Alabama Flood, The

DESCRIPTION: A man on the levee warns that a flood is coming. A few are killed; those who have lost loved ones and homes mourn. The singer asks for a helping hand. Ch.: "Down in Alabama/In the water and the mud/Many poor souls are homeless from the Alabama flood"
AUTHOR: listed as "Waite" on some recordings
EARLIEST DATE: 1929 (recordings, Vernon Dalhart & Andrew Jenkins)
KEYWORDS: grief death river disaster flood
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Feb.-March 1929: Heavy rains cause floods in Alabama that leave 15,000 homeless
FOUND IN: US
Roud #21696
RECORDINGS:
Vernon Dalhart, "Alabama Flood" (Columbia 15386-D/Harmony 879-H [as Mack Allen], 1929)
Blind Andy [pseud. for Andrew Jenkins], "Alabama Flood" (OKeh 45319, 1929)
Frank Luther, "The Alabama Flood" (Banner 6369/Conqueror 7346/Challenge 812, 1929)
NOTES [70 words]: It is a measure of how quickly the music industry operated that the Alabama flood of 1929 reached the peak of its damage on March 15; on March 21 Andy Jenkins and Vernon Dalhart were in the studios recording a song about it, and within a few weeks the records were on sale. - PJS
This raises the obvious suspicion that Andrew Jenkins wrote the song. But there seems to be no evidence in support of this hypothesis. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.4
File: RcAlaFl

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