October 5
TOM DOOLEY DAY
This was the day that saw the record charts dominated by a folk song for the first time. It was 1958 and The Kingston Trio scored with Tom Dooley.
The story, told in song, is of an embittered Civil War veteran, Tom Dula. It seems that he had been forced to make a confession just before having to face the gallows, saying that he had killed his girlfriend out of jealousy. Some said he was innocent.
The story became a folk song in the 1860s, and The Kingston Trio, a group of clean-cut, shorthaired, button-down shirted, young men, rode the folk revival to fame and fortune with their rendition of Tom Dooley.
Those Were the Days, the Today in History service from 440 International
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