"The Folk Singer" | |
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Single by Johnny Cash | |
A-side | "Folsom Prison Blues" |
Released | April 1968 |
Recorded | 1968 |
Genre | Folk |
Length | 3:01 |
Label | Columbia |
Songwriter(s) | Charles E. Daniels, Johnny Cash |
"The Folk Singer" is a folk song, written by Charles E. Daniels and American musician Johnny Cash and first recorded by Cash in 1968. [1] It is also known as "Folk Singer" or, less often, "The Singer".
Allegedly about American pop singer Tommy Roe, "The Folk Singer" was first recorded in 1968 and released as a B-side on a 45 RPM live reissue of Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues" single in April 1968. Later recorded by Burl Ives (on the album, The Times They Are A-Changin' ) the same year [2] and Glen Campbell (on the album, Try a Little Kindness ) in 1970, [3] the song reached a wider audience from these versions.
"The Singer" | ||||
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Single by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds | ||||
from the album Kicking Against the Pricks | ||||
B-side | "Running Scared"/"Black Betty" | |||
Released | 16 June 1986 | |||
Recorded | 1985 | |||
Genre | Rock, folk rock | |||
Length | 3:08 | |||
Label | Mute | |||
Songwriter(s) | Charles E. Daniels, Johnny Cash | |||
Producer(s) | Flood | |||
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds singles chronology | ||||
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"The Folk Singer" was recorded by Australian post-punk group Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds in 1985, with a slightly altered lyric, under the title "The Singer." First released as a single in June 1986, [4] the song later appeared on the band's third studio album, Kicking Against the Pricks , which was composed entirely of cover versions.
"The Singer" was performed live on all of the band's following tour dates throughout 1986—1989 and on a number of other occasions up until 2005. [5]
Chart (1986) | Peak position |
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UK Indie Chart [6] | 1 |
Roy Kelton Orbison was an American singer, songwriter, and musician known for his distinctive and powerful voice, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. Orbison's music is mostly in the rock genre and his most successful periods were in the early 1960s and the late 1980s. His music was described by critics as operatic, earning him the nicknames "The Caruso of Rock" and "The Big O". Many of Orbison's songs conveyed vulnerability at a time when most male rock-and-roll performers projected machismo. He performed with minimal motion and in black clothes, matching his dyed black hair and dark sunglasses.
Mute Records is a British independent record label owned and founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller. It has featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Depeche Mode, Erasure, Einstürzende Neubauten, Fad Gadget, Goldfrapp, Grinderman, Inspiral Carpets, Moby, New Order, Laibach, Nitzer Ebb, Yann Tiersen, Wire, Yeasayer, Fever Ray, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Yazoo, and M83.
Joe Melson is an American singer and a BMI Award-winning songwriter best known for his collaborations with Roy Orbison, including "Only the Lonely" and "Crying", which are both in the Grammy Hall of Fame and have both been included in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Melson was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2018.
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are an Australian rock band formed in 1983 by vocalist Nick Cave, multi-instrumentalist Mick Harvey and guitarist-vocalist Blixa Bargeld. The band has featured international personnel throughout its career and presently consists of Cave, violinist and multi-instrumentalist Warren Ellis, bassist Martyn P. Casey, guitarist George Vjestica, keyboardist/percussionist Larry Mullins, also known as Toby Dammit, and drummers Thomas Wydler (Switzerland) and Jim Sclavunos. Described as "one of the most original and celebrated bands of the post-punk and alternative rock eras in the '80s and onward", they have released seventeen studio albums and completed numerous international tours.
Tender Prey is the fifth studio album by Australian rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released on 19 September 1988 on Mute Records. Produced by Flood, the album was recorded during several sessions over the course of four months in West Berlin—where the band were based at the time of its release—and London and dedicated to Fernando Ramos da Silva.
The Firstborn Is Dead is the second studio album released by the post-punk band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. It was first released in 1985. On this record, singer Nick Cave continued his fascination with the American South, with its references to Elvis Presley and bluesmen like Blind Lemon Jefferson. The photography is by Jutta Henglein-Bildau.
Kicking Against the Pricks is the third album released by the rock music group Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. First released in 1986, the album is a collection of Cave's interpretations of songs by other artists. The title is a reference to a biblical quote from the King James version of the Bible, Acts 26, verse 14.
Your Funeral... My Trial is the fourth studio album by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released on 3 November 1986 by Mute Records. Your Funeral... My Trial was originally released as a double EP. The album was issued on CD with a different running order and the additional track "Scum". During this period in his life, Cave was steeped in heroin addiction, perhaps evidenced by the melancholy, desperate mood of this album. This was the final Bad Seeds album to feature Barry Adamson until he returned for Push the Sky Away (2013).
The Good Son is the sixth studio album by Australian rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released in 1990.
Henry's Dream is the seventh album released by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, in April 1992.
Anita Louise Lane was an Australian singer-songwriter who was briefly a member of the Bad Seeds with Nick Cave and Mick Harvey and collaborated with both bandmates. Lane released two solo albums, Dirty Pearl (1993) and Sex O'Clock (2001).
The Best of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds is a compilation album by Australian rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released on 11 May 1998.
In Dreams: The Greatest Hits is a two-record album set by Roy Orbison songs released in 1987 on Virgin Records. It was produced by Orbison and Mike Utley, except for the song "In Dreams", produced by Orbison with T-Bone Burnett and film director David Lynch. All songs are re-recordings by Orbison from 1986, except "In Dreams" from April 1987.
"Running Scared" is a song written by Roy Orbison and Joe Melson and sung by Orbison. An operatic rock ballad, the recording of the song was overseen by audio engineer Bill Porter and released as a 45 rpm single by Monument Records in March 1961 and went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. "Running Scared" also reached No.9 in the UK Singles Chart. It sold over one million copies in the US alone. The song was included on Orbison's 1962 album Crying as the final track on the album.
Michael John Harvey is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter, composer, arranger and record producer. A multi-instrumentalist, he is best known for his long-term collaborations with Nick Cave, with whom he formed The Boys Next Door, The Birthday Party and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.
B-Sides & Rarities is a 3CD compilation by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released in March 2005. It features over 20 years of the band's B-sides and previously unreleased tracks. It is also the first recording to include all members of the Bad Seeds, past and present up to the time of its release: current members Mick Harvey, Blixa Bargeld, Thomas Wydler, Martyn P. Casey, Conway Savage, Jim Sclavunos, and Warren Ellis, and former members Barry Adamson, Hugo Race, Kid Congo Powers, Roland Wolf, and James Johnston. A second volume, B-Sides & Rarities Part II, was released in October 2021.
"Where the Wild Roses Grow" is a murder ballad by Australian rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and pop singer Kylie Minogue. Released in October 1995, it is the fifth song and lead single from the band's ninth studio album, Murder Ballads (1996), released on Mute Records. It was written by the band's frontman, Nick Cave and produced by Tony Cohen and Victor Van Vugt. The accompanying music video was directed by Rocky Schenck.
Martyn Paul Casey is an English-born Australian rock bass guitarist. He has been a member of the Triffids, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Grinderman. Casey plays either his Fender Precision Bass or Fender Jazz Bass.
"Tupelo" is the second single by Australian post-punk band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and the only single from the band's second album The Firstborn Is Dead.
"Into My Arms" is a song written by Nick Cave, and released as the first single from Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' tenth studio album The Boatman's Call in 1997. The single, released on 27 January 1997, was pressed on 7" vinyl, as well as a standard CD single. A promotional music video for the song was also recorded.