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  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Nearly five years ago, I had my first in depth experience diving into music history with my late mentor Joan Crane. This new record "Folk Songs For Old Time's Sake" is a culmination of what she taught me, and harbors mostly traditional material revisited and rearranged that Joan inspired in me. Some of the songs are by pioneers such as Elizabeth Cotten, The Carter Family, Mississippi John Hurt and Jimmie Rodgers, with the mindset of preserving their legacy and exposing their history to my generation and its successors. After starting the music history podcast "American Songcatcher", my desire for preservation has become a mission, and inside the liner notes of the limited edition vinyl gatefold resides a summary of the song or artists history behind the 14 tracks. This installment is the first of many to come honoring the legacy of American roots music.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Folk Songs For Old Times' Sake via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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about

Railroad Bill (Traditional)

From my friends at Ballad of America: ”Railroad Bill" is a blues ballad that dates to the 19th century and has been performed and recorded by many folk artists throughout the 20th century. People have conjectured that the subject of the song is an African American outlaw named Morris Slater who robbed freight trains in the 1890s. Slater's nickname was Railroad Bill. Only a few of the song's dozens of stanzas seem to refer specifically to Slater's activities. Stories about Morris Slater began to surface in newspapers in 1895. Slater robbed freight trains, primarily in Alabama and western Florida along the Louisville & Nashville Railroad line. His method was to throw merchandise off moving railroad cars and pick it up later. Slater allegedly killed at least two sheriffs as they, and a succession of detectives and railroad officers, tried to apprehend him. He was shot to death in Atmore, Alabama on March 7, 1897." This version is inspired by Piedmont blues guitarist Etta Baker’s instrumental rendition, who was a direct influence on Taj Mahal, BB King, Eric Clapton, and Bob Dylan, who wrote “Don’t Think Twice” after meeting her on his 21st birthday.

lyrics

Railroad Bill, mighty bad man
Shot the lantern from a brakeman's hand
Oh honey, it's ride, ride, ride

Railroad Bill, went out west
Shot all the buttons off a brakeman's vest
Well, it's ride, ride ride

Left Jacksonville, bout half past one
Got to Chattanoogy at the settin' of the sun
Well, it's ride, ride ride

Baby, darlin’ you needn't fret
I ain't a fool, Lord, at least not yet
Oh well it's ride, ride, ride

If the river was brandy, and I was a duck
I'd sink to the bottom and I'd never come up
Oh well it’s ride, ride, ride

Railroad Bill he took my wife
Didn’t take much, she didn’t say goodbye
Now I'm gonna ride, ride ride

credits

from Folk Songs For Old Times' Sake, track released September 14, 2021
Nicholas Edward Williams - Guitar, Vocals

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Nicholas Edward Williams Chattanooga, Tennessee

Host of the music history podcast
"American Songcatcher", Nicholas is a 37 year-old multi-instrumentalist and storyteller who is dedicated to playing it forward by preserving the songs and styles that have shaped America: ragtime, Piedmont blues, traditional folk, old time and early country. He's opened for Taj Mahal and The Wood Brothers.

“Beautifully uplifting and rootsy…” - Folk Radio UK ... more

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