Little Sadie

"Little Sadie" is a 20th Century American folk ballad. It is also known variously as "Bad Lee Brown", "Cocaine Blues", "Transfusion Blues", "East St. Louis Blues", "Late One Night", "Penitentiary Blues" and other titles. It tells the story of a man who is apprehended after shooting his wife/girlfriend. He is then sentenced by a judge.

The earliest written record of the song dates from 1922 [Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle [http://www.csufresno.edu/folklore/ballads/LI08.html "Bad Lee Brown (Little Sadie) [Laws I8] "] Traditional Ballad Index] the lyric fragment below, transcribed in Joplin, Missouri, is noted in the 1948 book "Ozark Folksongs, Vol. II",

"Bad Lee Brown"

"Last night I was a-makin' my rounds,"

"Met my old woman an' I blowed her down,"

"I went on home to go to bed,"

"Put my old cannon right under my head."

"Jury says murder in the first degree,"

"I says oh Lord, have mercy on me!"

"Old Judge White picks up his pen,"

"Says you'll never kill no woman ag'in."

Some versions refer to the Sheriff of Thomasville, North Carolina apprehending the murderer in Jericho, South Carolina (Jericho is in Charleston County, near Hollywood, South Carolina). Other versions transpose Juarez, Mexico for Jericho.

In the first sound recording (the 1930 recording by Clarence "Tom" Ashley, referenced below), Little Sadie seems to have been a prostitute:

"I woke next morning 'bout half past nine,"

"The buggies and the hacks all (swarmed?) in line,"

"The pimps and the gamblers all standing around,"

"They're gonna take Sadie to the burying ground."

This verse does not appear in Ashley's 1963 recording with Doc Watson.

The most common version in country and rock styles is attributed to T. J. 'Red' Arnall's 1947 Western Swing recording with Nichols' Western Aces. This version was covered by Johnny Cash, The Grateful Dead and George Thorogood, among others. The 1970 Bob Dylan versions are taken from either of Clarence Ashley's recordings.

Some researchers have suggested that "Little Sadie" may have been an influence on the 1960s song "Hey Joe".

References

* Roud Folk Song Index 780
* Laws Ballad Index I8
* [http://www.csufresno.edu/folklore/ballads/LI08.html The Traditional Ballad Index LI08]

* Lyle Lofgren [http://www.lizlyle.lofgrens.org/RmOlSngs/RTOS-Sadie.html "Remembering The Old Songs: Little Sadie"] "Inside Bluegrass", January 2002
* Paul Castle [http://www.lizlyle.lofgrens.org/RmOlSngs/RTOS-Sadie.html Little Sadie]
* [http://bluegrassmessengers.com/master/littlesadie10.html Bluegrass Messengers: Bad Lee Brown/Little Sadie]
* Miller Jr., E. John; & Michael Cromie "Folk Guitar", Quadrangle, (1968), p109
* "Sing Out! Reprints", Sing Out, (196?), 9, p35
* Bailey, Hobart. Rosenbaum, Art "Old-Time Mountain Banjo", Oak, (1968), p56

elected list of recorded versions

*1930 Little Sadie - Clarence Ashley (Columbia 15522-D)
*1939 Bad Man Ballad - Willie Rayford, recorded at Cummins State Farm, near Varner, Arkansas by John and Ruby Lomax
*1947 Cocaine Blues - Red Arnall with Slumber Nichols’ Western Aces
*1947 Cocaine Blues - Billy Hughes
*1948 Cocaine Blues - Roy Hogshed, US Country #15. Music/lyrics attributed to T. J. 'Red' Arnall
*1940s Chain Gang Blues - Riley Puckett
*1940s Bad Lee Brown - Woody Guthrie and Cisco Houston
*1959 Badman Ballad - Cisco Houston "The Cisco Special!" album
*1960 Transfusion Blues - Johnny Cash "Now, There Was A Song" album
*1960 Bad Man's Blunder - The Kingston Trio "String Along" album
*1960 Whiskey Blues - Slim Dusty
*1963 Little Sadie - Clarence Ashley "Old-Time Music at Clarence Ashley's, Part 2" (Folkways FA 2359)
*1968 Cocaine Blues - Johnny Cash "At Folsom Prison" album
*1970 In Search of Little Sadie - Bob Dylan "Self Portrait" album
*1970 Little Sadie - Bob Dylan "Self Portrait" album
*1970 Little Sadie - Doc Watson "Doc Watson on Stage" (Vanguard VSD 9/10)
*1970 Little Sadie - Trees "On the Shore" album
*1972 Ode to Bad Bill - Peg Leg Sam (spoken word version)
*1978 Cocaine Blues - George Thorogood & The Destroyers
*1979 Little Sadie - Tony Rice Unit, "Manzanita" album
*1993 Little Sadie - Jerry Garcia and David Grisman, "The Pizza Tapes"
*1996 Little Sadie - Freight Hoppers "Where'd You Come From, Where'd You Go?" album
*1999 Little Sadie - Mark Lanegan "I'll Take Care of You" album
*1999 Cocaine Blues - Hank Williams III
*2001 Little Sadie - Old Crow Medicine Show - "The Troubles Up and Down the Road" EP
*2002 Little Sadie - The Sadies - on the Bloodshot Records Sampler -Making Singles, Drinking Doubles
*2003 Cocaine Blues - Eddie Spaghetti "The Sauce"
*2004 Little Sadie - The Radiators - " Live DVD
*2006 Little Sadie - The Rosinators
*2006 Little Sadie - Crooked Still "Shaken by a Low Sound" album
*2006 Little Sadie - Greg Graffin "Cold As The Clay" album
*2007 Little Sadie - Groanbox Boys "Fences Come Down" album