By Richard Underwood| 2018-02-16T08:30:35+00:00 February 15th, 2018|Inside and Outside the Cover, Page to Stage|0 Comments
Shall Will Shakespeare equivocate or to his own self be true? AthensWest Theatre Company’s production (directed by Jerre Dye) of “Equivocation” by Bill Cain opened February 9th, 2018, at the Pam Miller Downtown Arts Center in Lexington, Kentucky. “Equivocation”
By Richard Underwood| 2018-03-10T10:45:53+00:00 September 1st, 2017|Inside and Outside the Cover|0 Comments
In Gaslight Lawyers I include a discussion of the case of “Handsome Harry” Carlton. Richard Rovere, who wrote a book about the firm of Howe and Hummel, told of William F. ("Big Bill") Howe’s argument on Harry’s behalf that
By Richard Underwood| 2017-08-30T09:34:12+00:00 August 30th, 2017|Inside and Outside the Cover|0 Comments
When I did a CrimeSong presentation in June 2017 at the Washington County Public Library, in Abingdon, Virginia, as a part of the 2017 Mountains of Music Homecoming festival and the Washington County Public Library Summer Reads program, one
By Richard Underwood| 2017-04-22T18:24:09+00:00 April 11th, 2017|Inside and Outside the Cover|0 Comments
In CrimeSong, Chapter Two, "Real Murdered Girls," I briefly discuss an obscure Cajun tune called “Belair Cove” ("Lanse Des Belaires"). In discussing it, I got off on a tangent and mentioned the fact that the branch of the mulberry tree contains
By Richard Underwood| 2016-12-13T12:27:19+00:00 November 10th, 2016|Inside and Outside the Cover|0 Comments
The true crime story behind the American ballad more commonly known as Frankie and Johnny is included in CrimeSong, chapter two, The Girls Fight Back, “Frankie Baker (Frankie and Albert) or Frankie and Johnny.” There are hundreds of versions of
By Richard Underwood| 2016-12-13T12:27:19+00:00 November 5th, 2016|Inside and Outside the Cover|1 Comment
"It was not a happy state of affairs, and one night in July 1929 the neighbors heard a shot and found Marvin dead in his bed with a revolver near by." CrimeSong: True Stories From Southern Murder Ballads, "Pearl Drew," p.
By Richard Underwood| 2016-12-13T12:27:19+00:00 October 29th, 2016|Inside and Outside the Cover|0 Comments
Have you ever feared being buried alive? Having your body snatched from the underground? Becoming one of the walking dead? Two nineteenth century themes were fear of premature burial (taphephobia), if you are buried alive; This is a safety
By Richard Underwood| 2016-12-13T12:27:19+00:00 October 27th, 2016|Inside and Outside the Cover|0 Comments
Have you been introduced to the stories of Manly Wade Wellman? In my book CrimeSong I discuss the famous “Omie Wise” ballad (you can hear Julie Nelms, Berea College senior perform "Omie Wise" in the video at the end of this post), and I
By Richard Underwood| 2016-12-13T12:27:19+00:00 August 11th, 2016|Inside and Outside the Cover|0 Comments
What is the perennial fascination with murder ballads? CrimeSong: True Crime Stories from Southern Murder Ballads (Shadelandhouse Modern Press 2016) started out as a short article in The Journal of Southern Legal History. I wrote the piece for fun, as
