“The Alabama Flood”
Author: listed as "Waite" on some recordings
Earliest date: 1929 (recordings, Vernon Dalhart & Andrew Jenkins)
Found in: US
Description
A man on the levee warns that a flood is coming. A few are killed; those who have lost loved ones and homes mourn. The singer asks for a helping hand. Ch.: "Down in Alabama/In the water and the mud/Many poor souls are homeless from the Alabama flood"
Notes
It is a measure of how quickly the music industry operated that the Alabama flood of 1929 reached the peak of its damage on March 15; on March 21 Andy Jenkins and Vernon Dalhart were in the studios recording a song about it, and within a few weeks the records were on sale. - PJS
Historical references
- Feb.-March 1929: Heavy rains cause floods in Alabama that leave 15,000 homeless
Recordings
- Vernon Dalhart, "Alabama Flood" (Columbia 15386-D/Harmony 879-H [as Mack Allen], 1929)
- Blind Andy [pseud. for Andrew Jenkins], "Alabama Flood" (OKeh 45319, 1929)
- Frank Luther, "The Alabama Flood" (Banner 6369/Conqueror 7346/Challenge 812, 1929)
The Traditional Ballad Index is copyright ©2008
by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.
The Digital Tradition is copyright The Mudcat Cafe.