THE TOM DULA LEGEND IN SONG
Given its notoriety at the time the events took place, and its subsequent elevation into legend, the Tom Dula story has attracted more than its share of ballads.
North Carolina poet Thomas C. Land wrote a poem about the events, “The Murder of Laura Foster” (sometimes called “The Death of Laura Foster” or “The Ballad of Laura Foster”) that was later set to music. Folk singer Sheila Clark recorded a version of the tune for her 1986 album The Legend of Tom Dooley and Other Tragic Love Ballads, which included renditions of three other Dooley ballads:
Land is also sometime credited with the lyrics of the best-known song about the killing, “Tom Dooley,” which has been recorded by numerous artists. However, the author of the latter piece is unknown. The first known recorded version of “Tom Dooley” was by Grayson and Whitter in 1929. G. B. Grayson (1887–1930) was a native of Ashe County. He had a personal connection to the Dula story via his uncle, James Grayson. The latter had served in the Union army during the Civil War and had been involved in the attempt to burn down several railroad bridges in Carter County, Tennessee in November 1861; he later was involved in the capture of Dula. Although nearly blind, Grayson began traveling as a singer and fiddler in the 1910s. In 1927, he met Henry Whitter at a fiddler’s convention. Whitter , a native of Fries, Virginia, was a guitarist who had already established a career as a recording artist. The two teamed up and became a successful bluegrass touring and recording act, until Grayson’s death in 1930.
The song was sometimes later misattributed to banjo player Frank Proffitt, who instead played a major role in its preservation in its best-known form and in its later popularity. Proffitt was a Tennessee native who was raised in Watauga County and who learned the song from older relatives who had known both Dula and Foster. In 1937 he became acquainted with folksong collectors Frank and Anne Warner, whom he assisted in gathering ballads, among them “Tom Dooley.” The Warners recorded a snippet of Profitt singing the ballad in 1940 and copied down the rest of the song in writing. The Warners in turn shared the songs collected with Proffitt’s help with ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax, who published it in one of his books on folk music, Folk Song: USA (1947), compiled with his father John A. Lomax.
The excerpt from “Tom Dooley,” performed by Proffitt and recorded by the Warners, may be heard at the Library of Congress website: https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200196323/ Frank Warner went on to record his own version of the song, derived from the tradition related by Proffitt, which was released on his 1952 album Frank Warner Sings American Folk Songs and Ballads.
A professionally recorded, full-length version of Proffitt’s rendition of “Tom Dooley” was included in his debut album, Frank Proffitt Sings Folk Songs, produced by Frank Warner and released by Folkways Records in 1961. In between the release of Warner’s recording in 1952 and Proffitt’s album, other artists recorded Proffitt’s version of the song, with some variations in lyrics. The most popular of these was the 1958 recording by the Kingston Trio, for whom it was a major hit.
The Kingston Trio is one of the longest-running acts in contemporary folk music, enduring many membership changes. The group was initially founded in 1957 in the San Francisco area. The original lineup consisted of Dave Guard, Bob Shane, and Nick Reynolds. In 1958 they released their self-titled first album, which included their version of the Frank Proffitt rendition of “Tom Dooley.” Released as a single, the song became the number one hit in the country briefly, and sparked the folk revival movement of the late 1950s through the mid 1960s, making it an important recording far beyond its worth musically.
As time passed, interest in the song led to members of the trio providing various explanations as to how they came across the song. The original LP claimed that the song was a traditional ballad arranged by Trio member Dave Guard; the liner notes on the album jacket, however, stated that it was a classic song from the Tennessee mountains. Later, members of the group claimed that it was learned by band members listening to an “unknown singer” auditioning at a local nightclub. Liner notes on a CD boxed set, however, claimed that according to Dave Guard the group had first heard the song from a 1953 recording by the Folksay Trio. However, that recording is lacking a verse that was otherwise available in the transcription provided in the Lomax book Folk Song: USA (1947). As the Kingston Trio copyrighted the song in their own name on the record, this led to a lawsuit that was settled out-of-court in 1962. The result was that future royalties of the song went to Ludlow Music, the company that represented John A. and Alan Lomax and Frank Warner, although according to the latter half of his own share went to Frank Proffitt.
The “Tom Dooley” ballad which, in variations, was associated with (among others) Frank Proffitt, Frank Warner, and the Kingston Trio, enjoyed many recordings by various artists over subsequent years, including Doc Watson (1964).
Yet another major Tom Dooley ballad exists, however. This was documented in Newman Ivey White’s multi-volume The Frank C. Brown Collection of North Carolina Folklore under the title of “Tom Dula’s Lament.” Allegedly composed by Dula himself during the period following his conviction, the lyrics depict Dula as lamenting his crime and acknowledging Laura Foster’s supposedly deep love for him, and also her fondness for the music that Tom played on his banjo. “Dula” concludes by confessing
I’ve lived my life of sin, I’ve had my bit of fun. Come, Ann, kiss me goodbye, my race is nearly run.
Although the true author of the song is unknown, it represents how many imagined Dula’s feelings. Unfortunately, a search has failed to turn up a recording of this particular Dula ballad.
While the truth of the Dula-Foster case remains a matter of conjecture and controversy, the various ballad cycles associated with it remain popular and, for many listeners and performers alike, offers a satisfying explanation for the events depicted.
by Mike Coffey, Research Historian
