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Angels Laid Him Away/Louis Collins
Old-Time Gospel arranged by John Hurt;
ARTIST: From Mississippi John Hurt 1928
Sheet Music: http://books.google.com/books?id=6a2jvNEN6w0C&pg=PA49&lpg=PA55&dq=Blessed+Be+The+Name-+Mississippi+John+hurt&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html
CATEGORY: Traditional and Public Domain Gospel;
DATE: 1900s; 1928 Hurt
RECORDING INFO: Louis Collins
Hurt, Mississippi John. Mississippi John Hurt Today, Vanguard VSD 79220, LP (1966), trk# 12
Hurt, Mississippi John. D.C. Blues, Vol 2. Library of Congress Rec...,, Fuel 302 061 495 2, CD (2003), trk# 1.08 [1963/07]
Welsh, Gillian/ Tribute to Mississippi John Hurt
OTHER NAMES: "Louis Collins"
RELATED TO:
SOURCES: Mudcat
NOTES: "Angels Laid Him Away" is the title Lucinda Williams gives the song Mississippi John Hurt titled "Louis Collins." The song is a borderline spiritual Hurt claimed to write based on personal experience. In the song "The angels laid him away" line is a tag line common in many spirituals so I consider this a traditional spiritual arranged by Hurt.
According to "Masters Of The Instrumental Blues Guitar", Louis Collins is a murder ballad which Mississippi John Hurt composed from hearing people talk about a shooting. He first recorded it in 1928 for Okeh Records and then again in 1963 for Piedmont. Similarly, "Masters Of Country Blues Guitar" says that, according to Hurt, this song (his own composition) was based on a true episode.
From Mudcat: "I learned the song in 1975 from a recording by the Iron Mountain String Band. I do not know when the recording was made. Probably a Folkways recording though I don't have the catalog number.
Recorded by Lucinda Williams (as "Angels Laid Him Away) on Avalon Blues: A Tribute to the Music of Mississippi John Hurt, Vanguard 79582, 2001
My friend Philadelphia Jerry Ricks, who was very close to Mississippi John Hurt, told me that "Louis Collins" was Hurt's favorite song and the real Collins was a cousin to him. "The Angels Laid Him Away" is an alternate title.
In my own record library, I have at least four different recordings of Mississippi John Hurt doing the song. I also have versions by: Bill Bourne; Jerry Garcia & David Grisman; Jerry Garcia, David Grisman & Tony Rice; Last Forever; Bill Morrissey; Philadelphia Jerry Ricks; and Lucinda Williams."
LOUIS COLLINS- by Mississippi John Hurt
Mrs. Collins weeped, Mrs. Collins moaned,
To see her son Louis leavin' home
The angels laid him away
The angels laid him away,
They laid him six feet under the clay
The angels laid him away
Mrs. Collins weeped, Mrs. Collins moaned,
To see her son Louis leavin' home
The angels laid him away
Oh, Bob shot once and Louis shot too,
Shot poor Collins, shot him through and through
The angels laid him away
Oh, kind friends, oh, ain't it hard?,
To see poor Louis in a new graveyard
The angels laid him away
The angels laid him away,
They laid him six feet under the clay
The angels laid him away
Oh, when they heard that Louis was dead
All the people they dressed in red
The angels laid him away
The angels laid him away,
They laid him six feet under the clay
The angels laid him away
Mrs. Collins weeped, Mrs. Collins moaned,
To see her son Louis leavin' home
The angels laid him away
The angels laid him away,
They laid him six feet under the clay
The angels laid him away
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