of Birmingham Jail
Bessie my darling, Bessie my dear
Bessie I love you, foolish I do
Down in the meadow, down on my knees
Prayin' to heaven to give my heart ease
Bird in a cage love, bird is so low
Kiss me once more love, then I must go
http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=17109#163367
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