"The Prisoner's Song" is a song copyrighted by

Vernon Dalhart Marion Try Slaughter (April 6, 1883 – September 14, 1948), better known by his stage name Vernon Dalhart, was an American country music singer and songwriter. His recording of the classic ballad " Wreck of the Old 97" was the first country son ...

in 1924 in the name of Dalhart's cousin Guy Massey, who had sung it while staying at Dalhart's home and had in turn heard it from his brother Robert Massey, who may have heard it while serving time in prison.Palmer, Jack, ''Vernon Dalhart: First Star of Country Music'', Mainspring Press, Denver Colorado, 2005. "The Prisoner's Song" was one of the best-selling songs of the 1920s, particularly in the recording by Vernon Dalhart. The Vernon Dalhart version was recorded at

Victor Records The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American recording company and phonograph manufacturer, incorporated in 1901. Victor was an independent enterprise until 1929 when it was purchased by the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) and became ...

in August 1924 and marketed in the

hillbilly music ''Hillbilly'' is a term historically used for White people who dwell in rural, mountainous areas in the United States, primarily in the Appalachian region and Ozarks. As people migrated out of the region during the Great Depression, the term sp ...

genre. One of the most popular records of the early 20th century, maybe. Although contemporary data show that Victor pressed slightly over 1.3 million copies during the record's peak years of popularity, anecdotal accounts sourced from a 1940s promotional flyer report sales as high as 7 million. The song's publisher at the time, Shapiro, Bernstein & Co., reportedly sold over one million copies of the song's

sheet music Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chords of a song or instrumental musical piece. Like its analogs – printed Book, books or Pamphlet, pamphlets ...

. The lyrics are posted on the wall in the sheriff's office in the film '' Steamboat Bill, Jr.'', and the first verse is (silently) sung by Buster Keaton. It was later performed by, among others,

Hank Snow Clarence Eugene "Hank" Snow (May 9, 1914 – December 20, 1999) was a Canadian country music guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He recorded 140 albums and charted more than 85 singles on the ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' country charts betw ...

Bill Monroe William Smith Monroe ( ; September 13, 1911 – September 9, 1996) was an American mandolinist, singer, and songwriter who created the bluegrass music genre. Because of this, he is often called the " Father of Bluegrass". The genre takes its n ...

, and

Brenda Lee Brenda Mae Tarpley (born December 11, 1944), known professionally as Brenda Lee, is an American singer. Primarily performing rockabilly, pop, country and Christmas music, she achieved her first ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' hit aged 12 i ...

. The first verse was sung by

Liberace Władziu Valentino Liberace (May 16, 1919 – February 4, 1987) was an American pianist, singer and actor. He was born in Wisconsin to parents of Italian and Polish Americans, Polish origin and enjoyed a career spanning four decades of concerts, ...

at the end of an episode of the 1960s television show ''

Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

'' in which Liberace played the double role of twin criminal brothers, both of whom ended the episode behind bars. The song was mentioned in the book '' MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors'' (1968) by Richard Hooker. It was parodied by the two main characters simulating being in jail outside the commander's tent. The song was included in Lyle Kessler's play ''

Orphans An orphan is a child whose parents have died, are unknown, or have permanently abandoned them. It can also refer to a child who has lost only one parent, as the Hebrew translation, for example, is "fatherless". In some languages, such as Swedis ...

'' and the film adaptation of the same name which the character of Harold drunkenly mumbles. The verse sung was altered to "if I had the wings of an angel, over these prison walls I would fly, Straight to the arms of my mutter, and then I'd be willing to die". The song was an influence on Albert E. Brumley's popular hymn, "

I'll Fly Away "I'll Fly Away"( Roud 18437) is a hymn written in 1929 by Albert E. Brumley and published in 1932 by the Hartford Music company in a collection titled ''Wonderful Message''.Richard Matteson, Jr.''The Bluegrass Picker's Tune Book'' Mel Bay Publi ...

" (1929). The song has since become something of a staple on the Irish and Scottish folk music scene and has been recorded by the Scottish folk trio The McCalmans on their live album "Listen to the Heat".

History

The events leading to the song's immense popularity began with a decision by Victor in 1924 to issue a recording of another song ''The Wreck of the Old 97'', also titled ''The Wreck of the Southern Old 97'', which had been a money-maker for other record companies.

Nathaniel Shilkret Nathaniel Shilkret (December 25, 1889 – February 18, 1982) was an American musician, composer, conductor and musical director. Early career Shilkret (originally named Natan Schüldkraut) was born in New York City, United States, to parents w ...

, A&R man for Victor's newly established Country Records Department and his boss, Victor's Director of Light Music Eddie King agreed to have Dalhart as vocalist on the recording.Shilkret, Nathaniel, ed. Shell, Niel and Barbara Shilkret, ''Nathaniel Shilkret: Sixty Years in the Music Business'', Scarecrow Press, Lanham, Maryland, 2005. Shilkret indicated that he felt it necessary to choose a good recording for the B-side of the record in order not to depend entirely on an eight-month-old hit and that he asked Dalhart for a suggestion. Dalhart said his cousin Guy Massey had a song, "The Prisoner's Song", that would be appropriate, and, on August 13, 1924, "The Prisoner's Song" was recorded, with Dalhart's singing backed by Victor singing, whistling artist Carson Robison on guitar, and on viola, Lou Raderman, a Victor violin artist and frequent concertmaster of Shilkret ensembles. This recording was issued as Victor 19427, and became a big hit. Long-lasting controversy over the authorship of the song quickly arose. Dalhart copyrighted the song in Guy Massey's name, taking 95% of the author royalties for himself and giving Massey 5%. Shilkret protested, claiming that the song as Dalhart had brought it to him (Shilkret) was unusable, and that he rewrote the music.Malone, Bill C., ''Country Music USA'', Revised Edition, University of Texas Press, Austin, Texas, 1985, p. 62. The Shilkret family fought unsuccessfully through the 1950s for author credit. Guy Massey had heard the song from his brother Rob Massey, who had actually spent some time in prison and probably first heard the song there. Palmer cites a letter dated October 20, 1924, from Guy Massey to his brother Rob Massey and two of his sisters telling them that he agreed to a 5% stake in royalties because he thought there would not be any royalties. Guy also said that, even though the royalty contract did not mention Rob explicitly, he (Guy) would split the 5% evenly with Rob. Although Dalhart changed his story frequently when he told it in public, he sometimes also claimed to have rewritten the original that he got from Guy. At times there were claims made that Guy had written it and there were claims that Rob had written it. Another story claims the lyrics were carved into the wall of a cell in the old Early County Jail in

Blakely, Georgia Blakely is a city in and the county seat of Early County, Georgia, United States. As of 2020, its population was 5,371. It is located approximately halfway between Columbus, Georgia, Columbus and Tallahassee, Florida on U.S. Route 27 in Georgia, ...

, by Robert F. Taylor, who was at one time held there.

External links

Recording
'Prisoner's Song', Library of Congress.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prisoners Song, The 1924 songs 1925 singles 1926 singles Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients Songs about prison