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The Unfortunate Rake

Various Artists
The Unfortunate Rake

The story is basically this: a soldier is dying, evidently of venereal disease he contracted from a young woman, and he requests a funeral. Hear how this story has been spun over centuries into a whole collection of similarly themed songs, the earliest possibly dating to 1790. In this recording we are essentially witnessing the evolution of the Anglo-Saxon ballad tradition.

Track Listing

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101
The Unfortunate Rake A. L. Lloyd and Alf Edwards 02:59
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102
The Trooper Cut Down in His Prime Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger 04:30
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103
The Young Sailor Cut Down in His Prime Harry Cox 01:57
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104
Noo I'm a Young Man Cut Down in My Prime Willie Mathieson 02:17
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105
The Bad Girl's Lament Wade Hemsworth 02:49
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106
One Morning in May Hally Wood 02:36
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107
Bright Summer Morning Viola Penn 02:24
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108
The Girl in the Dilger Case D. K. Wilgus 01:08
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109
The Cowboy's Lament Bruce Buckley 02:39
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110
Streets of Laredo Harry Jackson 04:59
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201
St. James Hospital Alan Lomax 03:33
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202
Gambler's Blues Dave Van Ronk 02:44
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203
I Once Was a Carman - I Once Was a Carman in the Big Mountain Con Guthrie T. "Gus" Meade 01:12
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204
The Lineman's Hymn Rosalie Sorrels 01:49
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205
The Wild Lumberjack Kenneth S. Goldstein 01:51
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206
A Sun Valley Song Jan Brunvand and Ellen Stekert 01:28
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207
The Ballad of Bloody Thursday John Greenway 03:44
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208
Streets of Hamtramck Bill Friedland, Mark Newman, and Morris Howarth 02:23
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209
The Ballad of Sherman Wu Pete Seeger 02:07
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210
The Professor's Lament Roger Abrahams 03:25