"Copper Kettle" (also known as "Get you a Copper Kettle", "In the pale moonlight") is a song composed by Albert Frank Beddoe and made popular by Joan Baez. Pete Seeger's account dates the song to 1946, mentioning its probable folk origin,Pete Seeger, The Incompleat Folksinger, Simon and Schuster, New York, NY, 1972, pp. 278-279; As at Bob Dylan Roots website: In 1946, a tall awkward man came upstairs to the offices of People's Songs and offered to help with the typing. The offer was gratefully accepted. Three days later, we asked his name. "Frank." But what's your last name? "Frank." Just Frank Frank? No middle initial? "O." So, Frank O. Frank came to help us, and invaluable help it was, too. A few months later, he said that in his home county, Bexar County, Texas, were some fine songs, and that he had mimeographed a collection of them. Later, it appeared that many were rewritten by him, and some were almost totally original songs, but in any case, they went from hand to hand, and some people sing them now as old folk songs, such as "Get You a Copper Kettle," "See Them Buzzards," and "Quantrell Side." Good songs, folk or Frank. while in a 1962 Time readers column A. F. Beddoe saysLetters to the editor. Time. November 30, 1962; Quote: Sir: I am extremely thrilled that you printed my song in your folk singing article. I love music and Joan Baez. Copper Kettle was written in 1953 as part of my opera Go Lightly Stranger. A. F. Beddoe, Staten Island, N.Y. that the song was written by him in 1953 as part of the folk opera Go Lightly, Stranger. The song praises the good aspects of moonshining as told to the listener by a man whose "daddy made whiskey, and granddaddy did too". The line "We ain't paid no whiskey tax since 1792" alludes to an unpopular tax imposed in 1791 by the fledgling U.S. federal government. The levy provoked the Whiskey Rebellion and generally had a short life, barely lasting until 1803. Enjoyable lyrics and simple melody turned "Copper Kettle" into a popular folk song.
Performed by Joan Baez, recorded in Joan Baez in Concert, 1962 Two Tones (a duet including Gordon Lightfoot), on the album Two Tones at the Village Corner, 1962 The Country Gentlemen, recorded for Starday Records, 1963 Chet Atkins, Guitar Country, 1964; and in various live settings Bob Dylan, on the album Self Portrait, 1970, and Another Self Portrait, 2013 Tony Joe White, on the album Tony Joe White, 1971 Damnations TX on the album Live Set recorded in Austin, TX in 1996 Devendra Banhart in live concert Jump, Little Children, on the album Live at the Dock Street Theatre, 2006 Gillian Welch and David Rawlings in live concert A quote: ..Much like Old Crow Medicine Show, Welch and Rawlings betray the influence rock and roll had in shaping their young lives; another incredible Dylan cover was "Copper Kettle", off his absurdly underappreciated album Self Portrait... Robyn Hitchcock, live at Borders Books, 2004 Kreuzberg Museum, on the album Ten American Classics, 2006 Jack Dallas, David Beddoe, live performance of the musical "Copper Kettle" (formerly "Go Lightly, Stranger") at the NYC Music Marathon, Dramatists Guild, NYC April 16, 2012 Old Blind Dogs Bobby Womack, recorded in Lookin' for a Love Again, 1974 Joni Mitchell, recorded ca. 1963 and released on the album Joni Mitchell Archives – Vol. 1: The Early Years (1963–1967), 2020 Jake Xerxes Fussell, single released by Paradise of Bachelors, 2021 Tommy Emmanuel with Rob Ickes and Trey Hensley, 2021 The A's (Alexandra Sauser-Monnig and Amelia Meath), on the album Fruit, 2022 Mary Black, on the 30th anniversary reissue of her album By the Time It Gets Dark Nora Brown and Stephanie Coleman on the EP, Lady of the Lake, 2023.
See also Moonshining
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