On the trail of "Little Sadie

As I can't seem to find any evidence on the net, I suspect this is a bit of a long shot - but I wondered if anyone here knows anything about the background to the clbuttic liquidate ballad "Little Sadie" - see lyrics

Is Faster Better 378
Vince sez: Speed is part of the dynamic of the music -- any music, not just BG. But this doesn't mean that you should play everything as fast as possible. Some tunes should...

I am currently researching the 'Song History' section for the above page on our website.

I am hoping someone might be able to confirm that this song is based on a *real* character named Lee Brown probably from the vicinity of Thomasville, North Carolina who, when his woman done him wrong (?), shot her down in cold blood with a 44 smokeless and fled, either north to Jericho, NC or south, perhaps, to Jericho, SC (??), where he was caught and returned to the Thomasville jail to stand trial, sentenced to "41 years to wear the ball and stripes" (surprisingly, rather than the noose - ?).

The details in the song lyrics appear to be too specific for it to be totally fictional so I'm hoping someone can shed some light on who the real Lee Brown and Sadie might have been.

Searching the net I've discovered that variations of the song include "Bad Lee Brown", "East St. Louis Blues", "Bad Man Ballad", Bad Man's Blunder", "Late One Night", "Penitentiary Blues", "sugar Blues" and "Transfusion Blues" (the last two both recorded by Johnny Cash) and the earliest reference (to 'Bad Lee Brown' in Randolph's 'Ozark Folksongs Vol 2') dates back to 1922, whilst the first recording as "Little Sadie" (that I can find) was by Clarence "Tom" Ashley in 1930.

If anyone knows anything about the song's history before this, I would be most interested.

Set lists, was Is Faster Better 379
Michael, That's a great question. Here's my recipe, others may vary. 1. Play your best tune first, no matter what. It doesn't matter if it's a fast song, a slow song...

Very best to all Paul Castle (in London) The Rosinators

Is Faster Better 377
I think Joe hit on alot of good points about playing music. . Another common thing I see is the dynamics of expression and touch...

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