"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 Joan Chandos Baez (, ; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing mo ...

Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and social activist. He was a fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s and had a string of hit records in the early 1950s as a member of The Weav ...

'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 Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' readers column A. F. Beddoe saysLetters to the editor
''

''. 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 Moonshine is high-proof liquor, traditionally made or distributed illegally. The name was derived from a tradition of distilling the alcohol at night to avoid detection. In the first decades of the 21st century, commercial distilleries hav ...

as told to the listener by a man whose "daddy made

whiskey Whisky or whiskey is a type of liquor made from Fermentation in food processing, fermented grain mashing, mash. Various grains (which may be Malting, malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, Maize, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky ...

, 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 The Whiskey Rebellion (also known as the Whiskey Insurrection) was a violent tax protest in the United States beginning in 1791 and ending in 1794 during the presidency of George Washington. The so-called "whiskey tax" was the first tax impo ...

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

, recorded in ''

Joan Baez in Concert ''Joan Baez in Concert'' (later reissued as ''Joan Baez in Concert, Part 1'') is a live album taken from Joan Baez's 1962 concert tours. It peaked at No. 10 on the ''Billboard'' Pop Albums chart. History It was Baez's version of " Babe, I'm Gon ...

'', 1962 * Two Tones (a duet including

Gordon Lightfoot Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Jr. (November 17, 1938 – May 1, 2023) was a Canadian singer-songwriter who achieved worldwide success and helped define the singer-songwriter era of the 1970s. Widely considered one of Canada's greatest songwriters, ...

), on the album ''Two Tones at the Village Corner'', 1962 *

The Country Gentlemen The Country Gentlemen was a progressive bluegrass band that originated during the 1950s in the area of Washington, D.C., United States, and recorded and toured with various members until the death in 2004 of Charlie Waller, one of the group's ...

, recorded for

Starday Records Starday Records was an American record label producing traditional country music during the 1950s and 1960s. History The label began in 1952 in Beaumont, Texas, when local businessmen Jack Starnes (Lefty Frizzell's manager) and Houston record di ...

, 1963 *

Chet Atkins Chester Burton Atkins (June 20, 1924 – June 30, 2001), also known as "Mister Guitar" and "the Country Gentleman", was an American musician who, along with Owen Bradley and Bob Ferguson (musician), Bob Ferguson, helped create the Nash ...

, '' Guitar Country'', 1964; and in various live settings *

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

, on the album ''

Self Portrait Self-portraits are Portrait painting, portraits artists make of themselves. Although self-portraits have been made since the earliest times, the practice of self-portraiture only gaining momentum in the Early Renaissance in the mid-15th century ...

'', 1970, and '' Another Self Portrait'', 2013 *

Tony Joe White Tony Joe White (July 23, 1943 – October 24, 2018), nicknamed the Swamp Fox, was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, best known for his 1969 hit " Polk Salad Annie" and for "Rainy Night in Georgia", which he wrote but which was first ...

, on the album ''

'', 1971 * Damnations TX on the album "Live Set" recorded in Austin, TX in 1996 *

Devendra Banhart Devendra Obi Banhart (born May 30, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter and visual artist. Banhart was born in Texas and raised in Venezuela and California. In 2000, he dropped out of the San Francisco Art Institute to pursue a musical career. ...

in live concert * Jump, Little Children, on the album '' Live at the Dock Street Theatre'', 2006 *

Gillian Welch Gillian Howard Welch (; born October 2, 1967) is an American singer-songwriter. She performs with her musical partner, guitarist David Rawlings. Their sparse and dark musical style, which combines elements of Appalachian music, bluegrass, coun ...

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 Robyn Rowan Hitchcock (born 3 March 1953) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. While primarily a vocalist and guitarist, he also plays harmonica, piano, and bass guitar. After leading the Soft Boys in the late 1970s and releasing the ...

, 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 Old Blind Dogs is a Scottish musical group which plays traditional Scottish folk music and Celtic music, with influences from rock, reggae, jazz, blues, and Middle Eastern music rhythms. Background The three founding members of the band (Ian ...

Bobby Womack Robert Dwayne Womack ( ; March 4, 1944 – June 27, 2014) was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. Starting in the early 1950s as the lead singer of his family musical group the Valentinos and as Sam Cooke's backing guitarist, Womack's ...

, recorded in '' Lookin' for a Love Again'', 1974 *

Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan Mitchell (née Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and painter. As one of the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitch ...

, recorded ca. 1963 and released on the album Joni Mitchell Archives – Vol. 1: The Early Years (1963–1967), 2020 *

Jake Xerxes Fussell Jake Xerxes Fussell (born 1981, in Columbus, Georgia) is an American singer and guitarist who plays Folk music, folk and blues music, with a focus on traditional Southern folk songs. Background Fussell was raised in Columbus, Georgia, the son o ...

, 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 Mary Black (born 23 May 1955) is an Irish folk singer. She is well known as an interpreter of both traditional folk and modern material which has made her a major recording artist in her native Ireland. Background Mary Black was born into a m ...

, on the 30th anniversary reissue of her album ''By the Time It Gets Dark''

References

External links

* {{Authority control Joan Baez songs Bob Dylan songs Tony Joe White songs Folk operas Moonshine in popular culture

Performed by

See also

References

External links