The Kingston Trio - "Tom Dooley"
Hit Number 1: November 17, 1958
Stay At Number 1: 1 Week
For one week in 1958, there was a song at the top of the charts about a murderer being executed by hanging. The artists, The Kingston Trio, had had a few other hits in the past, but had never hit #1 before, until "Tom Dooley" arrived. It's a pretty strange and "unique" song to say the least.
The trio was mostly known for their folk sound, which had yet to take off as far as pop music was concerned. "Tom Dooley" was basically their breakthrough hit, and people were finally introduced to what folk music was really all about. It's a strange way for that to happen though, because of what the song is about. The song is reportedly based on a true story.
The story goes that a woman named Laura Foster was murdered by a man named Tom Dula in North Carolina in 1866. Dula was eventually tried, convicted, and hung for his crime. A fiddle player of all people, named G.B. Grayson, had helped in the search for Dula, and ultimately played a big part in the capture of Dula. A lyric in the song goes "Hadn't it been for Grayson, I'd been in Tennessee". The song also sounds more cheery than it really should too, considering someone is being executed in the song. The chorus will lodge itself in your brain though, and it won't leave for a while. The chorus goes "Hang down your head Tom Dooley, hang down your head and cry. Hang down your head Tom Dooley, poor boy you're bound to die."
I actually am a big fan of folk music myself, some of it can be a lot of fun. This one is just too awkward and strange of a song though. Maybe it's the lyrics, maybe it's the fact that it's too cheery of a song with people dying in it. But when I listen to "Tom Dooley" I don't feel anything, and I have no real desire to listen to it again.
GRADE: 3/10
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