The real St Louis gun battle behind “Duncan & Brady”

September 20, 2017 7:26 PM

A cop called Brady drives up in his electric car, determined to kill someone. He enters a gambling joint, walks up to the barman – whose surname is Duncan – and tells him he’s under arrest. Duncan responds by shooting Brady in the chest at point-blank range, killing him instantly. The only explanation we get for any of this is that Brady’s “been on the job too long”. That’s the tale told by the classic murder ballad Duncan & Brady, and it contains a lot more truth than you might imagine. The date was October 6, 1890, and here’s what really happened. [via mefi projects by Paul Slade]

Versions of "Duncan & Brady" have been performed by (among others):

Dave van Ronk
Leadbelly
Bob Dylan
Martin Simpson
James Taylor
Johnson Mountain Boys
Tom Rush
Koerner, Ray & Glover

posted by mandolin conspiracy (4 comments total)

Ah, St Louis, my native town. Cops been shooting at black folks a long time there.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 8:18 PM on September 20, 2017

Isn't St Louis also where the source event for Stag[o/er]lee happened?
posted by PMdixon at 9:48 PM on September 20, 2017

Isn't St Louis also where the source event for Stag[o/er]lee happened?

It is discussed in the article, and then there are other articles on the site that discuss it in greater detail. I lost a few days of productivity over there when this was first posted, so be careful!
posted by Literaryhero at 10:19 PM on September 20, 2017 [2 favorites]

Thanks so much for this! I love Greg Brown & Bill Morrissey's version ...

also, how did I not know about this website? Well, I know there's a lot of things I don't know. Goodness. I was supposed to work today.
posted by allthinky at 6:39 AM on September 21, 2017