The start of it all...songs about coal:
Blue Tattoo (Coal Town Road) - Sandy Denny
and the same song, albeit under a different title:
Coal Tattoo - The Kingston Trio
Coal Miner's Blues - The Carter Family
Loading Coal - Johnny Cash
Coal Miner's Daughter - Loretta Lynn
Working In A Coal Mine - Lee Dorsey
Sprinkle Coal Dust On My Grave - Orville Jenks
Coal Train Robberies (Demo) - Elvis Costello
Coal Smoke, Valve Oil and Steam - Johnny Horton
More songs...about mining and miners:
The Springhill Mine Disaster - Luke Kelly (The Dubliners)
Miner's Prayer - Ralph Stanley and Dwight Yoakam
Miner's Refrain - Gillian Welch
The Dying Miner - Woody Guthrie
Songs about coal mining that contain neither of the words 'coal' or 'mining' in the title!:
Sixteen Tons - Tennessee Ernie Ford
Dark As A Dungeon - Merle Travis
Which Side Are You On? - Natalie Merchant
Big Bad John - Jimmy Dean
My Young Man - Kate Rusby
(see a beautiful video/photo montage to go with this song here. This also links nicely with the weekly theme over at Star Maker Machine, as it houses a 'secret' track - the traditional The Big Ship Sails on the Ally-Ally-Oh. My second post at SMM features Kate Rusby too).
Songs that really have very little to do with coal mining at all, but are worthy of inclusion nonetheless:
Old Chunk of Coal - Billy Joe Shaver
Coal to Diamonds - Gossip
Diamonds and Coal - Incubus
A fantastic collection of songs, I think you will agree.
Update: I can't believe that I forgot to include the following beauty...it has only just occurred to me!
If I Had A Son - Vin Garbutt
10 comments:
Wow - anyone posting a Johnny Horton track I never heard of gets my respect. Nicely done.
Thanks :o) And thank you for taking the time to leave a comment...I always appreciate that. I hope you like the track?
Great Post!
I think Merle Travis takes the cake, but here's another: Devo – Working In A Coalmine
It's there petal...only by Lee Dorsey. I thought of you whilst putting this up, too, because I found out that Tom T. Hall did a song called 'I'm A Coal Mining Man', only I couldn't find an mp3 of it to include :o(
Don't suppose you have Peggy Seeger's original 'Springhill Mining Disaster' do you? I would swap The Dubliners for her if I could find it!
And thank you :o) Yes, Merle is the only one there with two songs...'Sixteen Tons' is his as well, isn't it? Although I've only heard Tennessee Ernie Ford and Johnny Cash do it, I think.
There are plenty more too...these were just the cream of the crop. But keep the suggestions coming!
Don't forget Uncle Tupelo's cover of "Coalminers" from their March album. Great, haunting stuff.
Hi LD...welcome! :o)
I haven't heard that...in fact, I don't think I've ever heard Uncle Tupelo, bar their name!
I'm sorry, I am musically ignorant :o(
Divinyl, you are DEFINITELY not musically ignorant.
Here is the Uncle Tupelo track: Uncle Tupelo - Coalminers
I think you will like them. Their first two records have a punk edge. This comes from their third album which is real folky. Their fourth and final album is more alt-countryish.
Thanks Paul :o) I think I may check them out further.
very nice set, very nice.
Thanks LJ :o) If you like these tracks, you should definitely check out my current series of 'state songs' posts!
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