John Jacob Niles - The Maid Freed From The Gallows 2010 LDG Video

[moorcinn]

Simply great. I know this song from "Mr. Lonely"... This video is really good work.

[mahound9]

"Time's up, sailor man..."

[madahad9]

I still can't listen to this song without tearing up thinking about the sheep being put down by the Three Stooges and the reactions of Madonna, James Dean, Sammy Davis Jr. To show the carnage would have been cruel, but leaving it in the viewer's imagination is what makes the scene all the more sad.

[tooken]

Thank you to all the viewers and the comments on this video. I am very glad that you appreciated it regardless being an odd approach to video :)

[andrewjordanmiller]

thanks for the upload, i have on vinyl a wonderful performance from a folk festival that JJN gave. maybe ill toss it up here and letcha know :)

[Jugglerclown]

very nice video :)

[nibbles74]

Thank you mister lonely

[ivycompton]

It's indeed shocking how little video there is on this extraordinary guy. I have a short documentary about him, but I long to see live footage! I love his voice and hope somebody can dig up the goods. Thanks for posting this!

[13oxes]

thanks mate. it's a real masterpiece.

[ThatChrisJensen]

AMAZING! Thank you so much for this! I too discoverd this song on Harmony Korine's "Mister Lonely" and fell absolutely in love! Beautiful!!

[therealartwerx]

i couldn't find a way to friend you or send you a message so i guess i'll just ask here in the video comments box...where was that tornado footage taken? we lived all over the US when i was a kid & there's family stories of disasters averted. one tornado went up one side of the street of our old hometown in ohio, & only destroyed those houses, left the other side untouched! i guess that story goes with the song also! :)

[timjmoran]

Phew.... Pretty nightmarish stuff, there , TOOKEN !! This is kinda like if David Lynch

had created a visual to go w/ Mr. Niles haunting, chill-bump-inducing music.

Verrry nice.....

[tooken]

@timjmoran Hi! Sorry to reply just now but thanks a lot for your comment. I feel truly flattered. Thanks!

[timjmoran]

Does anyone have any info about his amazing Dulcimers? I heard he made them

himself- but I have never seen anything like them before or since. They seem to

be loosely based on a Lute shape, with a giant neck attached- and they appear

to be 8 stringed instruments. Are they fretless? Looks like they might be a real

handful to play.

[georgiafatwood]

@timjmoran Bet you've googled dulcimers by now..not fretless and really not at all difficult to play. 4-strings I think. Many stringed instruments makers,esp in SE/US build them. You might also like to see hammered dulcimers that ARE more difficult to play, and psalteries (psaltery) Found this when hunting for "Maid Freed From The Gallows" As in a MFFTG moment...sort of like JITNOT moments...(Just In The Nick Of Time!) Important acronyms from time to time.Thanx, Mr. Niles/thnx B. Raitt..RSVP

[timjmoran]

@georgiafatwood Take a look at the vid for "LITTLE BLACK STAR" and tell me if you see any frets on that

Dulcimer... it's a most unusual looking instrument- likely one of a kind- Much like Mr Niles himself. An

INCREDible, once-in-a-Lifetime voice. Gives me chills every time I hear him sing.

[georgiafatwood]

@timjmoran looks like a cross between a dulcimer and a lute>see other vids for more pics of his instruments>some of instruments being built>also a reply from his son in comments>somebody in the KY LUTHIERS could surely give better info>John Cook(Fayetteville Ark)on FB builds amazing stringed inst>take a look>glad to have a reason to think about JJN/songs from my KY childhood..Thnx!

[fearbeag2]

awwwwww.... its beautiful life and shame and life and shame

[sallygal7]

Great video and a great song.

[potterwiggs]

Haunting juxtaposition of images and music. Very Nice!

I will have to look for more of Mr. Niles' work. Thanks.

[eduardoclark]

I've discovered this song on "Mr. Lonely" from Harmony Korine. Didn't knew Niles too. Awesome interpretation, stunning. Thanks for bringing this out.

[UbykBand]

i luv it.

[kkmalay]

Gorgeous, thanks for making and posting this

[ChelsR61090]

This song is so haunting and emotional. I'm practically transfixed when I listen to it.

[hillpolecat]

Thank you for creating this video and sharing it. There is simply far too little Niles on yt! What a shame! Truly an American treasure. I grew up in KY and, as a high school student,  met Niles' widow and son, who was US ambassador to Canada at the time (1986). Niles' widow was an extremely gracious person.

[tooken]

@hillpolecat Thank you for the comment. Indeed it's a pitty that Niles doesn't has half of the recognizition he deserves, hence why not much available on youtube or the web.

[Rmahda]

great video thanks for posting, just found out about this folk legend, was never a big folk music fan, but i am beginning to understand its universal appeal and aesthetic beauty, Schopenhauer would agree

[TheHummingbirdsong]

@Rmahda thats nice tat you are beginning to like folk.

[georgiafatwood]

@Rmahda Think maybe it's because the music is "informed" by Gregorian chant? Just a thought. "The Ballad Book of John Jacob Niles" is a thorough treatment of the Childe Ballads in the southern Appalachians, and well worth finding if only for the beautiful woodcut illustrations.

[joeysergio]

thanks for upload this song,its beautiful