Denim Quilt, April 2007
2 months ago
Rebecca Dart, a Vancouver comic book artist and animator, is turning heads this week with her fresh visualization of the old-time tune "On the Banks of the Ohio." Click on each panel to see her wonderful linework enlarged.
Says Wikipedia of this tune: "Banks of the Ohio is a 19th century murder ballad, written by unknown authors, in which 'Willie' invites his young lover for a walk during which she rejects his marriage proposal. Once they are alone on the river bank, he murders the young woman.
"The first recording of the song was by Red Patterson's Piedmont Log Rollers on August 12, 1927. The song has since been recorded numerous times, by Henry Whitter, Ernest Stoneman, Clayton McMichen, The Carter Family, Blue Sky Boys (whose version, performed in 1936, appears in the soundtrack of the 1973 film Paper Moon), Johnny Cash, Monroe Brothers, Joan Baez, Olivia Newton-John (with Mike Sammes, in 1971, her second commercial single in the United States), Dave Guard and the Whiskeyhill Singers, and Doc Watson, with slightly different lyrics when sung by a female.
"The song is similar in subject to Pretty Polly, and likely tells the same story (Both songs date from approximately the same time, tell roughly the same story, and feature a villain named 'Willie')."
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Very similar to "Knoxville Girl" as well. Willy had a different motive in that one, and a different river. The outcome was much the same though.
Thanks for the great artwork!
Jeff from GA said...
1:01 PM
Funny, Dave! I started a post this evening on this same ballad, because I planned to post some good sunset shots I took in Point Pleasant last weekend.
A few things about the song: it seems to not be based on any actual event that anyone has discovered. Willie is commonly a villain in ballads--when you hear his name you know trouble is coming!
Lily-white refers to those pure of heart and/or morals. While most people agree that Willie murdered his "own true love" (some guy!) because she was pregnant, I have to wonder about that because of the reference to lily-white. I think she refused him because she loved someone else and he was a bit on the obsessive-compulsive side.
There are so many murder ballads, you'd think a girl would have learned not to mess with a guy named Willie! Maybe news just traveled slowly back then.
Granny Sue said...
8:33 PM
Wonderful work!
Pretty Polly seems obviously related to Banks of the Ohio, but Pretty Polly is perhaps a century or more older, and doesn't date from the same period. As The Cruel Ships Carpenter, or the Gosport Tragedy, Pretty Polly was known in England in the 1700s.
I love these old ballads, and hope they will continue to be sung and interpreted by new generations.
Mark said...
7:40 PM