CrimeSong: True Crime Stories from Southern Murder Ballads

Review\nCrimeSong: A revealing look at the quirky history of U.S. criminal law.
A law professor explores the real-life events behind old American murder ballads.
Underwood (co-author: Kentucky Evidence Courtroom Manual, 2016, etc.) delves into court records, newspaper accounts, and other primary sources to find the facts underlying popular songs about grisly murders and crimes in the South in the 1800s and early 1900s. Most readers will be unfamiliar with many of these ballads, although a few, such as Frankie and Johnnie and Tom Dula (aka Tom Dooley ), are still well-known due to having inspired later musicians such as Bob Dylan and the Kingston Trio. Underwood explores several genres, including the murdered girl ballad often about a man drowning his female lover as well as songs in which women kill men for revenge, whole families are slaughtered, or bystanders lose their lives. In addition to tracing the history behind each song, Underwood comments on the actual cases legal aspects, such as hearsay, circumstantial evidence, or the SODI defense short for some other dude did it. In all, he draws a macabre historical portrait of America, its sensationalist press, and its frequent miscarriages of justice, suggesting that things haven t changed all that much in the modern era. The book includes each of the songs original lyrics along with a rich lode of grainy images and references to further readings and recordings. Overall, Underwood has written a delightful book about a gruesome subject. Even when he delves into the cases and their legal issues, he employs a light touch, sprinkling his accounts with humor: Oh hell, don t bother with him; he ain t nothing but a lawyer, one defendant advises. Besides providing a revealing look at the quirky history of U.S. criminal law, the book also serves as a testament to the sheer weirdness of American culture; in one ballad, for instance, the murder of a family in Missouri is set to the sweet, sentimental tune of Home Sweet Home. Underwood does have an unfortunate tendency to assert that certain topics are interesting a judgment best left to readers but such lapses are rare.
A sometimes-sad, sometimes-humorous look at ballads that have preserved a part of America s crazed, violent history. --Kirkus Reviews\nCrimeSong is a very unique and interesting book, to say the least, one that is sure to be appealing to a very diverse group of readers. CrimeSong is a well-researched, well-written, and highly interesting portrayal of human tragedies that made their way into ballads that speak of both the best and worst of our human nature (love, betrayal, jealously, anger, and violent responses). It should be a most interesting read for anyone who finds pleasure in the reading of murder mysteries. And it should be an even more interesting read for those who have connections to the justice system and interests in observing the law's response to some of its toughest problems. --Robert G. Lawson, Professor Emeritus, University of Kentucky College of Law, "Book Review," Bench & Bar Magazine, Jan./Feb 2017, Kentucky Bar Association\nCrimeSong: True Crime Stories from Southern Murder Ballads by Richard H. Underwood is a unique book that goes behind the words of well-known music to tell about the bad acts that inspired the songs. For generations, American ballads have told stories of murder and mayhem. [Underwood's] meticulous research and expertise in trial procedure combine to recount the details of criminal acts that became the basis for songs. --Jayne Moore, Contributing Columnist, The Courier-Journal, Louisville, KY\nNew paperback edition with new materials including an Addendum and Reading Group Guide
A 2016 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award Winnerand a 2017 IPPY Book of the Year Awards Silver medalist in Southeast Best RegionalNon-Fiction and a Bronze medalist in National Cover Design Nonfiction!
CrimeSong plunges readers into a world of violence against women, murders, familici