Back to our series on murder ballads. Duncan & Brady is also known as Been on the Job Too Long or Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. It’s all about the shooting of a policeman named Brady by a bartender named Duncan. This tune has been quite widely recorded as have many of the ballads featured here.

Let’s start with the Johnson Mountain Boys and some blistering hot bluegrass…

Now that was fine, very fine. Those boys not only play great, they’re good dressers too!

Dave Van Ronk knew how to extract everything a song had to give. This is almost unspeakably good.

Have you heard the Salford Sheiks? If not, it’s my great pleasure to unleash these boys on you…

And one more, again with a different feel….here’s the Lost Radio Rounders….