Booth Shot Lincoln

Recording Date: 
Sunday, May 16, 2010

Here is part of the the information on this tune from the tune of the week The song “Booth Shot Lincoln” aka “Booth Killed Lincoln” was originally a broadside ballad, probably written within days of the actual event. There are more verses than I would care to count in the version Bascom Lamar Lunsford sang for the Library Of Congress in 1941 and (perhaps fortunately) I can't find a lyric sheet for that version, but I do have a link to the shorter (seven verse) version Cisco Houston sang in the late 1940s. This is one of those songs that has only come down to the present through a few perservationists. I suspect the rather pedestrian pacing and lack of imagery retired the song rather quickly. Here are the lyrics: http://www.ciscohouston.com/lyrics/...incoln.shtml For some reason I didn't record it at that time.

Banjo Style: 
Clawhammer
Instrument: 
GoldTone WL-250 banjo