Where Did You Sleep Last Night
Encyclopedia
"In the Pines", also known as "Black Girl" and "Where Did You Sleep Last Night", is a traditional American
folk
song which dates back to at least the 1870s, and is believed to be Southern Appalachian in origin. The identity of the song's author is unknown, but it has been recorded by many artists in numerous genres. Traditionally, it is most often associated with the American folk musician Lead Belly, who recorded several versions in the 1940s, as well as the American bluegrass
musician Bill Monroe
, who helped popularize the song (in a different variant, featuring lyrics about a train
) among bluegrass and country
audiences with his versions recorded in the 1940s and 1950s.
The song, performed by The Four Pennies
, reached the UK top twenty in 1964. A live rendering by the American grunge
band Nirvana
, which reinterpreted Lead Belly's version and was recorded during their MTV Unplugged performance in 1993, helped introduce the song to a new generation.
, appeared in 1917, and comprised just four lines and a melody
. The lines are:
In 1925, a version of the song was recorded onto phonograph cylinder
by a folk collector. This was the first documentation of "The Longest Train" variant of the song, which includes a stanza
about "The longest train I ever saw". This stanza probably began as a separate song that later merged into "In the Pines". Lyrics in some versions about "Joe Brown's coal mine" and "the Georgia line" may refer to Joseph E. Brown
, a former Governor of Georgia, who famously leased convicts to operate coal mines in the 1870s. While early renditions which mention the head in the "driver's wheel
" make clear that the decapitation
was caused by the train, some later versions would omit the reference to the train and reattribute the cause. As music historian Norm Cohen pointed out in his 1981 book, Long Steel Rail: The Railroad in American Folksong, the song came to consist of three frequent elements: a chorus
about "in the pines", a stanza about "the longest train" and a stanza about a decapitation, but not all elements are present in all versions.
Starting in 1926, commercial recordings of the song were done by various folk and bluegrass bands. In a 1970 dissertation, Judith McCulloh found 160 permutations of the song. As well as rearrangement of the three frequent elements, the person who goes into the pines, or who is decapitated, is described as a man, woman, adolescent, husband, wife, or parent, while the pines can be seen as representing sexuality
, death
, or loneliness. The train is described as killing a loved one, as taking one's beloved away, or as leaving an itinerant worker far from home.
In variants in which the song describes a confrontation, the person being challenged is always a woman. The folk version by the Kossoy Sisters
asks, "Little girl, little girl, where'd you stay last night? Not even your mother knows." The reply to the question, "Where did you get that dress/ And those shoes that are so fine?" from one version is, "From a man in the mines/ Who sleeps in the pines." The theme of a woman being caught doing something she should not is thus also common to many variants. One variant, performed in the early twentieth century by the Ellison clan (Ora Ellison, deceased) in Lookout Mountain
, Georgia, tells of a young Georgia girl who flees to the pines after being raped. Her rapist, a male soldier, is later beheaded by the train.
Some versions of the song also reference the Great Depression, with the "black girl" being a hobo
on the move from the police, who witnesses the murder of her father while train-jumping. She hides from this by sleeping in the pines, in the cold.
1941 and 1952 recordings of the song, under the title "In the Pines," were highly influential on later bluegrass and country versions. Recorded with his "Bluegrass Boys" and featuring fiddles and yodelling, they represent the "longest train" variant of the song, and omit any reference to a decapitation. However, as Eric Weisbard writes in his 1994 New York Times article, "A Simple Song that Lives Beyond its Time," "...the enigmatic train is almost as frightening, suggesting an eternal passage: 'I asked my captain for the time of day/ He said he throwed his watch away.'"
in New York City
in February 1944, is arguably his most familiar. Listed as "Where Did You Sleep Last Night," this version appears on a number of Lead Belly "best-of" compilations, such as Absolutely the Best (2000).
Another familiar version was recorded for Moses Asch
, founder of Folkways Records
, in New York City
. Listed as "Black Girl" or "In The Pines," this version appears on compilations such as Where Did You Sleep Last Night - Lead Belly Legacy Vol. 1 (1996), and The Definitive Lead Belly (2008).
Lead Belly is often attributed with authorship of the song, as on the version released by Nirvana on their MTV Unplugged
album in 1994. However, Ledbetter discovered and reinterpreted it much like other musicians did before and after him. According to the American folklorist Alan Lomax
, Lead Belly learned the song from someone's interpretation of the 1917 version compiled by Cecil Sharp, and by the 1925 phonograph recording.
language and sung under the titles "Pine Grove Blues" or "Ma Negresse," became one of the landmark songs of Cajun music
. The song is most associated with Nathan Abshire
, the Louisiana
Cajun
accordion
player, for whom "Pine Grove Blues" was his biggest hit. His melody is a hard-driving blues, but the lyrics, when translated to English, are the familiar "Hey, black girl, where did you sleep last night?" He recorded it at least three times, from the 1940s onward. Since then, Abshire's version has been covered by a wide variety of Cajun and zydeco
musicians, including the Pine Leaf Boys
, the Lost Bayou Ramblers
, Beau Jocque
, Fernest Arceneaux, Cedric Watson
, and Corey Ledet.
recorded and released "Black Girl" in October 1964. Following their number one hit "Juliet
" and number 14, "I Found Out The Hard Way", both self-penned, their version was much played but only reached No. 20 in the British charts, though it also had some success in the U.S.A.
Nirvana
occasionally performed the song during the early 1990s. Singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain
was introduced to the song by Mark Lanegan
, and played guitar on a version on Lanegan's 1990 album, The Winding Sheet
. Like Lanegan, Cobain usually screamed its final verse.
It is likely that Cobain referenced Lead Belly's 1944 Musicraft version for his interpretation of the song; this is the version Lanegan owned an original 78 rpm of, and the one Cobain's version most closely resembles, in lyrics, form and title. In a 2009 MTV
article, Kurt Loder
remembers arguing with Cobain about the song's title, with Cobain insisting, "But the Leadbelly version is called 'Where Did You Sleep Last Night,'" and Loder preferring the "In the Pines" title used by Bill Monroe (as well as Lead Belly).
Cobain earned critical and commercial acclaim for his acoustic performance of the song during Nirvana's MTV Unplugged
appearance in 1993. This version was posthumously released on the band's MTV Unplugged in New York
album the following year. A solo Cobain home demo, recorded in 1990, appears on the band's 2004 box set, With the Lights Out
. It does not feature the final screamed verse of later versions.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
song which dates back to at least the 1870s, and is believed to be Southern Appalachian in origin. The identity of the song's author is unknown, but it has been recorded by many artists in numerous genres. Traditionally, it is most often associated with the American folk musician Lead Belly, who recorded several versions in the 1940s, as well as the American bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
musician Bill Monroe
Bill Monroe
William Smith Monroe was an American musician who created the style of music known as bluegrass, which takes its name from his band, the "Blue Grass Boys," named for Monroe's home state of Kentucky. Monroe's performing career spanned 60 years as a singer, instrumentalist, composer and bandleader...
, who helped popularize the song (in a different variant, featuring lyrics about a train
Train
A train is a connected series of vehicles for rail transport that move along a track to transport cargo or passengers from one place to another place. The track usually consists of two rails, but might also be a monorail or maglev guideway.Propulsion for the train is provided by a separate...
) among bluegrass and country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
audiences with his versions recorded in the 1940s and 1950s.
The song, performed by The Four Pennies
The Four Pennies
The Four Pennies were an English, 1960s pop group, most notable for their 1964 UK chart topping song, "Juliet". The group's name came after a meeting above the Blackburn music shop owned by Mary Reidy, the shop being situated on 'Penny Street' where it is still located today as "Reidy's Home of...
, reached the UK top twenty in 1964. A live rendering by the American grunge
Grunge
Grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song...
band Nirvana
Nirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...
, which reinterpreted Lead Belly's version and was recorded during their MTV Unplugged performance in 1993, helped introduce the song to a new generation.
Early history
Like numerous other folk songs, "In the Pines" was passed on from one generation and locale to the next by word of mouth. The first printed version of the song, compiled by Cecil SharpCecil Sharp
Cecil James Sharp was the founding father of the folklore revival in England in the early 20th century, and many of England's traditional dances and music owe their continuing existence to his work in recording and publishing them.-Early life:Sharp was born in Camberwell, London, the eldest son of...
, appeared in 1917, and comprised just four lines and a melody
Melody
A melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...
. The lines are:
"Black girl, black girl, don't lie to me
Where did you stay last night?
I stayed in the pines where the sun never shines
And shivered when the cold wind blows"
In 1925, a version of the song was recorded onto phonograph cylinder
Phonograph cylinder
Phonograph cylinders were the earliest commercial medium for recording and reproducing sound. Commonly known simply as "records" in their era of greatest popularity , these cylinder shaped objects had an audio recording engraved on the outside surface which could be reproduced when the cylinder was...
by a folk collector. This was the first documentation of "The Longest Train" variant of the song, which includes a stanza
Stanza
In poetry, a stanza is a unit within a larger poem. In modern poetry, the term is often equivalent with strophe; in popular vocal music, a stanza is typically referred to as a "verse"...
about "The longest train I ever saw". This stanza probably began as a separate song that later merged into "In the Pines". Lyrics in some versions about "Joe Brown's coal mine" and "the Georgia line" may refer to Joseph E. Brown
Joseph E. Brown
Joseph Emerson Brown , often referred to as Joe Brown, was the 42nd Governor of Georgia from 1857 to 1865, and a U.S. Senator from 1880 to 1891...
, a former Governor of Georgia, who famously leased convicts to operate coal mines in the 1870s. While early renditions which mention the head in the "driver's wheel
Driving wheel
On a steam locomotive, a driving wheel is a powered wheel which is driven by the locomotive's pistons...
" make clear that the decapitation
Decapitation
Decapitation is the separation of the head from the body. Beheading typically refers to the act of intentional decapitation, e.g., as a means of murder or execution; it may be accomplished, for example, with an axe, sword, knife, wire, or by other more sophisticated means such as a guillotine...
was caused by the train, some later versions would omit the reference to the train and reattribute the cause. As music historian Norm Cohen pointed out in his 1981 book, Long Steel Rail: The Railroad in American Folksong, the song came to consist of three frequent elements: a chorus
Refrain
A refrain is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse; the "chorus" of a song...
about "in the pines", a stanza about "the longest train" and a stanza about a decapitation, but not all elements are present in all versions.
Starting in 1926, commercial recordings of the song were done by various folk and bluegrass bands. In a 1970 dissertation, Judith McCulloh found 160 permutations of the song. As well as rearrangement of the three frequent elements, the person who goes into the pines, or who is decapitated, is described as a man, woman, adolescent, husband, wife, or parent, while the pines can be seen as representing sexuality
Human sexuality
Human sexuality is the awareness of gender differences, and the capacity to have erotic experiences and responses. Human sexuality can also be described as the way someone is sexually attracted to another person whether it is to opposite sexes , to the same sex , to either sexes , or not being...
, death
Death
Death is the permanent termination of the biological functions that sustain a living organism. Phenomena which commonly bring about death include old age, predation, malnutrition, disease, and accidents or trauma resulting in terminal injury....
, or loneliness. The train is described as killing a loved one, as taking one's beloved away, or as leaving an itinerant worker far from home.
In variants in which the song describes a confrontation, the person being challenged is always a woman. The folk version by the Kossoy Sisters
Kossoy Sisters
The Kossoy Sisters, Irene Saletan and Ellen Christenson, are an American folk and old time music act based around the identical twin sisters Irene Saletan and Ellen Christenson. In their music, Irene sings mezzo soprano vocal, and Ellen supplies soprano harmony, with Irene on guitar and Ellen...
asks, "Little girl, little girl, where'd you stay last night? Not even your mother knows." The reply to the question, "Where did you get that dress/ And those shoes that are so fine?" from one version is, "From a man in the mines/ Who sleeps in the pines." The theme of a woman being caught doing something she should not is thus also common to many variants. One variant, performed in the early twentieth century by the Ellison clan (Ora Ellison, deceased) in Lookout Mountain
Lookout Mountain
thumb|right|See seven statesLookout Mountain is located at the northwest corner of the U.S. state of Georgia, the northeast corner of Alabama, and along the southern border of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Lookout Mountain, along with Sand Mountain to the northwest, makes up a large portion of the...
, Georgia, tells of a young Georgia girl who flees to the pines after being raped. Her rapist, a male soldier, is later beheaded by the train.
Some versions of the song also reference the Great Depression, with the "black girl" being a hobo
Hobo
A hobo is a term which is often applied to a migratory worker or homeless vagabond, often penniless. The term originated in the Western—probably Northwestern—United States during the last decade of the 19th century. Unlike 'tramps', who work only when they are forced to, and 'bums', who do not...
on the move from the police, who witnesses the murder of her father while train-jumping. She hides from this by sleeping in the pines, in the cold.
Bill Monroe
Bill Monroe'sBill Monroe
William Smith Monroe was an American musician who created the style of music known as bluegrass, which takes its name from his band, the "Blue Grass Boys," named for Monroe's home state of Kentucky. Monroe's performing career spanned 60 years as a singer, instrumentalist, composer and bandleader...
1941 and 1952 recordings of the song, under the title "In the Pines," were highly influential on later bluegrass and country versions. Recorded with his "Bluegrass Boys" and featuring fiddles and yodelling, they represent the "longest train" variant of the song, and omit any reference to a decapitation. However, as Eric Weisbard writes in his 1994 New York Times article, "A Simple Song that Lives Beyond its Time," "...the enigmatic train is almost as frightening, suggesting an eternal passage: 'I asked my captain for the time of day/ He said he throwed his watch away.'"
Lead Belly
Huddie Ledbetter, a.k.a. Lead Belly recorded over half-a-dozen versions between 1944 and 1948, most often under the title, "Black Girl" or "Black Gal". His first rendition, for Musicraft RecordsMusicraft Records
Musicraft Records was a United States based record label active in the 1930s and 1940s.Musicraft's catalog encompassed many different musical styles, including classical, folk, jazz, Latin, popular vocal, and calypso....
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in February 1944, is arguably his most familiar. Listed as "Where Did You Sleep Last Night," this version appears on a number of Lead Belly "best-of" compilations, such as Absolutely the Best (2000).
Another familiar version was recorded for Moses Asch
Moses Asch
Moses Asch was the founder of Folkways Records. Asch ran the label from 1948 until his death...
, founder of Folkways Records
Folkways Records
Folkways Records was a record label founded by Moses Asch that documented folk, world, and children's music. It was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution in 1987, and is now part of Smithsonian Folkways.-History:...
, in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Listed as "Black Girl" or "In The Pines," this version appears on compilations such as Where Did You Sleep Last Night - Lead Belly Legacy Vol. 1 (1996), and The Definitive Lead Belly (2008).
Lead Belly is often attributed with authorship of the song, as on the version released by Nirvana on their MTV Unplugged
MTV Unplugged
MTV Unplugged is a TV series showcasing many popular musical artists usually playing acoustic instruments. The show has received the George Foster Peabody Award and 3 Primetime Emmy nominations among many accolades.-Unplugged:...
album in 1994. However, Ledbetter discovered and reinterpreted it much like other musicians did before and after him. According to the American folklorist Alan Lomax
Alan Lomax
Alan Lomax was an American folklorist and ethnomusicologist. He was one of the great field collectors of folk music of the 20th century, recording thousands of songs in the United States, Great Britain, Ireland, the Caribbean, Italy, and Spain.In his later career, Lomax advanced his theories of...
, Lead Belly learned the song from someone's interpretation of the 1917 version compiled by Cecil Sharp, and by the 1925 phonograph recording.
Cajun versions
"In the Pines," converted into the Cajun FrenchCajun French
Cajun French is a variety or dialects of the French language spoken primarily in Louisiana, specifically in the southern and southwestern parishes....
language and sung under the titles "Pine Grove Blues" or "Ma Negresse," became one of the landmark songs of Cajun music
Cajun music
Cajun music, an emblematic music of Louisiana, is rooted in the ballads of the French-speaking Acadians of Canada. Cajun music is often mentioned in tandem with the Creole-based, Cajun-influenced zydeco form, both of Acadiana origin...
. The song is most associated with Nathan Abshire
Nathan Abshire
Nathan Abshire was an American Cajun accordion player who, along with Iry LeJeune, was responsible for the renaissance of the accordion in Cajun music in the 1940s....
, the Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
Cajun
Cajun
Cajuns are an ethnic group mainly living in the U.S. state of Louisiana, consisting of the descendants of Acadian exiles...
accordion
Accordion
The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
player, for whom "Pine Grove Blues" was his biggest hit. His melody is a hard-driving blues, but the lyrics, when translated to English, are the familiar "Hey, black girl, where did you sleep last night?" He recorded it at least three times, from the 1940s onward. Since then, Abshire's version has been covered by a wide variety of Cajun and zydeco
Zydeco
Zydeco is a form of uniquely American roots or folk music. It evolved in southwest Louisiana in the early 19th century from forms of "la la" Creole music...
musicians, including the Pine Leaf Boys
Pine Leaf Boys
The Pine Leaf Boys is a Cajun and Creole band from South Louisiana. Members include Wilson Savoy , Courtney Granger , Drew Simon , Jon Bertrand , and Thomas David .-Career:...
, the Lost Bayou Ramblers
Lost Bayou Ramblers
The Lost Bayou Ramblers are a Grammy-nominated Cajun music band from Pilette, Louisiana.-Career:The Lost Bayou Ramblers were formed in 1999 by Louis Michot and his brother Andre Michot...
, Beau Jocque
Beau Jocque
Beau Jacques was an American zydeco musician active in the 1990s.Beau Jacques is known for his gruff vocals, his fusion of many musical styles onto zydeco, and above all, for the powerful energy of his rhythm and sound...
, Fernest Arceneaux, Cedric Watson
Cedric Watson
Cedric Watson is an American musician. He has been nominated twice for Grammy Awards.-Career:Born in 1983, Cedric grew up in San Felipe, Texas surrounded by the blues, old soul, country, and zydeco music. Though hip-hop was then popular amongst his peers, Cedric developed an affinity for the...
, and Corey Ledet.
The Four Pennies
The Four PenniesThe Four Pennies
The Four Pennies were an English, 1960s pop group, most notable for their 1964 UK chart topping song, "Juliet". The group's name came after a meeting above the Blackburn music shop owned by Mary Reidy, the shop being situated on 'Penny Street' where it is still located today as "Reidy's Home of...
recorded and released "Black Girl" in October 1964. Following their number one hit "Juliet
Juliet (song)
"Juliet" is a pop song made famous by the band The Four Pennies. The track was recorded in 1964.-History:"Juliet" was released as a single in the UK in February 1964 on the Philips label...
" and number 14, "I Found Out The Hard Way", both self-penned, their version was much played but only reached No. 20 in the British charts, though it also had some success in the U.S.A.
Nirvana
Nirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...
occasionally performed the song during the early 1990s. Singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain
Kurt Cobain
Kurt Donald Cobain was an American singer-songwriter, musician and artist, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the grunge band Nirvana...
was introduced to the song by Mark Lanegan
Mark Lanegan
Mark Lanegan is an American rock musician and songwriter. Lanegan began his music career in the 1980s, forming the grunge group Screaming Trees with Gary Lee Conner, Van Conner and Mark Pickerel. During his time in the band Lanegan would start a low-key solo career...
, and played guitar on a version on Lanegan's 1990 album, The Winding Sheet
The Winding Sheet
The Winding Sheet is an album by American musician Mark Lanegan that was released in 1990. It was Lanegan's first solo work, and is notable in its departure from the characteristic sound of Screaming Trees, the band he fronted from 1985 until 2000...
. Like Lanegan, Cobain usually screamed its final verse.
It is likely that Cobain referenced Lead Belly's 1944 Musicraft version for his interpretation of the song; this is the version Lanegan owned an original 78 rpm of, and the one Cobain's version most closely resembles, in lyrics, form and title. In a 2009 MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
article, Kurt Loder
Kurt Loder
Kurt Loder is an American film critic, author, columnist, and television personality. He served in the 1980s as editor at Rolling Stone, during a tenure that Reason later called "legendary". He has contributed to articles in Reason, Esquire, Details, New York, and Time. He has also made cameos on...
remembers arguing with Cobain about the song's title, with Cobain insisting, "But the Leadbelly version is called 'Where Did You Sleep Last Night,'" and Loder preferring the "In the Pines" title used by Bill Monroe (as well as Lead Belly).
Cobain earned critical and commercial acclaim for his acoustic performance of the song during Nirvana's MTV Unplugged
MTV Unplugged
MTV Unplugged is a TV series showcasing many popular musical artists usually playing acoustic instruments. The show has received the George Foster Peabody Award and 3 Primetime Emmy nominations among many accolades.-Unplugged:...
appearance in 1993. This version was posthumously released on the band's MTV Unplugged in New York
MTV Unplugged in New York
MTV Unplugged in New York is a live album by the American rock band Nirvana. It features an acoustic performance taped at Sony Music Studios in New York City on November 18, 1993 for the television series MTV Unplugged. The show was directed by Beth McCarthy and first aired on the cable television...
album the following year. A solo Cobain home demo, recorded in 1990, appears on the band's 2004 box set, With the Lights Out
With the Lights Out
With the Lights Out is a box set, containing three CDs and one DVD, of previously rare or unreleased material, including b-sides, demos, rough rehearsal recordings and live recordings, from the American rock band Nirvana. It was released in November 2004...
. It does not feature the final screamed verse of later versions.
Other artists
Jerry Reed recorded a version on "Jerry Reed Explores Guitar Country" released in 1969.- Joan BaezJoan BaezJoan Chandos Baez is an American folk singer, songwriter, musician and a prominent activist in the fields of human rights, peace and environmental justice....
's version appears on Very Early Joan, which includes performances from 1961 and 1963. - Long John BaldryLong John BaldryJohn William "Long John" Baldry was an English and Canadian blues singer and a voice actor. He sang with many British musicians, with Rod Stewart and Elton John appearing in bands led by Baldry in the 1960s. He enjoyed pop success in the UK where Let the Heartaches Begin reached No...
's "Black Girl," a duet with Maggie BellMaggie BellMaggie Bell is a Scottish rock and blues-rock singer, regarded by some as Britain's answer to Janis Joplin.-Career:...
, appears on It Ain't EasyIt Ain't Easy (Baldry album)It Ain't Easy is a 1971 album by Long John Baldry.According to extensive notes about Long John Baldry's career in the re-release 2005 CD, Rod Stewart was brought on board to produce It Ain't Easy for Warner Brothers. Soon after in 1970, Stewart met Elton John at a party and the piano player joined...
. Baldry performed it and in Columbus, OhioColumbus, OhioColumbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
, on July 19, 2004, his last live performance in the USA before he died. - Blood on the SaddleBlood on the SaddleBlood on the Saddle was a cowpunk band from Los Angeles formed in 1981. They released three albums before splitting up in 1987, with the band's only constant member Greg Davis forming a new line-up in the 1990s, releasing a final album in 1995.-History:...
recorded a version featuring Annette ZilinskasAnnette ZilinskasAnnette Zilinskas is an American musician and singer of Lithuanian ancestry who was the original bass guitarist for The Bangles then later lead vocalist with Blood on the Saddle. She was also a member of L.A...
for their 1986 album Poison Love (Chameleon Records CHLP-8601). - Tracy BonhamTracy BonhamTracy Bonham is an American alternative rock musician best known for her 1996 single "Mother Mother".Raised in Eugene, Oregon, Bonham is a classically-trained violinist and pianist...
performed "In The Pines" at a concert in BrooklynBrooklynBrooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
on February 12, 2010. - Gene ClarkGene ClarkGene Clark, born Harold Eugene Clark was an American singer-songwriter, and one of the founding members of the folk-rock group The Byrds....
recorded the song for his 1977 album Two Sides to Every StoryTwo Sides to Every StoryTwo Sides to Every Story is a 1977 album by American singer-songwriter Gene Clark. The album was Clark's first release since his 1974 album No Other...
. - Cryin' Sam CollinsSam Collins (musician)Sam Collins who was sometimes known as Crying Sam Collins and also, according to one authoritative website, as Jim Foster, Jelly Roll Hunter, Big Boy Woods, Bunny Carter, and Salty Dog Sam, was an early American blues singer and guitarist.-Biography:He was born in Louisiana, United States, and...
recorded a variant of this song called "Lonesome Road Blues" in 1930. - CowsCows (band)Cows are a post-hardcore/punk blues band from Minneapolis, Minnesota. The band formed in 1987 and disbanded in 1998. They were known for a unique mixture of punk rock and blues played with large amounts of noise and surreal humour; their music is often considered noise rock...
covered the song on the 1992 Sub PopSub PopSub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman in Seattle, Washington. Sub Pop achieved fame in the late 1980s for first signing Nirvana, Soundgarden, Mudhoney and many other bands from the Seattle music scene...
compilation album Smells Like Smoked Sausages. - R. Crumb performed "In the Pines" in Hamburg, Germany in 2003. The only known release of this live performance is on R. Crumb's Music Sampler that is included with the R. Crumb Handbook.
- Della Mae's version appears on their 2010 EP, Acoustic.
- Bob DylanBob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
performed the song on November 4, 1961 at the Carnegie Chapter Hall in New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. He performed it again on January 12, 1990 at the Toad's PlaceToad's PlaceToad's Place is a concert venue and nightclub in New Haven, Connecticut, with two other short lived locations in Waterbury, CT and Richmond, VA.-History:...
in New Haven, ConnecticutNew Haven, ConnecticutNew Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...
. Neither of these recordings has been officially released. - Charlie FeathersCharlie FeathersCharles Arthur "Charlie" Feathers was an influential American rockabilly and country music performer.-Biography:...
recorded a version in the 1980s in Memphis. - Jackson C. FrankJackson C. FrankJackson Carey Frank was an American folk musician.-Early life:When Jackson Frank was 11, a furnace exploded at his school, sending a ball of flames down corridors until it ended up in Frank's music classroom in the Cleveland Hill Elementary School in Cheektowaga, New York...
's version appears on the second disc of Blues Run the Game. - Grateful DeadGrateful DeadThe Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
recorded the song on July 17, 1966. It appears as "In The Pines" on their 2001 box set, The Golden RoadThe Golden Road (1965-1973)The Golden Road is a twelve-CD boxed set retrospect of the Grateful Dead's studio and live albums during their time with Warner Bros. Records from 1965 to 1973. After 1973, the band went on to create its own label, Grateful Dead Records....
. - Micah P. HinsonMicah P. HinsonMicah Paul Hinson is an American americana singer and guitarist and recording artist for Sketchbook Records in the United Kingdom and Jade Tree Records in the United States. His debut album Micah P. Hinson and the Gospel of Progress was released in 2004 to much critical praise...
performs "In the Pines" in his 2009 album All Dressed Up & Smelling of Strangers. - Roscoe HolcombRoscoe HolcombRoscoe Holcomb, was an American singer, banjo player, and guitarist from Daisy, Kentucky. A prominent figure in Appalachian folk music, Holcomb was the inspiration for the term "high, lonesome sound," coined by folklorist and friend John Cohen...
recorded a version, available on The High Lonesome Sound. - Peg Leg HowellPeg Leg HowellJoshua Barnes Howell, known as Peg Leg Howell , was an African American blues singer and guitarist, who connected early country blues and the later 12-bar style...
recorded a traditional blues version with Eddie AnthonyEddie AnthonyEddie Anthony was an American country blues and jazz musician. He played the violin.His style of playing, primarily accompanying Peg Leg Howell, offered the rarity of black string band music, which disappeared with the advent of recording blues guitarists. Anthony worked with Howell throughout the...
on fiddleFiddleThe term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
as "Rolling Mill Blues" in 1929 for Columbia RecordsColumbia RecordsColumbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
. - Clifford JordanClifford JordanClifford Laconia Jordan was a jazz saxophone player. While in Chicago, he performed with Max Roach, Sonny Stitt, and some rhythm and blues groups. He moved to New York City in 1957, after which he recorded three albums for Blue Note. He also recorded with Horace Silver, J.J. Johnson, Kenny...
recorded a 1965 jazz arrangement with singer Sandra Douglass. - Dick JusticeDick Justice (singer)Dick Justice was an American blues and folk musician, who hailed from West Virginia, United States.Born Richard Justice, he recorded ten songs for Brunswick Records in Chicago in 1929. Unlike many contemporary white musicians, he was heavily influenced by black musicians, particularly Luke Jordan...
did a version called "Brownskin Blues" in 1929. - The Kossoy SistersKossoy SistersThe Kossoy Sisters, Irene Saletan and Ellen Christenson, are an American folk and old time music act based around the identical twin sisters Irene Saletan and Ellen Christenson. In their music, Irene sings mezzo soprano vocal, and Ellen supplies soprano harmony, with Irene on guitar and Ellen...
recorded a version in their 1959 session with Erik Darling. - Mark LaneganMark LaneganMark Lanegan is an American rock musician and songwriter. Lanegan began his music career in the 1980s, forming the grunge group Screaming Trees with Gary Lee Conner, Van Conner and Mark Pickerel. During his time in the band Lanegan would start a low-key solo career...
's version of "Where Did You Sleep Last Night" was recorded in August 1989, and appears on his 1990 debut solo album, The Winding SheetThe Winding SheetThe Winding Sheet is an album by American musician Mark Lanegan that was released in 1990. It was Lanegan's first solo work, and is notable in its departure from the characteristic sound of Screaming Trees, the band he fronted from 1985 until 2000...
. - Courtney LoveCourtney LoveCourtney Michelle Love is an American rock musician. Love is the lead vocalist, lyricist, and rhythm guitarist for alternative rock band Hole, which she formed in 1989, and is an actress who has moved from bit parts in Alex Cox films to significant and acclaimed roles in The People vs...
's band HoleHole (band)Hole is an American alternative rock band that originally formed in Los Angeles in 1989. The band is fronted by vocalist/songwriter and rhythm guitarist Courtney Love, who co-founded Hole with former songwriter/lead guitarist Eric Erlandson...
covered the song frequently while touring for their first album Pretty on the InsidePretty on the InsidePretty on the Inside is the debut studio album by American alternative rock band Hole. Released August 23, 1991 on Caroline Records, it was Hole's first major label release after their formation in 1989 by vocalist/rhythm guitarist Courtney Love and lead guitarist Eric Erlandson...
in 1991. Love would later marry Kurt CobainKurt CobainKurt Donald Cobain was an American singer-songwriter, musician and artist, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the grunge band Nirvana...
of Nirvana, who also covered the song (most notably on MTV's Unplugged in 1993), and she continued to play the song live following his death in 1994. - The Louvin BrothersLouvin BrothersThe Louvin Brothers were an American country music duo composed of brothers Ira Lonnie Loudermilk and Charlie Elzer Loudermilk , better known as Ira and Charlie Louvin. They helped popularize close harmony, a genre of country music.-History:The brothers adopted the name Louvin Brothers in the...
' version appears on the 1956 album, Tragic Songs of Life. - My Own Private Alaska's version appears on their 2010 album Amen.
- The New Christy Minstrels, under the direction of Randy Sparks, recorded a version for their 1961 debut album on the ColumbiaColumbia RecordsColumbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
label. - OdettaOdettaOdetta Holmes, known as Odetta, was an American singer, actress, guitarist, songwriter, and a human rights activist, often referred to as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement". Her musical repertoire consisted largely of American folk music, blues, jazz, and spirituals...
recorded the song for her 2001 Lead Belly tribute album, Looking For A Home - Thanks to LeadbellyLooking For a Home (Odetta album)Looking For A Home is an album by American folk singer Odetta, released in 2001. It consists of songs written and/or performed by Huddie Ledbetter, better known as Leadbelly.-Track listing:...
. - The Osborne BrothersOsborne BrothersThe Osborne Brothers, Sonny Osborne and Bobby Osborne , were an influential and popular bluegrass act during the 1960s and 1970s...
recorded a version for the album Up This Hill And Down (Decca DL-74767) in June 1966. - Dolly PartonDolly PartonDolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk...
's live version was recorded in 1994. It appears on her album Heartsongs: Live From HomeHeartsongs: Live From Home-Chart performance:-External links:* at dollyon-line.com...
. "It's easy to play, easy to sing, great harmonies and very emotional," said Parton of the song, who learned it from elder members of her family. "The perfect song for simple people." - John PhillipsJohn Phillips (musician)John Edmund Andrew Phillips , was an American singer, guitarist, songwriter and promoter . Known as Papa John, Phillips was a member and leader of the singing group The Mamas & the Papas...
' version of "Black Girl" appears as a bonus track on the remastered CD of John Phillips (John, the Wolf King of L.A.)John Phillips (John, the Wolf King of L.A.)John Phillips is the first solo recording by the Mamas & the Papas leader John Phillips. All songs were Phillips originals, dealing mostly with recent events in Phillips' life, including references to his new girlfriend Geneviève Waïte and longtime friend Ann Marshall...
recorded in 1969. - The PleazersThe PleazersThe Pleazers were an originally Australian-based rhythm and blues musical group that was popular in New Zealand in the mid-1960s.The band began in Brisbane as the G-Men, before moving to Sydney, changing their name and going professional...
recorded "Poor Girl" in 1965. It was originally recorded as "Black Girl," but changed due to it being viewed as racist. - Hugo RaceHugo RaceHugo Race is an Australian rock musician and record producer who has been based in Europe since 1989. He was a member of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, before forming The Wreckery with Nick Barker and Robin Casinader in the 1980s. He is currently a member of Hugo Race and the True Spirit.Race is...
performs "In The Pines" on his 2010 album Fatalists. - Susheela RamanSusheela RamanSusheela Raman is an acclaimed British Tamil musician. Raman has released five albums since 2001. Her debut album Salt Rain was nominated for the Mercury Prize in 2001.-Early years:...
performed "Where Did You Sleep Last Night", on her 2007 album 33⅓. - Dee Dee RamoneDee Dee RamoneDee Dee Ramone was an American songwriter and musician, best known as founding member, bassist and main songwriter of the punk rock band the Ramones....
and Youth Gone MadYouth Gone MadYouth Gone Mad is a punk rock band founded in California in 1980 by Paul "ENA" Kostabi . Youth Gone Mad signed onto the Posh Boy Records roster, scored a minor radio hit with "Oki Dogs" in 1981, and played with bands such as Black Flag, Caustic Cause, The Mentors, The Stains, Fear, and others.The...
recorded a version on their 2002 album Youth Gone Mad featuring Dee Dee RamoneYouth Gone Mad Featuring Dee Dee RamoneYouth Gone Mad featuring Dee Dee Ramone is a collaboration studio album by the American punk band the Youth Gone Mad and former Ramones bassist Dee Dee Ramone, released in 2002 . This is known to contain Dee Dee's final studio recordings before his death in 2002...
; the liner notes credited the song to Lead Belly. - Jack RoseJack Rose (guitarist)Jack Rose was an American guitarist originally from Virginia and later based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Rose is best known for his solo acoustic guitar work. He was also a member of the noise/drone band Pelt....
's version appears on his 2010 EP Ragged and Right. - Doug Sahm of Sir Douglas QuintetSir Douglas QuintetSir Douglas Quintet was a rock band active in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Despite their British sounding name, they came out of San Antonio, Texas. Their career was established when they began working with Texas record-producer Huey P. Meaux, after which the band relocated to the West Coast...
recorded "In The Pines" on the Crazy Cajun label - Pete SeegerPete SeegerPeter "Pete" Seeger is an American folk singer and was an iconic figure in the mid-twentieth century American folk music revival. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead...
's version of "Black Girl" appears on the 2002 Smithsonian Folkways re-release of recordings from the 1950s and 1960s entitled American Favorite Ballads, Vol. 1. - Martin SimpsonMartin SimpsonMartin Simpson is an English folk singer, guitarist and songwriter. His music reflects a wide variety of influences and styles, rooted in the British Isles, America and beyond.-Biography:...
performed live in Edinburgh 2011. - (Smog)'s version appears on his 2005 album A River Ain't Too Much to Love.
- Ralph StanleyRalph StanleyRalph Stanley , also known as Dr. Ralph Stanley, is an American bluegrass artist, known for his distinctive singing and banjo playing.-Biography:...
and Jimmy MartinJimmy MartinJimmy Martin was an American bluegrass musician, known as the "King of Bluegrass".-Early years:Born James H. Martin in Sneedville, Tennessee. Jimmy Martin was born into the hard farming life of rural East Tennessee. He grew up near Sneedville, singing in church and with friends from surrounding...
's version appears on their album First Time Together, released in 2005. - Norma TanegaNorma TanegaNorma Cecilia Tanega was an American folk/pop singer. She was a camp counselor in the Catskills when she signed to New Voice Records in 1966. Her debut single, "Walkin' My Cat Named Dog", reached #22 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, but she never came close to charting there again. She retains...
recorded the song in 1967. It appears as "Hey Girl" on her only album Walkin' My Cat Named Dog. - Tiny TimTiny Tim (musician)Tiny Tim , , born in Manhattan, was an American singer and ukulele player. He was most famous for his rendition of "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" sung in a distinctive high falsetto/vibrato voice.-Rise to fame:Born to Lebanese parents in 1932, Khaury displayed musical talent at a very young age...
's version appeared 1966 on the B-side of his single "April Showers". - Dave Van RonkDave Van RonkDave Van Ronk was an American folk singer, born in Brooklyn, New York, who settled in Greenwich Village, New York, and was eventually nicknamed the "Mayor of MacDougal Street" ....
's version appears on The Folkway Years 1959 - 1961 - Alexander VeljanovAlexander VeljanovAlexander Veljanov became famous through singing in the darkwave band Deine Lakaien which he founded with Ernst Horn in 1985.- Biography :...
's version appears on his album The Sweet Life, released in 2001 - Josh WhiteJosh WhiteJoshua Daniel White , better known as Josh White, was an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor, and civil rights activist. He also recorded under the names "Pinewood Tom" and "Tippy Barton" in the 1930s....
's version of "Black Girl" appears on his 1955 25th Anniversary album, The Story of John Henry, a musical narrative. (Elektra 123) - Doc WatsonDoc WatsonArthel Lane "Doc" Watson is an American guitar player, songwriter and singer of bluegrass, folk, country, blues and gospel music. He has won seven Grammy awards as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Watson's flatpicking skills and knowledge of traditional American music are highly regarded...
often performed the song, and a live recording exists, dating from the 1960s. He performed it faster than many other versions, accompanied only by his banjoBanjoIn the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
. - Josh WhiteJosh WhiteJoshua Daniel White , better known as Josh White, was an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor, and civil rights activist. He also recorded under the names "Pinewood Tom" and "Tippy Barton" in the 1930s....
's recording of "Black Girl" on New York to London (2002). - Piter WilkensPiter WilkensPiter Wilkens is a singer, guitarist, composer, lyricist, and producer who performs mainly in his native West Frisian language...
's version appeared on his 2010 album Fleanende Hollanner. - Link WrayLink WrayFred Lincoln "Link" Wray Jr was an American rock and roll guitarist, songwriter and occasional singer....
recorded two versions titled "Georgia Pines" and "In the Pines" on his 1973 folk-rock release Beans and FatbackBeans and FatbackBeans and Fatback is the 1973 release by pioneer Rock & Roll guitarist, and Shawnee Indian Link Wray. The album was recorded in 1971 in an old chicken shack on Wray's Maryland farm. The music is a blend of Blues, Country, and Folk rock...
. - The Oakridge Boys Recorded a version of in the pines on their 1983 album Deliver
In films
- The song can be heard in the background of the Nicholas RayNicholas RayNicholas Ray was an American film director best known for the movie Rebel Without a Cause....
film The True Story of Jesse James. - A few lines of the song are sung by Sissy SpacekSissy SpacekSissy Spacek is an American actress and singer. She came to international prominence for her for role as Carrie White in Brian De Palma's 1976 horror film Carrie for which she earned her first Academy Award nomination...
, playing Loretta LynnLoretta LynnLoretta Lynn is an American country music singer-songwriter, author and philanthropist. Born in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky to a coal miner father, Lynn married at 13 years old, was a mother soon after, and moved to Washington with her husband, Oliver Lynn. Their marriage was sometimes tumultuous; he...
, in the 1980 film, Coal Miner's DaughterCoal Miner's DaughterCoal Miner's Daughter is a 1980 American biographical film which tells the story of country music icon Loretta Lynn. It stars Sissy Spacek in her Academy Award for Best Actress winning role, Tommy Lee Jones, Beverly D'Angelo and Levon Helm, and was directed by Michael Apted.-Background:The film was...
. - Lead Belly's version of the song appears in the 1997 horror film, I Know What You Did Last SummerI Know What You Did Last SummerI Know What You Did Last Summer is a 1997 American horror film. The film stars Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe and Freddie Prinze Jr. The screenplay was written by Kevin Williamson, writer of Scream, and very loosely based on Lois Duncan's popular novel of the same title...
. - Sung at the funeral of Jo Van FleetJo Van FleetJo Van Fleet was an American theatre and film actress.-Career:Van Fleet established herself as a notable dramatic actress on Broadway over several years, winning a Tony Award in 1954 for her skill in a difficult role, playing an unsympathetic, even abusive character, in Horton Foote's The Trip to...
's character, Ella Garth, in the 1960 film Wild River. - Part of the song can be heard at the end of the movie Lucky Number SlevinLucky Number SlevinLucky Number Slevin, renamed for the German/USA DVDs as Lucky # Slevin , is a 2006 crime thriller film written by Jason Smilovic, directed by Paul McGuigan and starring Josh Hartnett, Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, Ben Kingsley, Stanley Tucci, and Lucy Liu...
. - The song is sung by Danielle HarrisDanielle HarrisDanielle Andrea Harris is an American film and television actress, best known as a scream queen for her roles in several horror films, four of them in the Halloween series: in Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers and Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers as Jamie Lloyd and in Halloween and...
in the 2010 film Stake LandStake LandStake Land is a 2010 American post-apocalyptic film directed by Jim Mickle. The plot depicts an orphaned young man being taken under the wing of a vampire hunter known as "Mister".-Cast:*Connor Paolo as Martin*Nick Damici as Mister...
.
In plays
- The song appears in the 1958 play A Taste of HoneyA Taste of HoneyA Taste of Honey is the first play by the British dramatist Shelagh Delaney, written when she was 18. It was initially intended as a novel, but she turned it into a play because she hoped to revitalize British theatre and to address social issues that she felt were not being presented...
, by the BritishUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
dramatist Shelagh DelaneyShelagh DelaneyShelagh Delaney, FRSL was an English dramatist and screenwriter, best-known for her debut work, A Taste of Honey ....
. It is sung by the character Josephine, who replaces the lyric "black girl" with "black boy." The "black boy" in the play is her boyfriend Jimmy, a black sailor who impregnated her. - The song also appears in the 2009 play Breakfast at Tiffany'sBreakfast at Tiffany's (musical)Breakfast at Tiffany's is a legendary flop in Broadway musical history. The musical is based on the Truman Capote novella and 1961 film of the same name about a free spirit named Holly Golightly...
starring Anna FrielAnna FrielAnna Louise Friel is an English actress. She rose to fame in the UK as Beth Jordache on the Channel 4 soap Brookside.-Early life:...
as Holly Golightly. Sung acoustically by Holly at the front of the stage with just a guitar.
In literature
- The song is mentioned in Charles FrazierCharles FrazierCharles Frazier is an award-winning American historical novelist.Frazier was born in Asheville, North Carolina, and graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1973. He earned an M.A. from Appalachian State University in the mid-1970s, and received his Ph.D. in English from the University...
's novel Thirteen MoonsThirteen Moons (novel)Thirteen Moons is an historical novel published in October 2006 by American author Charles Frazier, his second book after the award-winning Cold Mountain...
. While writing of the progress of the railroad through North CarolinaNorth CarolinaNorth Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
in the years following Reconstruction, the main character, Will Cooper, reminisces of a song "about pines and the head caught in the driving wheel and the body on the line, the narrator pleading to know where his woman slept last night." - One of Manly Wade WellmanManly Wade WellmanManly Wade Wellman was an American writer. He is best known for his fantasy and horror stories set in the Appalachian Mountains and for drawing on the native folklore of that region, but he wrote in a wide variety of genres, including science fiction, fantasy, historical fiction, detective...
's fantasy stories about Silver JohnSilver JohnSilver John is a fictional character from a series of fantasy stories by Manly Wade Wellman. Though fans refer to him as Silver John or as John the Balladeer, the stories call him simply John....
is "Shiver In The Pines", and makes reference to the song. - The poet Alice NotleyAlice NotleyAlice Notley is an American poet. She was born in Bisbee, Arizona and grew up in Needles, California. She received a B.A. from Barnard College in 1967 and an M.F.A. from the Iowa Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa in 1969. She married poet Ted Berrigan in 1972, with whom she was active in...
has written a book length poem sequence entitled "In The Pines" (2007).