Coal Tattoo - Steel String Session

[BRANSCOMBEx]

NICE!!

Check out my acoustic version.. I changed it up and think its sounds upbeat.

Let me know what you think, YouTube :)

[chinzebo]

I DO like this version. The banjo makes it for me. Wish I could hear their harmony.

[Tony2581]

String Steel Session's cover of this Billy Edd Wheeler classic, "Coal Tattoo", is pretty good. However, their explanation of the name of the song is wrong. The "coal tattoo" was caused when the mine roof or rib collapsed on the miner, leaving pieces of coal imbedded in the skin on the side of his head, not by the inhalation of coal dust that caused the veins in his neck to be "stained" like a tattoo...

[SteelStringSession]

Hi Tony-

We are both correct. A coal tattoo can be: 1. a bluish tinge that seeps under a miner's skin and leaves a permanent stain. 2. a faint mark of blue left beneath the skin of a person who has been in a mine collapse. 3. the mark that bits of coal leaves on a miner when they hit and sometimes embed and the skin grows over the wound. The intrepretation depends on the holler where one grew up. We will include your interpretation in our future shows. Thanks for the follow up. We mean it :-)

[teclarojo]

Coal miner songs have always attracted me because of my heritage of miners from SW Penn and WV and I've always loved this song. This is a really cool version performed with real feeling which is very welcome from most versions. One of my favorites is by Judy Collins (funny how she doesn't change the gender to fit her however, but still an awesome version.). Tony, what other versions would you recommend?

[brightyger]

good new group, i haven't heard them before but i'll be looking for their posts from now on. like that energetic meanass beat.

[grandviewangus]

sometimes I hate youtube!!! I tried to give this video a 5 star rating because I really like the driving vocals and instrumentals. but i clicked too early and it accidentally got one star instead. this is really unfair to a fine band, but youtube does not allow you to change ratings for any reason. not a good system!!!!!