JPF Home Page Forums General Messages General Message Forum So Where Does Your Song Rank On Ourstage?

I have been playing "Omie Wise" for twenty years. It's one M, not two. Elvis does the song justice. I like the Doc Watson version better. He plays it out of an eerie Am.
Omie wise is a murder ballad as were much of the songs from Appalachia of the late 19th century. Most people were illiterate and news spread through music. Only the well -to-do read newspapers and most folks relied on song for their news. That's where the "murder ballad" started.