(alternate titles: The Railroad Boy; The Fatal Courtship; Go Dig My Grave; In London City Where I Did Dwell)
A Baptist minister from Lexington, Kentucky, Buell Kazee (1900-1976) was born in the Kentucky town of Burton's Fork. Kazee was a performer/collector of Appalachian folk songs (much like North Carolinian Bascom Lamar Lunsford and fellow Kentuckian Bradley Kincaid). He performed prepared programs with a scholarly approach for various audiences. Kazee came from a trained musical background and took pride in his presentation. Aside from Appalachian folk songs, his repertoire also included sentimental songs which he frequently insisted be included in his recordings and programs (Old Time Music, Summer 1976, pg. 17). Kazee recorded 58 songs for Brunswick during 1927-1929 and an additional LP for Folkways in 1958.
From 1916 on, Kazee primarily considered himself a minister with music as a sideline. His precise banjo playing was also one of his strong points which he played in Appalachian clawhammer style. The song "The Butcher Boy" is a widespread Anglo-American ballad (see the references in Smith's notes).
FOR ADDITIONAL RECORDINGS BY KAZEE:
see Buell Kazee (JA 0009a); Buell Kazee Sings and Plays (SFW CD 3810c); and the collections Listen to Our Story (BR 58001a); Collection of Mountain Banjo Songs and Tunes (CTY 515a); Old Time Mountain Ballads (CTY 3504c); Old Time Ballads (CTY 3505c); Banjo in America (KM 204a); Just a Melody (OH 134a); Old Time Music from Kentucky (RND 1037a); Folk Song America (SI 046c); and Before the Blues, Vol.1 (YZ 2015c).
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON KAZEE:
see JEMF Quarterly VI:1, No. 17 (Spring 1970); JEMF Quarterly (No. 50, Summer 1978); Old Time Music 6 (Autumn 1972); Old Time Music 21 (Summer 1976); and Sing Out! 20:1 (Sep. 1970).
OTHER RECORDED VERSIONS INCLUDE:
Traditional American folk: as The Butcher Boy: Joan O'Bryant (SFW CD 2134c); Almeda Riddle (RND 0017a); Betty Smith (FL 75a); and a more recent version by Buell Kazee, Buell Kazee Sings and Plays (SFW CD 3810c); as Go Dig My Grave: Jean Ritchie and Doc Watson (SF 40005c).
Folksong revival: as the Butcher Boy: Molly Andrews (Day Job 1c); Steve Camacho (CK 1127c); David Cohen (KM 119a); Sam Hinton (SFW CD 2401c); Ed McCurdy (RVR 12-601a); Grant Rogers (FL 27d); Schooner Fare (Outer Green 8878c); Peggy Seeger (SFW CD 2049c); as The Railroad Boy: Joan Baez (VG 41/42a, VG 2097a); The GoldeBriars (EPC 24087a).
Country/String band: as The Butcher Boy: The Blue Sky Boys (RCA 5525a, RND 0236c); Kelly Harrell (BRI 002a, VIC 19563b, VIC 20242b); Ola Belle Reed (RND 0077a); as The Fatal Courtship: Ephraim Woodie (OT 102a); as In London City Where I Did Dwell: Roscoe Holcomb (SFW CD 2374c); Morgan Sexton (JA 0055c); as Railroad Lover (George Reneau (VOC 15194b).
Bluegrass: as Butcher Boy: Dan Crary (SGH 3707c); The Lilly Brothers (RND SS02a); as the Railroad Boy: Landon and Lundy (OH 90173a).
Polka: as Butcher Boy: Frankie Yankovic (COL 2095a).Irish: as the Butcher Boy: The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem (COL 2265a); Tommy Makem (SH 52020c,SH 52053 c). Scottish: as The Butcher Boy: Ewan MacColl (RVR 12-612a); Jeannie Robertson (RVR 12-633a).
