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The Ballad of Ned Kelly
The Ballad of Ned Kelly
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The Ballad of Ned Kelly / Nothing More Island 6014 044 (single, p/s, Holland, 1970) |
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[Trevor Lucas]
The Ballad of Ned Kelly is a song about Australia’s most famous outlaw. Trevor Lucas sang it in 1970 on Fotheringay’s eponymous album, Fotheringay, and it was released as a single with the B-side Nothing More. It was also used as title track of the Tony Richardson movie Ned Kelly starring Mick Jagger; see the back side of the single cover (above right).
A Fotheringay live performance of The Ballad of Ned Kelly at Holland Pop Festival in Rotterdam on 28 June 1970 were included in 2015 on Fotheringay’s Universal anthology Nothing More. Another Fotheringay live performance at Grugahalle, Essen, Germany, on 23 October 1970 was included in 2011 on the concert recording Essen 1970.
As another version of The Ballad of Ned Kelly from Fairport Convention on their 1974 Nine Tour with lead guitarist Jerry Donahue was included in 1994 on the Sandy Denny & Trevor Lucas cassette The Attic Tracks Vol. 4: Together Again and in 1995 on The Attic Tracks CD. Another live recording from April 1974 at Clark University, USA, with Jerry Donahue singing lead and Sandy and Trevor singing chorus is one of several bonus tracks on the 2002 CD reissue of Fairport’s The Airing Cupboard Tapes.
The song was later picked up by Adelaide’s Redgum and included in an album and in their live set, somehow attracting a myth that it was a traditional bush ballad. Trevor put the band right when he became their producer but since those days every Bush Band in Australia has had a crack at the Redgum arrangement (and it’s all wrong!).
This video shows the Dead Ringer Band singing Poor Ned at Tamworth Regional Entertainment Centre, Tamworth, NSW, Australia on 25 January 2012:
Compare to this ballad A.L. Lloyd singing The Kelly Gang on his album First Person.
Lyrics
Sorry, I can't show the lyrics here as I don't have the copyright owners' permission to publish them. But please feel free and ask me to send you the song's lyrics.