Songbook: ‘Duncan and Brady’ | Songlines
Thursday, May 14, 2026

Songbook: ‘Duncan and Brady’

By Paul Slade

Paul Slade hears how a humorous murder ballad based on a darker true story grew into a potent theme for civil rights

Songbook ‘Duncan And Brady’

Illustration of Harrison Duncan from St Louis Post-Dispatch, July 27 1894; James Brady; Robert Crumb’s illustration of Wilmer Watts from his Pioneers of Country Music trading card set

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