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John Hardy [Laws I2]
Traditional Old-Time Breakdown and Song; Widely Spread
ARTIST: Uncle Tupelo Version
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes. DATE: 1916 by Cecil Sharp.
RECORDING INFO: Carter Family, "John Hardy Was a Desperate Little Man" (Victor 40190A, 1928; on AAFM1). Sweet Bros. & Ernest Stoneman, "John Hardy" (probably Gennett 6619, c. 1928; on RoughWays1); Dock Boggs, "John Hardy" (on Boggs3, BoggsCD1); Buell Kazee, "John Hardy" (Brunswick 144, 1927; on BefBlues1); Pete Seeger, "John Hardy" (on PeteSeeger16) (on PeteSeeger27);
SAME MELODY: Tom Joad
OTHER NAMES: "John Hardy Was a Desperate Little Man"
SOURCES: Lomax-FSNA 141, "John Hardy". Randolph 163, "John Hardy;" Laws I2, "John Hardy;" Randolph 163, "John Hardy;" Leach, pp. 759-761, "John Hardy;" Friedman, p. 393, "John Hardy;" Lomax-FSUSA 85, "John Hardy;" Lomax-ABFS, pp. 124-126, "John Harty;" Asch/Dunson/Raim, p. 50, "John Hardy Was A Desperate Little Man;" Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 142, "John Hardy;" Hodgart, p. 246, "John Hardy;" JHCox 35, "John Hardy;" (9 text, some of John Henry, some of John Hardy, some mixed: A is John Hardy with a John Henry second verse, B, C, and G are John Hardy with a John Henry opening verse, D, F, and I are pure John Hardy, E is John Hardy with material from John Henry and a "Pretty Little Foot" song, H is John Henry); Courlander-NFM, p. 179, "John Hardy;" Darling-NAS, pp. 235-236, "John Hardy" (1 text); Silber-FSWB, p. 197, "John Hardy;" American Ballads and Folk Songs, MacMillan, Bk (1934), p.124 (John Harty); Native American Balladry, Amer. Folklore Society, Bk (1964), p246; Anthology of American Folk Music, Oak, Sof (1973), p 50; New Lost City Ramblers. Old-Time String Band Songbook, Oak, Sof (1964/1976), p142
RECORDINGS: Carter Family, "John Hardy Was a Desperate Little Man" (Victor 40190A, 1928; on AAFM1); Sweet Bros. & Ernest Stoneman, "John Hardy" (probably Gennett 6619, c. 1928; on RoughWays1); Dock Boggs, "John Hardy" (on Boggs3, BoggsCD1); Buell Kazee, "John Hardy" (Brunswick 144, 1927; on BefBlues1); Pete Seeger, "John Hardy" (on PeteSeeger16) (on PeteSeeger27); Alden, Ray. Old Time Friends, Marimac 9009, Cas (1987), cut# 21; Ashley, Clarence (Thomas/Tom)). Fiddlers Convention in Mountain City, Tennessee, County 525, LP (1972), cut# 2; Bird, Elmer. Elmer's Greatest Licks, Bird, Cas (1980), cut# 8; Camp Creek Boys. Original Camp Creek Boys Through the Years, Mountain 312, LP (197?), cut# 5; Carter Family. Anthology of American Folk Music, Smithsonian/Folkways SFW 40090, CD( (1997), cut# 17; Carter, Maybelle (Mother Maybelle). Dixie Darling, Mountain Dew S 7014, LP (197?), cut# 7; Clayton, Paul. Dulcimer Songs and Solos, Folkways FG 3571, LP (1962), cut# 18; Clayton, Paul. Bloody Ballads, Riverside RLP 12-615, LP (1956), cut#B.06 (John Hollin); Diller, Dwight. New Plowed Ground, Diller, CD (1998), cut#18; Flatt & Scruggs with Doc Watson. Strictly Instrumental, Columbia CS 9443, LP, cut# 7; Greer, Jim; and the Mac-O-Chee Valley Boys. Stars of the WWVA Jamboree, Rural Rhythm RRGreer 152, LP (197?), A.03; Hamilton, Frank. Frank Hamilton Sings Folk Songs, Folkways FA 2437, LP (1962), cut# 5; Harmon, Austin. Library of Congress Banjo Collection, Rounder 0237, LP (1988), cut# 9; Howard, Clint. Looking off Down the Road, Old Homestead OHS-80060, LP (1983), cut# 11; Hunter, Max. Ozark Mountain Folksongs, Folk Legacy FSA-011, Cas (1963), cut#B.06 (John Henry (the Steel Driving Man)); Hutchins, Esker. Clawhammer Banjo, Vol. 3, County 757, LP (1978), cut# 3; Ives, Burl. Wayfaring Stranger, Columbia CS 9041, LP (196?), cut#A.09; Jarrell, Tommy. Come and Go With Me, County 748, LP (1974), cut# 9; Kingston Trio. At Large, Capitol T 1199, LP (1959), B.02 (Getaway John); Koken, Walt. Hei-wa Hoedown, Rounder 0367, CD (1995), cut# 4; Leadbelly. Good Night, Irene, Allegro LEG 9025, LP (195?), cut# 4; Ledford, Lilly Mae. Banjo Pickin' Girl, Greenhays GR 712, LP (1983), cut# 13; Leva, James (R.). Tribute to Tommy Jarrell, Heritage (Galax) 063, LP (1986), cut# 1; McBee, Hamper. Raw Mash, Rounder 0061, LP (1978), cut# 18; McCurdy, Ed. Blood, Booze 'n Bones, Elektra EKL-108, LP (1956), cut#B.03; Miller, John. Let's Go Riding, Rounder 3002, LP (1974), cut#B.06; Montgomery, Chris. Folk Favorites, Clodhopper, Cas (1989), cut# 10; Naiman, Arnie; and Chris Coole. 5 Strings Attached with No Backing, Merriweather, CD (1997), cut#16; New Tradition. 51st Annual Galax Old Fiddlers Convention, Heritage (Galax) 703, LP (1987), cut# 15; Penix, Ron. Reflections on the Carter Family, Take II T2P 002, LP (1981), cut# 6; Pickin' Around the Cookstove. Pickin' Around the Cookstove, Rounder 0040, LP (1975), cut# 8; Poor Richard's Almanac. Poor Richard's Almanac, RidgeRunner RRR 0002, LP (1976), cut# 9; Poston, Mutt; and the Farm Hands. Hoe Down! Vol. 7. Fiddlin' Mutt Poston and the Farm Hands, Rural Rhythm RRFT 157, LP (197?), cut#A.04; Price, Bill & Betty. Bill and Betty Price, Rural Rhythm RRBP-239, LP (197?), cut#A.02; Reed, Ola Belle. Ola Belle Reed, Rounder 0021, LP (1973), cut# 14; Rice, Tony. Guitar, King Bluegrass KB-529, LP (197?), cut# 6; Roberts, Dink. Black Banjo Songsters of North Carolina and Virginia, Smithsonian SF 40079, CD (1998), cut# 8; Round Peak Band. Round Peak Band, Marimac 9044, Cas (1992), cut#B.02; Rutherford, Betsy. Traditional Country Music, Biograph RC-6004, LP (197?), cut# 3; Seeger, Mike. Old Time Country Music, Folkways FA 2325, LP, cut# 15; Seeger, Mike. Philadelphia Folk Festival, Vol. 1 (1962), Prestige International PRI 13071, LP (196?), cut# 8; Seeger, Mike. Folk Songs with the Seegers, Prestige PR 7375, LP (1965), cut# 17; Seeger, Mike. Hootenanny!, Prestige Folklore 14020, LP (1963), cut#A.03; Seeger, Pete. American Ballads, Folkways FA 2319, LP (1957), cut# 6; Smith, Hobart. Hobart Smith, Folk Legacy FSA-017, LP (1964), cut# 19; Stoneman, Ernest (V., "Pop"). Round the Heart of Old Galax, Vol 1. Featuring Ernest Stoneman, County 533, LP (1980), cut# 4; Tenenbaum, Molly. And the Hillsides Are All Covered with Cakes, Cat Hair, Cas (1994), cut# 3; Ward, Fields and Wade. Country Music - Fields and Wade Ward, Biograph RC-6002, LP, cut# 11; Weissberg, Eric. Folk Banjo Styles, Elektra EKL-217, LP (195?), cut# 3; Yarbrough, Glenn. Come and Sit by My Side, Tradition TLP 1019, LP (196?), cut#B.04;
NOTES: One Part; Key G (begins on C chord). John Hardy is popular not only as a song but also as an instrumental solo (banjo, fiddle, or guitar). Here’s some info about John Hardy:
John Hardy was a black man working in the tunnels of West Virginia. In fact, as Alan Lomax remarks, "the two songs ["John Henry" & "John Hardy"] have sometimes been combined by folk singers, and the two characters confused by ballad collectors...."). One payday, in a crap game at Shawnee Coal Company's camp (in what is today Eckman, WV), John Hardy killed a fellow worker. Lomax provides the following additional info- His white captors protected him from a lynch mob that came to take him out of jail and hang him. When the lynch fever subsided, Hardy was tried during the July term of the McDowell County Criminal Court, found guilty and sentenced to be hanged. While awaiting execution in jail, he is said to have composed this ballad, which he later sang on the scaffold. He also confessed his sins to a minister, became very religious, and advised all young men, as he stood beneath the gallows, to shun liquor, gambling and bad company. The order for his execution shows that he was hanged near the courthouse in McDowell County, January 19, 1894. His ballad appears to have been based upon certain formulae stanzas from the Anglo-Saxon ballad stock.... Alan Lomax, The Folk Songs of North America, Garden City, 1960, p. 264; lyrics on pp. 271-273. Harry Smith adds the following info- No absolutely authentic information is available on John Hardy except the order for execution on file in the court house at Welch, McDowell County, "State of West Virginia vs. John Hardy. Felony. This day came again the State by her attorney and the prisoner who stands convicted of murder in the first degree.... The prisoner saying nothing why such sentence should be passed.... It is therefore considered by the court that the prisoner, John Hardy, is guilty... and that the said John Hardy be hanged by the neck until dead... on Friday the 19th day of January 1894." Witness of the trial states that Hardy worked for the Shawnee Coal Company and one pay day night he killed a man in a crap game over 25 cents. From Harry Smith, liner notes, p. 5.
From Mudcat: A parallel situation is outlined in "Folk Songs of the South" by J. H. Cox, 1925, a respected folklorist of his day. The governor of West Virginia from 1893-1897, in a letter, said John Hardy was a "steel-driver and was famous in the beginning of the C & O Railroad. It was about 1872 that he was in this section." The letter goes on to describe his prowess. A Mr. Walker reported a "current belief" about John Hardy, working for a railroad contractor named Langhorn, working on the Big Bend Tunnel. The contractor on the other side of the tunnel had a steam drill. A wager was made that Hardy could drill a hole in less time than the steam drill. Hardy won but died. Some of the ballads, however, go on to describe a John Hardy who later became a gambler and murdered a man. Cox wrote a thesis (Harvard Univ.) and an article with material "showing" that John Hardy was the steel driving man of the ballads. I haven't seen the thesis, but the material in the book on folk songs contains only information from "informants." This is another good story but several scholars have thrown cold water on it, as well.
Ballad Index: Cox prints a copy of the execution notice for John Hardy, who was convicted of first degree murder. He follows this with assorted personal reminiscences about Hardy. Unfortunately, the texts he quotes are very confused (most include John Henry verses among the stanzas about John Hardy), and one has to suspect that the reminiscences are also confused. We also note that Sharp was finding North Carolina texts of the song only 20 years after the murder- a surprisingly quick diffusion. One is tempted to wonder if Cox's John Hardy is indeed THE John Hardy.
Photo of John Hardy before his Hanging
On October 13, 1893, the Wheeling Daily Register published the following article:
WELCH, W. VA, October 12. “At 8 o’clock this morning the jury in the case of the State against John Hardy, colored, for the murder of Thomas Drews, colored, at Eckman, this county, in January last, brought in a verdict of guilty of murder in the first degree. The trouble arose over a game of craps and was a cold blooded crime. Motion has been made for a new trial with but small hopes of success on account of the Criminal Court Judge’s indisposition. A recess has been taken until Monday.”
According to former West Virginia governor William MacCorkle, the case was a “classic tale of women, cards, and liquor.” Drews beat Hardy in a game of craps and, in front of dozens of witnesses, Hardy pulled out his gun and killed Drews. (I’m not sure what women had to do with the murder although the song states that Hardy had two girlfriends as well as a wife.)
In the 1890s, the booming market for coal was bringing thousands of people to West Virginia. Hardy and Drews were part of the labor pool that helped gouge the black gold from the ground for the Shawnee Coal Company. After work, many of the miners would gamble away all that they’d earned during the day. It is said that John Hardy lost twenty-five cents to Drews before shooting him.
Hardy attempted to escape, but was tracked down on the back of an out-bound train by Sheriff John Effler. When the sheriff attempted to arrest Hardy, he fought back. Effler later recalled that they fought for several minutes before falling off the train together. Effler was injured in the fall but bystanders subdued Hardy and Effler arrested him.
Judge Herndon [first name unknown] and Walter Taylor defended Hardy. It was said that the defendant had no money and gave the judge his pistol for his fee. After being convicted, John Hardy got religion. As the song states, he was baptized a few hours before his execution. It was said that he gave an impassioned speech before being hung. Hardy expressed remorse and cautioned others about the dangers of drinking liquor.
On January 19, 1894, the Register published the following story:
“John Hardy, for killing Thomas Drews, both colored, was hung at 2:09 p.m. today. Three thousand people witnessed his death. His neck was broken and he died in 17½ minutes. He exhibited great nerve, attributed his downfall to whiskey, and said he had made peace with God. His body was cut down at 2:39, placed in a coffin, and given to the proper parties for interment. He was baptized in the river this morning. Ten drunken and disorderly persons among the spectators were promptly arrested and jailed.”
As with most folk songs, it is not known who penned the verses that would become one of the most popular murder ballads ever written. Eva Davis was the first to record the song. Davis, a fiddle player and vocalist, teamed with banjoist Samantha Bumgarner and in 1924 traveled from North Carolina to New York to record about a dozen songs for Columbia Records.
The liner notes to the Carter Family CD "Anchored in Love", from the Complete Victor Recordings series, this one being for the years 1927-8, has the following comments on the song: A genuine folk ballad which Maybelle had known all of her life was "John Hardy was a Desperate Little Man." Though early folk collectors sometimes confused John Hardy with John Henry, they were in fact two different men, with two different legends. John Hardy was a West Virginia outlaw who was hanged in 1894; the Carters' reference to the "Keystone Bridge" refers to the town in McDowell County, West Virginia, not far from where Hardy worked and, supposedly, killed a man over a 25-cent gambling debt. During the early days of the centry, dozens of versions of the Hardy ballad circulated, but after the Carter recording, everyone from Johnny Cash to Bob Dylan used this version (notes by Charles Wolfe, 1993).
Here are the lyrics to John Hardy from Uncle Tupelo:
John Hardy, he was a desperate little man
Carried two guns every day
Shot a man down by the West Virginia line
They saw him get away
They saw him get away
They cornered on the Tombstone bridge
He thought that he was free
'Til the deputy sheriff came and grabbed him by the arm
Said "Johnny, come along with me"
"Johnny, come along with me"
John Hardy, he stood inside his cell
Tears running down his eyes
Said "I've seen the death of many a poor boy
Now I'm ready to die
Now I'm ready to die"
Well, I've been to the east and I've been to the west
I've been the whole world round
I've been to the north and I've been to the south
Now I'm going to my hanging ground
I'm going to my hanging ground
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